


Captive

by sheepister



Series: Captive [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, M/M, Master/Slave, Multi, Other, Sexual Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:20:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 51
Words: 691,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25754221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheepister/pseuds/sheepister
Summary: The universe isn't as pretty as you think it is. When three battle thirsty Saiyans come to Earth, there's one survivor that catches their attention. Can Bulma find a way to survive the horrors of the universe while being held Captive by a savage prince? Will she ever be able to make him understand, or will she escape and wish for his death?This is an AU based on the premise of if the Saiyans came to Earth together shortly before the events of DBZ, and is written in roleplay format.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HEED THE WARNINGS. THEY ARE THERE FOR A REASON.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Relationships: Bulma Briefs & Vegeta, Bulma Briefs/Raditz, Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Bulma Briefs/Yamcha
Series: Captive [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868254
Comments: 23
Kudos: 72





	1. Captured

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! My roleplaying partner deleted all our roleplays that he was a co-creator on, so I'm reuploading everything since this is over 50% my work. I wrote half of it and then did all the editing and posting, and the vast majority of the worldbuilding. So I'll be reuploading since it's my own work. :) Hope you guys continue to follow along with me!

His POV

It was the day the Earth would burn. There was no warning, just three one manned space pods crashing dead center into West City - and in an instant, the world caught fire. An alien invasion, the likes the world had never seen. Civilians ran screaming, dead bodies littered the trio’s wake, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop them.

Sure, the world’s mightiest fighters rose to the occasion. The infamous Z fighters, with both their friends and even their foes, but all fell one by one at the hands of the invaders. Even the mighty Goku, Earths hero, was eventually struck down, and once the world lost all hope that’s when the real horrors began to roll out.

The smallest of the other-worldly trio was flanked by his two larger companions; crushing their boots over the burning rubble, keeping an eye out for their next bout of entertainment. The largest, a bald man, busied himself with a young girl whom he’d caught by the hair. That left the last two of the monsters to blaze their way through what remained of West City; like a gang of frat boys on their daily scout for a scrap of fresh meat.

* * *

Her POV

She couldn’t believe this was happening. Yamcha had told her that he felt a large ki and had disappeared to go investigate, and hours later, she understood what he meant. There were constant explosions, and screaming outside of the Capsule Corp. They felt like earthquakes with how large they were. Her parents were unfazed, as usual, but Bulma was a different story.

When she heard the house rumble in a way that only meant it was collapsing from an explosion, rather than act as if nothing was wrong, she ran out the back, hoping she could find somewhere to hide. It’s not like there were many places, but at the sound of a few men cackling, she tried anyway.

She scurried into some hedges surrounding the backyard, and while she ripped her clothes and gave herself plenty of scratches doing so, at least she figured she must be hidden enough to get away. Her hands covered her mouth and she listened, at least hoping they wouldn’t blow up the whole city.

What was even going on? It was like King Piccolo all over again, but much, much worse.

* * *

His POV

“Let me have a turn with her Nappa, you’ve had her long enough!” Moaned the tall one with all the hair, reaching and pawing at a small blonde girl.

“No way, you know I like the yellow ones!” Grouched the bald man, yanking the girl back towards himself.

“Vegeta! Call off Nappa already, he’s being a hog it all!” Raditz yelled.

Vegeta was watching from atop a pile of glowing ember. The dominance in the way he held himself clearly showing his high rank among the group. With tight fists on his narrow hips, his fine cut, malicious features were crowned with an even more domineering sneer. He was enjoying watching his men wrestle like cavemen, he wasn’t about to end it.

“Stop being a little bitch, Raditz,” his dark voice ground out, “Unless you want me to come down there and tear her apart. Then you can both have a piece.” Deep laughter ripped from the man’s cold heart, but it was quickly interrupted when his nose caught an unfamiliar scent. Something set apart from the stench of burning flesh.

Raditz seemed to catch the aroma too, because he quickly gave up his dispute with Nappa for a nearby hedge. With a hand like lightening, the males huge paw darted into the thorny bush, ripping out the girl hiding in its thorny vines with unnatural ease. The sinister smile on his face - her impending doom.

“Well well well, looky what I caught. You weren’t trying to hide from us, were you now?” sneered Raditz.

* * *

Her POV

She thought she was safe. They didn’t seem to pay her any attention; they were focused on arguing about having a turn with a poor girl. And to think, it could be her. …It’d be fine. All she had to do was wait it out, and then she could get the dragon balls. She’d fix it all. Even if she didn’t have the radar, she’d find a way to make a new one.

But her luck ran dry. She heard footsteps getting closer, and she had thought she’d be safe as long as she held her breath. But she was grabbed by the hair and pulled out all in the blink of an eye, quick enough that she didn’t get a chance to scream.

Her stomach dropped as she stared at him. Big, armored, and with a wicked smile. If he was fighting with another about having a turn with a girl– … It didn’t bode well for Bulma.

But then her eyes landed on a familiar trait: a tail. Just like Goku’s. A thought in the back of her mind mused that Goku always seemed like an alien. Either way, she reached out as fast as she could and grabbed hold of the tail, yanking as hard as she could manage. She wasn’t just not going to put up a fight! She only cursed herself for not having had ran out with at least one gun.

* * *

His POV

She was a pretty little thing, wasn’t she? Raditz easily towered over the tiny blue humanoid like a hungry cat over a mouse. And that was exactly how he felt. Swishing his oversized tail right in grasping range, like a happy feline ready to devour his newfound pray.

And then it happened…

“Ahhhh! God damn it! MY TAIL!” Pain shot through the massive alien’s spine, causing him to chunk the girl into a random direction. His attention was solely on the pain that was his tail. The massive male toppled to the asphalt, wailing and spitting curses. The bald man however, didn’t notice. He was too busy making the other poor girl scream for her life against a pile of jagged debris.

“Ah hahaha!” Course laughter burst from the smallest invader. What a sight, now that was entertainment! It was Raditz own damn fault for letting his guard down, but who would have known such an innocent looking female could bring down a Saiyan? It was worthy of gathering the leaders attention. Vegeta’s dark scowl shifted into the girl’s last known location. Now where did that big oaf throw her? The prince wanted to inspect this humanoid for himself, before he decided to tear her apart.

* * *

Her POV

It worked! It worked! Even if he threw her a distance, she was at least grateful to be out of his grasp. For a moment, that was, until she fell against the pavement, head-first. A searing pain ran through her head, focused on the point of impact. It took her a moment to get up onto her feet despite the bloody wound on her temple and the deep scratches on her arms and knees, but she didn’t really have an option otherwise.

  
She swung her head around to see the state of her almost-captor, and was lucky enough to find that he was too busy focusing on the pain in his tail. She began to run in the opposite direction, checking her pockets to see if maybe she had a loose capsule somewhere. Damn, she really should have thought a little more before running out of the house. If she had a plane or something, she could have hid at the Kame House! No way they would have ended up there of all places.

She managed to run far enough that she lost her breath (which wasn’t really that far at all), and caught a glimpse of cellar doors beside a collapsed house. …Well. It was better than nothing. She ran to them and opened them up, closing them behind her. Surprisingly enough, the cellar hadn’t collapsed in like the rest of the house had. But it was just a room of dirt, couldn’t they have at least kept something in storage in there?

She guessed she just had to hope that Goku would show up. Or they’d get bored and leave.

* * *

His POV

The smell of blood filled the Saiyan’s senses, drowning out the pathetic sound of Raditz continuous moaning. Vegeta’s attention had most definitely been caught. Quickly, he made way to the spot where the girl had busted her head on the pavement. Dipping his white gloved fingers into the fresh red stain of blood, he brought it to his sensitive nose, inhaling the sweet scent.

So, she was going to run, how perfect. The prince was glad his indulging in Raditz’ humiliation had given her a chance to escape the scene - a hunt was welcome. A sinister sneer smeared across the man’s features, focusing his sights in the direction the girl had fled. As if she could escape - her scent perfumed the air like a visible trail of footsteps. Awakening something within the prince, a wicked need to stalk her down and dominate her.

Blood splatter lead him right to the double doors of her little hide away. Raditz and Nappa were trailing behind. It was only the girl and her newest stalker now. Creeping into the cellar like a quiet cat, his foreboding silhouette blacked out against the glow of the engulfed city behind him. He could smell her, hear her. His malevolent instincts slowly scanned for her whereabouts in the dim shed. Where was she?

  
“Come out, come out where ever you are. Did you really think you could run? Please, if you’ve got any more bright ideas, I’d love to see them.” he was mocking her, the roughness in his voice cooled with cruel sarcasm. His boots finally touched the flooring, right in front of the girl. Reaching for her ripped clothing, his heartbeat ran wild. The feel of the hunt was exhilarating.

* * *

Her POV

Goddamn it, couldn’t they leave her alone? She froze up when she heard the doors swing open. It wasn’t as if there was anywhere to hide, but she still tried to nonetheless. She scrambled against one of the dirt walls as quietly as she could, but the man must have been able to see very well in the dark, because he walked straight to her.

She could see the shadow of a hand reaching out for her, but it’s not like she couldn’t still fight. She was starting to get a little woozy from her head wound, but she wasn’t just going to let them– …It didn’t matter what they were planning. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to happen.

She slapped his hand away and slowly started inching along the wall to get back to the doors to the cellar, though at this point she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to run very far. Even without the cuts on her knees, her legs hurt like hell just from running as fast as she had been moments ago.

“Don’t… Don’t touch me.” She spoke up quietly but as confidently as she could manage, despite still being out of breath. “There’s… There’s plenty of other girls… Just leave me here. Or you’re going to regret it.” She was thankful the cellar was so dark; it hid how badly her legs were shaking.

* * *

His POV

“Don’t tell me what to do!”, he hissed. The moment the girl had the gull to slap his hand away; the prince took a step back, snarling angrily. How dare she! She’d be punished for that!. But first he’d finish his toying with her. By the time he collected himself, Vegeta was beginning to realize - this girl had a little fight to her. It wasn’t playing in her favor either, it only made him worse.

“Oh, I’m going to regret it, am I? What are you going to do, pull my tail too?” He bellowed in new laughter, swishing his refined tail back and forth behind him, taunting. Then, he grabbed her just before she could run too far; thumping her back against his solid frame, securing her in place with the coiling his tail around their bound waists.

“I think you’ll do just fine, for a female, but you need to learn your place!” His next move - turning the girl towards the open cellar doors where Raditz and Nappa loomed standing guard. Both of the on looking men were wearing equally evil expressions. They knew exactly what was coming next…

  
“I think I’d rather hear you beg,” the cruelty of her captor’s voice smoothed into her ear. Holding the girl captive by the wrist, the solid mass of body behind her began to shift, to move. He’d gained an obvious erection from the excitement of catching her bloodied and battered body in his shadow - it felt like a victory. The other two were ogling down her ripped clothing and open cleavage, waiting for their chance to jump in like ravenous dogs.

* * *

Her POV

…Shit. He was clearly angry about her slapping his hand away. Maybe she just made it worse for herself. …She should have pretended to be dead. It worked well enough for possums. She’d have to keep that idea in mind, though part of her was scared at if she tried to play dead, she’d end up passing out from the head wound and end up as good as dead, anyway.

And in an instant, he pulled her close and wrapped his tail around her waist. It sickened her, being that close to him. He smelled like body odor and blood, worse than she did. And that look he was giving her made her wish she had some cyanide pills or something. Geeze, why did Yamcha have to run off? If he’d stayed with her, he could have gotten her to safety. Who cares about everyone else? …It didn’t matter; she knew what his fate probably was. If he wasn’t here, fighting back or at least trying to save her, it was obvious that he wasn’t around anymore.

If it weren’t for the adrenaline running through her system, she probably would have burst into tears thinking about it. But it wasn’t the time for that. And seeing the other two men, patiently waiting and staring at her like a chunk of meat, she began to fight. Maybe they’d think it wasn’t worth it, and decide to give up. She just had to hope.

“I’m not begging for anything!” She pulled away from his grasp and felt nauseous at him whispering in her ear. He held her one wrist, but her other hand was free- and without even thinking, she slapped him across the face. “Let… Let me go! You’re going to be sorry! My boyfriend’s stronger than any of you, you’ll get your butts kicked if you don’t let me go!” Sure, she knew it to be a lie, but maybe they’d get scared.

* * *

His POV

Things were just getting interesting. The pounding heart in the girl’s chest was music to the Saiyans ears, and the blood rushing down her cheek was inciting his tongue to dart past his lips for a taste. Vegeta was just beginning to enjoy her struggling, watching her wriggle in his grasp, when something struck him. He’d been so over confident in capturing his pray, he never saw her lashing out coming..

At first, he was very obviously stunned, but the rare expression of astonishment quickly warped into dangerous s. No woman had ever dared to strike him. Then again, no woman had ever thrown more than a hissy fit - crying and screaming, begging for life. Vegeta was beginning to get the inclination that this female was a little different from the others he’d dealt with. Something the older Saiyan noticed too; Nappa was slightly raising a brow at the blue female’s sudden outburst and slapping of his prince.

“You little.. No whore strikes the prince of all Saiyans! You’ll pay for that! I hope your mate does show up. I’d like a good fight after I fuck you senseless!” His grip tightened on the girl’s fragile wrist. As furious as he sounded, Vegeta was feeling unusually turned on. The gentle stinging in his cheek - a silent reminder of this woman’s spirits. He hated it. He loved it. He wanted to kill her and fuck her at the same time, but more then anything, he wanted to force her to go as low as she could go.

“Come on Vegeta, let me give it to her. She pulled my tail after all!” Raditz broke the tension in the air. His request was quickly granted by Vegeta, whom was glad to be rid of the pest of a female. Vegeta tossed Bulma towards the towering warrior with a gruff, and Raditz readily caught the earthling against his armored frame. Rubbing himself through his pants with one hand, Raditz took a handful of Bulma’s blue hair with the other, cooing “Now why don’t you open up and say, ahh?”

* * *

Her POV

Considering how he’d reacted to her slapping his hand away before, she thought she’d regret what her body naturally did in self-defense. And his words certainly seemed to suggest that she would- telling her she’d pay for it. That she’d be fucked senseless.

But despite his words and his obvious and disturbing erection that’d been pressing against her thigh, he threw her off to the one who’d originally captured her. It seemed that putting up a fight did work to some extent. Even if Yamcha wasn’t around, maybe she could get out of this herself. Then she could go and get the dragon balls and wish him back and get on his case for dying the first time.

She pushed away from Raditz only to be grabbed by the hair painfully. He was rubbing himself off through the pathetic excuse of ‘pants’ he had on, and she wrinkled her nose at just what was noticeable with the erection pushing the fabric away from the skin. There was no way. No. She kept her mouth closed this time, despite wanting to yell at them some more, when an idea came into her mind. His hands were clearly busy, and this time, her hands were free.

She got her hands into position, and even tried to steady her stance. She’d seen Yamcha do his Wolf Fang Fist enough times by now, maybe it’d save her ass. She probably wasn’t doing it quite correctly, but as soon as she was confident enough, she finally let out that ‘aah’ Raditz had demanded of her, but only in the form of a yell to go with a stream of jabs in an attempt to at least get him let go of her hair.

* * *

His POV

No one saw it coming. Raditz had been playing with Bulmas hair, waiting patiently for the girl to start her screaming and threatening again. Going as far as asking, “Don’t have anything else interesting to say?”. What he wasn’t expecting was her to take a fighters stance and start pummeling her firsts into his armored abdomen.

It was enough to gather Vegetas attention, too. The prince had been slightly put off by the female, his pride elevating himself above her miniscule existence. Above the acknowledgement that it was beginning to really turn him on. His vacant expression was only paying half as much attention as he’d of liked to the image of his men toying with the woman. He’d allow them to do as they pleased with the girl while he watched in indolent fascination, as he had too many times before. As if she really was just a piece of meat to witness them fuck. …That is, until she started fighting for herself..

At first the group of space thugs stared point blank. None of them were quite sure what had just happened. And then, they busted out laughing. Raditz particularly. Vegeta was more so watching with new interest.

“What the ..what the hell was that? Did she just attack me?” Raditz questioned, blinking down; loosening his grip on her hair.

“It.. looked like that guys attack from earlier. Remember that guy, Vegeta?” Nappa looked to his leader.

“I suppose, and just like that loser it didn’t do much good. Though, it was much more entertaining to see it this way.” the hook in lips meant he was amused. Leaning his back against the dirt wall, Vegeta eyed Raditz as the stumbling soldier attempted to steady the girl’s actions.

“Enough fun and games, I want in now.” That was enough foreplay for Raditz. If he didn’t want this girl before, he certainly did now. In fact, the other two looked slightly envious, watching intently as the long haired male grabbed for Bulma’s waist and whipped her around. One of Raditz’ large hand groped her hips, while the other unbuckled his belted armor. The heavy panels that shielded his thighs dropped it to the ground with a thud. Planting her ass right against his barely hidden erection, he began to move.

* * *

Her POV

She really hadn’t expected Raditz to be hurt at all. And, as expected, he wasn’t. It was even more sick, to hear them mention Yamcha. So he was killed. It was all the confirmation she needed. Her face flushed both from embarrassment at their laughter as well as her own anger and frustration. And she couldn’t help but think. If Yamcha went to go see what the ki he felt was, then the others must have, too. Goku, Tien, Krillin… Were they all dead? Wasn’t Piccolo’s son running around somewhere, as well? …She had to hope at least he was safe, if only for the safety of the dragon balls. He at least wasn’t wreaking havoc with these three.

Raditz loosened his grip, and despite her anger, she’d taken a step back and had just been about to make another run for it, before he suddenly grabbed her by the hips and forced her back to face him. Her eyes widened, just hearing the belt buckle and the thud of his lower armor being dropped to the ground. Being forced to suck him off would have been disgusting enough, but not nearly as disgusting as what was facing her right now, with how she could feel him rubbing up against her. She held her shorts tightly, planning on fighting him when and if he tried pulling them down. She would have ran away, but his grip was too firm and bruising, despite him only holding her hip.

She scowled as she watched the other two stare at her in excitement, her cheeks turning even more red than before. It’s not like she didn’t still have fight in her. She lifted her leg up and stomped hard on Raditz’s foot, though at this point she knew she was really just delaying the inevitable. Maybe she’d get lucky. Maybe they’d just kill her.

* * *

His POV

“Oh no you don’t, don’t think you’re about to get out of it this time.” She may have struggled, pushed, and fought against Raditz massive weight, but it was futile. The Saiyan was ungodly strong, and his attention was fixated on what he was about to do, and how he was about to pay her back for pulling his tail earlier.

..and then she stepped on his foot.

It really didn’t hurt, his booted armor was enough to see to that, but it did piss the giant alien off. Earning Bulma a firm slap on the ass that was sure to leave her sore. “You just don’t give up, do you?!” Raditz barked.  
Vegeta was thinking the same thing. The Saiyan prince was leisurely watching his soldier paw and buck against the captive girl’s backside. The prince pressed his finger tips to his temple, resting his broad shoulder blades against the dirt wall behind him without a care in the world. The girls flushed features and the way her lip turned up when she snarled had his particular attention. If Vegeta wasn’t careful with his intrigued staring, he may have made eye contact.

Raditz however was not nearly as silent as his prince. Growling and groaning, excited to fill the feisty little female with his enormous erection. His rough hands clawed and ripped at what was left of her clothing, leaving little to no fabric to cling to her curvaceous nudity. Sure, she could try to fight it, but the body guard wanted her clothes off - now.

“Hold still, why don’t you?” As soon as Raditz unleased his huge member, the lusty male wasted no time in trying to push the massive head into her feminine hole. It was solid, rubbing its way between her yielding thighs. Raditz was doing his best to hold the girls hip and spread her legs with his knee at the same time, better allowing himself to plunge in and take her for himself.

* * *

Her POV

Sadly, the foot stomp didn’t give much of a reaction. It backfired, and he slapped her ass hard enough that she yelled out. She reached back and covered her butt where it ached from the slap, but disgustingly enough, the back of her hand got rubbed up on as he bucked against her. Why were the other two still watching? Staring at her so intently. The hatred behind her eyes burned when she made eye contact with Vegeta, but it only lasted a moment before she jerked her head away.

“Gn– Stop it!” She squirmed, and all at once, he began pulling her clothes off. Ripping them off, more like it. even when she tried to hold her clothes against her, the fabric was ripped away to shreds. She covered herself with her hands as soon as she became fully nude, completely conscious of the two watching her on top of the one behind her taking off his pants.

“Agh–!” She could feel the heat coming off her cheeks when he felt him rocking against her thighs. “Let go of me!” She struggled to stop him from going any further, but he was clearly determined. She could feel her legs slowly inching apart from his knees pushing them apart, and she let out a noise somewhere between a grunt and a yell when she could feel his head push into her.

“Stop it!” She tried to elbow him in the chest and squirm away, but it was obviously a losing battle. She got louder, yelling as if it’d help her situation. “I’ll– I’ll make sure you all regret it! Get off me! Get off me now!”

* * *

His POV

The girl was putting up more of a fight then most, and it was obvious by the way the trio were watching her. Staring, as if they were waiting to see what she’d say or do next. Vegeta was stroking the hard line of his trapped length, pleasuring himself to the display of his soldiers fucking their captured little earthling before him. She was like a piece of prime-rib being dangled in front of a group of hungry lions.

Nappa was really getting into gawking at this point. It was nothing more than free, live porn in his eyes. There was so little fabric hiding her delicate form, it was a feast for his dirty mind. Delicate indeed, soft, inviting, flushed and blood splattered. The bald tyrant probably would have made his advancement if his leader hadn’t stepped before him.  
Vegeta was giving Bulma a once over, too. In fact, the prince stepped closer still. His thick arms tucked over his broad chest, baring his gaze down at the girl as she made her demands. Those demands were really getting him off, and the prince wouldn’t hold back from interfering any longer.

“Are you so weak that you can’t handle a single earthling, Raditz? Maybe I should take her instead.” The prince’s hand caught the girls chin, forcing her to look at him.  
“Nappa, hold her arms.” The prince murmured and the big lug jumped at the order; happily getting into the fray, even if it was just to hold the poor girl in place. Doing his best to catch Bulma’s wrists and pin them behind her.

“Are you going to make me regret it?” The prince’s words were slick and almost purring. Releasing her jaw, he stared her down; taunting her. Watching her angry expression as his solider finally pumped himself fully between her legs, again and again. The murky background noise composed of soldier’s soft grunts and the slapping of sticky thighs building in the small dirt room. Bulma must have known what the prince was going to do next the moment he peeled his thick erection from his dark blue pants. Nappa, the largest male, forced the captive girl’s face closer and closer to his prince’s erection.

* * *

Her POV

She’d almost hoped that all her yelling would have gotten them to get sick of her already. Even fi they didn’t let her go, maybe it’d be alright to just be killed. If that happened, she’d be with Yamcha again, at least. But when Vegeta spoke up, it wasn’t that he was sick of her and wanted to get rid of her. He wanted her for himself. When Nappa pinned her thrashing hands behind her back to stop her from fighting and hitting anymore, she responded by spitting in the face of Vegeta as he pulled his dick out.

It was disgusting enough to feel the one holding her hips so tight and pounding into her over and over, with a tinge of pain every time he pushed himself in again. They expected her to suck him off, too? There was no way in hell. At least not without biting.

Nappa shoved her down to bend over fast enough, which only made access all the easier for Raditz. She wrinkled her nose as the sight in front of her, and shut her mouth tight. Yelling made things worse, but surely keeping her mouth shut wouldn’t. She turned her head to face away from him, beginning to feel nauseous. It sickened her even more every time Raditz would hit her in just the right way to make her legs feel weak.

She just had to hope that she’d die before this was over. Maybe she’d bleed out. the wounds on her arms and knees still stung, and she could feel blood steadily rolling down the side of her face from her head wound. At the very least, if she could just pass out–

* * *

His POV

It was about time the woman was finally taking her beating. Raditz was steadily growing noisier the further Nappa forced her down, bucking and grinding between their newest captive’s buckling legs the more she tried to resist.  
“This one feels really good”, Raditz moaned, giving her a good fuck whenever she tried to pull away too far. Jostling her helpless body between Nappa’s groping hand - her breasts felt particularly good in his big warm palms.

The look of disgust and hate that filled her burning blue eyes was entirely enticing to the leader of the pack. How could someone be so fiery and so resilient when she was looking death and punishment in the face? What an unusual woman. Vegeta really couldn’t help but step closer for a better glance; shooting equally as deadly glares right back at her.

Then she spit in his face..

“Impotent wench..!” The once bemused expression in Vegeta’s eyes darkened into one of impending doom. That rebellious mouth of hers needed to be taught a lesson, and he was just the one to do it. Turning his lip up into a cocky grin, he knelt down right before her, where he could see her eye to eye; rubbing the head of his exposed length, readying it for her pouty mouth. That mouth of hers was getting her a lot of attention. And her growing silence was only making the prince want to push her buttons.

“Open that reckless mouth of yours, slave, I’m going to teach it a lesson.” His sneer worsened. Catching her cheek, he licked the fresh blood that ran down - a taste that sent a zing down his spine. At such a close range he could see her soft features in the dim light. Unusually pretty, for a random victim. He tucked that bit of information away in his mind; standing tall once again and grabbing the girl’s nose firmly - cutting off her air supply. She had to open her mouth sometime, and when she did, the prince took the chance to shove himself in to the hilt; forceful, rough, and in control.

* * *

Her POV

She was furious. Raditz’s moans of how good she felt and the particularly violent thrusts, with Nappa’s gropes, they all just worked to make her angrier. Rather than just want to cry, the disgust and embarrassment pooled in her stomach into a ball of hatred, and it was obvious behind her eyes when Vegeta knelt down to look at her.

By now she was shaking steadily with each thrust and her legs were weak enough that she was mostly being kept up by Nappa’s hold on her arms, but she still got enough of a focused look on him to keep it in her memory. She’d get back at him, somehow. She’d do it. Even if she was killed–and please, God, please do that much for her–she’d find a way of returning the favor.

Her mouth stayed shut as he spoke to her, and she shut her eyes as well when he licked the blood from her cheek all the way to her temple. If she dared open her mouth, she probably would have puked onto him just for how revolting being that close was. But she kept it shut tight to refuse him, even through the thrusts that either demanded moans of something she didn’t want to deem ‘pleasure,’ or whines of pain.

She’d done a good job of keeping her lips sealed, until Vegeta pinched her nose. She held her breath for as long as she could, but ultimately her mouth opened to gasp for air, and he shoved himself inside. She wasn’t sure whether to be thankful or not for her experience with Yamcha leading to her not having much of a gag reflex. Maybe it would have disgusted him to get puke on his cock. But she could think of one thing he’d hate more than that, given her lack of a gag reflex- she bit down as hard as she could, with the full intent of ripping his organ right off his body.

* * *

His POV

He’d never seen such rage. The prince had witnessed his fair share of anger and violence, but there was something molten and dangerous budding behind her luminous blue hues. Noting her rebellious silence, it was almost admirable. Vegeta stared for a quiet moment, watching it burn inside of her; despite the pounding sound of his men against her skin, or the male moans erupting in the background, the prince’s focus was solely on her. She was ..captivating.

And then he broke away, after the lick to her cheek, after standing, he desired nothing more than to force her to suck him off. She was, after all, nothing more than a victim. He finally got his chance, too. Vegeta was sure he’d enjoy it, but then the sharp sensation of vengeful teeth clamped down on his solid length. It sent a sensational wave of heat down his back, giving off a visible shiver, followed by an ominous growl filled the whole cellar. The prince sounded more like a wild beast then an angry man. His men steadied their movements; reverend to their pack leader in a moment of fear, before picking up the pace again.

It was no use for the girl; however, the Saiyan was hardly in pain, considering how hard she bit down on him. It may have seriously injured a normal human, but the Saiyan merely got a jolt out of it. “You sorry little brat, you think you’re clever, don’t you?” he groaned, grabbing a fist full of her hair.

“Suck it, or you’ll regret it.” He was using her own words against her, in a matter of speaking. This time he grabbed her cheeks firmly, prying her jaw wide open. Vegeta wasn’t one to give up that easily. He’d taken her rebelliousness as a challenge. Bulma had gotten his heart rate up in a way he hadn’t experienced before, it was something animalistic. Pushing the thick head of his cock back between her lips, quickly this time, he began to pump into her again and again, as far as he could go.

* * *

Her POV

The bite didn’t do anything. Or, it barely did anything at all. He did growl like an animal loud enough to stop his two underlings from their movements, giving Bulma a few seconds of peace before Raditz started fucking her again and Nappa went back with squeezing and groping her ass. His penis hadn’t broken off, it barely even felt like she’d chomped down at all. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised; if these things didn’t even feel punches, why would they feel a bite to the dick?

Her eyes kept shut, but it didn’t do much to help her imagine she was anywhere else. She could still feel all the movements, smell all the disturbing smells. Her feet struggled to find consistent footing on the pavement with her legs so weak, and while the balls continuously smacking her in the chin only disgusted her, the balls smacking her from behind, with the thrusts in general, were causing the growing feeling she couldn’t describe as anything but her body betraying her. She didn’t want to even think the word, but she was getting closer and closer to having an orgasm.

She could hear Vegeta demanding she suck it, but she at least refused to go that far, even struggling with him to keep her mouth clamped shut despite him forcing her jaw open with his hands. Even if he was going to fuck her in the mouth, she certainly wasn’t about to reciprocate. Sucking was something she did to Yamcha when in a particular mood. It wasn’t something she did to strangers who destroyed her city, killed her boyfriend, and– And raped her.

She grunted and struggled against his grasp, trying to turn her head or at least force him to graze along her teeth as much as possible. What else could she regret by now? She was already in hell, they couldn’t do much worse than this.

* * *

His POV

Raditz was beginning to get frisky; it was only a matter of time before he’d blow. The girl’s soft insides hinted at a climax, and the sensation of it was exciting the big rutting male. He was far from gentle, ramming to the hilt, unchecked and unrefined. It was probably a good thing both of the men had such a stern grasp on her, less the massive warrior may have knocked her to the dirt floor. Massive he was, Raditz definitely wasn’t the size of an average human male; and he was only growing firmer. Picking up his pace, rapidly hitting her more sensitive spots.

The second one was ceasing his chances, too. Nappa was greedily going for a reach around, sliding his massive hand from the curve of her ass, to fondling her full breast. He still had a grasp on her wrists, pinning them easily in one hand. There was no reason he shouldn’t get a good feel, he thought. Raditz may of been oblivious to the world, but Nappa’s kneading fingers didn’t go unnoticed by Vegeta. His gaze narrowed at Nappa - who hadn’t been given permission, but Vegeta didn’t correct him. Why would he? Other than to assert his dominance, which he was already doing in spades. His mind was too selfish to care. That’s what the girl was there for, to give them what they wanted. Besides, the prince was too focused on the feeling of teeth and lips scraping over his dick.

All Vegeta wanted was to see her choke when he finally came in her mouth. She may of refused to open her eyes to face reality, but he wasn’t about to put an end to her torment. His erection was thick enough to fill her mouth without her cooperation. Sucking may have enhanced the experience, but plunging down her throat again and again was beginning to feel just as good. Even her struggling was starting to feel exhilarating.

The more she fought, the more Vegeta jerked her head back in place by the hair. The prince had stamina; his movements more rhythmic than the man beating between her legs behind her. If only he could get her to suck, to gasp for air, it might push him over the edge. The idea of forcing her to do something so dirty against her will was heightening his senses, making him exhale with need on every thrust.  
“Suck it you little bitch,” he finally groaned out, giving her cheek bone a little slap. “It won’t be over until you lap it up.” he hissed, maybe that would get her attention.

* * *

Her POV

Maybe it was just being in shock too long, or the head wound, or her coming orgasm, but the sensations all began to roll together. She wasn’t even trying to stand properly at this point, her legs all but hanging as they held onto her to keep her up enough to do what they wanted, and the force of every sensation, both painful and pleasurable, caused her eyes to water. A tear rolled down her cheek, and involuntarily, she grunted and moaned- though her voice was muffled by Vegeta’s cock.

She wouldn’t admit it, but there was something so good about how it felt for Nappa to manhandle her breast while Raditz beat her from behind, and the feeling only got better, despite how much it sickened her, the longer it went on. She was barely brought from her trance at Vegeta smacking her cheekbone. She opened her eyes, though only halfway, to give him a glare.

She did do sucking, though- but not voluntarily. When she got to the point where her legs were trembling from Raditz shoving himself into her so roughly over and over, she had begun salivating so much that spit dribbled down her chin and splattered each time Vegeta’s sack smacked against her skin again. She gulped and gasped both to keep the saliva inside her and because she couldn’t seem to get enough air. Or it felt like it, with how fast her heart was beating and how much her body demanded she gasp.

The shiver that ran through her as the orgasm hit her full-force must have been obvious, or at least the light shaking of her arms and legs. More muffled moans came from her lips, and a few more tears fell down her cheeks. It seemed to last forever, too, with her muscles tightening up and shivering under the force of the intense orgasm. Each time she was pushed into again, it only felt like another wave hitting her, prolonging it.

* * *

His POV

Finally, the foursome was flowing into unison. Every time Raditz rutted his sturdy hips against the back of Bulma’s thighs, Vegeta felt the aftershock of his cock being jolted down Bulma’s throat involuntarily. The slick lubricant of the girls dribbling mouth was perfect. Smacking her lips around the thick girth of his cock whenever she gasped; the vibrations of her whining moans were enough to get the Saiyan off.

The prince was sure the girl was finally broken, that the spirit he saw in her had finally tamed down and accepted its fate. It was somewhat disappointing, but at the same time Vegeta loved conquering her, holding her blood stained cheeks and guiding her mouth around his dick again and again. It was bound to end like this, females always gave in and became hollow husks, empty and tossed aside. He dared to look down at her inhaling face ..and then she opened her eyes up at him, and he knew she was far from dead inside. It put a shock in his belly, one that lit his blood on fire; forcing his hips faster. That strong look she gave him, he wanted to fuck it senseless.

While Nappa busied tweaking and working the girl’s nipples, Raditz couldn’t hold his climax back any longer. The giant body guard blew heavily inside of their captive. Ramming his length into her narrow cunt on one, loud, bellowing moan.

The trembles and shivers that coursed through the girl’s body were noticed by the Saiyan shoving himself down her throat. The world was becoming hot and blurry to Vegeta. The glisten of sweat and spit rolled down the female’s chin, down his own cock and balls as it slapped into her face. He wanted it to last, but even the prince couldn’t last forever.

The electricity of orgasm shot through his body, tensing his muscles on one final thrust that send his seed shooting down her throat. Making sure to pump every last drop past her lips, his fingers rubbed her cheek and jaw line, coaxing her to swallow the mix of come and saliva. His body shook with pleasure; it had been good, a strong orgasm, and he was riding it down in satisfaction.

* * *

Her POV

The orgasm was intense enough that it felt as though it wouldn’t end, smacking her with a new fierceness every time she thought it was dying down. But at least one thing was ending; even with what little she could make out anymore, she still felt the pressure of the one behind her cumming, and she still felt Vegeta soon after filling her mouth with his own cum.

She spat and coughed with his dick still in his mouth, trying her best not to swallow. She could still feel it trickling down her throat, and the taste of it was not pleasant. It was enough for her gag reflex to finally kick in, and small quantities of bile dribbled down her chin along with the cum and saliva.

Even when she became more level-headed from the orgasm finally ending, she was nowhere near alert. The orgasm had been intense enough to shake her and leave her trembling and shivering and exhausted, and while she tried to give Vegeta one last hate-filled glare, it became hard to focus.

She couldn’t hear their moans. She couldn’t hear anything but ringing, and the dizziness she’d continued to feel since smacking her head against the pavement only became more pronounced. Her eyes fluttered, and the ache she otherwise might have felt in her orifices and the sting from her wounds, along with where she’d been slapped so roughly on the ass, all faded into nothing. After all that she was put through, she finally passed out.

* * *

His POV

None of the men cared enough to catch the used earthling once she began to collapse. If it hadn’t been for Nappa’s fondling, Bulma probably would have ended up as a heap on the dirt floor. The intense orgasm had left Raditz half dazed, stumbling backward; pulling his soft length from the woman - paying her little attention now that he was finished with her.

Vegeta, however, wasn’t so inattentive. The prince stared at her soft mouth as it choked and spat on the last of his cock before it slipped it from her lips. That last look she gave him, he watched it until she dismissed into complete unconsciousness. The prince was covered in sticky fluids; tucking himself back into his blue clingy suit, heading stoically for the door. That’s when one of his men, Raditz, dared to speak up - halting the prince in his place.

“What are we going to do with her?” Raditz murmured, “She felt really good. She may be worth something on the black market.”

Both of the nervous soldiers waited for an answer - it was never easy asking Vegeta for something.

“Fine.” Was the prince’s only answer before disappearing out into the burning world. Both Nappa and Raditz shared a glance. Vegeta wasn’t usually a ‘take live prisoners’ sort of guy. It was that last look she’d given him; it was still fresh in his mind.

…he wasn’t finished with her.

The crash site wasn’t too far, and the three Saiyans made quick timing in returning to their transportation. It was time to get off of this miserable planet now that the trio had pillaged and defiled it to their hearts content. The once beautiful world of green and blue was to be left to rot in their wake.  
Nappa dropped Bulma beside one of the pods without much grace, leaving her unconscious body at the feet of his prince. Vegeta ordered his reluctant men to make one more sweep of the area. To search for any remaining signs of life. The pair returning soon after; Raditz empty handed, but Nappa returning with a girl under each arm. He was toting a redhead and a blonde, whom he quickly shoved in his pod once they began readying for takeoff. Raditz looked particularly disappointed at seeing Vegeta assessing the blue haired earthling, the female that he’d originally caught. Lifting the unconscious captive into his pod, the prince took his new toy. It looked like it’d be a lonely ride back for Raditz.

Rockets jettisoned, the three pods air born again. Now that they were alone, Vegeta could get a better look at the girl tucked away in his lap. The ape titled the battered girls head one way, and then the other; noticing the large wound to her temple, the dried come and bile on her face. She better be worth it.

  



	2. Looks like something caught his eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pods can prove to be very tight spaces.

  


Her POV

She had passed out for quite some time. She dreamed, though it was more like a fever dream than anything else. There was no real depth to it, just color and sweetness and the vague idea of Yamcha. His soft hair tickling her when they got too close, his stupid smile that she couldn’t get mad at, his apologetic kisses against her skin when he’d upset her accidentally. It was warm.

Despite the dream being nothing more than sensations, it still upset her when she slowly began to regain consciousness. She could feel the sweat and saliva and tears and cum caked to her skin and someone gripping her chin, moving her head from side to side. As she began to wake up more, the aches and stings from her wounds and tears and bruises came back to her. Her throat was sore, her vagina burned, every muscle in her body felt like it wanted to fall off. She was no longer warm; she was cold, with no fabric but her socks and shoes to cover her bare skin.

She opened her eyes, albeit slowly, to find her face-to-face with Vegeta. It took her a moment to fully recognize him, still dazed from being unconscious. But her eyes turned to fury again, and she gathered what little strength she regained to slap his hand away and quickly cover her breasts, with a leg folding up to try and hide her genitals best she could, all while trying to push herself as far away from him as she could, with her back pressed against the walls of the pod.

Then her eyes turned to check her surroundings. Sh– She was in some kind of pod with him? With a window in the front showing Earth far below them. Her stomach dropped, and her eyes widened. No. No. She was going to go find the dragon balls, wish everyone back, fix things! She couldn’t do that in space!

“I– Th– Wh–” She couldn’t even form words, despite how hard she tried. For a moment, she debated trying to reverse the direction of the pod, but didn’t even recognize the language that any of the controls on the pod were in, much less what they said. Besides, she knew enough about space ships. As far as she knew, this thing couldn’t change course, it was just flung where it was decided it was going and was at the mercy of the vacuum of space.

When she processed it all, that’s when she finally began to cry. Not just tear up like she had before. Her tears streamed down freely and she gasped for air as she began to sob, her eyes only focused on the planet they were drifting further and further away from.

* * *

His POV

She was kind of pretty, for a beaten and battered earthling female. Vegeta was giving the silvery blue girl a once over in the silence of the pod. Her petite nose and soft, almost pearled skin caught his attention in such a close range. It was no wonder with how much water her planet possessed. She was an unusual color, too. Vegeta couldn’t decide if she were more blue or lavender. Plucking a lose end of her messed hair, twisting it between his dirty gloved fingers, further inspecting it.

Damn it, she was stirring back to life. Vegeta hadn’t expected her to gain consciousness so soon - not with that head wound. His lip curled over a canine in detest. He hadn’t even gotten to jack off to her yet. Oh well, he thought, he could accomplish that as just as well when she was awake. It made no difference to the bastard prince.

It was almost amusing to watch her awaken to her surroundings. Vegeta watched her assess her situation with cool fascination, how she backed away from him as soon as she realized. Did she notice her planet outside the circular window? It had been him, all him his ego cried, who’d burned her planet to ash. The same soot and stink of guts and war that smeared all over his suit. The prince was a majestic mess.

“Hold still you idiot female..” He finally ground out when Bulma’s backing away turned a little too risky. The last thing he needed was for her to back into the eject button. The prince’s stained gloves reached for her sniffling naked body. Collecting her sternly back into his lap, as much as he could.

And here came the water works. Vegeta had been anticipating this. His dark eyes rolled in disgust, snorting out of his nose and resting his cheek on a fist. “And stop that infernal noise making! I could have left you on that planet to burn.” It was a bit of a tease, and his cold eyes narrowed over a grin. His eyes trailed down her bare curves. His hands were resting prominently on her waist now.

* * *

Her POV

She couldn’t stop crying. And honestly, she was surprised she hadn’t started crying sooner. It was like everything that happened and was happening hit her like a brick wall, and she wasn’t even sure what to be most upset about. She was raped, she was kidnapped, she was sitting in the lap of one of her rapists, her city was destroyed, her boyfriend was dead, and by the smell of Vegeta and the blood and guts all over him, her whole planet just might have been destroyed, as well. She cried for all of it, even when he rolled her eyes and told her to shut up. She couldn’t help it.

“I’m never gonna see him again,” she murmured under her breath between sobs, wiping her eyes with her arm, her other arm still wrapped tightly over her chest. She was pulled closer again, and with new amounts of fury and anguish, she slapped him and scrambled free of his grasp again, curling more into a ball with her feet pressing against his leg to try and push herself further and further away, even when there was no more space to move back.

“Don’t touch me,” she warned, her eyes fiery in spite of it all. Agh, when she moved a certain way, she felt a certain sticky substance ooze out of her. She sniffled and wiped her eyes again, and attempted to wipe off the substances on her chin. She must have looked like a mess. She felt like a mess. The smells all around her didn’t help, either.

She turned her head to look out the window again, tears still falling as she cried, although her sobs were far less audible by now. “I can’t– … I can’t believe…”

* * *

His POV

This had to be the worst part, this is why Vegeta rarely took prisoners for himself. There was so many loose ends and whining that went with it, when he could have been content and alone. But no, the female was obviously disturbed by her new found situation. They fought for dominance again, Vegeta struggling to regain control of the womans balled up body, and then - another slap to his prestigious face.

“Why you little..” he scoffed under his breath, but met with fiery blue eyes that pinned him in place - for once. He glared, and then she mumbled something that turned his stomach. Something about a ‘him’, probably a worthless mate, furthered by her viewing of her home planet. The marble sized earth was hardly recognizable now - consumed by fire, a swirling mix of reds and blues.

At least the realization of her home planet drifting out into space calmed her spirits. She was a wild thing, wasn’t she. The prince’s hands seized her moment of low defense. Grabbing her curled up form and twisting her around, plunking her slender back against the plating of his chest. She could struggle, but the prince wasn’t giving up his captive so easily this time..

“Mmhnn..” The hard line of his jaw cupped over her shoulder, pinning her in place. He didn’t grace her with an answer. As far as he was concerned, she hadn’t earned one. The girl was just a slave, and he’d yet to finish with her. It was time to check just how soft she was for himself. One of the palms holding her captive slid its way to her breast. His other hand trailing down the line of her belly. Vegeta was trying to work his fingers past her restricting knees and thighs, prying down to his prize, the sticky flesh hiding just below her hips.

* * *

Her POV

The look he had on his face after she’d glared at him and told him not to touch her made her think he’d actually listen to her. That when she looked back at her planet, he’d just leave her be. But as soon as he had the chance, he’d pulled her into his grasp.

She struggled and tried shoving away from him when he pinned her between his legs, knowing already that this wasn’t heading anywhere good. The blood and dirt on his armor and gloves smeared onto her skin when he held her, making her dirtier and slimier than she already was. And then he started groping her breast, and trying to pry her legs apart to get elsewhere.

No. If struggling wasn’t working, she’d just have to try different measures. She tried her best to keep her legs shut tight, her knees crossed to prevent him from going further. She didn’t bother trying to pry his hand off her breast or hide her chest anymore, however, because as soon as she glanced at him, holding her down with his chin, she got an idea.

She grabbed his scouter and yanked it from his face, and with the strength she never knew she had, shattered the glass screen by smashing it against the side of the pod. She drove the shattered remains of what was left of the screen straight into his left eye, with all the intent to maim him.

* * *

His POV

The woman just couldn’t learn her place, could she?! The prince was quickly turning from taking his time, to trying and manhandle the woman into place. He was growing annoyed and feistier, the tighter her legs clamped together. Growling in her ear, pressing his nose against her jaw and baring his teeth, like an animal warning her of just how dangerous he was. Her wriggling and struggling was only making it worse for herself.

For the Saiyan, it felt like wrestling down a wild animal. The struggle and challenge of forcing her to accept his touch was like a potent foreplay that even the prince wasn’t aware of. His heart rate was up, and the roar vibrating in his chest was starting to pair with soft panting. It must have been obvious to the girl, with how it was causing his length to grow and harden right below her ass cheeks.

“Open your damn legs, girl..!” the words bit out behind clenched teeth. Finally, she seemed distracted in thought. Vegeta was sure he had finally found his chance - the girl seemed distracted. Dipping his hard fingers down between her legs, he pressed into her soft folds. But it wasn’t the victory he had planned. He was so focused on taking what was owed to him, Vegeta didn’t realize what the girl was grabbing for until it was too late.

“AHHHHHHH!!!” the massive roar filled the small cabin. Vegeta’s left eye shut tight in pain. Instantly, the ape released her, clenching his damaged face instead. Snarling back to reality, his one good eye opened and darted towards the girl. He looked beyond angry, furious; pulsing a nice thick vein on his forehead.

“You damn little wench, do you think that’s going to save you?” One of his hands lunged for her neck, lifting from his seat enough to tower over her in the circular pod. “I was going to go easy on you, but since you seem to like it rough..” He cut himself off with his own dark smirk. “I’m not one to complain, now drop the scouter, or I’ll snap that little neck of yours.” The look of excitement and fury, the way his tail was swishing angrily against the seat behind him - Vegeta was toying with her, giving her a chance. He actually liked it, like it was some sort of sick game.

* * *

Her POV

It was a little victory for her, when she managed to actually harm him. It almost felt good, to hear his roar of pain and to be able to scramble away from him best she could, while the blood leaked down the scouter’s screen and down her wrist. It was nowhere near how good Vegeta was feeling, with his swishing tail and still obvious erection (she cursed herself for having struggled so much; she must have caused too much friction), but it gave her some semblance of revenge.

But it only lasted so long. He towered over her and grabbed her by the neck, threatening her with death. She’d turned around enough in the pod just beforehand to be able to properly face him, and see the look in his eyes. But it wasn’t like she was just going to let go of her one usable weapon.

“Snap my neck! I don’t care! I’d prefer it!” The words were true, but she was still terrified saying it. She didn’t truly want to die, but what other choice was there? She held tight to her makeshift weapon, and went for another lunge for his other eye. What good would he be if he was entirely blind?

* * *

His POV

Blood seeped from his wounded eye socket. She’d gotten him, but it was nothing that wouldn’t heal over time. Bulma had managed to strike him right in the corner of his eye. Sure, his eye would be blood shot and probably blurry for an amount of time, but the zing of pain was beginning to trickle off. Vegeta was use to pain, just as he was adapted to witnessing it in the faces of others wherever his journey lead him. What he hadn’t expected to witness, however, was the determination of the girl trapped in his grip.

Dodging her second swing was childs play. But his initial reaction to her words was to stare, searching into her blue hues. Processing what she was saying. His brows knit together; she had to be bluffing. Did the sapphire really want death over slavery? ..it was something he himself could understand. Vegeta would never be anyone’s slave, not without a fight. She was brave, he had to give her that. Fighting for her life like some sort of warrior. As if; that was a laugh, he thought.

“Give it to me..” Slowly, his free hand sliced through the silent tension, reaching for the shattered scouter in her clutch. Slightly tilting his head with a coy stare, letting her know not to try anything stupid. The fingers wound around her neck squeezing, rubbing his thumb over her slender throat as a reminder of how easily he could kill her. But that was the thing, he didn’t kill her. Instead, Vegeta’s free fingers gently roamed over her own, then forcibly pried the weapon from her. Once he’d gotten what he’d wanted, he leaned in with a new sense of ego. Sniffing at the pinned girls neck.

“You smell like Raditz..” Vegeta leaned back, uncurling back into his chair. The disgusted snarl on his face and a flick of his tail telling that he didn’t approve of the smell. At least he’d let go of her, and was sitting quite leisurely with a foot pressed into his seat, even if he was still baring a thick erection..

* * *

Her POV

She snorted a gust of air out her nostrils at him so easily dodging her second attack. But things were silent and still for a moment as he stared at her, similar to the expression in his eyes when she shouted at him to not touch her. He at least did not roughly retaliate this time. Instead, he just held her throat a little tighter. For a moment, she thought he’d kill her. But he didn’t. Instead, he gripped her hand and slowly, gently pried the weapon from her hands.

After the whole struggle and the crying and everything else, she was out of breath, panting unevenly and shaking slightly. She eyed him, and did not give the weapon up easily. But she didn’t fight back, either; she just kept it tight in her hands until he managed to take it from her. She stayed still even then, though her brows furrowed. She stiffened when he leaned in to sniff her, and didn’t quite relax even when he let her go and spoke about her smelling like Raditz.

He relaxed back into his hair, and Bulma let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She didn’t look away, but what he said made her feel sick. She smelled like– …Revolting. She didn’t want to be reminded. She longed for home, if only just to get into a bath and scrub away all those smells and return to smelling like her usual flowery self.

Her arms wrapped around her chest again, and her panting slowly lessened as she caught her breath. She was still between Vegeta’s legs, but at least this time she wasn’t on his lap, but rather in the foot of the chair, her back to the glass window of the pod and her knees curled up. There wasn’t much room, she was sitting on the broken glass of the scouter while still nude, and Vegeta still had an obvious erection, but at least things were silent, for the moment. She didn’t even dare speak up, feeling like any kind of action would provoke him into grabbing her again.

* * *

His POV

Things had finally began to calm down, and the quietness of space began to breath into the pod. Vegeta’s muscular form twitched, jerked under the blue second skin that fitted his body; sinking and relaxing in his spot. His dark gaze never left the woman across from him. Even when he pressed his elbow into the armrest beside him, catching the angle of his pronounced cheek bone against his gloved knuckles.

The game was far from over. Had she really think she’d won? That was something Vegeta just couldn’t allow. Not in his pod, not by some tear stained slave. ..even with as pretty as she was. The mans fingers trailed the hard lines of his abdomen, down to the thick bulge that begged to be released from his pants. His cocky stare only left her eyes once, for a quick moment, darting his eyes down to the stroking of his hardened length then back up to her again, as if warning her of what was to come next. And with no shame at all…

There was something exciting about pissing her off. Teasing her was making his already large erection solid. Made obvious once he released it from his suit, sliding his hand up and down the massive length. Rubbing it felt good, deepening his hard staring the more he fondled and jerked himself. If she wasn’t going to sit on his dick, he could still use her body to get off to.

She may of tried covering her bare self, but she couldn’t hide everything. The soft glow of space poured through her hair, illuminating it. He could see the curve of her breasts and thighs peeking through where her arms and legs dared to hide them. His eyes dragged over her body before searching her face again, even if he wanted to close his eyes to concentrate, he wouldn’t allow himself. This was her punishment for refusing him, and it felt good.

* * *

Her POV

She should have known he wouldn’t be still. Even as bloodied as he was, with the inability to open one of his eyes, he wouldn’t quit. She watched his hand slowly start rubbing himself through his clothes, and he freed it, still rubbing himself off. She didn’t want to watch, but she was terrified that if she glanced away, he’d grab her. So far, all he was doing was staring at her, and rubbing himself off.

She held herself tighter when she watched his eyes slowly trail over her body, clearly getting off to the idea of her. It made her hyper-aware of her nudity, and how badly she longed for something to cover herself up again. Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red, and despite her disgust, she kept silent.

It was better this, than him grabbing her. He wasn’t trying to force himself down her throat, or trying to finger her, or anything else. As long as he was only touching himself, she could at least try to deal with it. Though it felt as if it were taking forever, as if the moment would never stop. He’d found a way to violate her without truly violating her.

She tried to keep her eyes on his, but it became difficult to never look down. She stole disgusted glances occasionally, as if she hadn’t become intimate with the cock not hours before. Big, dark, hairy, uncircumcised, disgusting. She only wished that when she tried to bite down early, she would have ripped it clean off his body rather than just exciting him more.

* * *

His POV

So, she was going to stare back at him, was she? Vegeta had half expected the girl to look away, but no, her rebellion shown through. At least, that’s how he interpreted it. Her big blue jewels watching back like a frightened doe, afraid of what he might do to her. Vegeta was good at sensing fear. He saw it in her expression, and it was helping get him off. There was nothing quite as good as feeling like a threat to someone else.

The prince was obviously taking his time, casually stroking himself as if she weren’t even there ..though he never took his eye off of her. His one good brow winging upward when he caught the blush that filled her cheeks, and the way she clenched her knees in closer to herself. As if questioning what that was about. He definitely noted her sneaky stolen looks at his cock, too. It obviously disgusted her, but all he wanted to do was shove it back into her mouth.

The feel of her mouth flooded back into his memory, and Vegeta began beating his meat harder than before. His chest plate rising and falling with the new pace of his breath. He was beginning to pant; barely audible groans slipping from his lips. The saiyans body visibly tensed and relaxed, again and again - doing his best to hold back the orgasm that was destined to come.

He couldn’t help it, Vegeta’s one good eye strained to close, tilting his head back and exposing his thick bronze neck. Biting back a moan, his dark eye darted straight for her again, just in time for the Saiyan to explode all over her legs and upward. The breath he’d been holding while he came finally released into a deep moan. Regaining his cocky grin, as well as his composure, now that he’d marked her with his own scent. He looked down right victorious.

* * *

Her POV

It was disgusting, the entire way through. That’s the only word that kept coming back into her head. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting. But it’s not like there was anywhere she could go to get away from it, stuck in that pod with him. However… There was something about it. She didn’t want to think about it, but the way he panted, and when he turned his head away to expose his neck– She wouldn’t say it, but the word that described what she thought in that instance was ‘attractive.’

And it disgusted her more that that’s what did come to mind. She knitted her brows as he started beating himself off harder, and, finally, came. It was no little amount by any means; it shot right at her, hitting her skin. Mainly her shins, but enough had managed to hit her arms and face too. A bit in her hair, a small amount on what she couldn’t hide of her breasts… She scowled.

But that had to be it, right? It was silent, and she finally decided that maybe he wouldn’t attack her if she looked away. He was done jacking off, after all. She turned her head finally, before something caught the edge of her vision. She turned enough to look out the window, to find another planet that they were quickly approaching.

She wanted to ask what it was, but she felt like he probably wouldn’t answer anyway. Or, she wouldn’t like what answer he had to give. She no longer cared what Vegeta did, turning even further and going so far as to press her hand against the glass. She couldn’t make out much, seeing as they were still too far away. But it was not the water planet that Earth was; it seemed mostly… What she suspected, was land. Purple clouds, and grayish-blue land.

* * *

His POV

It was perfect to see her covered in his come. Vegeta melted back into the armrests of his chair, now that he’d finally finished himself off. The droplets of white that beaded the girls hair and skin, catching his attention. She could look away now, he wouldn’t stop her. The prince’s body felt good and in no mood to give up his nice buzz.

The minimal sound of the automated landing procedure blinked to life, stirring him from his thoughts. They were coming up on their destination, a near by planet. It must have been what she was staring at so intently. He sat up, tucked himself away, brushed his armor off …and then debated if he should even warn her about what was coming up next.

He could have easily of let her slosh around in the small pod, probably worsening her wounds. The thought was even amusing, but in the end, Vegeta pressed his hands around the girls turned waist, and tried coaxing her back into the chair with him. He expected her to struggle, that’s why he spoke up.

“You’re going to want to sit back.” There wasn’t anything sexual about the way he was holding her, much. Other then how gentle his palms were resting on her hips. He didn’t seem to be paying her much attention. Sternly pressing something into the control panel next to him - and with that, the pod sped up ungodly fast. The sound of atmosphere singing past the pod outside, the hues of fire outside the front window. They were about to crash land right into the planet, creating a crater on impact.

  



	3. Bath Bomb at the Brothel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma is taken to a brothel.

  


Her POV

She jerked away from his grasp as soon as his hands were placed on her hips, but she turned around to look at him and see that he didn’t really look all that intimidating. He looked casual, and not in the way that he casually beat off to her. He didn’t look like he meant much harm, for once. Especially with how easy it was to get out of his grasp.

His words of warning seemed to be an actual warning. She frowned slightly and tilted her head to the side, trying to understand what he meant. Until he pressed something, and she could physically hear how fast they were going. …Shit. He was right.

Despite how much she hated it, she scrambled up onto his lap, and turned to face the window. Didn’t they have seat belts or anything? Maybe Saiyans were just so sturdy that they didn’t need them. She hoped that wasn’t the case, though; she didn’t want to die just yet, and at the very least, that head wound was enough.

“Ahh–” She noised her discomfort at how close they were getting to impact, feeling her gut drop at just how fast they were reaching the surface of the planet, in the same way one does on a rollercoaster.

* * *

His POV

Without so much as a warning, Vegeta placed one of his sturdy arms over the girls bare chest, pressing her against his armor. His unyielding arm worked better then any steal framed bar on a roller-coaster ride. He’d hate to admit it, but some part of him was aware of how willingly close the girl was to his person. How readily she’d scurried into his lap when faced with life or death. He disliked even more how much it pleased him.

The crash came with a boom, but it didn’t sling the Saiyan forward - he was as immovable as a statue. The door hissed to life and opened to reveal the new world. It was desertous with sparely growing purple trees, but in the distance towered a great city. Fogged over with dust, but beautiful in it’s own way.

“Get out.” Vegeta’s lowly voice brooded. Un-clenching his arm from her presence and giving her a little push outside, so he could stand up himself. Giving his body a much needed stretch.

The other two girls that’d had a ride along with Nappa, didn’t look so lucky. They stumbled out of the soldiers pod looking nauseated and over used. The redhead collapsing to her knees to catch her breath. She didn’t get much air before Nappa slung her, and the blonde over his shoulders.

* * *

Her POV

She was well aware of his arm over her chest, but she was so focused on the horrifying idea of crash-landing that she didn’t even care. It worked well to at least comfort her with the idea of some means of security. She still gasped and jerked when they hit the ground, her head thumping against Vegeta’s. Probably hurt her far more than it hurt him.

The door opened, but she didn’t move. She was too scared. What if she couldn’t even breathe this air? What if there were people even worse than these three Saiyans? Who knew what’d happen to her. But despite her terror, Vegeta let her go and shoved her out of the pod.

She stumbled out but caught herself before hitting the ground, and covered herself with her arms again to look around. The other two pods had landed as well, with the Saiyans in them. Two women came out of the largest pod, along with the largest Saiyan. She pitied the girls; they looked like what she must have looked like when all three had ganged up on her.

She glanced back at Vegeta with wide eyes, unsure of what to do. She couldn’t even think about running. No way. It’d cause her even more problems; she didn’t know what was out there. But staying with them– …Well. who knew what they were planning.

* * *

His POV

The warm air filled his lungs and the alien sun felt good against his bronze features. Vegeta was doing little to pay attention to the girl who was so unsure of her surroundings. Well, he did catch a glance of the blue haired woman from the corner of his eye, before turning to one of his soldiers, grunting sourly in Raditz direction. Vegeta’s blood shot eye open - the last thing he was about to do was appear to be weak in front of his men.

The leader didn’t have to say much when it came to getting what he wanted across to his men. Vegeta threw his thumb over his shoulder, in Bulma’s direction, and then left her there.. She could try to run, to escape into the desert, or even toward the city, but Raditz was quick to pick her up and toss her over his broad shoulder, and int the thick of his hair.

The prince lead the trio straight into the heart of the city. There were so many colors, animals, aliens. Merchants tried for their attention, and some others cowered away at the appearance of their blood splattered physique.

“Where to first, boss?” Nappa finally piped up. “To sell the girls?” He was obviously getting tired of being kicked in the face.

“Yes, that brothel will do.” The prince nodded to one of the bigger, flashier institutions that lined the street. He hadn’t paid Bulma, or anyone, much attention since they landed, but that did cause a quick glance in her direction, if she caught it, before they walked in.

* * *

Her POV

Just as she was beginning to get accustom to her surroundings, Raditz took her by surprise and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder. It scared her, but at the very least, at least she didn’t need to walk, wherever they were planning on going. She was embarrassed by being bent over his shoulder for the whole world to see, and at least made an effort to reach behind herself with a hand just to cover the most private areas, but it was interesting to see where they were taken.

There were so many merchants, of all kinds of different… Species, I suppose you’d say. All alien, none of which looked human. Some looked like bugs, others looked like little robots, but they were all… Foreign.

It wasn’t until she heard Nappa pipe up about ‘selling the girls’ did alarms start to go off in her head. She snapped her head over to Vegeta just in time to see him eye her, and agree. No, no, no, no! She wasn’t about to be a prostitute the rest of her life! She wasn’t going to bed all these– These creatures!

She no longer cared about her vagina being shown to the world. Instead, she struggled with Raditz, doing her damnedest to wiggle her way down his back. Not to free herself, per se. No, instead, she was trying her best to reach his tail again, in order to yank it. There were plenty of people here, what were the chances that they’d be able to find her again? She had to try.

* * *

His POV

Raditz didn’t mind much of Bulma’s wriggling ..until he felt something brush up against the fur of his tail. The big lug instantly jumped, knocking the girl off of his shoulder of his own accord, rather then her actually having to pull the appendage. But before she could hit the ground, there he was, catching her by the arm and giving the foulest of expressions.

“I swear Raditz, some days your completely useless. I should sell your hide instead.” The threat got an embarrassed jolt out of Raditz, who quickly caught Bulma when shoved from Vegeta’s hands. Raditz big hands rested on the girls naked shoulders, forcing her to march into the Brothel behind Nappa and the prince. The blonde girl slung over Nappas shoulder was whimpering, but the redhead looked dead, hallow inside. It was the look Vegeta had expected to find in Bulma when he first encountered her in the cellar.

“5,000 credits for each head.” Vegeta demanded from the Brothel owner, who had greeted them at the doorway with much interest at the sight of the girls.

“5,000!” exclaimed the bug like arachnid. “But my best girl only cost me 800!”

“5,000. Each. Or I could blast this pathetic hole of yours into oblivion.”

“5,000 is good! Fair and good, even!” The arachnid lifted several arms in defense. “In fact, why don’t you boys enjoy yourselves, on the house.” Anything to get out of this mess.

The two girls were slid from Nappa’s shoulders, cuffed and chained, and lead away. However, when a servant aimed to cuff Bulma, Vegeta’s head jerked in their direction.

“Not that one.” Vegeta grunted. Both Nappa and Raditz had a look of surprise.

“B-But.. Hey, high priced remember? I’ll give you 10,000. She’s such a pretty color, I don’t have a blue-” The arachnid was cut off by the glare coming from the prince. He quickly retracted his words. “Alright, not the blue one.” With that, he backed off. Leaving the trio of men to sit at a table. Girls of different species strolling by, if they could be called female. Offering drink and food.

* * *

Her POV

She thought she was free, for a split second. But before she could even hit the ground and start running, she was caught by Vegeta. And shoved back into Raditz arms. The irritated and disappointed look on her face was obvious, and this time, she had to walk. At least it was easier to cover herself like this, one arm around her breasts and the hand of her other arm covering her genitals.

The walk wasn’t that long, and when they got to the brothel (which smelled nearly as revolting as the pod did, but probably not as bad as she smelled at that moment), she got to get a good look at the other two girls. They were sold off, and Bulma was ready to start whimpering like one of them was, when Vegeta stopped them from cuffing her.

She raised her brows and stared at him, watching as he kept his stance even when the price doubled. She wasn’t sure how expensive 10,000 of whatever currency it was was, but it sounded like a fortune by the way he spoke. She was left alone, while the other girls were dragged away.

She debated running off again, but weighed her options and simply followed the Saiyans to a table, all the while looking at the girls around them. Huh, it was weird, considering how all this time, Earth wasn’t sure if there were other aliens out there. To think that there were so many…

She sat down at the table and pulled her legs up for some coverage again, taking particular interest in the food and drink. She was starving and thirsty, but at the same time, she’d never seen food and drink anything like what they offered. It was… Bizarre.

* * *

His POV

A large tray of food clanked down in the middle of their small table. Bulma was sandwiched between the larger two Saiyans; Nappa and Raditz trailing their eyes everywhere except for the girl (mostly on the whores who strolled by). However, it did leave the food untended. A bunch of green looking muffins, and what could only be odd shaped, brightly colored fruit.

Vegeta also, was paying her no attention. In fact, her hard featured captor didn’t look all too amused (when did he ever). Staring into a distant direction, as if something where on his mind. Harsh, quiet, but at least looking at ease in his chair. Was the girl scared; at unease sitting naked in this place? He didn’t care, he didn’t care at all how she felt, that was the harsh truth of it.

By all means, Bulma didn’t look too out of place sitting naked as she were. Most passers by had on little, or no clothing at all. A multi armed lizard looking female with an oblong head tried her best to flirt with Raditz, hoping for some credits. The big soldier was more then pleased for the attention. Flirting right back. But when a slave tried the same on Vegeta, he quickly leaned his head away in disgust. Attention was not something the prince regularly enjoyed.

“You’re a big boy,” the alien remarked, stroking at the prince’s cheek. “How about it, I’ll make it worth you’re while. “Vegeta’s dark eyes finally caught up with Bulma, and a coy grin hooked his lips. It was a look only meant for her, there was something unspoken that only the two of them would know about; how she’d refused him in the pod.

The whore was humanoid, snow white with flowing pink hair, a pinched waist with wide hips. Vegeta’s staring at the blue earthling suggesting if his slave wouldn’t fuck him, someone else willingly would. The point being, he didn’t need her. And then he stood, and left with the brothel slut.

As soon as he left, another, less sultry servant strolled up. “Wash your slave for you?” That finally caught Raditz attention. Whining “Fine, go on get out of here”, before handing off a few credits. It was Bulma whom was about to be lead to the back next - but for a bath.

* * *

Her POV

She was hesitant before finally reaching out and grabbing what looked to be a fruit. She onced it over and licked it, before finally biting in. It was sweet like a peach, and juicy enough to satisfy her thirst. She continued to eat, and quickly, at that, as she watched the other three Saiyans. Luckily, they seemed focused on the whores.

She watched Vegeta as a humanoid with pink hair came around offering herself, half because of that look he was giving her and half out of curiosity for the girl. Her skin had a slight blue hue to it, and her nipples and lips were dark blue. How odd. She figured Vegeta would be rough with her, but surprisingly, he agreed. …Maybe that meant she’d be safe for a while.

She was put at ease when he left, only to be pulled up by an alien with a thin layer of fur covering all but her breasts pull her up upon Raditz paying for her to be washed. She was dragged from the food despite her still starving belly, but she supposed she should feel lucky she was at least getting a bath. She was caked in all kinds of disgusting materials and substances

She was led passed a red, embroidered curtain to a back room with plenty more slaves, with pillows and more curtains, though thin enough and billowy enough to make it obvious that they were sectioned off for the privacy of clients. Silhouettes of women, riding men, sucking them off, feeling themselves up for their entertainment. She was dragged just passed that, to a very, very large bath with much less privacy. Plenty other slaves were using them all while purposely giggling and looking sultry, a few clients as well- lying back as they were being bathed by multiple slaves.

She wasn’t even being given privacy? She supposed that was obvious. They did call her ‘slave.’ It didn’t look like she was allowed much privacy anymore. The alien slave set her to sit on the edge of the bath, and gently pulled off the only things she was still wearing: her shoes and socks. Then she was led inside the water- a light, transparent shade of blue that stung her wounds intensely. She grimaced, and she could hear the slave laughing at her. Telling her that sting was necessary, that it’d go away soon. She thought she just meant it was necessary to clean the wounds, but then she realized… The pain stopped. Not even a dull ache remained. She turned her head down to look at her knees, finding them devoid of any scratches.

She was so surprised by it that she didn’t even care that many of the clients were staring at her, a couple whispering to the other slaves about her, trying to bribe them into some time with her. She pulled her arms up from the water to inspect her arms and hands, to find the scratches there had disappeared as well. The slave gently washed her down, before gesturing for another girl to come help her. She made a comment of Bulma simply being filthy, and an alien with the eyes of a deer and with no breasts but an udder on her lower stomach sat on the edge of the bath with a rag. She dipped the rag in the water and wiped Bulma’s face with it, before holding it firmy in place at the spot of her head wound. This one will take some time to heal, she explained.

* * *

His POV

It was nice to get away from his men for a while. Once Vegeta left the table, following the pink and curvy whore deeper and deeper into the confines of the lively brothel; past the sheer curtains and smell of floral bath waters, past the moans and grunts of customer and slave alike, and into the more private sector of the whorehouse. He’d all but forgotten about the lot of them, including the girl. All the prince cared about now was getting his dick sucked.

“Remove your armor for you?” The whore was met with biting teeth and a firm scowl, but eventually the prince allowed her to touch him. She was so ready to please him, to do whatever he asked ..Vegeta found it somewhat dull. At least it felt good to get some, that’s what the girl was there for - not to fight him, not like that blue brat. Damn, that was the last thing he wanted to think about right now, but her furious blue eyes kept popping up in his vision. He grunted in anger, but the whore must have thought she was doing something right. That is until Vegeta ripped his cock from her lips. Taking his frustrations out on the whore by shoving her into the bedding; taking her from behind.

Back in the foyer of the cathouse, Nappa was getting a well paid lap dance while Raditz was being lured back into the bathhouse for a special ‘massage’ of his own - by none other then the multi armed lizard female. The big soldiers silhouette passed through the rustling silks of the bath-hall, but he didn’t seem to notice Bulma when he passed by and out of sight.

A few of the slaves that surrounded Bulma began to whisper. “I heard Luika is entertaining a prince.” Said one.

“Yeah, but did you see him? ..he looks scary. Royalty isn’t worth getting your hip broken over.” Said another, setting down a tray of vials next to Bulma’s bath rim. It was littered with lotions and oils, all ready to be applied to her skin. A striped, grasshopper legged alien began messing with the girls wet hair, soaping it up and combing it through. Cleaning her up as if they’d done it a million times.

It was just about then a cart donned with vibrantly colorful hanging fabrics and skimpy outfits (some only strings) rolled up. It was clothing, sheer, Arabic looking clothing. “How about a new outfit for your master? For a fee, of course.”

* * *

Her POV

The bath felt better than she thought it would. At least they were all women washing her, and it seemed innocent enough. Scrubbing down her arms, gently patting the lessening wound on her temple, massaging her scalp… It was like being at a spa. She was still very much aware of how nude she was, but suddenly it felt less important. Like stripping your clothes to get a back massage. The slaves seemed to like it as well; better washing a fellow slave and gossip to their friends while doing it, than have to entertain some disgusting, horny man.

She turned her head to see Raditz walking with the prostitute that had been flirting with him, but focused more on listening to the others. They were speaking about someone who was royalty, and suddenly one of them pointed over to Raditz- “The prince may be scary, but his soldiers are handsome. Look at that hair.”

Bulma was silent, but the comment did catch her off-guard. So he was a prince? What kind of prince went to planets and destroyed them? Grabbed girls and force them to suck them off? That wasn’t princely. Her expression turned sour just thinking about it, when the smooth hands of one of the slaves disrupted her by running along the sides of her torso. They circled her breasts and squeezed them gently, running her thumbs over the tender skin. It’d nearly given Bulma a heart attack, and her face flushed when she saw a client on the other side of the bath lick his lips and watch.

“Your master is lucky, you’re so soft. It’s so cute how your breasts get goosebumps.”

She covered her breasts with her arms but the other slaves grabbed her limbs and pulled them back again to keep washing, giggling at her.

“You’re so shy! You must be a recent slave. You need to get accustom to your body. There is no shame. It’s relaxing when another woman helps you get off, you know– Maybe I should touch some more to relieve your stress.”

Thankfully they stopped the teasing (though the one slave continued to bath her from behind, rubbing oil into her stomach and breasts despite her clear discomfort) when a cart of all kinds of beautiful clothing rolled up. Most of it looked like things she’d wear for Yamcha on special nights, but some were less revealing than others. She’d never been too shameful of a girl anyway; she never wore bras, and liked showing skin. Some clothes were better than nothing, and she’d take it.

“Give me the most expensive one.” She could see the skeptical and entertained looks in the eyes of the escorts, and she decided to elaborate with what she’d learned. “He’s– He’s the prince, he’ll pay for it.”

* * *

His POV

A hush of silence washed over the slaves surrounding Bulma’s bath as soon as she muttered something about belonging to the prince they’d been forced to entertain. But at least this one probably had money.. Royalty always had money, didn’t they? The small alien trying to sell her a piece of clothing or two, was quick on its heels to pull it’s most luxurious work of art from the rack of silks. The little cart pusher even looked a little nervous. The last thing it wanted to do was to piss off a Saiyan by fitting it’s slave something it didn’t like.

“Your master is the Saiyan?” The doe eyed slave perked up. “You poor thing. We’ll make sure you get the full treatment before we send you away.” The clothes were pushed aside, and all eyes fell on the woman in the bath. Including the male still watching her from across the large tub. Something was about to happen, the anticipation was all over their giggling faces.

Silky hands rushed over the girls skin, but in the most delicate and sensual of ways. As if the female slaves truly cared about her, as if they were doing the recent slave a favor she’d never forget. One slave hoisted the girl out of the bath by her arms; pulling her from the healing waters and onto the rim side for better access. Exposing her nudity to the man across the tub (whom was starting to play with his growing erection), as well as anyone else who stammered by, stunned into staring at what was going on.

“Now now, you’ll love it!” Another alien reassured her. It didn’t matter if Bulma resisted, the servants were determined, and there were a lot of them ..a few in the mix were getting handsy. Her breasts were squeezed, her thighs massaged, her ass rubbed with the finest of oils.

“Lay back and enjoy it.” another insisted, prying open a bottle, wetting her fingers with the oil. Once she was pinned down by the rest of the servants, she began to finger the earthlings lower lips with the tingly liquid. The others were slathering warm oils onto her skin, like a flurry of muses or sirens that were having a bit of fun with a captured guest. It was so rare that the servants got to touch a new slave, and one so pretty.

A few curtains down things were also starting to get noisy. Bulma wasn’t the only one getting a well oiled, tingly massage. Raditz recognizable moans, and the occasional roar, were beginning to fill the bath-hall.

* * *

Her POV

They all pitied her, she could see it on every one of their faces. They told her that they’d give her the so-called ‘full treatment.’ It was already enough like a spa, and she thought that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. She was a bit excited, even, as they gently pulled her up from the bath. She looked over all their faces with wide eyes as she watched them all giggle in excitement, before she understood just why they were so giggly- they were to put on an act.

She let out a gasp of surprise when they pulled her legs apart for everyone in the bath to see, and when she tried to clamp them back closed, they were held open by one of the slaves. She was rubbed with oil by multiple hands, sensually and gently all across her body. Her cheeks reddened and she spoke up in protest, but any complaints either fell on deaf ears, or slaves insisting that she’ll thank them.

She was pinned down and shifted uncomfortably as the girls brought her pleasure, with an oil that made her whole body tingle. A particular slave that reminded her of a mermaid or a water nymph, with completely black eyes and partially scaled blue skin, but long, waterfall-like hair cupped the sides of her face and looked down at her.

“You’ll really enjoy yourself. This oil is special. It’s an aphrodisiac. It’s making you tingle, and in just a moment, you’ll start to relax.” Maybe it was the oil being rubbed over her, but just listening to the woman’s angelic voice made her muscles begin to loosen. Their massage was sexual, but at least it wasn’t violent, and it felt so good. She only jerked and let out a gasp again when she felt oiled fingers run across her lips and open them up wider for her audience.

They laughed at her for reacting like she did, and she began to stress out again when she heard Raditz’s noises- growls, roars, and moans that reminded her all too much of what had happened to her. Even if it made her shiver in excitement, the oils on the fingers of girls playing with her nipples and circling her clit wasn’t helping to de-stress. The nymph seemed to understand this and let out a huff, before grabbing something from the tray that looked to be a candy. She popped it in her mouth and leaned down, pressing her lips to Bulma’s and transferring it over, guiding it down her throat. Even when it was down her throat, the nymph continued to kiss, taking her time before parting their lips.

“A stronger aphrodisiac. It delays the inevitable as well, so you’ll be enjoying yourself for quite some time. You seem to need it.”

Bulma blinked at her a few times, but the relaxation came. Rather than wiggling and squirming, she accepted the touches for how pleasurable they felt. She paid Raditz’s moans no mind, and rather began making noises of her own, letting out sighs and moans with growing frequency.

* * *

His POV

The scent of strong aphrodisiac filtered through the air. Mixing with the heavy smell of sex and expensive oils, and ..and something else vaguely familiar. It had taken a while to satisfy the prince’s stamina and lust, but eventually Vegeta dragged his way through the halls of drapery that lead towards the humid bath house.

He walked slowly, taking his time, aware of his surroundings - his bare footsteps as quiet as a predator on the hunt. It came natural to him, as natural as the domineering look on his face. It was no wonder, that even after he’d relaxed a little under the influence of sex and pleasure, the servants parted like the red seas wherever he went. The rose haired whore he’d been with was missing in action. Found unconscious with bruised hips, was the rumor going around. But something interesting was still wafting past his senses, a familiar smell. And then he recognized it, along with the muted moans coming from the direction of the bath hall.

Arms crossed over his bare chest, the dark look on his face couldn’t of been more smug, simply dripping with sadism. There was the woman, spread eagle, right across the murky bath waters. Being fondled and hounded by a hoard of succulent servants. If there was a pleasing sight for the Saiyan to walk in on, this would be it.

He paid it no mind, as if it were expected for him. Vegeta was here to finish his bath, and he was as little ashamed at getting naked, as he had been pulling his dick out earlier. The lush towel at his waist dropped to his feet, leaving his war marked Adonis build exposed to any who looked. Muscle etched against bronze muscle, marred with scars. Sandy tans and russet marks. One large tawny scar ran across his chest. Hiding at the waters edge after he stepped in.

Two servants followed behind. One, a silver skinned alien with feathery white hair, dusted with grey; like the surface of the moon. Another, a lavender skinned devil with jet black tresses, crowned with antlers fit for a king. The antlered alien lounged beside the pool of steamy water, as soon as the prince made himself comfortable. Stretching his thick arms out across the rim of the bath. Eyes fixed on the moaning girl across from him, how her mouth parted and her back arched. Well, someone looked to be enjoying herself. Vegeta couldn’t help but wonder how potent the drugs were that were pumping through her system.

Was that a vibrator they were passing between one another? He was going to enjoy this.. The feathery haired slave noticed the prince growing in the water, enjoying the scene of his slave being pleasured play out before him, and did what was expected of her - dipping into the warm bath and positioning herself over Vegetas stirring lap. The other lavender alien cupping the healing waters into her palm, rinsing it over the prince’s damaged eye, cleansing his face of dried blood.

* * *

Her POV

She was far too preoccupied to realize that Vegeta had come to watch her. The other slaves had noticed, though, and two had rushed over to him, while the others at least made sure he got a better view, being sure not to block his vision. They didn’t want to be punished for getting in the way, after all.

Her nipples had been massaged and rubbed just like the rest of her, and the attention her clit was getting was making her toes curl. Her senses felt heightened, and the pleasure felt amazing, but she never felt uncomfortably close to orgasm. She only felt better and better with every little advancement. She could feel someone press their slender fingers inside her, though her eyes had been closed and she didn’t really care who, only that their gently coaxing made her gasp and moan in ways she only used to when she was just about to orgasm, and couldn’t hold herself back.

She heard something vibrating, and another moan of absolute pleasure left her lips when a ribbed vibrator, covered in oil, was slowly ran between her lips, letting her lips, clit, and entrance all enjoy. She couldn’t help but buck against it and roll her hips, causing the other girls to giggle at how excited she now was.

She opened her eyes and stared up at the Nymph, who had leaned forward with her small breasts hovering over her head, to be able to slowly run her hands up and down Bulma’s torso, from her breasts down her stomach. The slaves had stopped holding her down, and she’d stopped resisting, willingly accepting their ‘help.’

Her head turned to the side and she was able to make eye contact with Vegeta, watching her from the bath. He must have come recently. Her eyes fluttered when the vibrator was so slowly pushed inside her, but they stayed locked on Vegeta. On his thick neck, the scars that lined his tanned body, and the muscles that tensed the more the girl in his lap moved. She let out a shaky moan, and a girl whispered in hear ear, “Are you imagining how you’ll please him tonight?” Her cheeks reddened and she gasped again, with the vibrator increasing in intensity while still being pushed in and out of her so slowly.

* * *

His POV

There might of been a variety of servants lurking around them, running their nimble fingers through the prince’s thick hair and kneading into his solid muscle, but he was solely fascinated with one thing; the exquisite vision of Bulma’s flushed cheeks and the way she was riding her ecstasy into a slow budding climax. It was smeared all over her perfectly fuckable face. The whores were right to angle her swollen clit before him; licking the tip of his tongue up at his upper lip, with how silky and wet the colorful oils had lubricated her thighs. He had a growing need to bite her thighs - substituting the desire by squeezing the servants thighs in his lap.

The girl on girl action had been perfect, and there was nothing better then watching the little nymph and her blue on blue touches. The antlered servant at his side offered him fruit, something similar to grapes or berries on earth. The juice running down his lip and chin whenever he bit in, his gaze suggestively fixated in Bulma’s direction.

He was ungodly hard at this point. The slave he’d caught in his hold was rolling her hips perfectly, the friction heating his trapped length until he felt tension crawl through his legs. Jerking the muscles all the way up to his chest, his chest rising and falling under his heavy breathing. But he never once gave the slave the satisfaction of a glance, pushing her angrily away once when she’d almost blocked his view. Vegeta fully intended on watching his earthling squirm on the servants fingers, it was even better when she finally opened up and accepted the vibrator into her parted lips.

He was so close at the baths edge, the other servants must have heard the lowly growl emanating from his chest, vibrating the turbulent waters; churned from the motion of his powerful hips. He could feel the blue females little stretched hole surrounding his erection the more he stared at her fucking that damned vibrator. The thick head of his length ramming steadily into the flesh in his lap. Vegeta was fucking Bulma vicariously, reciprocating the eye contact she so readily gave him this time.

The slave in his lap began to squirm and moan, and Vegeta snapped at her to be silent. He didn’t want to hear a random sluts voice, he was honing in on the cries falling from the girls lips. “Louder..” he demanded at the nymph hovering over the girl. “..I want to hear the little bitch scream.”

* * *

Her POV

He was growling. She could feel the gentle vibrations of it through the ground, and could see the way his chest moved. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him, for some reason. She’d found him so distasteful before, and yet she couldn’t help but watch, and imagine him over her, rocking his hips and tensing his muscles. Growling enough to vibrate his cock. It made her wetter, made her open her legs wider and moan louder.

The nymph had taken notice of Vegeta’s demands, and when she moved back from Bulma, she finally broke eye contact. She lifted herself onto her hands, watching as the girl put something on around her hips and pushing the other slave away- the deer-eyed one. She took the nymph’s old place behind Bulma after giving the nymph the vibrator. If it weren’t for Bulma’s whole body still tingling, even the insides of her, then perhaps she’d mind it. But she still felt good, and she sat and watched as the blue woman attached the vibrator to the straps on her hips and set the intensity even higher.

She settled herself between Bulma’s legs and pushed the strap-on in, something that caused Bulma’s legs to shake with excitement. Her head threw back as the thrusts began and the nymph leaned close enough for their breasts to press together and slide over one another, while the deer-eyed alien began massaging her clit with one hand, holding Bulma’s lower stomach firm with her other for more intensity.

The nymph pressed her lips to her neck and chin, to get Bulma to turn her head back down- their lips met, and the rhythm of her kiss and the movements of her tongue fit perfectly with the growing movements of her hips. It wasn’t a short kiss by any means, but she didn’t let her lips outstay their welcome before she broke the kiss, a line of spit still connecting them, and whispering. “Look at him,” followed by a gesture with her black eyes to watch Vegeta.

Bulma did as she was told and turned her head to stare at Vegeta again, this time with a less calm expression, her brows raised upward as she found it harder to control herself. She couldn’t stop moaning and whining, and it felt good enough that her legs were up in the air, toes curling and uncurling.

* * *

His POV

The way the blue eyed earthling was eyeing him while she opened her legs, the way she pressed her head into the floor beckoning him; it was an invitation. One that Vegeta would have greedily taken had he not been enjoying watching the aliens play with her like horny kittens. Was she aware of what she was doing? It didn’t matter to him, he’d always taken what he’d wanted before, but the prince was good with the practice of control. He wasn’t about to give up the sultry display she was giving him, when he wanted nothing more then to finish this out.

He answered by rapidly beating into the slave riding his cock. If given the chance, he’d fill her up until she couldn’t breath anymore. The idea of sinking between her legs slipped a rumbling groan from his lips. Thank the gods the little nymph was smart enough to heed to his demands. Watching the alien press into and begin to ride the little female was exactly what he wanted.

He watched their breasts caress one anothers, and his hands derivatively fondled the woman rotating in his lap. The sloshing water capsized at his V lined waist the rougher he handled her. Pinching her nipples and squeezing firmly whenever a moan managed to escape past his heavy breath. He couldn’t handle it much more, the intensifying sensation of orgasm was burning throughout his thighs. Pounding into the slave under his mercy until she had to bite her lip - fearful of making a sound.

Hands ran over his wet physique; he could feel the slide and tug of fingers over his skin. The obvious sensation of someone sucking at the thick muscular cord running down his exposed neck, but he never cared to look. He was watching the orgasm flush over the earthlings pleasured body. His hands raked down the slave in his grasp. Clawing under the sheer enjoyment of his coming climax. It was amazing he didn’t harm her (too much), tossing his head over the side of the bath and clenching his jaw, but it couldn’t stop the roar that bellowed from his presence; penetrating the hall. All he could hear was her whimpering near by, all he could see were her expressions of satisfaction, and he came - strong.

* * *

Her POV

He was getting closer to cumming, she could see it in his eyes. He was getting more serious, furrowing his brows and bucking harder, panting more heavily. He wasn’t the one having sex with her, but he felt so aggressive and serious with how he was looking at her that it felt as intimate as if he was.

She was bucked into particularly hard, causing Bulma to whimper in pleasure. Shivers ran down her spine as the nymph moved faster, and yet, Bulma was not orgasming. She felt more pleasure than she thought was humanly possible, but no orgasm just yet. Just heightened moans with every thrust, every time her nipples pressed against the other woman’s, every time the clit the other woman was circling more vigorously got a particular hit of vibration from the vibrator’s intensity.

She watched him cum, watched how his muscles tightened to the point where he threw his head back and roared in pleasure, still bucking up into the girl. It was by no means a pathetic o-face, and it only heightened her pleasure. Tingles ran through her body that weren’t simply from the vibrator or the oils, and when he’d finished cumming and the waves of the bath lessened, her eyes closed again and her head lolled back, onto the shoulder of the woman behind her who was massaging her stomach to help the vibrations hit her g-spot just the right way to leave Bulma’s mouth hanging open.

The vibrator must have been pushed nearly to max, because her legs were shaking from pure pleasure. the thrusts were fast enough by now that her breasts bounced on her chest, and the sweat that had begun to form on her skin mixed with the oil to create gold-colored droplets that ran down her body. The hands behind her didn’t feel like it was enough to keep her up, but the girl behind her was eager to keep her from lying back on the floor entirely by leaning up against her as her wall.

By now, Bulma’s noises must have been as loud as they were frequent. She was always a noisy girl, but between short, panting gasps, she kept letting out a series of ‘ahn, ahn, ahn!’ as she voiced her pleasure.

* * *

His POV

There was the sensation of fingernails dragging through his soft hair; his physique warm and buzzing, drifting in the waters. Vegeta’s eyes had rolled back, closed in a daze with the last few moments of the strong orgasm. His sensitive ears were ringing, but slowly the world around him became less fuzzy, less blurred. The last few moments had been heaven. What he saw when he came back to reality was enough to send him right back into his perpetual rhythm - the image of the earthling helplessly pinned, bouncing between the two alien women.

“Get off me you worthless wench..”, he hissed, tossing the woman sitting so limply on his thighs from his person. The servant was all but spent. Her back red and bloodied from where the Saiyan had clawed into her a little too deep. One of the other slaves helped pull the woman from the bath, but Vegeta was far from done. His heated vision searching for anything to put his dick into. He was still hard, stiff and throbbing between his legs, longing to pound into something while he focused back on the show at the bath side.

He grabbed for the first female at his reach. A scarlet looking harlot with deep purple hair. The girl splashed unsteadily into the bath, doing her best to find her footing before Vegeta began to push into her. This time he was taking the slave from behind, forcing her body to lay over the side of the bath as not to obscure his view. He wanted to be able to watch without interruption. Intently watching the beads of gold and sweat roll down Bulma’s body. Down between her thighs, that were taking the vibrator so vigorously.

He was so close in proximity, but still too far to reach. His tongue ached for a taste, circling his lips once before a feverous sneer revealed his canines. He was in control of himself again. Moving his hips against the womans backside in time with the slaves driving between the earthlings legs. It felt ridiculously good, and wanted it to last, but more so he wanted a taste. One of the slaves on the bath side noticed the prince’s trailing of the earthlings body, and reached out to catch a droplet of gold that rolled down her stomach. Bringing carefully to the prince’s mouth, which he quickly devoured. The slave quick to pull her hand back, in fear of losing it.

* * *

Her POV

She was so deep in pleasure that it was like she’d never truly had any kind of sensation before, whether it be pain or pleasure. This was the first time she truly felt anything. She was so warm, and yet the occasional gust of cool air tickled her and helped her nipples stay hard. She ran her skin over the skin of both the women, accepting their touches gratefully. Her whole body shivered and tingled, tensed and relaxed, like waves were carrying her. Her moans and whines continued, and she could hear the deer-eyed girl speak in her ear- “Your prince has some vigor, little slave. He’s already back at it again.”

Her eyes opened again. So he was. If she was thinking straight, she would have just not been surprised. But the aphrodisiacs clouded her mind, and the only thing she could think about was how it made her ache with longing, to see him thrusting into the girl from behind, at the same pace the nymph was pushing into her. She felt a shiver in the back of her neck, the hairs there raising up. It felt like the beginning of an orgasm, and yet it kept heightening as if her body wasn’t quite done yet.

The deer-eyed slave pressed closer to Bulma’s back and reached out to grab her thighs. She pulled them up, and the nymph faltered with her thrusts to move her legs out under Bulma- they were switching positions. In a matter of a couple movements, they’d placed Bulma on top of her, to ride.

She did it without shame. Her hands planted on either side of the nymph’s waist and she rolled her hips and bounced herself on the vibrator, panting and moaning at the same time while the nymph gladly bucked into her and the deer-eyed girl held her hips to help with the bouncing. Her hair had partially gotten in her face, but not enough that it couldn’t obscure her view of Vegeta, wet and bucking with an intensity to make her heart flutter.

* * *

His POV

The aphrodisiac was working wonders on the little earthling, the little slut, as Vegeta kept repeating to himself again and again in his head. The woman was drenched in pure euphoria, he could smell it pouring off of her - every time she bucked, every time she mewled in front of him. The serious expression on his face was shifting into saucy enjoyment. Watching her so hungrily take the vibrator was making his dick swell; ramming the slut under him with new virility.

“You little slut..”, he groaned out, sliding his tongue over his dangerous teeth. “..I knew you loved cock.” She’d fought for her life up until this point, driven the most ferocious looked into his soul, but the prince had known it - little earthling loved the taste of cock; his haughty expression judging the naughty way she rotated her hips. She was naughty, wasn’t she.

His scarred hands pressed into the whores back in front of him, leaning in like a wild animal. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it, could almost feel it, the sucking sensation of her pink cunt sliding up and down his towering erection. The sucking sound of bath water squishing, pulling, whenever he dragged his length in and out, stimulating him further. Unconsciously he was mimicking her movements, responding to her as if she were riding him herself, instead of him slamming into some whore.

The tail behind him thrashed back and forth over the turbulent waters - the prince was getting excited ..more then usual. His bucking rapidly increased, nearly buckling the slaves legs. The sight of the blue female consuming the strap on was scorching waves of tension up the prince’s back, flexing his muscle along the way, building strength through his legs again; the pleasure pulsing down his length was taking control of his movements.

Blue licks of kai began radiating off his skin, tremors vibrated through the water. Anyone who was still masturbating in the bath, quickly scrambled out in fear of their life. The whore under him squealed in fear - hoping she wouldn’t be a casualty. Vegeta’s kai was spiking; gusting wind through his dark hair; sparks cracking from his crunching abdomen to his thrusting back. The air was electric. A warm whirl of wind blowing the females silvery sky blue tresses back from her face; he could stare into her eyes properly now.

* * *

Her POV

She heard him grumble at her. Calling her a slut, and saying she loved cock. Something that would typically offend her and warrant physical violence only caused the sides of her lips to turn upward. He clearly was getting just as excited from watching her as she was from watching him, too- that much was obvious to everyone when he suddenly began setting off fireworks. She licked her lips after a round of moans, feeling another shiver down her spine at the electricity running through her body from being in such close proximity to him.

“Ahn–” She could feel the deer-eyed girl from behind beginning to play with her clit again after increasing the vibrator to the max. The nymph, who’d gotten so turned on by the whole show that she’d begun feeling her breasts up and gladly accepted the deer-eyed girl fingering her with her free hand, buckled up against Bulma faster.

She was finally reaching orgasm this time, she could tell. She was at such a peak that her whole body felt like it was vibrating, and she couldn’t keep her eyes on Vegeta anymore. It just felt too good. She leaned her body down to plant her hands at a better angle for her hips to move up and now, back and forth as roughly as she could manage. The nymph pulled herself up onto her elbows to meet her, and pressed her lips together with Bulma’s. But this time it clearly wasn’t all the nymph’s actions; Bulma took control of the kiss, making it sloppy and excited. Saliva ran down the other woman’s cheek, and Bulma parted it only to run her tongue along her lips.

The show had become more of an orgy by now than anything else; as Bulma rode herself to her orgasm, the nymph was at the mercy of the deer-eyed one, and other slaves had become excited enough to join in on the fun. A purple-skinned girl situated herself between the two girls and the deer-eyed one, just to start scissoring her while she fingered the nymph and rubbed Bulma’s clit. Another, the antlered slave from before, had laid beside the nymph to start caressing her breasts and break Bulma’s kiss in order to make out with her instead- something that caused another slave to come and start giving her oral. Despite Vegeta being terrifying, the girls came to participate- a chorus of moans and sighs, with Bulma’s being the loudest.

She’d closed her eyes and thrown her head back, her mouth wide open to release whines as she smacked up and down into the vibrator. The vibrations, the sweet oil, the tingling, and the electricity in the air from Vegeta was getting so much, causing her voice to begin to crack. Her arms and legs were visibly shaking, but with help of the Nymph’s bucks and the deer-eyed girls quick circular movements on her clit, she was in too much pleasure to just stop moving. Her orgasm had hit her, and the aphrodisiac was making it last.

* * *

His POV

There it was, that overly defiant look on her face, the same he’d grown accustom to since encountering her on Earth. Even with the cocktail of drugs and endorphins pumping through the girls veins, the earthling still managed to glare that blue fire at him. She was strong, she was proving it to him; and it was a complete turn on. One stronger then any aphrodisiac they could have hit him with.

The male growled back, baring his teeth at her, responding by asserting his dominance like some sort of beast. It was instinct taking over, snapping like wild fire in the Saiyans hot-tempered blood. Vegeta was fully giving himself over to the moment. He mounted the bitch under him like an animal in rut, shifting and rotating his weight to get a better, firmer slam against the back of her thighs. Forcing her legs further apart, filling her to the hilt. The large head of his thick length tingling, the sensitive nerves alive like live wire. It was all due to how Bulma was riding the strap on. He wanted to be the cock she was riding, longed to experience her, to feel her sweet hips move her sticky flesh around him like that. The desire to fertilize her was driving him mad.

Blue kai whipped and cracked above him, growing more potent the closer his climax crept. Vegeta had given up pushing his palms into the whore’s shoulders he was fucking, to grip the sides of the bath’s rim instead. The rim cracked and broke away under his fingers, water sloshed out in angry waves. He knew it wouldn’t be long, but the prince refused to come until he’d seen the woman find her end; like a conqueror looking for his victory.

Every sense he possessed felt like it was about to explode, overwhelmed and over stimulated by the sight, sound, smell of the females writhing together in a heap of sexual acts. Their mewls called to him, and his mouth dripped with moans despite his strong will. And she, the earthling he’d stolen, was the queen of them all. Sitting on top of them like a goddess; unaware of how well she was plucking his strings, sending jolts of electricity through his system, causing him to buck violently until it felt he’d burst.

And then she threw back her head, and the prince knew he couldn’t hold back any longer. Pulses of heat spiced down his thighs and coursed though his back, lifting the droplets of water off his chiseled build in bellows of steam. The saiyans powerful hips tensing, shooting his seed again and again, until it ran thick into the bath water. His voice ripped through the building and bath water exploded out of the tub, leaving it half empty, lapping at the prince’s knees. The orgasm had been intense, so intense it left Vegeta catching his breath, propping himself up on the baths rim with his hands. None dare disturbing him from absorbing and enjoying the fulfillment of release.

* * *

Her POV

She rode the strap-on as her orgasm lasted, her whole body shaking from the pleasure. Her head still thrown back, and her eyes rolled over, so distracted that when Vegeta caused the bathwater to burst out from the tub, she’d thought that the wave of water that washed over her lower half was simply a sensation that was a product of her orgasm. The other girls had noticed, though- the nymph was in her element in the sudden wave and didn’t care even when it dissipated, but the others had been surprised enough to stop what they were doing, if only for a moment.

Her hip movements slowed as the orgasm dissolved into little sparks under her skin, and eventually just the afterglow. She collapsed next to the nymph, gasping and panting with her hips slightly aching, while one of the other slaves willingly jumped onto the vibrator strap-on next, promptly pulling the nymph in her arms and kissing passionately.

Just as she was enjoying basking in the remaining feelings left over from the orgasm, a half-naked slave with at least her privates covered came over and grabbed Bulma’s arm, pulling her up while the orgy of women continued. She opened her eyes and raised her brows as she was led off without a word to Vegeta, but she did get an explanation- “Your treatment’s not finished yet. We didn’t oil you up for nothing.”

She was led into a room with only slaves, no clients. Prettying themselves up, sharing makeup and incredibly skimpy outfits, most often with exposed breasts. She was pulled to a part of the room behind a curtain, and dropped onto a chair. “You need waxing.”

  



	4. Aphrodisiac or Aphrodite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Round 2. Fight!

  


His POV

The soft sound of his own heartbeat was thumping in his ears; Vegeta was comfortably numb. He’d resorted to resting his body on the bath side; cheek bone planted firmly against the wet floor. Slowly, very slowly, he regained his grasp on his surroundings once again. Like waking from a good dream, one that you weren’t so sure you were glad was over. The prince never truly allowed his defenses to diminish, but the humming throughout his body did dull his senses enough to not notice the earthling being dragged away from the pile of slaves.

His chin lifted, he could hear the continuing of sexual pleasures, sent the females. The aroma of Bulma still hung thick in the air. Smeared all over the girls she’d been rubbing on. His instincts pricked, searching out her presence, but the further his eyes came back into focus, the more he realized ..she was no where to be found.

“WHERE IS SHE?!” the voice cracked the bath-hall's serenity like ominous thunder, Vegeta leapt from the tub in one swift swoop; landing like a jungle cat (growling like one too) before the writhing gathering of drugged up females. It frightened the slaves enough to pause their pleasuring and look up at the prince. One of them brave enough to speak up and answer with, “…she’s been taken to finish her treatment..”

Lucky for the girls, he took the answer. It made sense - and he knew he should have known. His prior vicious outburst had been a by product of his dazed state of mind, rather then his normally quick senses. Vegeta shook his head clear of the water, curling his tail back around his nude waist. Storming swiftly out of the bath hall, the tyrant was back to his old self; as if nothing had transpired at all. As if he expected them to finish their job. Leaving them to tend to his new slave. Besides, he needed to retrieve his armor.

Raditz and Nappa were standing at the curtains entrance when Vegeta rounded the corner. They'd come to investigate the static of kai just in time to see their leader blow the water out of the bath and into a rainstorm of droplets. Raditz desperately wanted to speak up, but silence caught his tongue - especially when Vegeta walked right past him as if he didn’t exist.

His clothing was already laid out for him. Pristine, cleaned, his armor washed of blood and grime. Only the darker, deeper blood stains still clung to the armor's white surface. Vegeta had no inclination of what the woman was purchasing in his absence. As far as he knew the staff were merely cleaning her up. He’d retrieve her soon enough. Though, thoughts of her rolling hips were still persistently penetrating his mind.

* * *

Her POV

She wasn’t hairy, and yet they still waxed, just for good measure. Apparently the wax also helped to stop hair follicles from growing the hair back. She was so oiled up that it didn’t hurt much, and the pain felt good to her, anyway. The aphrodisiacs worked wonders. After all of it was over, they washed her down to clean her of the oil- not half as softly as they cleaned her in the tub; they splashed her with water and dried her down like a dog, though the work of the aphrodisiacs made her giggle as they forced her body to wiggle under the movement of the towels. When they were finished, they decided to give her some of the wax, for the road.

A lot more than just the wax came with that. Oils, more of the candy she’d been given, condoms, herbs to prevent pregnancy (she tried to explain she had a chip in her upper arm to prevent it, but they insisted), etc. A whole gift basket for the new slave. She knew they wouldn’t just let her keep so any things, even if she’d only been with the men for so long. They didn’t seem the type to hold onto much but the clothes on their backs. And none of the slaves even knew what a capsule was.

Nevermind that, she was able to create a crude one just from some of the technology they had sitting around. They were so mesmerized by the process that they didn’t even mind giving her a screwdriver to take things apart. It only took about ten minutes, and she held in her hand the capsule.

Next came clothes- they pulled out their most expensive dress they had, as per her request. It was white clothing held together by a choker and a little belt that cinched at the waist. When she put it on, it quite clearly showed the cleavage between her breasts, and left an opening at her belly button, as well. It draped down to the floor, flowing and beautiful. Yep, this would certainly do. And she had a place to put her capsule- a small little thing that you might call a coinpurse, attached to the little belt around her waist.

She was given her socks and shoes back (she demanded they not wash her shoes just as they were about to; she liked the dirt that remained from her planet), and was pushed out back into the lobby to meet her owners, still buzzed and pleased from the aphrodisiacs she’d been given, with a sweet expression on her face as if she wasn’t ready to again meet the captors that had defiled her and killed everyone and destroyed everything she loved.

* * *

His POV

There was nothing to it really, no lingering knack for closeness, no thought process of ownership one way or the other. He was done with her, as it had always been when he’d finished an act of sex or pleasure with a female. Albeit intense pleasure. Vegeta could barely recall a more excessive encounter with a woman. Perhaps it was because there had been so many females? Though in the back of his mind Vegeta knew better.

As normalcy returned, resonated by the act of refitting back into his trusty ivory shield, any thoughts of the female died out, any lingering buzz wore off, and cold reality set in. He grunted once at his own reflection in the mirror provided in his room, observing that all was well and accounted for. His hair was soft and fluffed, his bronze skin was free of blood and grime, and the damage to his eye was non-existent. Everything was in order, as it should be. Vegeta was a one tracked mind kind of guy, and next he needed to collect his men and return to what he’d landed on this god forsaken rock for in the first place - to sell Bulma’s planet.

Back in the lobby, Raditz and Nappa waited patiently for their leaders return. The two towers of muscles were also looking pretty spic and span. Raditz was the first to notice the girls return - but he definitely didn’t recognize her at first (especially with that appealing smile). His initial thought being ‘where the hell was that chick when I needed a bang?’. Once he’d realized it was their captive, the solider was quick to collect her back into their possession. He wasn’t the only one eyeing the girl. Bulma had stolen the attention of the room.

“Well well, would you look at that.” Mocked Raditz.

“How long until you think we get to rip that dress right off of her?” Asked Nappa, landing a large hand on Bulma’s shoulder as soon as she was in reach. She was still a piece of meat to the men. A very pretty object.

Then, there he was, gleaming in glossy armor and wearing a focused glare. One that warded off anyone that’d dare to step in his way. Vegeta moved on swift footsteps, gaining a few looks of his own. Some of fear, some of longing. His quickened glide never faltered until he joined his men, and what appeared to be the girl he’d recently eye fucked.

He stood right beside her, but he never said a word. The brute never even shed a shred of acknowledgement to her existence; paying sole attention to the man at the front desk behind her. He was given a hefty bill, one that _finally_ caused a quick glance in the girls direction. He’d never show it, but Vegeta felt his insides shake the first he laid eyes on her in that dress. That, apparently, very expensive dress.. His subdued side glance took her in, the way the silks clung to her body, the supple skin that it left bare. He had recognized her instantly, the moment he'd strutted into the lobby - unlike his men. He had smelled her from across the room, and had inwardly rolled his eyes at the look of joy on her face. Instead of letting it be known, he paid what was sure to be a small fortune, before swiftly muttering, “Lets go.”

* * *

Her POV

Her shoulder had been grabbed by Nappa, and she looked up to see the both of them staring at her, discussing when they’d next rip her dress off. What would usually disgust her, only caused her to put two fingers in her mouth sensually, slowly moving them in and out. Until their eyes were all turned elsewhere when they heard Vegeta’s voice.

She turned immediately, brushing off Nappa’s hand to get to Vegeta’s side. She promptly wrapped her arms around one of his, and pressed her chest to his bicep. After such an intimate encounter, why wouldn’t a (drugged) girl want to be as close as possible?

“Where are we going?” Since she wasn’t silent with fright, she had no problem asking questions. She pressed his arm tighter to her chest, enjoying the fabric rubbing up against the bare bit of breast that showed. “Are we going to go back in those pods? That will be fun. But if we’re walking so far again, I want to be carried.” She leaned in further, so her lips brushed the edge of his ear. She whispered softly, taking her time to breathe slowly before and after the sentence: “Will you carry me, Master?”

* * *

His POV

She was still drugged, completely intoxicated, obviously. The first reaction she'd gotten, was Raditz' and Nappa’s jaws hitting the floor. Sure, they’d known Vegeta had just used the slave, that’s why he’d kept her, but they couldn’t believe the sight of her stammering so close to his person, and of her own accord. Why couldn’t she greet them like that? Where was their sensual touches? The men would have tried for a grab or two, if Vegeta hadn’t been present. Be it shock or respect, something halted their actions.

Vegeta, on the other hand was as stoic as ever. Going about his business, paying off the man (refusing to pay for damages, however) while she pressed his arm between her full breasts. The sweet murmur of her breath beat against his neck, the soft patter of her heart thumped against his bicep; the man was aware of every inch of skin pressed so serenely against his frame. He wasn’t reacting though, he knew she was drugged, a drugged slave no less. To react would be beneath his status as a prince. Then she whispered in his ear and a shiver raked up his spine; suddenly Vegeta's supreme self control fell utterly silent.

She called him master. Vegeta had to swallow to keep himself in line. Every muscle in his body stiffened, then he answered her with an annoyed gruff. Turning his sights towards the busy streets just beyond the brothel doors, Vegeta knew full well his men would be incapable idiots when it came to handling her. He knew there was really no other real choice. If he wanted to get back to work as soon as possible he’d have to carry her himself.

“You’re completely drugged,” he said as if it were her fault, “at least you’re finally looking the whore’s part.” he commented; Vegeta possessed the ability to turn any slur into a full blown insult. The arm she was so desperately clinging to lifted from her reach. He scooped her up from behind, perching the girl against his shoulder and bicep, the flow of her dress draping his blue suit as he made way out into the blaring sun and through the bustling, colorful crowd.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t mind the insults. All that really mattered to her was that he’d picked her up as she asked. As if she were a feather. She wrapped her arms around his neck with no quarrels about being carried. When he carried her outside, her eyes did squint from the brightness of the sun in contrast to how dim it was in the brothel, but the sun did feel good on her skin. Any remaining tingling feeling from when the oil was rubbed onto her heightened just from the rays.

She turned her attention to Vegeta and watched him. She didn’t really pay much attention before, but now she could see his eye was fixed. The eye that she’d stabbed, with the intent of pulling it out. She reached out and ran her thumb over the skin just under his eye, seeming very interested in it.

But soon she grew bored as they went down the streets, and she reached out to take Vegeta’s other arm. She guided it closer to her before hiking up her dress and showing him inside, particularly having has hands run over her mon pubis.

“They waxed me. It’s even softer than it was before. You enjoy it, right?” Clearly, the candy had been potent enough to get rid of any shame she might otherwise have. Though the dress was long enough that it did hide anything to onlookers who might be interested in taking a peak, even when she’d hiked it up.

* * *

His POV

Where was her fiery blue resistance? He could sure use it about now, thought the Saiyan. Her anger he could handle. This, whatever this was (it wasn’t in the prince’s vocabulary), was beginning to make him uncomfortable. Uncomfortable - that was not something Vegeta was accustom to dealing with.

He’d been so diligently ignoring her lulling tone, or her soft breath against his cheek. He jerked his head in the opposite direction when she decided to inspect his eye. He’d begrudgingly allowed her take his hand if just to keep her attention else where, but when his fingertips were lead upwards against the silky smoothness of her lower lips, the brute finally snapped, retracting his hand and clenching it into a fist.

“Will you cut that out!” Vegeta’s nose pressed into her face, his angry expression was married with a pink tint. The color from blood shot anger or perhaps embarrassment, it was hard to tell. “…I should just drop you here and now, and let dogs have you.” But he wouldn’t, would he? His arm was still supporting her thighs, clutching her securely to his armor, all the way into the ‘Planet Trade Post’. It was a massive building made of towering green stone. A toothy looking alien sat behind a desk, among other workers and aliens that were lining the lobby, looking busy and professional.

Nappa and Raditz, whom had been following at a safe distance (safe meaning they didn’t want to suffer Vegeta’s wrath for staring), where dumb founded into silence. They knew better then to follow their prince inside while he attended to business. They took to standing guard outside, like a couple of guard dogs.

* * *

Her POV

She blinked and quieted when he snapped at her, going back to holding her arms around his neck. Was he uncomfortable? His cheeks looked red, almost as red as when they were having fun in the brothel. His face got close to seem threatening, but Bulma couldn’t help but pucker her lips and give him the lightest of kisses. He wouldn’t really drop her, she didn’t believe that.

She was at least quiet when he brought her to the trading post, far more interested in observing her surroundings. Her eyes were wide but innocent, and she watched as Raditz and Nappa were left in the entrance while Vegeta brought her inside. They came in the brothel just fine, she couldn’t help but wonder, even in her aroused state, what was up with this place. She’d seen the sign, but it really didn’t register in her head. Maybe the drugs were blocking out negative thoughts.

The alien behind the desk looked intimidating and a bit scary, but she stayed silent and leaned her head to rest it on the top of Vegeta’s, after pressing his gravity-defying hair down enough to allow for it without it getting in her face. She reached up to the holes in her dress that showed her body, and slowly ran a finger in a circle around her belly button. She trailed it up and over the fabric above the hole, along the hem of the hole for her cleavage, and pulled it over to the side enough to show a hint of her nipple. Just to tease the alien behind the desk.

* * *

His POV

The place was much different from the brothel they’d just left. And with it, Vegeta was acting more the solider then ever before. Professional, demanding respect whenever he graced a room with his divine presence. The prince wouldn't allow himself to become side-tracked by a female while he was making his trade. Not that the shameless bastard wouldn’t fuck her whenever he damn well pleased, but Vegeta would be damned if he appeared to be controlled by some, some woman.

In some part of the back of his mind, he knew why her odd behavior was making him uncomfortable. The slave on his shoulder was far too content and relaxed in his presence. It diminished his unapproachable appearance down to a pet-able puppy dog. He remained in control, to act as the fingers running through his hair weren't effecting him in the slightest ..but that was far from the truth. The truth was, Vegeta was debating showing the girl whom her master was right then in there in the lobby floor. Maybe if he mounted her and made her scream her fear would return to her. To put her back in her place. No, the candy in her system would like that too much, wouldn’t it.. Damn, he couldn't catch a break.

“Can I help you, sir?” The toothy alien behind the desk interrupted his vicious thoughts, dragging his gaze and stabbing it into the clerk like a pair of obsidian daggers. Well, Vegeta’s ominous aura was back at work. The clerk nearly jumped out of his seat, proceeding to gingerly tend to the Saiyans needs ..but not without catching a glance of the girls exposed nipple.

Vegeta caught that.. and the clerk regretted peeking. If the Saiyan hadn’t been scary before, he certainly was now. Vegeta’s heavy fist pounded the desk, leaning in, reminding the clerk where his attention should be.

“These are the co-ordinance for a recently conquered planet. I’ll take no less then 750,000.” grunted Vegeta to the clerk, handing over a small chip.

“500,000, no more.” The alien pulled up the Earths records, narrowing his many eyes at the screen.

“And how much do you think _this_ planet is worth after I purge it? **I could start right here**.” Vegeta's threat purred as smooth as velvet. Looking threatening as possible, even with the porcelain-doll-of-a-girl on his arm.

“B-B-But it’s been burned! It’ll be inhabitable for months! Alright, alright, 700,000. Just, _please don’t hurt me_..” The alien gave in, quivering. Quickly, the clerk typed into his little screen, allowing enough time to pass for Vegeta’s wondering eyes to trail over the girl's body. The clerk had been staring down her shirt for good reason he was quick to find out. The prince could see the pink of a nippe peeking past the silk. The quiet moment allowed him to drink in the line her exposed belly. He had paid for that dress, and he’d be the one to rip it off of her, he promised himself. His thoughts darkened, reminiscing the sensation of his hand sliding up her skirt just moments before. His free hand trailed up the length of her exposed leg, while his eyes finally lifted up in her direction. Stealing a glance of her features before the clerk stole his attention again.

“Done, the credits have been transferred into your account,” said the clerk.

“And what of another mission? There must be something in this shitty sector worth my time.” Vegeta groaned, occasionally glancing down towards whatever Bulma may of been up to.

“There is two near by..” the clerks voice shook, this time he was a little more careful when trying to slide his eyes up Bulma’s figure. “..there’s a large bounty for a planet in the North. Peaceful people, but a lot of resources. It’d be a good profit.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes, silence followed.

“…t-t-then there’s another, but.. the last two Purge missions failed ..the crew were killed. It’s a hostile planet to the East, it’s only real resource are its iron mines..”

“The co-ordinance.” The prince demanded. The clerk passed the prince a new chip, and a few moments later, the ornery prince turned heel and headed for the door.

* * *

Her POV

While Vegeta may have been afraid to make himself seem like a little puppy in the girl’s hands, she fancied more of herself the puppy. Sitting in his arms and looking cute. She didn’t mind that idea at all, at least for the time being. She even stayed quiet the whole way through, listening and playing around when she got bored.

She had picked up that he was clearly selling Earth; she wasn’t stupid. But she found herself not caring. Not even the thought of if she should care passed her mind. She was far more focused on Vegeta eyeing her and slowly moving his hand up her leg of his own accord. It caused a giggle on her part, but she didn’t want to risk getting yelled at too much while he was clearly doing serious business. Instead, she focused on playing with his hair sweetly, and leaning in enough to let him get a nice glance at her chest every time he turned his head.

When he was given the chip and the conversation ended, Bulma did begin to be a bit more frisky, however. She took the opportunity she managed to catch to grab the chip from him, and plop it in her bag right beside her capsule. Then she guided his hand into the slit in her shirt to fondle her breast, as if no one could see her at all.

“If you go to this scary planet, and I come with you, I’m not going to end up hurt, right? I’ll have the prince protecting me? Keeping me safe?” Her voice was still sweet as honey, though afterward she did yawn. All the excitement and the activity from before had finally begun to wear her down.

* * *

His POV

She was his to touch, and now that she’d simmered down, Vegeta played to her seductions as well as he pleased. It felt good to be in control. The prince didn’t care who looked at them, the onlookers worthless existence held no meaning or value to him. All that ever mattered to Vegeta was fulfilling his own selfish desires. Now that he’d gotten what he’d wanted out of the alien scum, his attention was creeping towards the girl resting so docilely on his arm.

She played with his hair and he grunted, she pressed the squishy flesh of her breasts to his chin, and his warm breath fled across her skin. The prince even let her snatch the chip, but not without a wary glare. He knew she couldn’t hurt it, and a slave carrying his things was far from unheard of. The unease of the situation was beginning to wear off, he was gaining dominance. It had been a new situation for the prince - other then whores and victims, none could claim to rest against him and live. But the girl was his, yes - his. His slave, and he had full intentions of bringing her back to his pod, rather then trading her off to the nearest brothel. Dropping her off or selling her would mean leaving her unconquered. Something he wasn’t willing to do.

“I am not your savior, girl. You’ll do best to remember that.”, his voice lowly rumbled, squeezing her breast in his hand firmly. Vegeta was finally giving her attention, as well as a warning nip at her bottom lip. ' _Safe'_ she said, things were not safe in his presence. Not even the girl was safe, no matter how much her drugged up state convinced her otherwise. He was going to hurt her, use her, and break her; and the prince was fully aware of his sinful intentions. She was being foolish, but it didn’t lighten the effect her soft voice was having on his mind. Lulling him into dirty thoughts, all the way back to the pod.

Raditz and Nappa asked their questions - inquiring about their next move. Another mission, to the East, and apparently the girl was coming with them because Vegeta was currently making himself comfortable with her in his pod. Then, the door hissed shut in front of the staring pair of soldiers.

* * *

Her POV

She listened to him but didn’t really believe it, at least for that moment. He hadn’t hurt her so far, other than making her do dirty things. Dirty things that, because of the drugs she was on, she was very much enjoying. So why wouldn’t she think that he’d keep her safe? Especially when he’d taken such an interest in her, and no longer rejected her advances. He squeezed her breast when she guided him to it, and that was proof enough.

But soon enough they were back on the way to the pods, and Bulma went back to being handsy without thinking much about it. Fingers of one hand gently drifted down the side of his ear, and outlined his jaw. They splayed across his cheek opposite to her, and pulled his head just close enough to her that she could press a kiss to his temple. Less chaste than the last time she’d kissed him, with a lasting touch to make it more sensual.

That kind of casual touching continued, but by the time they’d gotten to the pods, Bulma had grown quite tired. She’d yawned plenty, and let Vegeta orient her to sit in his lap in the pod rather than try to situate how she sat herself. She rocked her hips just to tease him, but ultimately leaned back against his chest and rested her head against his shoulder.

She fished the chip out again, figuring he must need it, and held it out for him to take as she closed her eyes. “It’s nice to lay against someone so strong when you take a nap. Is it nice for such a strong man to have a pretty little woman sleeping in his lap?”

* * *

His POV

Those hands of hers were bound to get her into trouble if she kept up her stroking. Her touches were delicate, and the further they drew from the city, the more Vegeta gave into her seductive embrace. The lips at his forehead dared his eyes to slowly close, his chin tilting just enough to allow her easier access. The fantasy of feeling her soft fingers run down his skin was taking over, causing the hand carrying her to flex, squeezing her thigh under the veil of sheer fabric.

Both of his men threw him concerned looks before fully disappearing into their pods. Nappa was the last to disappear, Vegeta throwing him the most dishonorable, dirty look before closing his own pod with the girl in it. That look on Vegetas face, it told the big soldier his leader was about to finish what he’d started in the brothel tub. Needless to say the soldier was beyond envious. Maybe if he left his scouter on he could at least get off while he listened to the girl squeal.

In the darkness of the pod, Vegeta watched as the girl rested herself against him, like an innocent mouse nestled against the fur of a feline. The movement of her sleepy hips livened his heart rate. His quick hand darted and snatched the chip from her fingers, placing it into the pods control system - the pod rumbling to life then lifting into the air. The girl never seemed to stir, however, the entire time they’d been sitting in the pod. He was actually glad she was still drugged up and pretty. It’d make touching her all the more pleasant.

“Arn’t you full of it.” His sneer was dark but amused, watching down as the glow of space washed over her features. She was getting good at giving him dirty talk, something the prince was eating up.

“And what if that strong man wanted that woman to squirm in his lap instead?” The weight of his fingers pressed between her thighs, teasing the beginnings of her lower lips through her silken dress. Slowly swirling, taking his time in building her reaction.

* * *

Her POV

She’d kept her eyes closed, but it was still nice to be close and feel him. He was small in height, but she forgot about that just by leaning on him. So strong, and wide, and with hard muscles. She settled in deeper, breathing in his scent. Relaxing in his body heat, warm enough to feel like a blanket.

In the time it’d take for him to take the chip and place it in the control system, Bulma had ended up falling asleep. The drugs had truly made her exhausted, as the touches didn’t stir her other than what you’d expect the reaction to be. Naturally her skin grew goosebumps, and she let out a sigh against Vegeta’s neck.

She dreamed again, but this time not as feverishly as before. It was more vivid, pushed by the closeness to Vegeta, and his touches. But she didn’t dream of Vegeta. She dreamt of Yamcha. Laying next to him in bed in the morning, only to feel his hands rolling little swirls on her thighs, slowly spinning upward. His breath in the back of her ear, his warm body pressed against her back. She’d giggled and reached back to push his shoulder playfully, murmuring his name both in the dream and outside of it.

“Ahn… Yamcha…”

* * *

His POV

That was more like it, she was giving in. Vegeta knew it would only be a matter of time before she’d be moaning in his lap. It wasn’t exactly the victory he had in mind, but he wasn’t about to refuse having a pretty girl to fuck. Especially one he’d lusted over. Memories of the the bath-hall began to fog over his thoughts. The vision of the girl's naked body spread out before him. He wanted it, but he was going to take his time in playing with his new toy.

The subtle movements induced from her dream state only furthered his motives. His hips bucked, retreating his hand from playing with her clit, craving a better - more intimate touch. Taking his glove between his teeth, Vegeta slid the white leather from his hand. He still hadn’t forgotten about touching her earlier in the Trading Post. It had been the first time he’d gotten to fondle her thus far, and it had hardly been enough. He’d seen her pleasured, ride cock, but now he wanted to taste her for himself.

His hand raked up her thigh, bringing up her dress, and then she moaned in her sleep. A word ..no, a name? It baffled the prince at first, casting his gaze at her sleeping face. He shook it off quick enough, and instead of giving it a second thought he pressed his chin over her shoulder with an intimidating growl; a growl that he knew would radiate throughout her body. His nose pressed against her neck, and his hand crept higher.

Parting her legs in his lap was easier then ever, now that she was drugged to the point of unconsciousness. Brushing his rough hands around the curve of her thigh, he found the soft folds of skin - his prize. _Very soft_ , she hadn’t been exaggerating when she said they’d smoothed her down. The sensation of her flesh against his finger tips force another growl from his chest. Breathing in her scent with new curiosity, his nose dug deeper into her ocean tresses. She was so limp, so easy to control, he wanted to explore her.

* * *

Her POV

The aphrodisiacs had caused her to begen to have a wet dream. Or at least predisposed her to having one. She moaned and sighed in her sleep quietly, slightly shifting her legs and arching her body, but by no means telling him no. She’d been enjoying the dream, if anything. It was home. All the mornings she’d woken up in Yamcha’s oversized shirt with him wanting to get frisky- it was clearly something she already missed.

She murmured his name again when Yamcha continued to touch her, pulling the shirt up to have better access. A little gasp when her clit was touched, something verbal outside of the dream as well. He was handsier than usual, pulling her onto him so that he could spread her legs and touch her clit and lips more.

He’d clearly thought it fun to tease her, too; he was growling. It vibrated through her body, and she turned her head to face him and press a kiss to his jaw. Again, she sleeptalked: “My big bad wolf…” He nibbled in her ear in response, and she turned her head away with a laugh- an action that let her get a glimpse of the morning wood showing through his boxers.

“What a big tail you have!” They both laughed, same as they usually would- joking during foreplay made things all the more fun. He wrapped his free arm around her torso tightly to stop her from escaping, speaking in her ear: “all the better to fuck you with, my dear.”

* * *

His POV

Her body was responding to him perfectly, even if she was asleep. Her sighs grew more audible, and Vegeta wanted to touch her all the more. He could feel the dampening between her legs on his fingers, using his large middle and index fingers to glide the sweet substance along her flesh, lingering at her clit, trying to stimulate her further. Whenever she gave him a moan, the arch of her back, the acceptance of his hands moving along her thigh, his need to claim her swelled like fire through his being.

Then, she muttered again, and the prince paused his playing with her sticky clit out of pure curiosity. She sure was a talker; something about a big bad wolf. Whatever she was mumbling about didn’t matter to the bastard prince. Ignoring her words,he focused on dragging his nose and mouth over her neck - nipping and pulling at the fabric that hid her collar bone. She’d be singing another tune by the time he was done with her.

He was never one for foreplay, and was growing steadily hard and anxious between his legs, but having the girl so languidly moaning in his lap felt like something gifted to him that wasn’t meant for his blood-stained hands. She’d never accept his pursuit out of her own free will, which made it naughty. She’d hate him for it, which made it wickedly sweet. It was against the rules and normally out of his reach, which meant he had to have it. To claim it, to show he was top dog.

His teeth finally managed to untie the silk that lingered at her neck, curling his lip into a victorious little growl as soon as it fell from his incisors. There, his free hand was left to roam over her breasts, groping and circling her nipples over the loose fabric. Her breasts were soft, softer then he remembered, and it caused his hips to move with excitement. The thick head of his cock pressed against her back through their clothing. It felt good to grind against her, to hold her in place by the crease between her thighs. Pressing his fingers into the heat between her legs - already imagining it consuming his erection.

* * *

Her POV

God, did it feel good. She knew it did even asleep. The sensations translated well into the dream. She wiggled off Yamcha, and he pried his shirt that she’d been wearing off her before quite easily trapping her between himself and the mattress by hovering over her with a leg beside either hip. He reached behind her to feel her breast, while holding her firm between her legs, his fingers inside her.

“What big hands you have.”

He kissed her neck, born from the sensations of feeling Vegeta undo the tie around her neck. She could feel him grind against her, but even in her dream, Bulma played coy; she was the prey, she was there to be devoured. But she certainly enjoyed it, humming and gasping at the feeling of the grinding.

“Lick me up, Big Bad Wolf. … Do I taste good?” The mumbles in her sleep came out far more drawn out and quiet than when she said it in her dream, but they came out nonetheless. She shifted her hips in Vegeta’s lap, but her dream self was clearly getting tired of only being touched rather than fucked. Even if she liked the feeling of Yamcha’s tongue on the back of her neck.

“Devour me.” She meant her words, already plenty wet in both her dream and outside of it, with goosebumps all across her skin.

* * *

His POV

It felt too good. He didn’t care if it was due to the aphrodisiac or the wet dream she was so obviously having, but Vegeta intended on enjoying it thoroughly. He could feel her pulse increase under his lips, inwardly cursing himself for wearing his armor when he’d known it’d come to this. The prince wanted to feel her hot flesh against his build. His chest swelled as he inhaled, growing feistier by the moment.

“Tell me what else you want.”, his voice rumbled against her ear, enjoying her dirty talk. Her words were like honey, and he was ready to lap them from her plump lips. He’d seen her press her mouth to the nymphs mouth several times. In a moment of quiet curiosity, he traced his tongue across her bottom lip, nipping it before pulling away. It seemed odd, the idea of pressing his mouth to another's. He’d much rather plant his mouth against her neck and suck until it bloomed with dark bruises; where he felt in control. Oh, he was most definitely going to devour her.

As succulent as she looked in the dress, the majority of it had to go. The hand playing over her breasts pushed the rest of the fabric down, exposing her languid body to the glow of the window - letting his eyes drag over her firm nipples. His rough palm ran up and down the flat of her stomach, down until it cupped between her legs time and again. His second hand busied itself with his own pants, unbinding his lengthy erection right between her legs; where he could push the thick girth against her pink slit.

She wanted cock, his dirty little slave, he knew she loved it even without being drugged up. He’d seen the way she’d ridden the strap on. He wanted it for himself. The prince didn’t want to prolong the anticipation any further. Shoving the massive head of his cock into the beginnings of her entrance, he held her in place against his torso, coaxing her body to ride down into his lap. To take him inside.

* * *

Her POV

She heard Vegeta’s words from Yamcha in her dream, and it made her giggle. What kind of a response did he expect her to give? “Tell me what I want.” She wrinkled her nose with a smile, just from pure enjoyment of being close to her loved one. It wasn’t just pure sex and pleasure, it was intimate. It was fun to have him whisper in her ear, to play pretend, to joke around.

She was mostly just a ragdoll in Vegeta’s arms, other than the occasional wiggle or stretch. But her muscles tensed around Vegeta’s cock when he finally pulled her close and forced her to sit on his cock. It caused a moan of pleasure from her lips, and she was already dreaming of Yamcha shoving himself inside her, thrusting in and out, in and out.

Her head lolled to the side as gravity worked to push her down around his cock. It wasn’t hard by any means- her wet dream had made sure to make Bulma sufficiently wet enough that she slid easily, and her head then rolled forward. Her shoulders rolled and she let out another moan of pleasure, but ultimately she was just putty in Vegeta’s hands.

* * *

His POV

All that watching, anticipating, wondering what she’d feel like wrapped around his dick, he finally - finally had her at his mercy ..and god, did it feel better then anything he’d fantasied about. A loud groan tore from his chest, lifting him from his seat, tightening his jaw as soon as her slick insides consumed him to the hilt. She was too intoxicated to move on her own, Vegeta knew there was nothing she could do about it. Either way, he definitely didn’t care.

His hands wrapped around her thighs from underneath, lifting her against him, pumping her slowly up and down in his lap. His hips never staid still - rutting, pressing into her a little faster each time. He relished the tensing of her muscles around his solid cock, and the smacking sound of his full length beating between her legs. The sound of her mumbled breathing filled his ear, and he joined her with his own heavy panting. The little pod was getting warmer, the saiyan's growing heart rate and slow churning movements raising his body temperature.

“Fuck ..the little bitch feels good.” He muttered, hissing through his teeth. There was no shame in admitting it, especially to no one other then himself. Now that he’d gotten a good hold of her, a constant rhythm in their position, one of his hands roamed the outside of her thigh - unable to keep his hands to himself. He squeezed her ass firmly as she lifted, then rounded the curve of her waist, guiding her hip into a pace that pleased him. He was finally getting to fuck her, and he wanted her to squirm whether she liked it or not.

* * *

Her POV

Yamcha was so sweet. He moved slowly, feeling her body as he thrusted. It felt real. She had no clue it was a dream, and any memory of being kidnapped had disappeared. It was only them, having sweet morning sex in their bedroom- her moaning and squirming and wanting more, him sighing and thrusting and tickling her skin as his hair brushed over it.

Little squirms and moans made it into reality as Vegeta began moving her up and down his cock himself, with no signs of waking up beyond it. Not that she’d ever want to wake up. The dream was what was letting her enjoy this so much. Her planet wasn’t destroyed, she was right back with him.

Her body slowly moved forward with each movement, with her torso leaned over. The way Vegeta held her hip prevented her from falling further, but she slowly began tilting to the side. And while the rest of her body was unconscious, her lower region was very much awake. She tensed and relaxed around Vegeta’s cock, and her clit was swollen from pleasure. Even in her dream state, she knew she wanted more.

* * *

His POV

Was it her lovers hands on her hips now? Was she thinking of some long dead mate from her planet? The inclination to wonder began to seep into Vegeta’s mind, her beauty was clouding his judgement. She was riding his cock magnificently, even if she was limp and sloshed over him on one side. Her hips never refused him, and the prince intensified their fucking. He’d allowed her to go without taking him inside of her for too long.

He steadied her whenever she began to shift in her sleep. Pulling her back to rest against his body whenever she fell too far to one side. Lifting her from his length to press his mouth against her breast, his neck craned over her shoulder to take a bite of her chest, before sliding her down his erection once again. The prince’s dark hues lifted towards the dim light, tracing the glow of her exposed neck. Her head so gently rolled over his shoulder, leaving her ear but a breath away from his mouth.

“Tell me you love my cock, little slave,” he purred, taking her earlobe between his teeth. He wanted to hear her confess it. She’d gone quiet, aside from the slips of sighs and moans breathing from her lips, the girl’s voice seemed to have disappeared. The sound of her voice had intrigued him.. and for a moment, the prince wasn’t just fucking a random slut, he was noticing her as an individual.. Her silvery blue hair, the way her flat belly lifted when her back arched; something he owned, that was his for the taking. He wanted her to ride his cock like that, the way he’d seen her take it back at the brothel. She had been hungry for sex. The memory of her spreading her legs while she watched him, calling to him - it made his slamming into her rapidly speed up, exciting him exponentially.

* * *

Her POV

She wasn’t as vocal as she would be if she were awake. Her moans and whines, while plenty audible, were not as loud as they would have been if she wasn’t unconscious. But in her dream, the moans weren’t at such a quiet volume. As Yamcha’s thrusting got stronger and her felt her up, she let him know just how much she appreciated it by the noises she made.

Eventually she was turned over, and she got to feel his mouth on her chest, on her neck, and his hands ran down her arms to meet her hands- to intertwine their fingers. She could feel her heart swell, and her arousal only grew when she felt his mouth next to her ear. Telling her to say that she loved his cock. Calling her ‘little blue,’ a joking name he occasionally gave her in bed to mirror little red riding hood, since he was the big bad wolf. She complied.

“Mn… I love it, Yamcha.”

Her whole body felt so warm and tingly, made even moreso the more he rocked his hips. She could feel herself getting to her orgasm, though it wasn’t quite there yet. But the familiar feeling that began in her toes was starting, and the slight frustrated feeling in her thighs from wanting it so bad was forming. It felt so real. She had no clue she was dreaming, but she’d never had a wet dream where she got so close to orgasm before. And it wasn’t stopping.

* * *

His POV

The way her body reacted, the perfect way her hips circled against his thrusting thighs - she had experience, and he couldn’t wait to find out what she was truly capable once she was awake. Oh yes, he had full intentions of fucking her again, and again, and again, until he’d finished his curiosity for her. Maybe he’d allow his men to use her now and again, but none would have her like he would. She belonged to him, she’d always belong to him, no matter who fucked her. The vivid memory of her watching him take the whore in the bath, witnessing her wanting him, it felt sensational. Then she muttered something, that name again.. ..and all his fantasies came crashing down.

…he was jealous.

His chest filled with hot air like an angry gorilla; lifting them both from his seat from the sudden urge to assert his dominance. It was only the two of them in the small cabin, she wasn’t even awake to hear the growl radiating from his throat. It didn’t register with him why he cared, but the prince most definitely didn’t like what she'd murmured.

He’d been going far too gentle with his slave. That’s all she was - a slave, and that’s how he’d use her. The adrenaline rush and mix of anger spurred his hips on. Vegeta wasn’t taking it slow anymore. Holding her hips forcefully in place while he beat into the woman from behind; clamming his grunting mouth onto her shoulder for good measure. A hand wound into her hair, and soon her bare breasts where on the console before them. The heated beast baring over her, building himself to orgasm, wanting to mark her for his own, once and for all.

* * *

Her POV

The odd feeling of rumbling was something she felt even in her dream, though the didn’t know why it happened. It felt good, at least, as Yamcha fucked her more vigorously. Pulling her hair just the way she liked, pressing his chest down against her breasts, doing everything to make her feel weak. Her arms wrapped around his tight, never wanting to let go as she felt herself getting close to orgasming.

Her unconscious body lolled down when Vegeta grabbed her hips, and as he started thrusting with no care of how her body was situated, she rolled over against the front of the pod. Her cheek was pressed up against the console at first, but when he grabbed her hair and held her, her body pushed forward and her breasts were what laid on the console instead.

He was vicious enough to bring her whole body to orgasm, causing her eyes to flutter even in her sleep and her to tighten up around him. It was also strong enough to, at the latter half of it, get her to open her half-lidded eyes groggily.

She didn’t understand what was going on at first, because of how vivid the dream was. She was still being fucked, and that’s all she knew. She at first thought it was Yamcha, but as she came out of her sleepiness, she found herself staring out the window, with space drifting by. Everything flooded back to her, and after the long sleep, she was no longer hopped on an aphrodisiacs.

It was painful. Not just emotionally; she’d gotten turned off so fast, and her orgasm ending caused her to tighten, making her grunt in pain when he kept going. She began to struggle, even through her drowsy state. She reached back and shoved at his head to try and stop him from sucking her shoulder, and squirmed her body in ways to attempt to get her hips forward and away from his.

“Let go of me! Get off! Get OFF!”

* * *

His POV

The further he pushed himself on the woman, the more his eyes wanted to roll behind their lids; the longer the moments passed with filling her with his full length, forcing her to take it, the better he felt. Things were falling back into place, Vegeta was back in control. That’s one thing he hated, the feeling of falling, of not being the focal point in a situation. It’d almost crumbled. He could force the woman do to many things, but he couldn’t force her to willingly take him - not like how she had with so many before him.

The blue earthling began to stir, and he knew it ..but he never faltered. Instead, the ferocity of his pile-driving only grew stronger. Squeezing her ass in one hand, yanking her head to the side by the hair with the other. He could feel her coming, the intensity of her orgasm wrapped around him, and he took it like a cold hearted bastard, only focused on satisfying his own desire.

Lapping his thick length inside of her like a starving animal, the prince growled and snarled, sinking his teeth into her skin when she tried to shove him away. It was almost playful - the way he growled at her, as if teasing her, excited that she was awake. He lusted for her, and knowing she was now aware of him pumping inside of her only enhanced his senses, igniting every nerve in his body to full awareness - just as he exploded inside.

Wave after thick wave of sticky white crept down between their joined legs. He was heavy; and he was using it against her to gain control. The prince wanted to show her who was boss, and this was the most pleasurable way he could think of. Coming inside of her curled a nasty grin into his lips, and slowly, he released her shoulder from his maw - pressing his humming lips to her ear in villainous satisfaction.

“Why don’t you call me your big bad wolf again,” he taunted - half out of anger, half out of sick pleasure. He was still hard, though not pounding her so vigorously now, never the less his large hands tried to keep her in place. Tilting her head by the hair, he pressed his other warm palm into the sway of her back, holding her to the console that now smelled of the both of them.

* * *

Her POV

She yelled out in pain when he bit down on her shoulder, but it only made her struggle harder against his strong arms. It didn’t matter much- she could feel him cumming. Hard enough for a trail of cum to dribble down her thigh. Her cheeks were a deep red, and she tried kicking his shins, his knees, and shove away from him. Anything.

But he still stayed close enough to press his mouth to her ear, and whisper to her. Big bad wolf. The name Bulma had called Yamcha so many times in the bedroom, sweetly and with laughter. The dream was still fresh in her mind, and her cheeks reddened more. She’d been embarrassed and shocked and panicked before. But now she was only angry. More than angry. There wasn’t a word for how angry she was, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

Even though he came, he still kept thrusting into her. It burned from how tight she was from no longer being willing, she when he tilted her head, she shot him a look for pure hatred. It wasn’t like in the brothel anymore, something that made her nauseous to remember. She wasn’t trying to turn him on, she only wanted to let him know how how much she loathed him.

But what was she supposed to do? No amount of struggling would help, and he didn’t have his scouter on this time. There were still some small glass shards on the floor, but she had a feeling he’d know what she was up to far before she could actually cause damage. That angered her even more. This man had destroyed her planet. Killed her boyfriend, raped her, sold her people, sold her planet, and was now mocking her for a wet dream she had about her boyfriend. She’d been angry before, but she’d never been so full of hatred. She’d never wanted someone to die so much.

She looked away, just so she didn’t have to stare at him anymore. Her eyes drifted down to the discarded dress, and the bag still attached to the belt. The capsule. There wasn’t anything in there that could do anything more than embarrass her more, but she knew enough about capsule to know how dangerous they could be.

* * *

His POV

Her yelps filled the cabin. Bulma’s voice traveled over the comlink, heard by the other two Saiyan men when Vegeta bit into her. He was gifted with the taste of her blood in his mouth. Sweet, rich, but spiced with hot iron; so much like the earthling herself. He savored it, along with the bright red color that was filling her cheeks; he was staring at the embarrassed expression more then he should have.

She was beautiful, even when embarrassed, even while kicking and pushing against his unyielding body she captivated his attention, there was no doubt about that. While driving his massive length between her legs, in the back of his mind he knew she must have been in some sort of pain. He could tell from the way her insides squeezed and moved against his lap. It should have been a turn on, but then things began to take a turn. It was the look she gave him as soon as their eyes met. She wasn’t just furious. He knew that look ..she hated him. The prince knew it the moment she burrowed her big blue hues into him.

“What’s wrong?”, his lip curled as soon as she broke their stare. He almost sounded genuinely curious - in a mocking sort of way. “Doesn’t my pretty little woman want to rest against her big strong man?” His weight leaned closer, forcing his whispered words to trail over her neck. Allowing his muscular frame to over take her, he bound his arms around her waist and breasts, guiding her slowly back against his chest. Back into his lap in the pod seat, much like they had been when they’d started.

He wanted her to give back in, to treat and tease him like she had in the city streets. He knew she’d enjoyed riding his length not moments before. The prince wanted that moment back. Her opinions of him couldn’t of changed so greatly in that short span of time, she only needed a little convincing. Maybe forcing his dick into her would remind her of just how much his slave wanted her master.

* * *

Her POV

He was too focused on mocking her to pay attention to what she was doing. Using her words when under the influence of alien drugs to make fun of her. If she was shaking, it was no longer out of fear, or arousal. It was anger. She reached out and opened the pouch, and just he pulled her up, she’d managed to grab the capsule and hide it in the palm of her hand.

She winced when gravity worked against her to push him in further when he set her back on his lap, but he gave her the opportunity to turn around, at least partially, in his arms. To stare into his eyes. She was never a good actor, and the thought she had that perhaps she should simply pretend to be into him to lower his guard was cast aside.

No, it was better to just go for it. Her hands crept up to his shoulders, and neck. Slow enough that maybe he wouldn’t think too much about it. And as soon as she was close enough to his mouth, her thumb smacked down the button on the makeshift capsule and shoved it in his mouth, and slapped both her hands over it to keep him from spitting it out immediately.

She doubted it would kill him, but there were too many things and too big of things for him to fit in his mouth. He’d at least be hurt, and that’s all she was looking for. She’d find a way to kill him some day, some time, but at the moment, this was the best she had.

* * *

His POV

Was she finally accepting her place? It certainly felt like it to the big, powerhouse of a Saiyan. The girls movements felt less restricted, and he began pumping her back into his lap. It was perfect, even if he knew she despised it, he didn’t care. The prince was getting what he wanted, he was conquering her while she was awake, and that was more then enough of a victory.

And then she broke his jaw…

He didn’t even see it coming. Vegeta had been fixated on finding a prominent rhythm between the girls thighs, running his wide hand up the length of her figure, only to stop and squeeze her round breast. The second glare she gave him only fanned the fires. There it was again, that angry blue look. So much better then the hatred filled stare she’d given him before. His lips crooked into a grin, and he let her try and detour his mouth from devouring her flesh again. He didn’t care if she struggled, or if her hands pushed him away, he wanted to finish what he’d started. What was she going to do, slap him? He’d only enjoy it.

And then there was a loud pop, followed by a burst of unexpected pain, and then a roar filled the whole cabin. Not the sound of pleasure like he’d made in the bath-hall, this was the sound of pain and fury all rolled into one. His hands fled from her body and found his head, growling lowly under his breath as he assessed what had just happened to him. Candies and oils drenched his lap, splattering some of the substance on the girl from the burst of items. The cabin was littered with opened and unopened vials and gifts, condoms and candies.

Normally pain would have been a turn on for the twisted prince, but this time, he was just furious. His eyes glared from the darkness of the shadows. Bood seeped from his mouth, pooling red behind his tongue. He swallowed, taking with it small pieces of whatever she’d shoved in his mouth. Just what the fuck had she done? He was starting to feel a little unusual. At least he wasn’t trying to push himself on her anymore. In fact, the prince’s hands were to himself. Tilting his own head back and forth before a loud ‘crack’ filled the pod. …he’d snapped his own jaw back into place.

* * *

Her POV

His loud, roaring reaction scared the shit out of her, and the moment that he let go of her to hold his jaw, she scrambled off his lap and grabbed her dress. She still ached from being penetrated, but at least she’d gotten some bit of revenge. She furrowed her brows to watch him as she pulled the dress back on, fixing the fabric behind her neck so it’d stay in place. He was too preoccupied to bother with her at the moment, she could tell that much.

Her skin tingled from where the oils hit her bare skin, but it wasn’t like before. Though he seemed to have changed. Other than the blood seeping from his mouth from how much he’d been hurt, she saw a glimpse of one of the candies go down his throat, and his expression quickly changed. He didn’t even seem to mind snapping his jaw back in place.

She stayed wary, though, and kept her eyes on him as she waved her hands along the foot of the seat to find the capsule. She picked it up and searched again for another shard of glass that was there from before, and picked it up as well. Cutting herself accidentally in the promise, but at least she had a weapon. If he was as out of it as he appeared to be, then it’d only make getting her revenge easier, right? Maybe she could at least blind him.

* * *

His POV

He was just as wary of her as she was of him. Vegeta watched her from behind knitted brows. The deep lines in his face pressed firmly into a scowl. His body had instinctively retreated away like a snake coiling back, ready to strike. Curled into himself, back into his seat, he watched the girl silently. He realized now what she had done. She’d concocted another means of a make-shift weapon. She was a clever girl. A fighter. It was hard not to be impressed.

There was nothing quite as dangerous as an injured Saiyan, like when you back a cat into a corner. The drugs may have begun to pump through his blood stream (and a lot at that, he’d swallowed several candies), but he was still a Saiyan, and the prince wouldn’t allow his guard to fall without a fight. He’d propped one of his boots up on the seats rim, still fully erect, right next to Bulma’s searching hands. The candies in his system seeing to it that he’d not have a choice in the matter for some time. The massive length twitched and throbbed against the wall of his thigh, causing him discomfort with how needy the spill of oils were making him feel.

“Don’t even think about it, woman,” his threat was unusually soft spoken. Every drive and instinct he possessed was telling him to lunge at the girl, at seeing the shard in her hand, but the drugs kept him sedated. He knew she was planning on destroying him, he was expecting it. However, reaching for her proved to be a little disorienting. He swooped one of his hands at her, but it was unlikely he hit his target, resulting in little more then the purging of an unhappy growl from his lips. Still staring, still weary, trying to concoct his own plan before his head became too fuzzy with feel good feelings to think of anything other then sex. He was determined.

* * *

Her pOV

There was a knot in her stomach, just watching him. She was happy to get some amount of revenge, but still. She wanted more. She could still feel the cum on her thighs. She just had to time things right and hurt him. Blind him. Do anything to get back at him for his actions. That piece of shit.

But it was still disturbing to watch him. He was clearly very sedated, and was falling under the influence of the drugs more and more. She watched, readying herself for when she planned to strike back at him. She was sick, just seeing his cock throbbing and pressed to his thigh. She leaned back when he tried to swipe and easily avoided him, and wondered to herself if there was an easier way of going about this. Maybe he could overdose on the drugs.

She dropped the shard of glass for the time being, and instead picked up one of the unopened vials of oil, as well as a handful of other candies still strewn about the pod. She shuffled closer, even though there wasn’t much room in the tight quarters, and opened the vial of oil. She splashed it onto him, giving particular aim to his cock, and moved closer yet.

“Open your mouth.” It felt nice, being the one to give the orders this time.

* * *

His POV

The world was getting blurry. Fuzzy. Wonderful. The tingling sensation that had primarily been in his lap began to crawl up the prince’s torso. Warmth spread through his abdomen, upwards and throughout his broad chest - causing it to fill with air that released on a velvet sigh. He was barely aware of his own skin, with how warm it felt. His fingers clenched into the arm rests of the chair, but coherency was just not obeying his will.

The throbbing sensation in his lap ignited painfully; causing his thick shoulders to roll, arching his back from his place, pouring a hardy moan from his mouth. She’d spilled something on him, he could tell that much, but there was little he could do about it. All Vegeta could think about was ridding himself of the overbearing need to fuck something. Anything. Preferably that blurry-blue figure in front of him.

Oh, she had his attention alright, but not as she did before. His dark gaze was dazed. A rose tint flushed over his russet cheek bones. He was staring at her, but this time he almost looked helpless. As if he were trying to gather his thoughts, only to have them scatter again. He heard her whisper something, noticed her move closer, and his body reacted. The solid muscle in his arm twitching until he finally leaned forward.

She was telling him what to do. Hadn’t that been what he’d wanted? The prince remembered telling her to tell him what she wanted, it was a vague memory, but the only one that made sense. She wanted him to open his mouth. Despite his strong constitution and the little constitution he had left trying to will his mouth shut, he did as she asked and gave in. The saiyan’s lip parting for her, leaning in gently, if just for the moment.

* * *

Her POV

The drugs had hit him hard. He didn’t even look like he knew what was going on anymore. That worked just fine for Bulma. As soon as his mouth opened, she shoved the candies in his mouth for him to swallow, and then turned her back. She figured there wasn’t much of a need to worry anymore; he wouldn’t be able to cause her any harm, she was sure of that much.

She found the shard again, and climbed over to him. She straddled one of his legs, paying no heed to his obvious erection; him being uncomfortable just made it better for her. He deserved it. Asshole. She was acting and feeling a way she never had before, but he was the one that had drawn her to it.

“Can you understand me? You’re going to regret what you did to me, and how you sold my planet, and what you said before. Do you want to know who the Big Bad Wolf is? It’s my boyfriend. That I’m going to find out how to bring back, somehow.” That was mostly wishful thinking, but she wanted to believe it. There had to be more dragon balls out there somewhere. “I’m going to make sure you regretted ever setting foot on Earth.”

She steadied the glass shard at his eye, deciding she wouldn’t miss this time. "He was a better man than you can ever hope to be. He didn’t need to grab a woman by the hair and pin her down to get her to open her legs. He was far more handsome than you, too. You got off so much to how I was looking and acting at that brothel, right? That’s what he got to see.” She didn’t plunge her shard into his eye. She was too upset to even think about doing that. Too wrapped up in her memories.

* * *

His POV

He stared up at her, lapping the candies from her hand, if just grateful for the contact. He felt her weight over his chiseled thigh, bringing another soft groan from his lips; rocking and rotating his hips in response, as if asking her to touch him further. It took him a moment to realize that she was threatening him. It was all thanks to the shard of glass aiming at his eye socket. He may of been drugged, but he could still hear her, and his instincts were harder to kill then what some aphrodisiac could smudge out.

He knew he should be angry, he desperately wanted to be angry. He knew she was talking about another man, rattling on about some male when he was needy and yearning for her right there under her lap. It made him furious, but every time the rush of fury tried to take over, the drugs numbed it down into a quiet murmur.

“You wanted me just as well ..if I recall correctly.” Ah, his ego was still up and running. Vegeta’s grip caught her hand in her moment of hesitation. His strength was still with him, pushing the shard out of his face and holding her wrist captive. He was starting to sit up, doing his best to shoot her an uncaring glare, but it was hard to concentrate on being annoyed when all he wanted to do was rub against her in any and every way imaginable.

“Your planet's gone. Stop talking about some damn dirty male.” He muttered softer then he’d wanted. There was a hint of jealousy behind his dazed look, but it quickly softened the longer he stared at her. She was in his lap, that’s all he could concentrate on. Wouldn’t she touch him, if just a little. She was his, after all. Didn’t she want him? She was starting to lose him to the drugs again. His free hand ran up the length of her back, trying to press her in closer to his presence. He wanted to press his face into her chest, to burn his words between her breasts, “You’re mine now.”

* * *

Her POV

She’d begun to cry, just thinking about her beloved. Tears formed in her eyes, and slowly passed down her cheeks. She missed her chance to hurt him, and even in his state, he managed to grab her hand and prevent her from poking his eye in out like she’d been planning. She glared at him, watched his face contort as if he was trying to make himself angry and failing. Then he said what he did.

“I NEVER wanted you!” She yelled it and jerked her hand away, holding the shard tight enough to rip open the skin of her fingers and palm and cause her to bleed. Is that what he told himself?! That she must have wanted him, when he made her choke on his cum? When he watched her get drugged and eye-fucked her? When he decided to rape her while she was unconscious?!

He pressed his hand to her back and pushed her close enough to try and shove his face between her breasts, telling her that she was his. That was enough to light a fire in her soul again. Tears kept rolling down, and this time, rather than hesitate, she swung down at Vegeta to stab him in the throat to try and get out all the anger and frustration and grief she was going through.

“I’m not a person you can take! I wasn’t even his! I’m Bulma! Bulma! My own person! I was important! I was the richest, smartest woman on my planet! I had friends! I had a family! I had a boyfriend I loved! You ruined all of it!” She wasn’t sure which of them was more pathetic. He might have been sedated so much he could barely move, but she was sobbing so badly that she’d begun wheezing just after finishing her outburst.

* * *

His POV

When would she ever stop yammering? The beast heard her, but he didn’t want to pay attention. The scent of her skin was so close, so soft when brushed it against his features through the fabric of her silken top. He didn’t want to hear any more. He didn’t want to think about her yelling unless it was her yelling from under him. His erection was growing bothersome and the second dose of aphrodisiacs were starting to kick in. Once he’d stopped listening, his hips began to move under her involuntarily. He really should have been paying attention to whatever she was saying, maybe he’d of been able to catch her oncoming attack.

But he didn’t…and soon the warmth of blood began to run down his neck. That got his attention enough to open his eyes. The hand at the girls back drifted, reaching up to inspect the new tingling sensation in his neck. She’d hit mostly muscle, his neck was thick enough to take the glass without much damage. The prince quickly removed the shard - permanently. Her weapon was crunched in his palm, turned to a flurry of falling glitter.

The wench had struck him, that’s what he realized. His tail swished and he once again tried to muster his aggravation, burying his gaze back at her. But as soon as he looked at her, his attention was anywhere other then the pain in his neck. His little earthling was yelling again, but this time her attractive face was red and crinkled into an unpleasant expression that made his stomach clench. Then he did what he always did when unpleased - he growled.

“Stop. …stop.” A firm hand cupped over her sobbing mouth. The prince’s voice was soft, but insistent. Staring intently at her, as if trying to get his point across. Why cry over something she’d lost? The scent of spilled blood caught his attention next. Reaching for her tattered and dripping palm, he caught it, then took it to his mouth as if to lick the wound bare. His own wound long forgotten, but still his blood ran red.

* * *

Her POV

The wound on his neck obviously wasn’t fatal. It should have been, but he showed no sign of bleeding out or choking on his blood, like a normal human would. She didn’t know if she was happy about it or not. Despite all her anger, watching him bleed from the neck so much was disturbing. It wasn’t who she was. She wasn’t a killer.

She kept crying, even when Vegeta put a hand over her mouth. She shoved him away, still sobbing uncontrollably. When he grabbed her hand to see the deep cuts, though, she didn’t bother fighting back. She wiped her face with her free hand, shaking to go along with her sobs. Everything was gone. Everything! And he and those other two horrible men were the cause. She just… She just wanted to go back home.

She looked at him only at the feeling of her palm being licked, to see him sucking and licking the blood off her wound like an animal. She wrinkled her nose and pulled her hand away, proceeding to stare down at it. It had been bleeding a lot. …She didn’t want to die, but maybe it would have been best for her to cut her wrists instead.

“I hate you,” she told him, tightening her fist and causing the wounds to bleed more. “I hate all three of you. You’re too strong for me to kill, but I’ll think of a way. I’ll do something. I’ll get my planet back…” Her crying had at least gotten less obnoxious, now only consisting of tears freely falling, and sniffles.

* * *

His POV

His once pristine white chest-plate was drenched in his own river of blood, but the prince didn’t seem to notice. Far too content with lapping at the females hand. It was sensual and fulfilling. She was touching him, and in some sense it was a sense of relief. The toxic levels of drugs in his system weren’t allowing him to come down. If anything, they were only growing worse by the lack of contact he was getting. His need was painfully erect, his muscles tightening and un-tightening, flexing under her feather-light weight; but he wasn’t forcing himself on her, much. That would require the aphrodisiac to be eradicated from his system.

He wasn’t all too happy when she pulled her hand back, watching as she proceeded to cry. She cried for what seemed to be forever to the intoxicated prince. His hand had just slipped down to touch himself, stroking his fingers slowly up and down the large shaft - it needed to be touched. Then she said something that caused him to come back to reality.

She said she hated him, that she would return her planet. Instead of longing to be angry, the prince was actually ..pleased. There was a swell of uncharted pride in his chest, and a slow lowly purr rolled out of his burning throat. It was the tone of determination in her voice. He recognized it through himself, even over the high dose of drugs. The earthling was taking a challenge and meeting it head on, no matter how impossible it sounded to her own ears. It shown through her eyes, and he couldn’t help but stare back into it, crooking his mouth into a little devious grin.

“I look forward to it.” He purred again, darting his gaze in her direction. It was indeed a purr, and not just the roll of his tongue due to his native language. His chest was rumbling, alive with deep thunder that ran past his closed lips. His tail was flicking too, and once again, he dared to approach her, but this time in a much more docile manner. It was just his forehead trying to rub into her belly like a horny cat begging for attention.

* * *

Her POV

She’d felt heartbroken before whenever she and Yamcha would have a spat and ‘break up’ for a week or two, but never had she felt something like this. She felt broken, though what cracks she had seemed to mend at least a little the more she cried. It made her feel better to let her emotions out. To cry and yell at him and whatever else.

She stopped her tears to glare at him when he had the nerve to smile and say he looked forward to her getting her revenge, but she still had a heavy heart. She turned her head away from him and wiped her eyes again, thinking about Yamcha’s face. And what his face would look like when she brought him and everyone else back to life, and told them all about how she’d saved them all. He constantly bugged her to marry her, to settle down and have kids. Maybe she’d think about it then.

She was drawn from her thoughts from a feeling of Vegeta’s purring vibrations. And then all of a sudden, he was rubbing his forehead into her belly. It was disgusting. She pushed him off her quickly, and made as much room as possible away from him in the small pod. She settled herself at the foot of the seat and crossed her arms tightly, legs drawn up.

“Don’t touch me.” She took a look at him, more drugged-up than before, and with an erection so hard it must have been a little painful. He was pathetic. She turned her head again, to stare out the window. “Jerk yourself off like you did last time. You’re not touching me. No matter how nice you pretend to be. I know it’s just the drugs. If it weren’t for them, you would have been raping me for a third time by now.”

* * *

His POV

Every time he thought he was finally getting somewhere, she’d drag her body away. What a tease, she was being so cruel, at least that’s how he saw it. A small growl slipped through his purring; unamused by the way she’d so cleverly knotted herself up and away from his body. The woman wasn’t even touching him in any form or fashion anymore. What the hell did she want from him? It was her fault he was in this state, all he could fathom was pleasing her, and himself, until that feeling was finally satisfied.

Then she finally gave him a command and the built up tension in his heart released. The blue little sapphire told him to jerk himself. Oh, that must have been what she wanted. She wanted to see him pleasure himself. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted. He wanted to crawl up on her, to push her into the console, and sink himself between her legs. The prince’s face was hungry, starving in fact, every time he looked at her. However, the potent sedation was keeping him under mental restrain, better then any collar and chain ever could.

“Is that what you want?” he questioned, as if she’d understand what’d he’d been fantasizing about. He didn’t hesitate in what he thought was pleasing her. Pressing his hand down over the damp line of his blue suit, soaked and lubricated with his own blood, and proceeded to fondle and jerk himself.

Oh god, and did it feel good. Amazingly so. The pressure that’d been building up in his waist had grown to the point of throbbing pain. Shameless moans slipped from his lips, and Vegeta began to lose himself in what he was doing. That is, until he began to rub his cheek bone on her near by knee. Purring all the while; trying his best to rub his bruised jaw line over the curve of her calf.

“So soft,” he began to mutter, oblivious to his own confession, “you must be a goddess.” It’s how he’d seen her when she had made him come so hard, sitting upon her throne of sex slaves like Aphordite herself. And now that he was finally feeling pleasure again, it was all he could do to keep his mouth shut.

* * *

Her POV

It was much better when he just stared at her silently and jerked off. Not with him moaning and rubbing up against her. She felt sick to her stomach being in the immediate vicinity of him, and couldn’t wait for the damn ship to finally land. Maybe she could break her head open and bleed out when it crash-landed. That’d be nice.

She continued to stare out the window, grimacing as she felt Vegeta rub his face on her shin. He was so disgusting. Did he know he was that disgusting? Maybe he enjoyed it. He was purring, after all. She glanced over at him for just a moment, seeing him shamelessly jack himself off and using his own blood as his lubricant, and giving her big doe eyes to beg for her attention.

She shoved him off her immediately, and turned her body away from him the best she could. Goddess. That’s what he’d called her. If it had been anybody else, it would have boosted her ego and made her blush. But not this time. It just made her feel filthy. Sitting in that tiny pod with him, laying on top of broken vials of spilled oil, thinking about her loved ones and what’d happen when the drugs wore off of Vegeta. Even if he did overdose, the other two would certainly be merciless.

“I told you not to touch me. I don’t care what you think of me. You’re pathetic.” She spat the words, and leaned in to rest her forehead against the window. “I want to go home, that’s what I want. But you had to go and kill everyone, and sell my planet. And now you’re jerking off to me, purring like a kitten. You’re pathetic.”

* * *

His POV

So smooth, the silky soft sensation of her freshly waxed skin running along his chin was to die for. Everything from that point on was fuzzy. His body was humming with fresh new vitality, and his thick member was finally beginning to feel less painful and more at ease. Though he was having to concentrate - no matter how roughly he jerked himself, he seemed to make no progress at all. As if he were in limbo, waiting for an orgasm that would never come.

It was difficult, but at least he had her scent, her legs to rub up against. In fact, he was getting feisty; brave. The sharp curve of his cheek bone began to slide down the length of her outter thigh. It was all he could do to not close his eyes. If only she’d let him between her silken thighs, but no, she’d demanded he jerk himself, so that is what he was destine to do. For now at least.. the uncanny voice in the back of his head kept alerting him that this was wrong. That he was unchecked and out of touch with something important, but he couldn’t grasp what. All he knew was that pleasuring himself by doing as she commanded was a complete turn on.

Pathetic. The word vibrated between his ears, waking him up, surfacing his consciousness to reality. If there was one thing Vegeta didn’t like, it was being called anything like pathetic. The Saiyan jerked upright on an ominous growl, no longer purring like a teased kitten. His body lifted above her bound up form. His arms stretched out, planting his palms on either side of the cabin, filling the haul with the sight of his blood stained body.

“Pathetic.. You are the one that’s pathetic.” he wasn’t sure why he was calling her names, but his ego insisted he retaliate. “I didn’t even want to go to your damn mud ball planet! Don’t blame me because they were weak.” His anger began to simmer again, subdued by the chemicals in his veins. His thick erection pressed against her shin, and after heavy pants, he began to lower his head between his shoulders - just over her; but he never made eye contact.

“Why wont you touch me.. why do you have to be so damn strong, idiot.” his words spat, defeated. But the truth was, her strength was the only thing keeping her alive. He’d of been more disappointed if she had given in.

* * *

Her POV

Calling him pathetic seemed to at least partially snap him out of his euphoric state. She looked up at him with wide eyes when he so suddenly towered over her again, taken by surprise. She gulped. Was he going to rape her again? He looked about to, when he called her pathetic like he did. Her brows furrowed, ready to fight him some more, especially when he had the nerve to insult her planet.

But then he seemed to give up. He slowly leaned forward until his cock was rubbing against her and his head was in her breasts. Whining about her refusal to touch him. He might have been upset at it, but he was truly pathetic. There was no other word for what he was.

She wrinkled her nose and shoved him off her yet again, feeling sick to her stomach about the whole thing. He’d even gotten his blood on her. She was reminded of the cum line down her thigh, and she scowled. She hoped the drugs lasted forever. That he’d always stay this pathetic. Maybe she’d make a run for it after they landed. Or she could toss him out and take control of the pod herself.

“You don’t know anything about my planet, or me. Don’t pretend like you do, you pathetic… Pathetic barbarian.” She huffed. “They might not have been as strong as you, but my friends were strong! If you hadn’t killed them, at least Goku would have ended up stronger than you were. I’m sure of it! He always comes back stronger.”

* * *

His POV

There was fear in her big blue eyes. The desire to rape her, to take her again, bubbled up to the surface, but it was quickly stamped down by the drugs again. Leaving only longing and a hint of annoyance; snarling when she purposefully called him pathetic. But there was something else.. there was a touch of respect. Some part of the big brute respected her a little more every time she bared her fangs and stood her ground. And with all those feel good vibrations running a muck through his body, it was hard to be his normally jerk-ish self.

“Are you talking about that pathetic brother of Raditz..” he moaned, clearly not wanting to get into this topic. So much so that he finally leaned away, taking the heat of his body with him. Talking about Raditz while jacking off was not something he wanted to think about.

“The strong devour the weak, it is the way of it.” he said so assuredly; it was his own convictions.

“You act as if you’re the only victim in the universe,” his head finally tossed in her direction from over his shoulder, giving her his back from where he had retreated into the comfort of his seat.

“..wake up and smell the universe, woman. Learn your place before it, or I, decide to kill you. Now, if you’re not going to do your job and pleasure me..” The adrenaline rush of conflict and conversation had somewhat sobered his head, but it didn’t put an end to how needy he felt between his legs. The prince was still unfathomably horny, shamelessly turning in his place, trying to get comfortable; jerking himself on breathy male pants.

* * *

Her POV

She shot her head in his direction at his comment. Brother of Raditz? So it was true. Goku was– Whatever these men were. She was sure of it. Dark hair, dark eyes, unbelievable strength, and a whipping monkey tail. Goku was an alien this entire time. He must have been abandoned at birth. She had to remember to ask them questions later, when she thought she could risk it. Maybe it’d distract them if things got bad.

She scowled again when he began whining about the way she acted. How dare he? She might not be the only victim, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t want revenge. What kind of a victim was he? He went and destroyed people’s lives and homes and raped women and sold them into slavery as what seemed like his living. He was disgusting. An asshole. He deserved to die.

“I wouldn’t be acting like this if you hadn’t done everything you have. It’s not my job to ‘pleasure’ you! It’s disgusting to even think about doing that! I’d never willingly touch you. Not even in your dreams.” Anything to anger him further. Again, he deserved it. He absolutely deserved it.

“You’re pathetic, I don’t think you’d be able to really pleasure me.” She wrinkled her nose. She hated talking about the subject, but she knew it’d get under his skin. In the state he was in now, she could say whatever she wanted to, and that old big mouth of hers was showing itself. “You don’t know how to touch a woman. You have no idea about foreplay. If you can’t make me moan before you touch me, any pathetic reaction you get out of me can never be called pleasure. You’re pathetic, even when you aren’t on drugs.”

She turned, leaning her curled up body against the side of the pod. “You’re greedy and selfish. Why would any woman willingly touch you unless you threatened and paid her? You wouldn’t get anything from me, even then.”

* * *

His POV

If she was trying to anger him, she was doing one kick-ass job of it. No amount of drugs, no sedative could hold down the wrath that was Vegeta. It boiled and brewed right under the surface of the cocktail that was keeping him drowsy and docile. His animalistic side begged to surface so that he could leap on her and reclaim his place as alpha male. But no, despite his ever growing aggression - oh so visible in the way he gave up his pleasuring just to clench his fists and bared his teeth. He was growling in his seat, shooting her daggers, but then a wave of tingling sensations would wash over him.

He had to compensate his lack of aggression by snapping right back at her. “Why would I want to make you moan when I could just take what I wanted from you instead.” It was a threat. His blood stained hand darted out and wrapped around her near ankle. Dragging her half way off of the console and into the curve of the chair beside him, whether she liked it or not.

“Call me pathetic, one more time, and see we’ll how well you moan, woman.” the well defined muscle of his arm reached over her, supporting him enough to hover over where he’d dragged her under him. He’d taken her words as a personal challenge. Unlucky for Bulma, it had only turned him back on. The prince loved a good challenge, however, all this talk of moaning was not working in his favor. His member twitched and his face wanted to heat with color. Vegeta was staring her down, watching her angry lips - the very audible memory of her moans like a damn play-back in his head.

* * *

Her POV

She thought the threat an empty one, and didn’t even bother to turn her head and look at him. Why would she? He was full of hot air. He couldn’t do anything in the state he was in. But she was wrong. She let out a gasp when he grabbed her ankle and threatened her.

She glared at him, the hateful gaze coming back. But he was still sedated, even if it was quickly working through his system. She rolled her eyes at him and pulled her leg away, letting out a huff. How dare he. She thought for a moment, before deciding to go a step further. He’d probably rape her again after this. She knew that well enough. So she might as well just piss him off as much as possible, if only to make herself feel better.

She looked back at him again, and slapped him across the face. She crossed her arms, then, looking rather proud of herself. “You are pathetic. Look at you. You can’t even get a woman without taking her by force, I’m sure. Who would want you? You smell, you have a tail, and you’ve got a receding hairline. I’ve heard you’re a prince, but I don’t believe it. Princes are just and kind. You’re the exact opposite. Besides, you wear rags most of the time. You don’t even have any shame. Pathetic.”

She turned her back to him shifting to get comfortable before closing her eyes. It felt good to run her mouth, something she’d been so scared to do before. Even if she’d regret it later.

* * *

His POV

Things were getting heated, at least from where he was standing. The more the woman yelled at him, the faster his heart raced. The more she puffed her chest, showing her bold spirits and take-no-shit attitude, the more he wanted to pounce on her ..but he couldn’t. There seemed to be no relief to his ever growing torment.

And then her delicate palm streaked across his hard cheek, bringing with it the loud smacking sound of skin, and the prince felt his stomach twist. The shock sent electricity throughout his body. If he didn’t know better, he may of even moaned. Whether the sound was in the foggy state of his mind, or poured from his mouth in the real world, he couldn’t tell. One thing was for sure, making her angry was becoming his new focal point.

“And just what are you suppose to be? A loud mouth scrawny little weakling, that can’t even give good head.” oh, he was really getting into it now. Creeping up behind her while her back was turned, he muttered, “I bet that mate of yours is glad to be dead, if just to get away from such a self centered brat and get some good tail.”

By the time he’d finished his trail of taunting, he prince leapt for her. The view of her turned back beckoned him to pounce like a cat on a mouse. With the mix of stimulants, instincts, and tension, his reality held no other choice but to try and pin her down.

* * *

Her POV

She snorted. He honestly thought that the best head she could do was when he was face-fucking her against her will. “Like you get to know what kind of head I give. I’d wake him up to it all the time, and he enjoyed it more than you’ll ever know. Treat a woman kindly, and maybe you’ll–” she was caught off-guard by him suddenly pouncing on her, and trying to pin her against the pod’s walls.

“Ggn…!! Get off me! Get off me, you pathetic asshole! Don’t you even dare try anything again!” She tried kicking him best she could, and kept struggling just to make it all the more difficult for him. She did her best to turn her body, and gave him another sour slap across the face.

“Don’t you dare touch me again! I’ll really poke your eyes out, I swear I will! I’ll make you go blind so you can never see a cute woman again! Or fight! Or anything else! I’d like to see you keep trying to be this pathetic excuse for a prince with no sight!”

* * *

His POV

She tried to turn around, and he let her. He wanted to see that painstakingly angry look she was bound to be throwing - judging from the words hissing from her mouth. It excited the Saiyan. He was getting more of an adrenaline rush now that the fog was beginning to clear. Leaving nothing more then a very horny, very pent up animal trapped in the tiny pod with her.

And there came the slurring of insults and threats, Vegeta didn’t mind as much this time. No, it went along well with trying to pin her down. Pinning her down, however, would have been a lot easier if the pod wasn’t spinning. He’d sat up too fast, and the toxins in his system made his vision blur instantly. The beast didn’t care though. Pushing past the endorphins that tried to stop his attack, he knew full well that he wanted inside her above anything else the aphrodisiacs were demanding of him

His strong hands found her wrists, and as soon as he felt her flesh in his grasp, he slammed her backward against the window. Purring loudly, his double vision washed over her dimly lit face with growing satisfaction, much like a feline that’d caught his favorite canary. She was a little blue bird that’d tweeted in his ear, and he’d gotten up to swat her back down to size. His strength holding her like child’s play.

“I think I see a cute little woman I’d like to fight and fuck, right here.” It was the drugs talking, dark and playful. It was something he’d never confess on his own. The woman could call him whatever she liked, as long as he got to stay in control. His hips brushed against her knees, trying to wedge his erection between her thighs. Then, he leaned in and licked her pouty pink mouth.

* * *

Her POV

He was clearly not as helpless as he was before. She might be in real trouble, if she wasn’t careful. She gulped but kept a serious expression as he pinned her, giving him the hateful stare he loved. She could feel him slowly trying to wedge her thighs open to rape her again, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

“You’re going to regret ever touching me some day, I promise you that!” He had the nerve to lick her lips, and she responded by opening her mouth and biting down hard. Only for a moment, before turning her head away so she didn’t have to look at him.

“I’ll find a way to make you regret ever even thinking about Earth.” She spoke with conviction, a fire burning in her heart. “I hate you. I hate your stupid underlings, too. Whatever their names are! Every time you touch me again, I’m only going to make you regret it more.”

She glanced over at him again, narrowing her eyes. She should have done more than slice at his neck. Why did she let him get to a point where he could pin her down again?

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t listening, at least he didn’t look like it. The dilated focus that sunk into his gaze was nothing more then animalistic lust. The crash of his hips against her closed thighs fell in time with his deepening breathing. Rolling his hips again and again, no matter how she resisted him. She bit his tongue and he felt a shock-wave tremor down his thighs, forcing him to buck uncontrollably. He needed to get off, the adrenaline was wearing off, and the drugs were starting to claw at his mind.

Heavy breath turned into panting, and panting into purrs. The soft vibrations of air rolling against her cheek, he was lost in looking at her. Captured in the sensation of his over-sensitized erection rubbing between the silk and flesh of her dress and thigh. He was finally able to relieve himself, the feeling of getting some sensational - even if it was only by means of external rubbing. He was so pent up, his body was so lit on fire, that the slightest touch felt like licking live wire.

“Wench, don’t make promises you can’t keep.” the words were growled against her collar bone. He was forcing himself on her again. Even if he didn’t possess the mental capacity to pry her legs apart, he could still pin her down with his sheer strength alone. Dragging her down the door of the pod, down to lay on the console under him. Spreading her arms apart by his hold on her wrists, and continued to rub the whole of his armored torso against the warmth of her body, rubbing one out against her thigh in the process.

* * *

Her POV

Eugh. She turned her head away from him as he panted against her skin, feeling a pit in her stomach from his disturbing she felt it to reel him rubbing himself against her to relieve himself. He wasn’t quite raping her, but he was certainly violating her. Rubbing up against her and grunting as he did it. She wrinkled her nose.

She got dragged down so that he could lean over her as he rubbed against her, and it only made her that much more disgusted. He couldn’t just let her go, could he? She almost regretted having forced him to digest more of those aphrodisiacs, but then again, that’s why she was where she was at now. If he hadn’t swallowed those candies, he’d have pried her legs open and maybe her aw too, just to violate her further.

“Don’t think it’s not something I can keep,” she replied, making an effort to squirm away from him just to get away from his pathetic humping. “I said I’ll kill you, but I’ll find something worse than that. I swear it. You can bet on your life. I’ll do way worse than slit your throat.”

* * *

His POV

“Such a violent woman.” He sounded far too pleased by her ferocity. The look in his eyes proved he was drowning in the final pool of sedatives. The touch he was receiving was flooding his head. He had to get inside of her. The brute was too drugged up, to half baked to understand. All he knew was he had to find a way mount between her legs. There was no small amount of trying - squirming and thrusting, grunting and moaning in fury and distress; burying his face between her breasts. Wouldn’t she let him between her thighs? He could smell it; sense the heat she was keeping so cruelly from him. She’d called him master, but now he was the one at her complete and utter mercy.

His body moved without his own comprehension, anything to get rid of the ache of need. The thick head of his cock rubbed hot and heavy against the girls thigh, trapped under the males heaving weight; spurting on the edge of climax, but the aphrodisiac wouldn’t break. The saiyan might as well of been in heat, bucking as he was. He didn’t notice she was trying to drive him off. Fighting her hands whenever they’d try to push; much more interested in grabbing her ass then what she was trying to do to him. The flash of memories of the bath-house were filling his mind. The earthlings mouth crashing onto the nymphs, her writhing, teasing herself for him. It was driving him over the edge. He’d orgasm soon, though the build up was taking it’s sweet time.

“I want that.. give it to me..” he glared, trying to focus on her features. His eyes dilated, his bronze face sweaty and flushed with heat. “You put your mouth on that whore,” his nose crinkled in jealousy, then his moaning picked up again. The prince kept staring at the womans lips, dazed and confused, as if trying to figure it out through all of his loved up thoughts.

And then, the hot rush of climax hit him and his body threw back his body into a chorus of writhing roars. His abdomen crunched, the thick bands of muscle in his neck dripped with sweat, every muscle in his body came alive. It was intense, almost too much for the prince to handle. Pump after heavy pump of creamy white burst over his pinned captive, and after what seemed stretched out moments, he finally succumbed to the end of the sedatives. Knocking him out fully. His steel framed structure falling limp from his once flexing stance.

...just as the landing system began to beep. If he wasn’t awake to punch in the landing sequence, it was going to be a bumpy ride.

* * *

Her POV

It was revolting. Not being able to do anything as he humped her, with his face pressed into her breasts. It nearly made her want to puke. She tried not to think about it, to look away, but it was hard to with how much movement there was. Ergh. The noises he was making made it even worse, and she finally squeezed her eyes shut to avoid looking. He mumbled about wanting something, and it sent a shiver down her spine to know he remembered her little thing with that prostitute.

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter when she realized he was getting louder, and she figured that at any moment, he’d press his lips against hers and start trying to make out with her. Then she’d really puke. But he didn’t. Instead, he just got louder and louder, and his thrusts got worse, and finally he did something she’d been expecting for a while, that was even more disgusting than trying to kiss her.

He came. He could feel the hot substance on her thighs, sticky and white and just… Disturbing. She wrinkled her nose and hoped he’d get off her and shut up, but he didn’t even do that much for her. He passed out right on top of her, without another word, heavy and limp. And lucky for her, just then, it seemed that the pod was ready to land.

She turned her head to look out the window, finding it was picking up speed. Great. …It wouldn’t be good to push him off her. He was a sort of seat belt like this. She was better off in the position she was in, she supposed. But– Shit. He’d had to punch things in before, hadn’t he? Shit. Shit, shit, shit. She pushed him off her so she could kneel and look up at the control panel, furrowing her brows at her options.

It didn’t seem all too far off from what she knew of ships; the buttons were obviously made in a way that even a dumb monkey could understand what they meant. Whoever made these clearly knew their audience, with the three dumb monkeys she knew of. She got to work, pressing the buttons in sequence that seemed to fit what the computer wanted of it. Hopefully that’d work.

* * *

His POV

The lights just wouldn’t stop blinking. At one point an alarm started going off. The pod began rolling, shaking, and at one point Nappa’s voice croaked over the intercom, “boss, you’re crashing, are you alright?” just before the brilliance that was Bulma seemed to work. The landing system beamed to life on a happy note. The flashing ceased. Now that the pod had steadied itself into a controlled fall towards the planet, all that was left was the big boom at the end. There was always a crash landing, there was no getting out of that one.

The pod streaked across the atmosphere like a shooting star, bursting into flame as it made way for the face of the planet. Vegeta was missing in action, so to speak. He’d crumpled over and was resting soundly in the crooked position the girl had shoved him into. His face still flushed, but strangely - the hard press of his brow seemed to lessen. The intensity of the drugs seemed to be giving him some level of relaxation. Too bad he’d probably wake up with a stiff back and a crick in his neck. But as it were, he was sleeping through the whole thing. Taking up half of the seat like a stuffed animal made of pure titanium - which at one point, after one hefty bump, his steal body leaned it’s weight over onto Bulma.

Both Nappa and Raditz pods made contact first, kicking dust into the air. The co-ordinance had been charged to a little planet far on the edge of the east sector. Not many dared to venture out in that direction, and with good reason. The planet they were destined to smash into was barren, mountainous, and dry. It’s red sands were course and wind blown. The mountains in the distance a rich gray color, probably from its influx of iron.

* * *

Her POV

A bump that caused Vegeta to slide partially onto her was all she needed to keep her in place. The pod landed as smoothly as it could have, and amazingly enough, Vegeta stayed passed out. She had no clue how, but he managed. She glanced out the window and saw plenty of red, and furrowed her brows. She might have been drugged at the time, but she remembered the description of the planet. It wouldn’t be smart to stay here for long.

She pushed Vegeta off her and opened up the pod and was welcomed with a cloud of red dust in the strong wind. A little scowl, and she glanced down at Vegeta. It took her a couple minutes, but she managed to roll him out of the pod, and promptly shut the door.

She looked down at the controls again. She at least found a button that appeared to be the lock button, just in case he woke up or one of the other two got too curious. It was just a matter of figuring out where the hell she’d be going. She didn’t know the coordinates of any other planet. Shit. She rubbed her head, but pressed a button or two here, roaring the pod to life again.

“Hrn…”

* * *

His POV

Nappa was the first one out of his pod. The door hissed open and the warm air burned into his eyes. This planet was not welcoming, not by a long shot. In the distance, though, looked to be the beginnings of an uninviting forest, right at the foothills of the towering mountains. His eyes kept roaming, roaming, all the way in the direction of Vegeta’s pod. …just in time to see his lifeless body roll out, and the door shut after him.

“Vegeta! ..Prince Vegeta!” Vegeta could hear Nappa’s worthless voice, it sounded more nervous and frantic than usual. What did that great big buffoon want this time? His eyes squinted open just enough to shield them from the sand that was persistently trying to scream into every orifice of his face. What the fuck, where the fuck was he? What the fuck had just happened? The last thing he remembered was ..oh god. Oh fuck, that damned woman was going to pay for this..

It was just about then, as the prince was pulling himself to his feet and refitting his clothing, that the pod behind him began to rumble to life. Oh like hell she was getting away in his space ship! The angry ape growled, snapping his teeth in sheer dominance. Fishing under his armor, he pulled out a small remote control. One ‘pii-pii’ chime later, and the pod came crashing back down into the sand with a thud. The door hissing opened upon his request via the control in his hand.

“Oh no you don’t, you little bitch. You’re not getting away that easily.” One large, scarred hand reached into the pod, grabbing the girl by the fabric around her neck and throwing her into the hot sand. The prince wasn’t as disoriented like he was before. He was his old self, and his burning aggression was blazing into her eyes. Both Nappa and Raditz were attempting to onlook from over his shoulders. Curious as to what had happened, but neither would question their leader's beat and bloodied appearance.

* * *

Her POV

Maybe if she knew the coordinates to a planet, she could have gotten away. But just as she was about to try and click any buttons, what did she get? The pod crashing straight back down to the planet, and the door opening. It wasn’t until she saw a small remote in Vegeta’s had did she realize that she hadn’t fucked up pressing buttons. He had a remote to control it. Damn!

She leaned away from his hand but was ultimately grabbed, and tossed ruthlessly onto the sweltering hot sand. It got into the cuts on her hand and she grimaced in pain, holding the hand close to herself as she pulled herself up to her feet. She glanced over at Vegeta with furrowed brows, using her non-wounded hand to block out the sand from getting in her eyes. He was back to his old self that quick? It must be his stomach. Saiyans went through food like crazy, this couldn’t be much different.

She knew better than to run her mouth this time. She didn’t want to get herself into more trouble, he already seemed irritated enough. But what the hell was she supposed to do? They were on a dangerous planet, what’d they expect to do with her? She really didn’t want to be stuck with them while they destroyed another planet like they destroyed hers. What if someone tried to kill her, mistaking her for one of them?

* * *

His POV

An onslaught of feelings hit him like a brick wall the moment he looked down upon her in the shifting sand, digging his stare into her face. The memories of what he’d done, said, in his intoxicated state came flooding back. His armor was stained, his throat burned, and his jaw ached. He’d been a fool. A weakling. Not that he’d ever admit it, no, the only look on his face was anger. Vegeta was trying to decide what to do with her, but it was hard to think with the well of emotions bubbling through his chest. He was trying to digest a whole new rainbow of sensations. Of unwelcome emotions.

She’d drugged him - humiliation. She’d called him pathetic - anger. She’d refused him - rejection. He’d helplessly jerked off in front of her. Normally he wouldn’t of mind, but being helpless was disgracing for someone like him. And then one memory hit him ..oh god, had he been …purring? Yes, unfortunately, he remembered that loud and clear. He’d been rubbing on her like a mewling tabby cat. That brought another sensation that flushed his face. He gritted his teeth together so hard that he had to look away …he was embarrassed.

He turned his back to leave, right then and there. The prince was furious, a mix of feelings that he didn’t want, nor know how to deal with.

Raditz, however, collected his brave enough to ask, “Prince, orders, sir?”

“Guard the ships. Don’t let the whore get away. I don’t need you idiots for this,” he snapped, his shoulders hunched.

“Listen Vegeta, won’t you take one of us? They’re supposed to be a warring breed,” Nappa barked. The bald man did know when to interfere with his prince when he had to.

“Good, I could use a good fight!” The prince clenched his fists, and then he was gone. Blazing into the oncoming wind storm, blue kai burst behind him. Vegeta was out of sight in seconds, leaving the girl alone with the two men. She had their full attention now.

  



	5. Double-Header

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This is a dark chapter. While there's no Vegebul in this particular chapter, there is a lot of Raditz/Bulma/Nappa. It has its smutty moments but then goes down hill. I felt it important to keep it in order to show character development down the line. It'll show just how messed up and important Vegeta's motives and revelations are in the upcoming chapters, too. It's not just pointless sex and brutality, I promise! All of this will be addressed in the future. If it's still too much for anyone, that's okay! I'll put a chapter summary in the notes below and you can just skip this chapter all together.

  


Starting with her POV:

He was furious and embarrassed. Bulma knew the feeling intimately by now, so she could tell it was written all over his face. She kept quiet as she watched him stomp away. It was… Nice. Like revenge. She’d made him feel the same way she did; she’d gotten back at him.

She was left alone then, with Raditz and Nappa. They were staring her down, as if they didn’t mind being in the blistering hot desert. Gn… She was too busy trying to protect herself, especially her wounds, from the sand to care all that much. They couldn’t try to do anything in a place like this, right?

She didn’t dare open her mouth for fear of the sand that would get inside, but she made a decision without them; to start walking toward that dangerous-looking forest. Maybe she’d get lucky, if she wanted to call it that, and they’d follow her.

* * *

Their leader had left without them, but they didn’t seem as surprised as the girl might of thought. Nappa’s heavy shoulders fell with a sigh and Raditz was doing his best to keep his face turned towards the sandpaper blast of wind, if just to keep his hair from whipping into his face.

“Hey, wait a minute there, girlie! Vegeta told us to watch you,” the loud gruff was from Nappa. Swooping his large body in like a fighter jet right behind the escaping girl, he picked her up by the waist, tucking her tiny frame (tiny compared to him) right under one of his massive, bulgy arms.

Bulma had the right idea though; the forest looked to be a little less intimidating. If you could call a dark forest dripping with thorns, slime, vines and moss less intimidating. At least the burning wind couldn’t manage to break past the tree line, much. As soon as the soldiers and their captive were sinking into the shadow of the forest, Nappa finally landed. Dropping the girl with a heavy thud, he let her roll in whatever direction she may of landed.

“Well, he left us behind again ..this sucks!” moaned Raditz as soon as he touched down.

“I hope he leaves us some of the action, I was really looking forward to a fight!” yelled Nappa, flexing into a fighters stance.

“Did you see that wound on his throat, though? I don’t want to wait around for a dead man who’s never coming back,” Raditz huffed, crossing his arms. He was more worried about his grinding patience then the actual health of his prince.

“That’s right!” Nappa snapped, “You! Girlie! What happened to Prince Vegeta? Huh? You better speak up, or not, it could be just as fun making you talk..” There was that hungry, horrible look in their eyes again; they were closing in on their pray.

* * *

She froze in surprise and let out a yelp when she was picked up by Nappa and held under his arm when he flew. At least she got to the forest faster, but she did not like being held while he was flying at all. She was thankful when she was dropped, though it was a painful thud, and her butt landed right in a puddle of mud.

She wiped herself off and stumbled to get up, taking a glance around. …Maybe she should have just tried to get in the pod again, since Vegeta had left. Too late now. She was stuck in a terrifying forest with two dangerous men. She held her arms tight to her chest and kept her wits about her, looking at all the thorns and vines and poisonous-looking fruits.

She listened only barely to the other two as they spoke; up until she heard one of them call out to her- ‘girlie.’ Like she was a dog or something. She turned to look at them as they slowly moved closer, like a predator to prey, and she instinctively took a few steps back.

“What… What do you think happened? I sliced his neck open! A-and I’ll to it to you guys, too! So you better think twice before you get close to me!”

* * *

The two towering soldiers looked at one another and then back at the girl - assessing the situation in total disbelief. Did she really expect them to believe that some scrawny female from a nameless planet had caused that much damage to their prince? When they themselves were far down the totem pole when it came to his power level? The prince was strong, the strongest they knew, but one thing was impossible to deny - the state of him when he came crashing out of that pod, and the fact that she’d been the only one in there with him. It just didn’t make sense.

“That’s impossible! You better stop lying to us, girl, and tell us what happened! Do you think this is a joke!” barked Nappa, stepping angrily closer.

“You expect us to believe that some kai-less little runt could harm Vegeta like that?” Raditz was on the prowl now, cautiously rounding his presence around the female like a big furry cat. His suspicious stare never leaving her, brushing away the leaf and vine that tangled against his hair as he moved.

“Maybe we should punish her for being such a filthy little liar.” Raditz teased, creeping up further.

“Hey, that sounds like a great idea” replied Nappa.

There was a loud boom in the distance over the mountains. The battle had started, but they didn’t seem that interested anymore. They were circling her now, like two wolves around a doe in the forest. They hadn’t gotten to use her since their little run in on earth. They’d heard her scream at the brothel, and Raditz had had it in for the woman ever since. She never sounded like that when he was inside of her. The brute wanted to get his pride back and make her scream like that for him.

* * *

They clearly didn’t believe her, despite the fact that she hadn’t even been lying this time. She gulped and continued trying to step back, or any direction that was way from them whenever they circled closer around her. She played with her hair, her nervousness coming back. This wasn’t like before, with just one drugged Saiyan. She was in real danger again.

“How else would it have happened, huh…? I… I grabbed that… The thing on your eye you have!” The word was scouter, but it wasn’t like she knew the word. “I shattered it, and then I sliced his neck open! Stop coming closer! I’ll do it to you guys, too!”

She didn’t really have the same opportunity this time. Her capsule was empty, and wouldn’t do anything. She didn’t have anything to shatter their scouters on. What else could she do? Her eyes darted away from and then back at the Saiyans, both trying to think of something and trying to keep her eyes on them.

She could attack them with thorny vines, perhaps, but she’d probably just do more damage to herself than anything else. She didn’t know any of the plants here, either. Grabbing a fruit to toss at them might be a death sentence, knowing there were things on her own planet that cause fatal poisoning just by touch.

“Don’t come closer. I’m telling the truth.” she glared at the two.

* * *

Another distant boom rattled the ground, and the ominous men stepped closer. Radditz grabbed the female by her freshly washed hair, pulling her up to meet him nose to nose, eye to eye. It was easy to drag her toes a few inches off the ground; his stature was so immense.

“You mean his scouter?” Raditz tapped his blinking eye piece with his free hand, staring at Bulma through the green lens. He was wary to any oncoming grabs for his eye piece, now that she’d revealed how she’d harmed their leader.

“You know Nappa, I think she may actually be telling the truth. He was missing his scouter. But you know what that means…”The man’s eyes burrowed into his captured pray, giving Bulma one good shake by the hair of her head. “That means we should punish her for her crime,” he paused, “I don’t get why Vegeta hasn’t killed you yet, it doesn’t make any sense, but I’m not complaining. It just means more fun for us.”

“Maybe we should break her arms, just to make sure she doesn’t try any funny business then.” Nappa towered behind her, moving in as Raditz taunted and teased their new toy. His wide chest bumped against the girl’s shoulder blades just in time for his hands to very lightly skim the surface of her arms. He was feeling her up, licking his lips while he touched her smooth skin. The splatter of his saliva showered against her cheek when he leaned in to sniff her. She might as well of not of been alive, with the way they were handling her. Already hard, both of their hips starting to show their growing interest in the way they bucked her between their large caging forms.

* * *

Bulma was distracted by the loud explosion, and turned her head- just in time for Raditz to take her off-guard and grab her by the hair. She stared at him with big eyes, squirming and kicking her legs when he lifted her. Her hands grabbed his wrists just to try and pull herself up to stop the shooting pain in her scalp, and yelped and whined as he shook her.

She tried to turn her head but was met with shooting pain when she heard Nappa speak about breaking her arms, and her eyes went wider yet. No, no, shit. She should have kept some candies with her or something. She squirmed further at the feeling of his chest against her back and his hands running over her.

“Stop! Stop! Let go of me right now!” Her skin tingled and her muscles tensed just from pure disgust when he sniffed her cheek, getting his saliva all over her skin. At least Vegeta didn’t try much while she was awake because of how much she could fight. She couldn’t fight back with two at once, especially when they were so much bigger than her.

* * *

It didn’t matter that they were in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by thick winding jungle, or splashing their heavy boots through slime and mud, it was all the same to them. Their attention was on the girl. The two rough men were as at home in the thick of thorns, as they were in the cellar, or the brothel. It was all just to get some, and she was caught in between their lust for sex and blood.

“Shut up slave, we’re just getting started. I’d hate to have to break your jaw before you get a chance to suck me off.” Raditz tapped the girl under the chin. His hand still wound in her hair, keeping her in place while the two large men ground their clothed erections against her ass and belly. They were hard, massive, and Raditz was dipping his hand down between their meeting waistlines. There was the familiar sound of his armor thudding to the ground, followed by his fondling of her silky dress - trying to get past the skirt to feel up her thighs.

Slowly, so slowly, Nappas hand gripped the girls left arm. Dragging it backwards despite any fight she may have put up, until a loud ‘snap!’ filled the jungle. A rush of birds fled the trees from the sound. His fingers cupped her neck from behind, bellowing horrible laughter at what he’d just accomplished. Let’s see her try and fight them now, thought the big bald ape.

* * *

She glared at Raditz when he threatened to break her jaw, debating whether or not she should risk her safety by spitting in his face. It looks like she was getting into a bad situation either way, but at least in one way, she’d get to survive the encounter. She bit her lip when she heard the sound of the armor dropping again, and squirmed when she felt them start rubbing their erections against her body. How many times had she been in this situation in the past day? It felt like years already. She couldn’t live like this. She needed to find a way to escape.

She couldn’t even focus on her idea of escaping. She’d been ignoring Nappa’s hands running over her arms, just like she’d been trying to ignore everything else. But then he jerked her arm away from Raditz’s wrist, and pulled it back until she heard a pop, and a shooting, throbbing pain unlike anything she’d ever felt hit her. She yelled, loud enough to scare away any forms of life nearby.

If anything, it only caused her to struggle more. If she was going to get seriously injured no matter what she did; she’d have to fight. She screamed and kicked and fought with Raditz to at least find footing on the ground to lessen the pain in her scalp, while the arm that had been popped out of its socket lay limp at her side.

“STOP! PUT ME DOWN, LET ME GO, NOW! NOW, NOW, NOW! DON’T TOUCH ME!” It’d been far louder than she’d screamed before, with her legs kicking at their erections and trying to hit their hands away from her thighs. Tears from the horrible pain began falling freely, but it didn’t mean she stopped yelling. “LET GO OF ME!”

* * *

What else were they supposed to do while they waited on Vegeta to reap destruction over the edge of the mountains? Raditz and Nappa clearly weren’t listening. No matter her screaming, pushing, trying to fight them away, the only response she earned were the two men pawing at her like a toy being dangled between them.

The loud crack and sequel of screams fell on deft ears. If anything it only drove the two barbarians wilder. The girl’s sobs were the cries of a wounded animal, alerting her predators to swoop in and take a piece of their helpless pray. Her arm may have been useless, but the pair were plenty interested in the rest of her body. Raditz finally managed to rake his hands between the girl’s thighs again and again; by no means being gentle, leaving large red marks to mar her skin. It just felt so good to squeeze her supple skin between his large fingers, he couldn’t, wouldn’t control himself.

“Open her up already, I didn’t get to fuck her last time!” Snarled Nappa from over Bulma’s shoulder, busy trying to grope the girl’s kicking legs, firmly squeezing the flesh of her ass cheeks in either of his large hands.

“Oh come on, what’s the fun if you don’t watch them squirm a little first?” There was an all-too-easy grin on Raditz face. He acted as if he’d done this a million times. She was just another notch on his belt.

“Fine, but this dress has got to go.” Raditz’ dark eyes flicked down to the fabric hiding the curve of her hips. Now that Nappa was supporting her against his thighs (even if he was bucking like a mad man), Raditz had the chance to finally release his grip on her hair. Raditz freed hand grabbed for the silky skirt; ripping it, shredding it until her legs were nearly bare. With Nappa prying the woman’s legs apart from behind, it was easy for the big hairy bastard to press in between her thighs, sliding his throbbing girth against her clit; rubbing his exposed erection against her sensitive area until he began to moan.

* * *

This was far worse than any time before. They made no attempt at being gentle, and seemed to get off on giving her as much pain as possible. With every new move they made, she had another wound. Her thighs burned when Raditz’s nails dug into them, and it only caused her to squirm more. Like always, they didn’t seem to give a single shit about the struggling- Nappa simply wrapped an arm around her so he could better buck against her ass after having groped her so much.

She couldn’t stop screaming and yelling, even if she wanted to. Her yells at them to stop didn’t cease, even if she did have the relief of Raditz letting go of her hair. She still struggled, yelling at and trying to hit Raditz with her free, uninjured arm when he ripped her dress. All the way around, so it was basically a miniskirt. It covered everything, but it gave them easy access.

Her screams had cracked and then hit a point where they slowly lessened, if only just because of her throat aching from the yelling. Instead, the yells turned into sobs and whines, heightening when Nappa started rubbing his cock against her clit, stimulating it in ways that made her suffering feel all the more violating. Struggling and swaying her hips only made it worse, and so she resorted to planting her feet on Raditz and walking up him to try and get her lower half out of reach.

“Gn… Stop it! Don’t touch me anymore–!”

* * *

“Ohh, she’s a feisty one, isn’t she?” Raditz sounded surprised, catching the woman’s feet before they made it too far up his chest. That gave him a great idea, he’d just wind her legs around his waist, and then pounding into her would be that much easier. The man’s rough fingers dug into her calf muscles, forcing her to straddle his wide waist. His tail flicked, even in the heat of the moment the brute seemed to have waywardness when getting _this_ particular woman anywhere near his tail.

The long haired male wedge himself under what remained of the once expensive silk dress, finding the soft lips of her entrance with the tip of his length’s bulbous head. She was small, he could tell that right off, and she wasn’t very turned on. What? Having two big warriors rub up against her wasn’t making her wet? The big male scowled down at her, giving her a good buck, as if punishing her for not being needy for him. Raditz was still a little sore over the fact that the woman hadn’t screamed over the size of his cock the first time.

There wasn’t just one intrusive cock trying to explore between her resisting thighs. Nappa was doing his best to take her just as quickly. It was as if he couldn’t move himself fast enough. Gurgling hardy chuckles, truly amused by the display under his chin, as he poked and prodded her with his own newly exposed erection. He may have wanted her vagina, but taking her ass was just as well and good. The big male knew where this was going, and was all too eager in splitting her ass cheeks apart. Shoving the massive end of his cock inside, he found a new rhythm between the three of them. It must have hurt her, but he was only enjoying it.

* * *

Of course her legs were grabbed. She was only delaying the inevitable, she knew that. But it was especially embarrassing that he forced her to straddle him so that he could shove himself inside her. Her cheeks were red from embarrassment, but what was worse was the pain. He didn’t just push himself in; he shoved himself, with a painful thrust. She winced and whined in pain, her tears still falling.

But it wasn’t anything like when Nappa joined in. She should have expected it. She did, when he started chuckling and she was reminded of his existence behind her. She knew what was happening, but it didn’t make it any less painful when he shoved himself inside her along with Raditz. The only thing that could have made it worse was if they’d both have tried shoving themselves into her vagina at once.

She yelled and whined in pain, with incomprehensible words. Gravity wasn’t working in her favor, either. Neither were they- they didn’t give her a moment to adjust, they just began thrusting. She’d give anything, if they’d just–

…

<  
p>It was embarrassing, but the idea that popped into her mind was better than being torn up like she currently was. She struggled against Nappa’s arm, and started speaking to get their attention, trying not to wince and stutter or let out a groan of pain every time they moved.

“Hey!! He… Hey, I have stuff back in the pod! I have lube! I swear! I swear, I have lube! It’ll be better for you two that way! Please! Please, you’ll both like it better like that!”

* * *

She was tight, tighter than either of them had expected. Maybe it was due to the tensing and screaming she was jostling between them. The pain only made it better for the two, they both knew that. The more she tried to move, her insides only fitted them with more pleasure. The only thing was..they were feeling a little rough - a little dry. As satisfying as it was to force a woman down and breed with them, it was hard to build up speed when their dicks were getting the wrong kind of friction.

And then the word ‘lube’ caught Raditz attention, and he looked down. Never ceasing his brutal fucking, he watched the female jostle against his hips as he pounded into her; but never the less, she had his attention - somewhat.

“What are you saying little slut? You have the nerve to try and interrupt us?” the big male growled out. Nappa grunted in agreement, his big chest rumbling at her back.

But then the memory occurred to Raditz. How she’d been moaning, screaming even, back at the brothel. He wanted her to scream like that while taking his dick. There had been a strong scent of aphrodisiac coming from Vegeta’s pod when they’d arrived on the red planet. Maybe she wasn’t lying.. and it would feel good.. better than a dry fuck. The idea was just too tempting for the big soldier to pass up.

“Why shouldn’t I just spit on you instead?” Raditz barked, snapping his teeth inches from her mouth. His pounding turned more vigorous, waiting for her to try and convince him - which wouldn’t take much. Raditz had convinced himself of it just by over fantasizing about how it must have felt.

“You better not be lying little slut, or I’ll make sure to make it ten times worse for you!” Then he did it, Raditz actually slid out of her. He abandoned the woman with Nappa still banging into her small backside. After one quick scowl, Raditz tucked himself away and headed back towards the pod.

* * *

God, it hurt. It hurt so badly. They didn’t look all that thrilled about what she was begging for, and with Raditz asking why he should care and Nappa just grumbling in agreement, she figured she’d be done for. She’d be tossed away like the girl back on Earth. She’d be ripped in half, and that was it. She could already feel it happening. She felt like she was tearing up, and wouldn’t be surprised if she reached down to find herself bleeding.

At Raditz’s question, she just looked up at him with big, teary eyes as she whined with every movement of their hips. She knew the answer to that by now; spit was a terrible lubricant. But somehow she was just at a loss of words. Like she could even give him much convincing. But… He convinced himself. He pulled out of her, and headed off, probably to go get it.

She couldn’t even be happy about it. Nappa didn’t stop his thrusts, and that was what hurt most of all. She still whined in pain, giving little sobs every time he gave the slightest movement. She had already hated anal to begin with- she’d tried it with Yamcha a number of times but never enjoyed it. But without lube, and with a man so big and forceful, it only made her feel like she was being pierced with a sharp knife.

She leaned over best she could and reached between her legs, and actually grabbed the base of Nappa’s cock, only trying to pull it downward and away from her.

“Gn– Just wait, wait till he comes back! Just… Just a little while…” How low had she gotten after such a short time with them, that she was so willing to let them penetrate her as long as they had lube? It was embarrassing and horrible, but she’d rather be embarrassed as she was violated, than ripped to shreds.

* * *

Wait, wait?! Was the woman actually trying to tell him what to do? That was worth a jaw dropping laugh from the big bald Saiyan. He shoved the girls head forward, hitting her skull forcefully from behind in a disbelieving manner. “Knock it off, girlie. Shut up and take my cock like a good girl!”

The big brute seemed like he’d never stop forcing his way between her back cheeks. Lube or no lube, the solider just enjoyed the act of inflicting pain onto another, getting his dick rubbed. Doing that in a pretty girl just made it all the better. But eventually Nappa’s muggy hands got frisky. Reaching around to grab the girl’s breasts, he fondled a nipple between his thumb and finger as best he could, until he started to lose balance. He’d need to get her on her hands and knees if he wanted to feel her up properly.

“Hands and knees, girl!” he demanded. Ripping the poor woman off of his hard dick, he threw her aimlessly into the brush of throne and mud. He was right on her tail too, wherever she’d ended. Stroking the length of his erection, he debated if he wanted to take advantage of the moment and shove into her pussy before Raditz returned.

* * *

She cried and whined as the pain continued, especially with a new ache on her head from where he’d hit her. It seemed to go on forever, until he began trying to feel her up, and nearly dropped her doing so. He hesitated for a moment, seemingly in thought- before he really did drop her. Into thorns and mud.

She shuffled upward, her skin pierced and ripped apart by the thorns. She’d heard Nappa’s words, but glanced back at him without doing so. She was clearly afraid, so it wasn’t out of outright defiance this time. She knew she’d be making things even worse for herself if she just said no. He’d probably hit her again.

She did pull herself out from the thorn bush and into the mud, though, and turned to look at him, her hands out as if they could protect her from him. Her legs were shaking, and she could see the blood on his dick from him ripping her open.

“Just wait a little! I- I’ll be good if you just wait for him to come back! I’ll take my dress off and let you feel me up all you want! I’ll bend over and everything! I won’t struggle, and I– I’ll do things for you! I’ll do things while we wait!” Her face burned admitting all of it, but it was only to stop the pain. Like someone leaking all their secrets after a round of torture, she was begging to do anything if only to make him stop ripping her open.

* * *

What the hell had happened in that pod? There was blood splattered and smeared everywhere. All along the window glass were large finger streaks of red, painting the once white leather seat. It smelled heavily of the girl and Vegeta. Shit had gone down, Raditz could easily see that. Damn, the bitch really wasn’t lying. He’d want to ask Vegeta exactly what’d happened, but he knew that was a death sentence. Instead, Radtiz focused on collecting the vials that’d been scattered on the pod floor.

By the time Raditz returned, Nappa was getting an earful from the girl. She looked a mess - trying to hide herself from the incoming bald Saiyan; caked in mud and the smell of blood. Though, it was nice to hear her beg. The long haired male stood back behind a tree in order to hear her plead for mercy. Raditz was sick in that way, he liked it when females pleaded and mewled.

“What sort of things?” Raditz finally stepped out, just as Nappa was grabbing for the girls jaw - probably to shove his big bloody dick into her mouth. Nappa paused, though, and looked to see the second Saiyan join them. Raditz was already rubbing himself through his pants again. Hovering over the girl where she stood in the mud, the thick line of his erection attempted to push its way out of his pants.

Tossing the vials at the girl, Raditz muttered, “while you’re at it, why don’t you start rubbing? I want to watch.”

* * *

Nappa didn’t seem as eager to listen to outside opinion as Raditz, and when he grabbed her chin, she’d squeezed her eyes shut and began speaking faster- only to be interrupted by Raditz. She didn’t think she’d be so relieved to see one of them. He clearly found what she was looking for, too.

He tossed the vials onto the ground and she ignored commenting on what she’d been saying she was going to do for Nappa (though mostly she just had in mind showing herself to him and willingly rubbing him off), to grab one of the vials that she recalled being lube. She picked it up and got the lube onto her hand by holding it between her arm and torso, and glanced over at Raditz again as he commanded her yet again. … Well. She guessed if she was rubbing, then at least she knew that the lube was being used.

She grabbed onto Nappa’s cock, being as it was right in front of her, and started rubbing him off with the lube. She at least took some petty, useless revenge out of it by squeezing him as tight as possible, even though she knew he probably liked it better that way. She didn’t rub Raditz off, figuring by personality alone, Nappa was more important. And her other arm was useless. Either way… She knew it was a shot in the dark, but maybe he’d get off this way. Maybe they’d prefer her pumping them and then cumming on her.

With that idea set in her mind, she didn’t do bad at all with the handjob- if she got him off before they could pin her down, then maybe at least he wouldn’t bother with her anymore. She held him properly and rotated her wrist back and forth as she pumped, occasionally giving more attention to the head to rub her thumb over it, and occasionally rubbing her fingers in little circles in the area just before his balls.

“I could use both my hands, but my other arm…” It still hurt like hell; maybe she could convince Raditz to put it back in its socket just to get a good handjob.

* * *

Why the hell did Raditz have to show up just as the little female was coming to her senses? Nappa was not all too pleased with his comrade showing back up. He’d been enjoying listening to all the dirty things the female was begging to do to his cock. Alone time with the prince’s slave was a rare thing; he didn’t want to pass it up. The big bald soldier was just about to pounce the girl too, longing to get first dibs on the woman just when she’d started paying attention to his erection. It was indeed a smart move; the big lug had almost jumped her.

The sounds coming from Nappa’s mouth tore over the canopy. The earthling definitely knew what she was doing. The soldier’s massive cock throbbed, twitching under the influence of her touch. The large tip hit against the girl’s cheek whenever he bucked into the tiny grip of her hand. Bulma’s revenge-squeezing was only getting him off faster ..as well as making Raditz increasingly jealous. Huffing and shifting his weight right beside her, Raditz pressed the girth of his erection against her face.

“Stop talking wench, or I’ll break your other arm.” scowl Raditz. She had lips, she could use them for more than just trying to weasel out of this - that’s what Raditz was getting at (he was the wiser one of the pair). The heavy length bobbed in her face, rubbing the veiny mass along her features before forcing its way into her mouth, prying open her jaw with his merciless heaving of in and out.

Nappa on the other hand, was getting anxious. As soon as Raditz took over the girl’s attention, he was reminiscing about being inside of her just moments before. Without much warning, the huge thug slammed the side of his hand against her shoulder, forcing her down onto her hands and knees. That’s what he wanted to see, her little backside again. It was just waiting for his cock, and he was ready to shove back inside. His length was slick with lube and traces of the girls blood. At least giving her anal would be a little easier this time.

* * *

She wrinkled her nose and looked away from Nappa’s cock in her face, only to be presented with Raditz demanding she suck him off. She tried to keep her mouth shut but he shoved it in nonetheless, making her gag more from disgust than anything else. Clearly her little plan to jerk them off wasn’t working. They wanted more. It was the same as Vegeta. She’d learned that much by now. They never seemed to get enough. It hadn’t even been a whole day, and yet they’d taken all they could multiple times by now.

It went a step further when Nappa, despite all that roaring, got sick of the handjob. He shoved her down into the mud again, at least in a way that let her free from Raditz. She coughed and straightened herself when he shoved himself inside her. It at least wasn’t quite as painful with the lube, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt horribly. She yelped in pain, and her cheeks turned bright red.

“Agh–!” She found it in her to try fighting back now that she knew she couldn’t make it any better. She turned her upper half and tried shoving him away, grunting in pain. “Stop it! Let me go already!” If she was going to be hurt either way and there was nothing she could do, then there was nothing else to do than fight back.

* * *

For all of her struggling, the two men didn’t seem to care. Struggling only made it worse for her and better for them. It stimulated their intruding cocks and made their hearts beat wildly. With no one around to stop them, and Vegeta missing for what could be hours, the soldiers were using the prime opportunity to have their way with the girl. When it came down to it they really were just a couple of animals.

Raditz definitely didn’t like having his toy taken away. How many times had that happened to him now? It seemed like he was always getting the left-overs from the other two Saiyans. Well, not this time, he was determined - and it showed in his eyes. The look on his face wasn’t too pleased. Pushing the girls shoulders back, he forced her upright and onto her knees, then thudded her back against Nappa’s rocking chest.

“You have a sweet little voice; I’d like to hear you beg. Beg for your life, whore.” Raditz glared, tapping the girl on the cheek with his finger. It didn’t take long for him to join Nappa on the ground in front of the trapped earthling. Getting himself back into position, his hand steadily jerked his swollen cock before plunging it back between the girls thrusting thighs. Nappa already had a good rhythm working, and the lube made it feel even better than before. A loud sigh escaped the long haired beast as soon as he fell into line with the momentum of her body. The tight squeeze of her little human body taking the two massive dicks was intensely gratifying.

* * *

As if she hadn’t been tossed around enough, Raditz went a step further and grabbed her, forcing her up against Nappa’s chest. She knew damn well what he meant to do, but with her needing to have her knees spread even to keep her balance with how rough Nappa was being, there wasn’t much she could do. She gave him her infamous glare when he told her to beg for her life, but it must have been more pathetic than usual with just how dirty she was.

When he finally pushed into her, she couldn’t even really kneel. Her legs were too far apart, and they were too tall, with their legs in her way anyway- she was propped up on their connected legs, rocking back and forth violently with each thrust. Every time Nappa pushed in, Raditz was out, and every time Raditz forced himself back in, Nappa retracted. She didn’t have time to breathe, being completely at their mercy.

She debated–though the movement back and forth made it hard to even think at all–reaching over and pulling Raditz’s tail, but the aching pain in her shoulder from the arm that had been pulled out of its socket demanded otherwise. At least it wasn’t dry like before, she figured. It’d be best not to fight back anymore. It was one thing when it was one Saiyan she was fighting. Two was too much.

“Agh– Gnn– Ahn–” Her pants were mixed together with grunts and gasps, and she planted her hand on Raditz’s chest if only just to attempt to steady herself somewhat. Her cheeks burned, especially as they kept going and she could feel herself getting wetter. It was painful, but she was starting to enjoy it in some small way.

* * *

The look that Bulma shot at the tower of muscle didn’t win her any favors. The confused glare on Raditz face quickly warped into a scowl - far from the look of acknowledgement Vegeta would have returned. Looking at that pretty little mouth of hers did give him ideas, though. After one major jut up into the woman’s stretched opening, Raditz went to work relieving himself of the rest of his armor. He wanted to feel her skin press up against him while she was being double fucked between the two men’s chests.

The girl’s race was small, very small in comparison to their own. It made them feel like giants. Looking down at the top of her silvery blue head as it bobbed up and down, they watched her jerk from the heavy pounding between her legs. It was obvious she was beginning to like it - the way her insides readily accepted their stiff flesh. Both of them were highly aware of the rubbing sensation of the other male’s erection just beyond her tight wall. It wasn’t something they’d easily admit, but it was a pleasantly dirty realization. Every time their cocks slid past the others, she grew tighter. The friction was increasing, her slicking insides making it easier to pump their captive full of Saiyan cock.

“You didn’t think you were getting out of those dirty promises, did you?” Raditz bumped the girl’s face against his chest, grabbing the back of her head with his giant paw. Oh yes, Raditz had overheard the tantalizing trail of pleads she’d been requesting. Bringing those ideas back up quickly got Nappa’s attention, too. The bald warrior moaned at the memory. She said she’d play with herself, jerk them off, and suck him while he waited for his companion to return. The excitement made the massive brutes hips buck wilder then before. Snaking his hands past the filthy silks that hid her breasts, Nappa began playing with them wildly.

“I want to see her play with her tits,” yelled Nappa, who was very busy squeezing handfuls of the girl’s breasts. As wonderful as the girl felt inside, Raditz liked the idea, too. With a regretful moan, his length slid from between the woman’s legs, leaving her helplessly caught up in Nappa’s bucking and groping. Raditz dick was slick, throbbing, and twitching from the sudden cool air. The sticky mass of flesh bobbed just above the woman’s breasts, the thick tip looking straight up at her.

A massive hand pushed her head forward, commanding, “Suck it.”

* * *

She hated that she was beginning to like it. She was resisting moaning, refusing to give them the satisfaction, but now that things had gotten sweaty and there was no more dry, painful thrusts, she’d managed to find enjoyment in the rhythm. Her body was getting sweaty, and she could feel the horrible excitement in every nerve in her body each time she was bounced from one of them to the other. They were hitting deep enough to make her g-spot feel overwhelmed, and the pain she had from her wounds and cuts and tears were all beginning to wash away.

Her head was forced up against Raditz’s chest, taking one more bit of control away from her. Her eyes closed, but shot open again a moment later when Raditz reminded her of her words before, when she was begging Nappa to wait until he got back. How she said she wouldn’t struggle, that she’d take off her dress, and ‘do things’ for them. She gasped, but not because she was reminded- instead, because Nappa had begun to thrust into her faster and had raised her dress up to get to her breasts and start fondling them roughly.

She glanced behind herself at Nappa for a moment when he’d demanded to see her play with her breasts, when suddenly Raditz pulled out of her. It took part of the pleasure out of the act, and it was easy to be reminded of the pain when it was just Nappa shoving himself inside her wildly over and over. She grunted every time he pushed in, only to be met with Raditz’s cock right in her face. Still covered in her own natural lubricants. She nearly gagged just at the idea of sucking him off like that.

She put her hand up as a barrier between her mouth and his dick, even with his hand on the back of her head, even with all the thrusts and movement from Nappa. No. Absolutely not. She stared up at Raditz, her gaze giving him a certain look. She spoke, though it was less assertive if only because she kept stumbling as Nappa forced himself on her.

“N- Not unle– unless you wa–ha– want puke every–gn–where–” She shook her head best she could with his grip on the back of her head. Worse yet, she found herself giving him a suggestion that she would never want to be reminded that she said– “P– ahn– Put it– back in.”

* * *

Nappa wasn’t listening. His cock was getting thicker and thicker by the moment. Now that there was only him left to fill and handle the girl, he took the opportunity to buck into her with all of his lusty habits. Groping her breasts, handling her waist, and running his hands down the shape of her hips were all on his to-do list. After giving her thighs a good squeeze, his meaty fingers explored over the curve of her thigh. Well aware that he may get a little more action out of the female if he swirled his fingers over her soaking clit.

Raditz on the other hand, was still enjoying the breast fucking he was forcing the girl to give him. Her chest was soft, even when covered in mud. The gaping flush on her face from her trying to refuse his dick only angered him, though. What the hell?! Was she actually trying to tell him what to do? It wasn’t enough that Vegeta and Nappa ordered him around, now he was looking down the face of a slave as she got fucked, and being given orders what to do with his dick. A very heated, very uncontrollable flush burned across the big Saiyan’s face. Staring down at her furiously despite how hot she looked (jiggling and thrusting around and covered in sweat and mud as she was), Raditz refused to let it go.

“Don’t you fucking dare try and tell me what to do!” The Saiyan raged, a new side of him flexing its angry muscles. Raditz snapped his teeth, grabbing the girl’s cheeks in one firm hand, making sure to squish her face between his massive fingers to pry open her jaw, and then he shoved the massive length in.

It felt good, so good to be back inside of her, consumed by heat and sucking friction once again. Even better than the satisfaction of knowing he was calling the shots again. Her mouth was so small, and he could have sworn he felt her gasping around its thick girth.

After a few good strides between her lips, the big brute turned his gaze back down. He was moaning like an animal, but Raditz felt something wasn’t right. Was she going to puke? Fuck, had she been telling the truth? Maybe it was his own imaginations, whatever the reason; the man pulled his member from the woman’s lips. Not as easy as he’d hoped, since he’d shoved it completely down her throat.

* * *

Nappa’s touches were hard to ignore. He was violent in thrusting, which was not enjoyable at all with anal other than just moments ago when she had them both inside her, but sickeningly enough, the man seemed to have some semblance of what it took to make a woman turned on. He touched her in the right ways, felt her up and began rubbing her clit in an effort to make her moan. It certainly make her toes tingle, but she tried to focus more on Raditz, which was a struggle.

She had known before that Raditz was more prone to listening to suggestion. But this time, he seemed to only get angry. He yelled at her and forced her mouth open, and she could already feel her stomach get queasy. It only made Nappa playing with her clit feet uncomfortable, rather than something to sickly enjoy. She snapped her mouth shut and planned on keeping it that way, but Raditz clearly had other ideas. He forced her jaw open and shoved himself inside her mouth roughly.

It tasted terrible. Just the idea alone of sucking him off after he’d just been having sex with her was enough to make her gag. Raditz seemed to catch on quickly, because he removed his cock. But that wasn’t enough. She still had the disgusting idea that it happened in her mind and the disgusting taste of her own juices in her mouth, mixed with sweat. Only a couple beats later, did she puke- though she managed to move forward enough to not puke on herself. Only on Raditz; on his cock, on his thighs, all the way down to his feet.

She was left gasping, heaving, with an even grosser taste in her mouth.

* * *

Shock. Complete and utter, disturbed shock shot throughout Raditz face. His dick was going soft, that was the first thing he noticed, along with a growing tingling sensation, followed by light burning. Fuck, that little bitch had puked all over his lap! Just when things had seemed to be getting good, she managed to ruin them! At least from Raditz view point. What was the use of this slave?! He was done with her, that much was obvious by the way he was gritting his teeth at her and looking at her more like a new victim then a pretty whore.

“You disgusting little bitch!” Raditz large hand smacked across the woman’s cheek just as she was finishing her last dry heave. It was by no means a gentle touch this time. A hand print was sure to follow, if not a bruised cheek and busted lip. Nappa on the other hand, took it in stride. Going as far as letting loose a hardy laugh. Never ending his pounding, never turned off by the sight and smell of Bulma’s recent stomach contents, the man was a mound of steal. He didn’t seem to give a damn about anything other than pounding the feeling out of the girl’s thighs.

“She did warn you,” laughed Nappa, giving the girl a good slap on the ass as part of the joke. “Don’t kill her. Tell you what, go clean yourself off and you can have her next time.” snorted the big bald brute. Despite his rhythmic ramming inside the tiny earthling, Nappa knew the look in the younger male’s eyes. Raditz wanted to snap her neck right then and there, but the older man wasn’t finished with her. He wasn’t all too interested in fucking a corpse, not yet at least.

The long haired Saiyan growled aimlessly through his teeth, jerking his sights away from the pair in the mud. He stormed off into the dense forest, following his nose in the direction of water. Leaving the girl in the hands of the relentless brute. Nappa had been waiting for his chance to get the girl alone. He’d been taking it easy on her. Now he could push her face first into the mud and let himself loose on the poor girl’s fragile frame.

* * *

Her eyes turned upward to stare at Raditz when he yelled at her. She wasn’t sure what to do. He certainly had the look of a man who wanted to kill her. She figured she’d be killed then and there, and when he slapped her across the face so hard she went dizzy, she decided the act was likely the first of many hits. But surprisingly enough, Nappa stood up for her and laughed at Raditz’s anguish. She couldn’t see straight, but she could understand Nappa was telling him not to kill her. He did try and say he could have her after, which was disturbing, but at least she wasn’t going to die. Even if he gave her a new stinging injury on her ass from the slap.

She focused her eyes just enough to watch Raditz walk off, but she was feeling worse and worse by the moment. Her injuries all throbbed, she was exhausted after all the strain put on her body, and now she had an empty stomach. She’d fainted before already, but she felt it slowly coming again. The dizziness she was feeling grew worse, and suddenly she found herself unable to even look straight. The sensations around her that’d been causing her so much discomfort and pain dulled, and her eyesight began to fade.

Thankfully for her, she passed out before Nappa was able to really do a number on her while she was conscious. She could feel herself being forced down into the mud- into the puddle of her own puke. If she hadn’t been about to pass out then, she certainly would have regardless.

* * *

The girl may of slipped from consciousness, but that didn’t put an end to the man’s relentless and brutal beatings of her body. Nappa held her hips upright regardless of her unconscious state, beating himself into her until he felt himself starting to fall over the edge and into his climax. She was tight, even while passed out, thanks to him taking her anally. Her body was his to roam. There was no restraint given when he bit the girl on the shoulder or her good arm for a better hold on her limp body, slicking his tongue along her back between nibbles. His hands never stilled, fondling her plush breasts between his course fingers - the sensation of touching such soft skin causing him to groan. Now that she wasn’t awake to scream, it was easy to grope her tiny waist too hard; to squeeze her until he bruised a rib. By the time he was shooting his seed between her ass cheeks, he’d covered her body in bruises and bite marks.

By the time Raditz returned, cleaned of puke but still looking pouty and annoyed, Nappa had the girl splayed out on her back, sniffing at her hip bones. Raditz rubbed the back of his neck, rolling his eyes at the old man. He didn’t care to watch the other Saiyan take the girl a second time, thus had no reservations in breaking Nappa’s rape of the limp body so that they could get a move on.

“I found a camp site. If we don’t make camp by the time Vegeta gets back he’ll be pissed.” That’s all Raditz had to say to get Nappa’s attention off the girl. Neither of them wanted to suffer Vegeta’s temper. Especially in the mood he’d left in. In no time at all, Nappa was pulling his pants up, carrying the girl over his shoulder. Raditz collected his armor with a little less enthusiasm, leading the way past the thorn and vine and into the thick of the forest.

It was a good campsite; the long haired Saiyan had done a good job for sure. It was located at the edge of a clearing, peeking past the tree-line just enough to see the mountains beyond, but hidden enough to keep their scent and noise out of anyone’s nose or ear-shot. The sound of running water trickled nearby. Nappa dropped the girl with a careless thud by the river side that carved its way out of the trees. Their fun time was over, it was time to build a fire, find some food, and wait for nightfall.

* * *

When she woke up, she ached all over. She’d been discarded like a piece of trash, and her dress was shoved all the way up to reveal her breasts and everything under it. She wanted to pull it down to give herself some modesty, but she felt like she couldn’t even move. The arm that’d been pulled out of its socket was unusable, and there were bruises and cuts all over her. She couldn’t tell what hurt worse- the shoulder injury or her ass, which was likely bloody. She was covered in blood by now, though; she wouldn’t be able to check, even if she wanted to.

“Gnn…” She groaned, forcing her eyes open and turning her head to take a look at her surroundings. She was… Somewhere. A clearing. She could hear the two Saiyans talking and rustling around, maybe fixing up a campfire. It was darker than she recalled it being when she passed out- she must have been asleep for some time. Her head throbbed. She wondered how long it’d been since she’d been on Earth, going about her day as usual. But it was hard to tell, going from planet to planet. For all she knew, this planet had incredibly short days.

She didn’t want to draw much attention to herself, so she didn’t move much or make a ton of noise. But she did start tearing up again, just thinking about everything, and wallowing in self-pity and pain from all her injuries. She just wanted to go home. Why’d they have to kidnap her of all people? Maybe she should have stayed inside her home. She could have ended up dying like her parents. Then she’d be with Yamcha right now, in Otherworld. Roshi and Krillin had told her what it was like- it didn’t sound bad at all. But she was stuck here, in her own personal version of hell.

She hoped they couldn’t see her from where they were.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When we last left Bulma, she'd been abandoned by Vegeta on the new alien planet. Nappa and Raditz weren't about to pass up 'a good time' with her once Vegeta wasn't around. Bulma put up a good fight and had her clever moments to keep herself completely out of harms way. Raditz had ripped Bulma's dress, but she'd gotten Raditz back for raping her by throwing up on his lap. Unfortunately though, Nappa was the one being too rough with her. Nappa pulled her arm out of socket, was unforgivably rough with her, and left her alone by the camp-side after he'd had his way with her by himself. That's where we pick up in the next chapter.


	6. Power play, power move, power struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta returns, but is that a good thing after what happened when last they saw each other? It could be a struggle...

  


Starting with his POV: 

His shoulders smoldered with smoke and fire. The world was left to ash and embers wherever he decided to turn. The distant mountains were a glowing inferno, lighting the sky into beautiful ribbons of orange and red. The alien sun was setting, the planet’s remaining warriors scattering among the hills. It was time to go back, to find his men, and the woman he’d left with them.

He’d known full well what fate he’d left her to, and he didn’t regret it. He’d turned his back on her. Vegeta was furious over what had happened in the pod. He’d taken it out on every individual he’d encountered there after until he couldn’t feel a thing. Nothing other than his cold, selfish heart beat once again. He’d ripped them all apart, his fury knew no bounds. Unleashing the unease and aggression he’d felt in his chest on any who’d dared to oppose him. Women, children, fighters alike, it didn’t make any difference. 

The earthling had humiliated him - she deserved to be punished. He knew he may very well find her dead by the time he returned. He knew what his men were capable of, and he didn’t care. At least, he was sure he wouldn’t give a damn one way or another. Vegeta didn't expect to think of the woman again. But the truth was, once he finally arrived at the flickering campsite, he was intrigued to find himself curiously picking up on her scent.

He didn’t show it however; cutting his way into the campsite as quietly and unwelcoming as a glacier. His men were asleep and he wasn’t one to want to wake them for idle chit chat. Their idiotic, knocked out forms were well enough for him.

A massive ram’s head was tucked under his right arm - its impressive spiraling horns as wide as his own chest. The decapitated head landed on the ground with a thud, and Vegeta took a quick scan of the area. They were against the tree line, good, the sky was visible, good, and then his nose picked up the scent of blood and water. Vomit and salt. It was coming from a pathetic heap of flesh near the water’s edge. It could have only of been the girl.

His boots stood just at her shoulder line, wondering if she were dead or alive, after all.

* * *

She ached too much to sleep. She wanted to pass out again, but it wasn’t happening. She listened to Raditz and Nappa in silence, watched the sky slowly get darker. Eventually the two were snoring, and the sky had become dark enough to suggest the beginning of night. She figured she was probably going to die there, laid out beside the river. She hurt enough that it felt like she was going to. She’d never felt that level of pain before.

She sniffled quietly as she wept, thinking of everything she no longer had. She was spoiled and mean and hotheaded, but she never thought she deserved this. Maybe she’d taken Yamcha for granted too much. She got angry at him for such petty things, and now she was here, and he was dead. She was never even given a chance to say goodbye. He was strong– she figured he’d come back when he went to go check out the strong ki. To think he’d be killed… Even if he could see her, she wondered how he must feel. They killed him and took his girlfriend and…

She was interrupted from her thoughts to see a shadow cast over her. She looked at its source, and her eyes focused in on Vegeta, staring down at her. She didn’t bother with an angry glare. She was too tired for that. She turned her gaze away from him, refusing to even speak. He wasn’t going to have his turn now, was he? He had every reason to want revenge, after fighting back in the pod and saying what she did. She just hoped she could disassociate during the act.

* * *

“You look like shit,” was the first thing out of his vile mouth, but it was a softer tone than usual. As if he could talk. The tyrant was caked in what must have been blood and remains. His face splattered in dried red, like war paint, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. He was casually taking interest in the state of the girl. He could tell just at a glance the majority of what they’d done to her. She’d gone through the ringer, absolutely battered and torn. There was hardly anything left of her flesh that wasn’t bloodied and bruised. .. _and she was alive_. That alone was a little impressive to the war-hound. He’d been sure he’d return to find her dead - a slave that’d outlived its usefulness. But no, the girl was still clinging to life, and with her refusal to look at him, he knew then and there that his men may have broken her body but she still retained her spirits, if just some.

His eyes cast down upon her broken body once last time, debating whether to leave her there to rot, or to reward her stubbornness. He took a moment to debate, then leaned away as if to step aside, to abandon her. But then, he steadied. Quietly, he crouched down beside the water’s edge. The prince reached out to tilt the girl’s chin with the gentle brush of his fingertips. Her cheek had been busted, bruised into the print of a hand. Damn, she really was stubborn. He had to wonder what she did to earn that. The thought of her pissing off his men twitched a subtle grin into the corner of his lips.

She needed medical attention if she was to survive... her body would need to be handled with care. That was something the prince wasn’t all too familiar with doing. Though, there was some softness in the way he began running cool trickles of water over her damaged body. After dipping his hand into the running stream, he brushed his fingers over her skinned knees, allowing the water to remove the debris, puke, and mud from her embedded wounds. His gazes eternally investigating her.

* * *

She hadn’t expected him to clean her up like that. The way he said that she looked like shit, while it was softer than usual, had her thinking he’d just leave her there. But he’d knelt down and began to wash her, starting with her battered knees. Bulma closed her eyes to the feeling of gently being washed, though she had no clue why he even bothered. He had seemed angry enough when he’d left that she had figured that he might even kill her when he returned.

He wasn’t just cleaning off the mud on her skin. He was actively cleaning out her wounds. He didn’t even bother with himself, either, despite being completely covered in blood– whether it was his or someone else’s, she didn’t care to think about. She opened her eyes again, and figured maybe she could get him to do more. Her shoulder still hurt horribly. Maybe he could fix that for her.

She grunted to get his attention, not feeling up to doing much more vocalizing than that, and slowly moved her ‘good’ arm–by now covered in plenty of scratches and bruises itself–and gently patted a couple fingers to her bad shoulder. She was such a mess that he wasn’t to blamed for missing it, but it was at a bit of an odd angle, and the shoulder itself looked to be a strange shape because the bone had been pulled from its socket.

* * *

Her soft grunt got his attention better then she probably realized. It was met with the humming growl of his own lulling voice, answering her in a primal sense. His narrowed eyes followed her tapping, and then dulled in bitter amusement. She was still giving orders, even in her state, how typical. The girl’s arm was clearly out of socket. Lying limp in the grass, twisted in the wrong direction. Vegeta’s fingers brushed her hand away, tracing her shoulder for himself. An ambient look shot in her direction, his serious expression explaining ‘this was going to hurt’ and he expected her to not make a sound.

Gripping her arm in one hand and holding her shoulder down with the other, Vegeta twisted her arm back into place until he heard a loud ‘pop’. He didn’t care if he inflicted pain, it needed to be done. His eyes flicked back over her, over the state of her torn body and muddied dress. Catching the streams of blood that ran from between her legs, his brow pressed together in knowing. There was just too much filth, too much dirt for him to clean her properly. It’d take ages. After an annoyed grunt, the man’s hands slid under her neck and knees, cradling the girl’s weary frame against his broken breastplate, and then walked them both into the deep of the river.

The cool tide rushed past the both of them, carrying clouds of brown and dark scarlet with it. It wasn’t just the girl’s blood washing down river. Vegeta was caked in red. His once prime white armor had been cracked down the middle, into the shape of a broken ‘V’, displaying a pattern of dark bruises under his ripped suit. He’d taken multiple head-butts from the ram.

He watched the water float past her battered silver and blue form, until only the ghost of her silken dress was left to cling to her body. The prince didn’t attempt eye contact or try and mutter a word. It was just silence, untamable silence.

* * *

He sounded like an animal when she responded to her pained grunt, but it got the right attention she was going for. He ran his hand over her shoulder and clearly realized the problem. She’d seen this kind of injury enough, given that her boyfriend was a fighter, and knew that it’d be painful. But it had to be done. …That didn’t mean she didn’t gasp and whine rather loudly in pain. She was too exhausted to yell out, but it hurt like a bitch, to put it bluntly. She groaned on the ground as Vegeta looked at the rest of her, and felt new waves of pain when he picked her up.

The waves of the stream felt nice on her skin. It washed away every bit of mud and dirt on her body, and for what was left in her face and hair, she leaned her head back to wet her hair and wiped down her face. It was easy, considering she had gained the mobility of her arm again. Even if it was still painful to move much more than that. She didn’t like being pressed so close to Vegeta, but if she was being cleaned off, then she supposed it was somewhat worth it.

* * *

It was a funny thing to watch her try and wash herself with that busted arm. The girl made herself at home in his arms quick enough, if just to groom. So meticulous, she was going as far as to take the liberty he was allowing her and rinsing her hair. It was curious to the Siayan, to say the least. Vegeta wasn’t about to clean himself in such a manner. The moving water was far more than enough for him. He didn’t even bother rinsing his face, let alone bother with the blood that crested into his thick hair.

Jerking his narrowed expression back towards the crackle of fire, he dredged them from the stream and headed back for the camp. Bulma was placed near the fire where she could dry out.

Vegeta then bent down to whisper roughly in her ear, “Don’t leave from here before I return, or I’ll kill you.”

And just like that he was gone; disappearing into the night.

* * *

When they were sufficiently clean, Vegeta took her from the river and put her down by the fire, clearly to dry her even if he didn’t directly state it. She curled her legs up to her chest after having fixed her dress to properly cover her (even if the wetness ensured that it didn’t provide much modesty), slowly finding the ability to move more and more. Her wounds were still serious, but at least she wasn’t a mess. For a moment, she felt safe- until Vegeta whispered what he did. She glanced up at him with a frown, and watched him walk off.

Why should she wait for him? It was a threat. He’d clearly just go ahead and rape her. What was the point? After only a few minutes of listening, she got up and began heading toward the forest. It was dangerous out there, but it was better than waiting around to be violated again. Even if she was going nowhere fast- she was limping thanks to her internal injuries.

* * *

Some part of him knew the girl would be gone by the time he’d come back. He’d of tried the same. Judging by her recent history, leaving her unsupervised was as good as ridding himself of her. But he took his chances, not for her, but for himself. There were still large gashes in his skin. Doing battle while bleeding out wasn’t productive. He’d gone to retrieve ointment. Surely the girl wouldn’t be dumb enough to try and escape into a black jungle. A jungle that was doomed to be burned by him the very next morning.

Yes, yes she was that stupid and stubborn. Hot air blew from the prince’s nose as soon as he returned back to camp. Annoyed, perturbed, furious that she’d disobey him ..and after he’d gone as far as cleaning her wounds. What the hell kind of slave was she? Not the typical slave, that was for sure. Vegeta was beginning to wonder if she had any comprehension of slave mentality at all.

It didn’t matter, he didn’t care. His own wellbeing was much more important than the life of a slave, especially one that was probably doomed to die in that jungle. If not, he’d find her or she’d die in the end, it was only a matter of time. The planet had a due date, and he was going to cash it in.

His focus turned to the wounds he’d endured during battle. They’d scar in time, but for now the bigger one needed attention. He removed his useless armor, tossing it aside, and went to work smearing cream onto a large gash that lined his left side. A blade had opened him up, the cut still seeping blood whenever his torso bent or moved. The ointment fixed that quickly, acting as a sealant. He may have won the battle, but he’d taken an ass-kicking. Vegeta was tired, and it was easy to find sleep as soon as his heavy back hit the ground.

He’d find the girl soon enough. First things first, he’d have to order his men to burn the rest of the world as soon as day broke, and destroy the rest of the mountain villages for himself. The villages that Bulma was sure to stumble upon if she trekked into the jungle any deeper. They were small pockets of huts and houses tucked away with their goat and sheep people hiding inside.

* * *

She kept walking, even when her whole body begged her to take a break. She wasn’t sure where she was planning on going, but it wasn’t as if she’d be able to get much sleep anyway; anxiety and hunger and pain all promised that much. Nothing to do but walk. She eventually found a small village. It was silent, and she figured maybe Vegeta had raided it and killed the people there.

As she walked through it, passed the grass huts, she figured that maybe she’d take her chances. She walked inside one of them, again, to find silence. Things didn’t look too disturbed, and there was even a bowl of what she figured must be fruits on the table. Maybe she would have thought otherwise if she was in her right mind, but nagging hunger forced her to grab one of the fruits. It was a light shade of peach, almost close to yellow. But it wasn’t a peach. She’d never seen anything like it, but it had the skin texture of an apple. She bit in, and her stomach growled when the juicy fruit that she’d found tasted a lot like a strawberry hit her tongue. She didn’t realize how thirsty she’d been till now.

She kept walking as she ate the fruit, to investigate further. She began opening drawers and cabinets, until she stumbled across what looked to be a gun. She picked it up and looked it over. It was a little unusual-looking, but it was to be expected from an alien gun. Was it loaded? There didn’t look to be a place for bullets. She finished off the fruit and licked her fingers, before inspecting the gun further- with both hands.

From what she could tell, it harnessed energy to create ‘bullets.’ Maybe a faux-ki blaster? She’d certainly thought about the idea before. And what better way to harm otherwise insanely powerful individuals, than with ki blasts? …She wondered if she could even come back with a gun in her hand. She couldn’t really hide it anywhere. Except… …She pulled the makeshift capsule from her little bag out, and promptly filled it up with the gun before pocketing it again.

She’d have to go back over there, and wait for the perfect time.

* * *

Pairs of eyes followed the girl’s exploration of the abandoned village from the depths of the shadows. The inhabitance seemed to have scattered, leaving things just as they were, vanishing into the hills. Not even the sound of nocturnal animals chimed in. It was dead silent. ..until Bulma came a little too close to a corner of one of the grass huts. That’s when something shot out from its hiding place, and began trying to back its way into a nearby bush.

“Bahhhhhhh!” It bleated just like a frightened goat, probably because it was a frightened goat. A kid, hugging its furry knees in the thorny brush. Behind it, a few more goats and sheep stood shivering. Bulma looked just like that creature that’d burned the other side of the mountain range. All of their strong warriors had gone to fight ..but they never came back. All that the rest of the villagers were left to do was to hide.

“It’s one of them!” Another young buck bah’ed. Scraping its hoof on the ground, he ran right for Bulma! He planned on chasing her out. Head-butting her down the mountain if he so had to. The goat-people acted lower on the intelligence scale, bah’ing and cleaning their wool with their mouths much like sheep would. But they were sentient, somewhat.

Back at the campsite, daybreak was stretching its arms out towards the group of Saiyans. Vegeta opened his eyes before the alien rays could ever touch his skin. He was already up, preparing for another day of battle (but abandoning his busted armor). There was no sign of the girl; he hadn’t expected her return. When his two men stirred from their sleep, the prince directed Nappa to take out what remained of the planet’s naval fleet. Raditz was directed to burn whatever was left of the country to the North - it was too small to bother the prince. Vegeta already had his mindset - burn the mountains until there was nothing left of the local pathetic race. He was already disappointed in their lack of fighting skills after so much hype. He was annoyed, and ready to leave.

* * *

The night had been… Interesting. She’d nearly been attacked by a gang of angry young goats, but just in time, one of them noticed she had no tail, and didn’t just blast them away right away. They were cautious, but the sheep children–that Bulma found were essentially the females of this race–were the first ones to start treating her wounds and giving her food.

They talked for a long time, all of them. She told them about the Saiyans and what they did to her planet, and what they did to her. It terrified them all, but they had to know. As they spoke, she was fed until she was full, her wounds and injuries were treated with herbs and oils and ointments, and some sheep had made her clothing. A top made from thick, woven grass mixed with fabrics that showed her midriff, and deep orange baggy pants that reminded her of her favorite kind of sweatpants back home. They were far better than the slutty, torn, dirty dress she had been wearing. Though they had let her keep the dress, if only just for something else to wear- they fixed the torn hems so it didn’t look so terrible, cleaned it properly, and hung it out with their own clothes to dry.

Eventually, there was nothing more to talk about, and they fell asleep. She had been having trouble falling asleep before, but with her wounds treated and her belly full, it made it much easier. She was able to forget the cruel fate that was bound to come to them. She even welcomed it. She could be killed beside all of them, and at least it would make it so she could meet all her friends and family again. At least she was away from the Saiyans.

* * *

A reverberating shock-wave pierced the serene morning. The distant mountain side was sliced right in half. The once proud mountaintop crashed down into the valley below, burying anything alive. Wildlife fled from the forests. The gust from the blast of power ripped trees out by the roots. He was awake, and the invaders were at it again. Now that the planet’s strongest fighters had been crushed, their armies desolated, and their people scattered, all that was left was extermination.

It was an easy enough job, and as the years had bled together Vegeta had grown to enjoy it. The sense of power that came with every planet he devoured. He vanquished. That’s what he was, a warrior. His bloodline ran thick with the need to conquer and rule. But ruling never came. The planets were never taken, leaving the job feeling half empty, along with a dry thirst for something unquenchable in his mouth. It drove him to exhaust the next world, looking for his next fight.

Bulma’s peaceful hide out with the local people wasn’t meant to last. The trees shook and the ground rumbled, and then there was the smell of fire. The natives tried to urge the girl to run with them. They scattered like sheep do, all hording together in one direction. Once one started running they all started, running purely on instincts. There was no talking to them, it was chaos.

Another loud kai blast boomed through the village, bursting a few huts into the air, and with them body parts of the scampering sheep. The smell of burning corpses filled the air. Then there he was, standing on a pile of rubble with the neck of a goat in his hand. The goat’s neck snapped and Vegeta tossed it aside; more interested in overlooking the damaged done. Searching for survivors.

Bam! Another sheep tried to escape - a young girl blasted to her death. Something was on the wind, though. Vegeta knew that scent.. his slave was hiding here. He followed his nose right towards her.

* * *

She was woken by the shock waves. It wasn’t a surprise- she’d been expecting to. It still made her stomach drop; especially when watching the children and women of the village scatter and act as though they might have a chance. She was told by one little girl to go run with them into the forest, but she decided she’d probably be better off hiding out in one of the huts.

She stayed silent and hid under one of the cots, listening to the screaming and wrinkling her nose at the smell of burning bodies. It smelled just like cooking meat. It made her stomach rumble, and she felt guilty about it. If there weren’t worse things to think about, she’d probably have debated going vegetarian.

She hoped that they wouldn’t pay attention to her smell. She’d been able to tell by now that Vegeta at least seemed especially good at sensing it. She just had to hope that there were too many other smells, and that hers was masked. She kept her mouth shut, listening for any kind of footsteps and hoping that the hut would catch fire before she could be found.

She did get her wish. The smell of burning grass was getting more prevalent, and she saw smoke seeping into the room from where she was under the cot. Immediately, she regretted her wish. Couldn’t there be another, possibly less painful way she could be killed, beyond being cooked alive?

* * *

There were no footsteps. No way of knowing that the beast was lurking his way into the falling, burning hut. The grass hut bellowed with smoke and it was only growing worse, but it didn’t hide her scent from him. She was as potent as a pheromone and as vibrant as wildflowers. Her trail stood stark against the other mixed smells of ash and smolder. His boots moved in complete silence, stalking up like a panther over the charred cot, then sent it flying across the tiny hut without warning.

“Nice try little slave ..it’s time to go,” he said sarcastically, cocking a smug grin. Vegeta was feeling better in his place now that he was back in control. He didn’t leave much time to answer - tossing the girl up over his bare shoulder and darting out of the burning hut at break-neck speed. They were nothing more than a flash of blue. A trail of kai blasts destroyed what was left of the village before they finally left it behind to burn. There was no one left alive.

Vegeta hadn’t just been carrying the girl back to the campsite. A loud thump hit the ground when something dropped from his other hand. It was a carcass - the charred remains of a large goat. Probably the one that had charged her the night she’d found them. Slyly, he sided eyed the girl caught over his shoulder, then gave his shoulders a little jerk, bouncing her right off of his being. Though, it was a gentle bounce. The Saiyan left her where she landed, and instead focused on dragging his kill towards the ram’s head that he’d brought back the night before.

* * *

Her breath was stuck in her lungs and her heart throbbed in her throat when the cot was flipped over. There he was, seemingly out of nowhere, staring down at her. He didn’t even give her time to process- he just grabbed her, destroyed the rest of the village, and went back to the campsite. She didn’t even have to wonder about it- he’d killed everyone again. She was sure. It was the horrible, terrible, disgusting truth.

She was knocked off his shoulder, light enough to leave her on her feet rather than her knees, and caught a glimpse of the carcass. It made her feel sick. She could recognize those horns– it was the oldest little boy in the village, who was so ready to ram her and attack her. He’d killed him. Did he have to be so cruel? At least they got to be in Otherworld. That was more than she could say for herself.

She held her arms awkwardly around herself, looking around the campsite. So what, they go back and sell this planet, too? Was that what they did, day-in and day-out? Earth was nothing special, then. Just another way to get a quick buck. It frustrated her. It angered her. The emotions she felt were clear on her face, with her brows knitting tightly and a look of hatred returning. They were evil, plain and simple. Evil, evil people. There was no other way to describe them but by calling them what they were– monsters.

“Why can’t you three just kill me, like you did for all of them? And all the other humans?” Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t want to be your plaything and keep witnessing this over and over. Just– Just break my neck or something.”

* * *

He didn’t have to turn around to know what kind of look she was throwing at him. Vegeta could feel her eyes burning into his back, prickling the soft hair on the nape of his neck. She was angry with him. What he wasn’t expecting to find when he looked over his shoulder, was how her burning pout crinkled her nose in an amusing way. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought it somewhat attractive.

“Are you still barking orders at me?” He mocked, turning his back fully to her, as stiff as a stone pillar, aside from flicking the end of his tail back and forth. “Where would be the fun in that? ..I quite enjoy seeing your next escape attempt.” he was taunting her, teasing her over her failed attempts in the pod and to run away. The truth was, she stimulated the otherwise bored-of-the-universe Saiyan. She had a fire in her, something he hadn’t seen, and this game of cat and mouse was becoming interesting. He wanted to see where it would go before he decided to kill her.

“ _Their mightiest warrior..”_ He scoffed in disappointment, picking up the ram’s head by the horn. It was heavy, its tongue hanging out of its mouth, and its fur splattered with blood. Vegeta didn’t seem to be interested in throwing it away, however. He’d sat it at the edge of camp, facing it outward towards the crumbled mountains, and towards the setting sun. Supreme focus took his features, turning the head ever so slightly to the left, then the right, then going as far as kneeling beside it and trying to look at the world from the ram’s point of view. Being very particular about which direction it faced, like some Spartan’s tradition.

* * *

He found her demands funny. He was keeping her around just as a sick form of entertainment, because he was bored. It made her hate him all the more. He liked watching her suffer. He liked torturing her, just like the other two. Is that why he washed her up and popped her arm back into its socket yesterday? Just so he could torture her all over again? She stared down at the bag on her hip that she’d transferred from her dress last night. …He’d probably see it coming now. She’d have to wait until his guard was lowered enough.

She turned her gaze upward to stare at him as he fixed that ugly goat’s head to face a certain way. Disturbing, to say the least. He couldn’t even let the dead stay dead, apparently. Why did he have to do that? Just kill them and be done with it, don’t screw with their bodies like that. She was sickened with the idea that perhaps he did that to Yamcha, or maybe Goku. She didn’t even want to ask.

She sat down at the campfire and let out a little sigh. She had a taste of freedom from them, and she was back just like that. She was so sick of it. It hadn’t even been that long; how was she supposed to continue her life like this? She couldn’t imagine spending day after day like this. It was hell. Couldn’t they just snap her neck and go find someone else?

* * *

She’d gone silent for a spell. Completely silent. Vegeta recognized it; she was plotting to kill him. Calculating how she’d take him out while his back was turned. He waited, pretending to keep up his interest in the ram’s head. Waiting for an attack that never came. It was a good thing his back was to her, he’d of hated if she’d seen the twitch of a smile on his face. His little survivor must still have a trick or two up her sleeve. He’d be waiting for it.

At least she wasn’t trying to run away this time. Vegeta’s eyes eventually fell back onto the girl, finding her warming herself by the fireside. How quick she was to sit there when she was being watched. After pulling one of the legs off the goat he’d dragged to camp, Vegeta sat adjacent to her by the fire. His back turned to her out of instinct, guarding his food from anyone who’d dare look at him while he was eating.

He didn’t bother to cook it, biting right into the meat and ripping the muscle from the bone. A distinct popping sound clinked whenever he chewed, now that his jaw was healing up. The goat’s blood seeped down his thick neck. It dripped from the point of his chin, and soaked his sweaty skin from his Adam’s apple to his bare chest. His suit’s top long since gone, there was nothing was left of it except for small traces of blue here and there, stretching from his collar to his wrists like shredded bands. It left his arms and back fully exposed, as well as the fresh cut along his side. His back was littered in scars, much older scars then the rest. Long whip like lines that’d turned a dark russet tone over time. Vegeta didn’t seem to give a shit about his personal appearance. The only thing that mattered in that moment, was food. Well, until his eyes traveled in her direction.

His chewing paused long enough to question, “What the hell happened to your dress?” It’d taken him this long to notice the dress’s disappearance.

* * *

She scowled when he joined her by the campfire in order to eat. Did he have to be close? She wished they’d at least give her her space. She could only imagine how things would go down when Nappa and Raditz returned from wherever they were– likely destroying the rest of the planet. She glanced over at Vegeta, with his back turned to her. He was tan and covered with scars, which wasn’t surprising. She was more focused on him eating the leg of that young goat like there was nothing wrong with it. He didn’t cook it, but even if he had, she’d probably find it more revolting. Who could eat the meat of a person like that? He may have looked like an animal, but he could speak. They had a culture and language. They were people.

She looked away from him, trying not to think about it. She stared at the forest, looking up to see the smoke rising from the treetops. It was horrible. She recalled her sister telling her about Jaco. What did he call himself? Something that basically meant ‘space policeman,’ as she recalled. Where were they, with these three Saiyans? They were obliterating entire planets.

She was taken from her thoughts by Vegeta’s unwanted voice. She glanced at him, silent at first. If she said that the native people her current outfit for her, he’d probably try to destroy it right away. So she avoided the question.

“The dress was horrible looking, and it got ripped badly. That’s why. I like this better, anyway. Not that it’s any of your business.” she answered.

* * *

The sun had gone down by the time that Nappa and Raditz spotted the campsite. The fire was still flickering, but two distant figures seen sitting around it. It had to be Vegeta and the girl. Why he’d let her sit near the fire in the first place though, was already turning questions in their minds. Fireside was no place for a slave to sit. It was their job to not be seen unless they were being used.

Their larger than life bodies landed with a gentle thump. Both Nappa and Raditz dropped their own kills next to the fire, opposite of Vegeta and the girl. Nappa sat next to a pile of small goat children, and Raditz was carrying a sheep over his left shoulder. The two men were quiet, however. It sounded like the girl was talking just before they rolled up. The soldiers seemed to be interrupting something - which made sense; why else would their leader have the slave nearby?

Vegeta gave his men no attention other than a side eyed glare; coveting the meat under his maw like a warning animal. He didn’t care about them, he’d asked the slave a question, and her answer had turned his head quick. He’d even moved closer, slinking next to the girl on his haunches, giving her his aggressive attention. She’d said someone had ripped her dress _..he’d liked that dress_. He’d paid for that dress. If anyone was going to rip it off of her, it was going to be him, and him only.

“It is my business,” he snapped. “.. **who ripped it**.” he demanded, the rumble growling in his chest promising punishment for whomever she named. It wasn’t just about her, someone had taken something from him, and as an alpha he’d never allow that. Raditz face paled instantly, staring daggers at the girl.

* * *

The days and nights seemed to go by fast, now that she’d spent enough time on the planet to find that. It was dark again, and with the darkness, Raditz and Nappa returned. She stared at them rather than at Vegeta, her lips pursing. Why were they watching her like that? Whatever the reason, she didn’t like it at all. She eyed them right back as Vegeta continued to complain to her, trying to argue with her that it was his business.

Ah, that was right. She insisted on buying the most expensive dress, just as a little bit of revenge. The side of her mouth turned upward just thinking about it. He deserved it, and worse. Far, far worse. Like that cut on his neck that she could tell was on its way to becoming another scar. She crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders when he began demanding an answer out of her, still staring at the two men. Raditz was pale. …Ha.

Her eyes focused in on Nappa. He hadn’t been the one to rip the dress, but he had suggested it. He was the one that did the worst to her. Most of her aches were thanks to him. She didn’t do much more with Raditz than puke on him. But Nappa had ripped her arm from its socket. Nappa had bit her, had almost refused to use lubricant. Her eyes narrowed.

“It was the bald one,” she replied dryly. She couldn’t really recall what his name was, and she didn’t want to. But she did know she hated him the most by now.

* * *

There was something suspicious about her answer judging by the way his men reacted. Fear was wafting from Raditz direction, but Nappa didn’t seem to notice the conversation at all. The big bald Saiyan was haphazardly stuffing his mouth with the meat of dead children, eating them like lamp chops. Vegeta knew there was more to the story. He let it slide however, curious towards her answer, and did as she ‘requested’ of him.

Vegeta stood from his seat, made dead way for Nappa, and grabbed the giant by the edge of his armor as he past. Slamming the big man’s back into the ground, the ground shook beneath them. Nappa tried to tell his prince ‘she’s got it all wrong’ and ‘I don’t remember’ but Vegeta wasn’t listening. Replying with ‘can it, old man’. He was beating the shit out of Nappa. Right hook after left hook, planted over the man’s chest and punching him in the face until Nappa’s bald head and shoulders were lying in a crater. There was the distinct sound of snapping bone and the gurgling of blood gushing from his mouth. Eventually Nappa couldn’t make a sound his jaw was so beaten. Once the punishment had been dealt with, Vegeta left him wheezing in the dirt nearly unconscious, but conscious enough to feel the pain.

Raditz sat in complete shock from the moment Bulma muttered ‘the bald one’. That could have been him, it should have; he’d ripped it. The girl had spared him and he couldn’t figure out why, he had started to hate her but now he couldn’t figure her out. The long haired male shot her a questioning glance, but then decided his meal was much more interesting.

Once he’d had enough, Vegeta returned to the fireside, but not without giving Raditz one good swing to the jaw, just enough to topple him over a bit (Raditz righted himself quick enough, returning to his meal). The prince had known Raditz had been in on it too, and wasn’t about to leave him undone. Vegeta shot one quiet glance at the girl, and then turned his focus on finishing his kill. Ripping a large steak from the remaining carcass, the prince reclaimed his spot, then sank his teeth into the meat.

* * *

Despite her thinking he was getting what he deserved, it was still traumatizing to watch. The ground shook and he was hit over and over, and snapping of bones was way too audible. Some disturbing part of her liked it, and even if it disturbed her, she had to admit that he absolutely deserved it. She looked away from the scene and made eye contact with Raditz just soon enough to see him looking back at her quizzically.

Vegeta finished and sat down after giving Raditz one hit, and her gaze turned to Vegeta again. Even if these people were monsters, she at least felt a little better. He’d gotten what he deserved. And he was left to just lie there, feeling nothing but pain. Just like what he did to her when he dropped her off by the river. She furrowed her brows, staring at the crater. Maybe now he wouldn’t mess with her.

Things went silent, then, and Bulma suddenly found it necessary to ask something she’d been wondering. “…What are you guys going to do now? Sell this planet and move onto the next? Is that all you do? You don’t have your own planet or anything? Or is there a whole planet of you doing just that constantly?”

* * *

She was rambling again ..maybe he’d made her feel a little too comfortable. Vegeta tried to blot it out, busying sucking the juice from his finger and hand, his cheeks packed with meat now that there was nothing left of his meal other than bones. And then she said something about ‘their own planet’ and both the men stopped chewing, instantly, casting their gazes in her direction.

“Planet Vegeta-sai is gone.” Vegeta muttered without remorse. “You make it sound as if we’re just in this for the trade,” he hissed venomously, “all that matters is finding the next fight.”

The prince didn’t hesitate in disappearing into the dark, especially now that he was finished with his meal as well as the girl’s intrusive talk. Standing, he left for the edge of the camp, where he could be away from the reach of the fire.

Raditz was left with the girl. He was still minding what manners he had, after being put in his place earlier. Something Bulma had said had slightly offended him, though, and as a Saiyan it was hard not to boast when his species was brought up or his ego was on the line.

“Saiyan’s do not ‘trade’ we fight. The same goes for our race, we are proud warriors ..at least we were. If you had half a brain you’d know that. Or didn’t you know my traitor brother back on your planet...” She’d obviously hit a nerve. Talking about his brother never went over well for Raditz.

* * *

Clearly she hit a nerve. She supposed she should count her blessings- at least she wasn’t targeted for what she said. Vegeta just chastised her and walked away, and Raditz explained with slight anger what she’d said wrong. She blinked at him, particularly mentioning his ‘traitor brother.’ Vegeta mentioned Goku as being Raditz’s brother before.

“I knew Goku,” she replied, furrowing her brows slightly. “No one ever knew he was from space. We just figured he was a weird country bumpkin that got abandoned for being strange or something.” Gohan said he fell out of the sky or something like that, but she didn’t really believe it. Until now, anyway. She rubbed the back of her head and glanced over at Vegeta, so far away from the fire.

“He liked fighting more than anything else in the world too, but it’s not like I knew anything about… Saiyans.” That’s why they called themselves. “So your planet was destroyed, huh?” She didn’t say it, but she couldn’t help but think that they deserved it. Maybe they were purposely killed because they were essentially the lethal mosquito of the galaxy. Annoying and incredibly deadly. If the others on the planet acted anything like Raditz, Vegeta, and Nappa did, anyway. Goku was always kind, but as far as she knew, he could have bumped his head as a kid.

* * *

Raditz brow twitched. He hesitated from biting into the last of his food when the name ‘Goku’ was mentioned. That was not his brother’s name, not that he had a brother anymore. And whoever Goku was, was not his brother. The man he’d found had been a traitor to their race, as far as he was concerned.

“His name was Kakarot, and of course he would have loved fighting,” he complained in agreement, with Kakarot’s heritage and all. “All Saiyans live to fight; we were the greatest race in the universe. It’s what we live for. And if our planet hadn’t been.. been blown up, he’d of been a great warrior like the rest of us, instead of landing on your puny planet and turning out to be such a disappointment. Him and his half breed son.” Bulma had guessed right, their planet wasn’t just purged, it was blown away. The look of dread on Raditz face when she mentioned it proved it loud and clear.

”He wouldn’t even let me teach the kid. It’d of been better if our parents hadn’t sent him off at all.” He snarled, snapping meat off a bone. He’d searched for ages for his brother, and when he’d found him, it’d been nothing like he’d imagined.

“Why am I even telling you this? You’re nothing but a slave! From that dumb planet.” He was getting twitchy now, anger stirring him from his spot. Throwing the bone on the ground, he started slowly in Bulma’s direction. Better judgment told him not harm his prince’s whore, but his rage was clouding his mind.

* * *

So his name before being found by his grandpa was Kakarot. It fit in with the theme their names seemed to have, for sure. She was quiet, wondering if this was part of why Earth was targeted. Because he knew his brother was there? If only they knew beforehand. Maybe they could have prepared, gotten stronger. She stared at the ground, but after a few moments, Raditz mentioned a kid. Goku had a kid?!

Bulma looked up with wide eyes, and had opened her mouth to ask all kinds of questions about it. What was his name? What’d he look like? How old was he? But he couldn’t even do that much; Raditz had gotten too angry just talking about the subject, and had gotten up to creep closer toward her. Just when she felt comfortable again, he had to put her in her place by even just suggesting–

“Don’t you dare touch me,” she commanded him, beginning to back up by pushing herself backward with her feet, slowly crawling away from him. “Don’t even think about it. Goku might not have been as strong as you, but if you’d given him a chance, he would have found a way to beat you. He’s done it before. He killed King Piccolo, he destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, he’s way stronger than you seem like you think!”

She continued backing away, feeling a knot in her stomach. “And I’m not a slave! I’d rather die than be one! And then Goku and I can wait to beat your butts in Otherworld! How do you feel about that, huh?!” She was yammering on despite being completely afraid of what was to come. Maybe talking was just making her feel better. It was a coping mechanism.

* * *

For all of her talking, Raditz just kept closing in. Drawing closer and closer until he was standing right over the woman. His brow pinched, his teeth bared, his fingers raising claws - a regular werewolf with all that hair.

“So he actually got a few kills under his belt?” Raditz continued to mention. She’d grabbed his attention for the moment, stopping him in his place, but he didn’t sound any less angry.

“It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter how strong he could get, or if he’d even of beaten me. He still couldn’t have defeated Vegeta, so you’re still shit out of luck, even in Otherworld.” That got a sadistic grin on the brutes face, bearing down at her. .but then ..Raditz stopped his approach. Looking nervously behind her, the man began to back away, like a dog backing away into its safe corner.

“Are we having a nice little chat?” It was Vegeta’s voice, purring out as smooth and easy as velvet, right behind her. His booted calves were just behind the earthlings back. With his arms tucked across his bare chest, he had to do little more than stare down his solider to get him back into line. Raditz scrunched up his nose, but knew better then to back talk, even if the earthling deserved a hit or two.

“The whore sleeps with me tonight.” the prince’s hands landed on Bulma’s shoulders. It wasn’t so much a commandment as a simple statement. Not only were his men incapable in watching the wench, but he’d warred and battled all day, and he’d won. It was time for him to get his dues for all of his hard work. He was feeling the need to show his dominance, to mate with something warm after claiming new territory, and his intentions were set firmly on the earthling.

* * *

She scowled up at him despite her fear when he gave her that grin, but blinked as she watched him cower away. That was, until she hit Vegeta’s boots. Then she understood. She looked up at the sound of his voice, to see him standing over her with crossed arms, saving her from Raditz. Though she knew it wasn’t because he was kind. It was because he decided to ‘claim’ her instead. And when he continued to speak, it only proved her suspicions correct. And damn, was she sick of being called ‘whore.’ Slut, whore, wench, slave… She had a name. They hadn’t ever even asked it.

She felt his hands on her shoulders, and she almost felt the need to puke. How often did she get put in these situations? She was sick of it. And that was coming from a woman who would have sex with her boyfriend for hours on end, multiple times a day. Who could spend all day in bed with him if she had nothing else to do. She was tired of having to fight back against them. She was tired of being mocked, insulted, bitten, bruised, and otherwise injured.

She shoved his hands off her shoulders and got up; wishing she’d lost her limp completely. But it was still there. Even if she ran, where would she even run to? She could at least try to assert her dominance again. She was reminded of the gun in her capsule. But what would even happen, if she fought back when Raditz was nearby? Nappa was incapacitated, but Raditz… It could just make things worse for her.

Couldn’t they just leave her alone?

“I’m not tired. Leave me alone. If I want to sleep, I’m going to sleep by myself.” She said it very matter-of-factly, and began walking away from him to sit in an unoccupied spot in the grass.

* * *

Her limp was the first thing he noticed. It called to him like a wounded animal, begging his eyes to take note. It was the predator in him, but the prince didn’t act on his instincts right away. He was too distracted with listening to her command him, _again_.. She was growing a habit of that, and only seemed stronger in her demands each and every time. She’d even gotten the nerve to shove him off and walk away from him. The prince never felt threatened, however. He’d honed in on her strange actions like a feline watching something frilly dangle in front of its face.

“Is that so?” he humored her, catching her by the wrist from behind. He brought her to his torso where he could whisper down into her ear. “And here I was sure I had clearly stated otherwise.” the prince’s second hand roamed thoroughly over the woven fabric that hid her breasts. Pressing the warmth of his mouth against her shoulder, a soft sound grumbled from his chest. The male was already making his dominance known. He wasn’t having any of her rebellion, not tonight.

He lead her away just out of the fires reach but close enough that his men could easily watch. The stars were bright above, and the world’s two moons came out to play. Despite any fighting she may have put up, the man wasn’t letting her leave the radius of his stirring hips for long. It wasn’t difficult to get riled up. All of his previous warring and fighting acted like his own brand of aphrodisiac.

* * *

She scowled when he grabbed her wrist. Of course he wouldn’t let go just like that. None of them could ever just be told ‘no!’ It pissed her off, especially when he tried to act sexy. She wasn’t having it, when he pulled her close and began whispering in her ear. As if that would make her want him more. She refused to look at him, and she only had to feel thankful that when he tried to feel her up, her new shirt acted as enough padding that she didn’t feel as violated as she could have. For the time being, at least. He’d be taking her clothes off soon enough, she was sure.

She grumbled under her breath when he pressed his mouth to her shoulder, but not as any kind of response to his grumbling chest. No, just out of resentment and anger. He led her away, but nowhere near as ‘away’ as she would have preferred, if she even wanted to do the act in the first place. Her eyes turned to look at Raditz. He could stare all he wanted from where he was.

“Do none of you have any shame?” She shoved him away again, as much as she could manage. He was rocking his hips against her, maybe trying to be romantic. But even with how pretty this poor planet’s sky looked, all she could think about was how he’d slaughtered innocent people. Children. Nappa may have been eating their bodies, but how different was he? He’d cracked off a leg from the young goat boy to munch on. Raw, even.

“You’re disgusting. And a monster. Let go of me! I ache enough!” Her voice steadily rose as she got more frustrated, thinking more and more about everything that had happened. The hatred was bubbling in her heart again, and she reminded herself of the gun in her possession. Gnn, if she wasn’t so sure that he wouldn’t be tricked again with the capsule, she’d have used it by now. She wished she’d shoved it up his pisshole instead. Maybe then she wouldn’t be in this situation. She could have made a eunuch out of him.

* * *

Romance was far out of the Saiyans mind, at least anything he did he did akin to romance was completely unintentional. It was mating, it was all about mating. The girl’s vibrant words lit him on fire. Her fighting made him feel playful - in a killer’s sort of sense. Vegeta would have called it hornyness, the desire to fuck. Perhaps a portion of his instincts were attempting to lure her in, inviting her fight. He did love it when she tried to push his face away, or rumble her own growl of annoyance. In the end it was all about getting what he wanted. It was all about him.

“Shame is for the weak.” his mouth never left her skin, not even to speak; nipping and biting at her collar and clothing. The woven fabric was clearly giving him some trouble. It was thick and rough. Not soft and delicate like the silk from before. He growled in irritation. Rough things weren’t near as attractive, even if she did look good in the tribal wear. He pulled away, if just to have a look at her. His brow furrowed and his nose crinkled in distaste. Then with one well aimed swoop, the male caught her yet again, this time forcing her to fall into the grass below. It’d be much easy tossing her top away with him on top of her.

He’d heard her claims of aching, but he didn’t care. This was his time, and she was going to fulfill him. Pressing a hand on either side of her head, he stared down. Wondering if she was going to threaten or make an attempt on his life again. Then the bruise on her cheek caught his attention. Bringing his mouth down against the blotted color, the tip of his tongue tasted the wound. He wanted to see for himself how far along it was in healing, like an animal.

“You must have really pissed them off,” he hinted with pride, but didn’t waste time with the thought. His erection was already pulsing between his legs. The bulge in his tight suit stroking between her thighs, the thick girth roamed back and forth over her clothing, right over her clit. His shoulders rolled above her, like a cat readying to pounce. The heaviness of his hips pinned her in place. Stretching and flexing his build in anticipation for how many times he’d take her tonight. One hand slipped from above her to pry open his pants, releasing his massive cock, but he never took his eyes off of her. Knowing full well she was a slippery little thing; he was waiting for her to try and bolt for it.

* * *

So he really had no shame. He outright admitted it. She scowled and tried pulling away as he continued to kiss her skin, wishing he’d leave her alone. Of course that wasn’t an option. But that only made her all the more sure that she’d get revenge on him eventually. At the very least, at least he was clearly having issues with her top. He didn’t like it, she could tell that much. Not that share cared. She preferred it that way, so long as he didn’t tear it up and force her to walk around naked again.

She was caught off-guard, though, and a pain shot through her back when she hit the ground. His body made her feel like she was suffocating just from how much weight he put on her after he’d pulled her top off, and she was caught between attempting to shove him off and attempting to hide her breasts. She glanced away if only to take a look at Raditz to check if he was watching, out of plain embarrassment. As if being violated like this weren’t enough. Having someone watch was even worse.

“Gn– That’s disgusting! Stop!” She shoved away from him again when he licked her cheek, struggling even more in his grasp. It was instinctual, even if it only excited them more every time. “I puked on him, alright?! Let me go! He’s watching! It’s creepy! Stop, I don’t want you touching me!”

He was stretching like he was getting ready for a workout. That just made it all the worse, along with him rubbing up between her legs through the fabric of her pants. And somehow, it felt all the more intimate and scary now that his bare skin was pressing against hers. She felt him take his pants off, and it made it all the worse. She took another glance at Raditz and even saw Nappa stumbling out from the crater he’d been pummeled in. Great. Now she had a real audience.

“Do you want your neck sliced again?! I’ll do it a second time! I’ll slice it deep enough to really kill you this time!”

* * *

Once the girl’s torso was free of her irritating top, the prince busied himself with nipping down the soft skin between her breasts. The hands trying to cover her breasts made little difference to him. Tasting her skin was what he wanted, and there was little she could do to distract him. He’d even begun to block out whatever preservation she was yelling about his two men watching. And then she said something that made him stop, lift his eyes up at her, and then turn a quick glance at Raditz - whom was watching his leader take over the defenseless girl. She’d said she’d thrown up on him.

“You wha-” muttered the prince, _“…….that’s one I haven’t heard before_.” Turning his gaze away from the girl, Vegeta had to stifle a soft snort of amusement under his breath. So that’s where the smell of vomit had been coming from when he’d found her. Raditz angry cheeks turned bright red - did she really have to reveal that to his leader?! It was just about then that Nappa pulled his beaten body up next to his fellow soldier. Getting a good seat, he watched the show with his one good eye (the other swollen purple and shut). Neither of them were about to miss this.

Her yelling didn’t distract the prince for long and he soon found his way right back into action. Gripping the earthling’s new pair of pants, he curled his fingertips under the hem of the fabric then slowly began walking them down the curve of her hips. She was still threatening him, bringing up the damage she’d inflicted to his neck. He answered her with a warning snarl - teeth clamped firmly on the button of her pants, meaning ‘ _just go ahead and see if you can stop me’_.

Her pants came sliding right down the length of her legs, flying right off of her toes and casting off into the grass. She was bare; naked before him. The beast hovered above, holding her down in the grass by one arm, and stroking his exposed member in his other hand. The blue of his pants stretched between his thighs where he’d pulled them down half way. The prince didn’t look so frisky anymore, he looked menacing, focused, determined.

“Good, let them watch, they need to know who owns you properly.” his tail flicked behind him, holding the girl down while he lowered his mouth to her breast. His narrow nose dug against the flesh, swirling and nipping at the nipple until it was hard enough to bite.

Nappa and Raditz were watching carefully, the bald man already rubbing his crotch through the fabric of his pants.

* * *

She had to count her blessings– He wasn’t as willing to hurt her as Nappa or even Raditz was. He didn’t rip her clothes off; he only pulled them off instead. He was biting the skin on her breasts, and nipping her nipples, but it wasn’t hard enough to cause marks. Not like the marks all over her body from what she guessed was Nappa after she’d been passed out.

She struggled against him, trying to pull her pants back up. But he pulled them completely off, leaving her bare. She covered her breasts and crossed her legs to try and keep him from being able to look, but he didn’t seem to care. He held her down, and started feeling himself to make him harder. She was sickened every time she looked down and saw it. It was just disgusting, and another reminder that they all had no shame or modesty.

Speaking of the Saiyans having no shame or modesty, she glanced over at Raditz and Nappa again, to see them watching intently. One of them was even rubbing himself off. Gn… He really didn’t mind? She tried to pull away from him, but it wasn’t working in the least. Of course it wasn’t; he could put only his pinkie down and still hold her down with no problem.

“Stop saying you own me! You don’t own me! You just kidnapped me and pretended like I was your slave!” She owned herself! She was still exactly who she was before they grabbed her and destroyed her planet. Not that they’d ever, ever listen to reason. “Let me go already! I’m sick of it! At least stop them from watching, if you’re going to pin me down and do this!”

* * *

“No.” was his simple answer at her demanding he stop - that he keep the others from watching. He’d done far worse in front of his men, and she was nothing more than a slave, whether she liked the title or not. Though, her endurance was getting to the man. Despite his biting and nipping, through his licking from one of her nipples to the other, he was listening ..slightly.

The earthling was determined. Some of the things she claimed reminded him of parts of his own twisted past. Things he’d rather not remember while wedging himself between a woman’s legs. He grunted, bucking the thick girth of his erection against her bare thigh. It was difficult not to find her revile at being called ‘slave’ admirable. Still, the prince was as stubborn as she was, and he wasn’t about to give up what he deemed his rights. ..or the simple fact of getting some.

“You certainly look like a slave to me,” he purposely prodded her ego, egging her on. His mouth murmured across her stomach, the prince had made it his business to lap and suck against every bruise and mark on the woman. Nipping over every claw mark, swirling his tongue against any wound made by his men before him. He was marking his territory, washing away any taste of another male and replacing it with his own. How could she say she didn’t belong to him when she so clearly smelt of it? It was Saiyan logic. Raditz and Nappa clearly recognized what he was doing, too, respecting the display by keeping their distance and jacking off at the sight of them instead.

His lips eventually made way down the line of her abdomen, stopping to nip and lap at her belly button, then made way between her legs. It was a little trickier forcing his nose between her thighs with the way she constantly resisted him. The prince resulted in releasing her wrist to try and pry her legs apart with his hands. It wasn’t difficult with their great differences in strength, but waiting did irritate him, if not just turn him on by being denied. But eventually the prince’s thick arms wrapped around her thighs from underneath, allowing his tongue to mercilessly drive over her clit; sucking away at a bruise in the shape of a large finger print. That had to be Nappa’s handy work.

* * *

“Gn…” She gulped, resisting moaning. It did feel good, having him slowly lick and kiss every piece of her body. She didn’t want to think of Yamcha anymore because it only made her upset, but it was reminiscent of him. It wasn’t violent like her many experiences already since she was kidnapped. He was soft, gentle. She murmured under her breath and let out a sigh, though she was blushing from embarrassment.

She still kept her legs closed, even if a shiver went down her spine when he kissed her belly button. She couldn’t help but glance over at the other two Saiyans again, knowing damn well they were getting off to this. She could feel Vegeta’s lips getting lower, and she grabbed onto his hair in an attempt to get him away from her, with her heart racing from his mouth against the skin before her lower lips.

He forced her legs apart and held them open by wrapping his arms around them from underneath, while Bulma pushed the bottoms of her feet into his back as a form of struggle. She gasped when his lips touched her clit, and she couldn’t help but curl her toes when he started licking and sucking.

She hurt too much inside still to have him inside her–not that he’d care–, so it was something of a relief for him to instead just start giving her oral. Even if she was still so embarrassed. It wasn’t painful, but just knowing the other two were watching and getting off to it was disturbing. Not that she should truly be one to talk- she’d had a public sex tape of her and Yamcha or two. But it was something different; to have two pairs of eyes gawking at her in real life while it was happening.

* * *

He’d wanted to taste her for quite a while. Their time in the pod hadn’t been enough. The girl had woken up into a frenzied fit, and he hadn’t gotten to finish exploring her body as thoroughly as he would have preferred. The servants at the brothel had taunted his tongue with a taste of her. He’d been expecting this ever since. All creatures slightly varied in taste and she was no different. Though he had to admit, the taste of earthling was washing well with his palette.

The prince was just getting his fill of lapping at her, feeling accomplished with himself, when he noticed the soft murmur of a moan trying to hide behind the females lips. His ears pricked. He’d obviously hit a sweet spot. His nose roamed over the skin just before her lower lips, grumbling lowly in his pursuit for it. Up until then he hadn’t cared nor noticed if she was in pain or pleasure. He’d been aware of the gentle quiver in her spine, the way her body had slowly began to unwind and relax, but the prince had suspected she was merely giving in. No, this was different, she wanted to moan.

What was that that she’d said? That he could never make her moan? In his dreams, wasn’t it? There was something despicably satisfying about making her eat those words, or moan them, one. His wide spread fingers gripped into her thighs, and with an opened mouth, the prince lapped up her clit. He dug his tongue between the sensitive folds of skin, before dragging the hard press of his tongue up again. His black eyes darted up at her from under a deceptive brow, anticipating her reaction.

It was difficult though, the prince was never one for pleasuring others, only himself. It was teasing himself just as much, the thickening and hardening between his own legs impossible for him to ignore. His hips bucked gently against the ground, but his sucking at her folds of skin persisted. His anxiousness to feel inside of her caused his hands to roam over the tops of her thighs, forcing her to spread apart for him. She was too perfect not to feel inside of, if just with his fingers. Two large fingers dipped in while his mouth steadied its work.

The two men on the side lines had their eyes glued to the woman. Nappa was frantically beating his over-sized cock in his hand. It was better than watching any porn or random couple get-off at a cat-house. They’d felt her up, fucked her themselves, but there was something about watching that was teasing their cocks shamelessly. Side by side. Raditz was getting off to it, and loudly. He was already moaning.

* * *

To put it in the most blunt and simple of terms, it felt good. It made her legs shake, and she was sure he knew it, with how she saw him eyeing her. He began licking her more aggressively, and Bulma bit her lip in order to not moan. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. She didn’t want him to know it was that pleasing to her to have him touch and lick her like he was. He didn’t deserve it.

She grabbed her top from the ground next to her, and pressed it over her breasts to get some kind of coverage, even if it didn’t help much when Vegeta was doing something so sexual either way. Why did they always have to strip her? If they were going to do things like this against her will, couldn’t they just… Tug her pants down a little?

“Mn… Gn…” She refused to moan, especially when she glanced over at the other two Saiyans at the sound of Raditz’s own moaning. She wasn’t going to give them one more reason to jack off. Even if she couldn’t even help but shift her hips and curl her feet inward when Vegeta pressed a couple fingers inside her. Did he even know how to please a girl, or was he just going by what he wanted? If he raped women so often, surely he didn’t care about what made a girl feel good, right?

“Stop it already…” She pulled herself up into a partial sitting position thanks to Vegeta’s strength stopping her from sitting up any further. She pulled her shirt on again just so she had free hands to push him away, or at least attempt to. She reached between his head and her, trying to make a barrier. “Just leave me alone, I want to be left alone–!”

* * *

He wasn’t stopping. The prince’s wide tongue just kept lapping, and lapping; all the while she was getting the nerve to put on her top, or yell in his face. He just stared up at her from between her legs. Flexing his hand against her thigh with one hand, his fingers slid in and out of her pussy with the other. Coveting his prize like he had his meal before. The braver she grew, the harder he swirled his tongue, until he slowly began to growl.

His lips maneuvered past her hand, biting her pinky slightly as punishment. The soft rumbling in his body grew to a rolling thunder. She must have felt the vibrations radiate through her pelvic bone. It was a foreboding warning for her to stop trying to take what was his. Raditz had even stood from his spot, still gripping himself in one hand, ready for orders if his prince so needed him, when he heard the roar. The long haired saiyan may have been hoping he’d be called into action - there was a part of him that wanted to come on the girl’s face, payback for what she’d done before.

Vegeta’s orders never came, though. This was between him and the woman. Not to mention he’d just taken the time to slather her with his scent. The female had found a way to refuse him, again. It was a stalemate - he’d wanted to hear her moan, and damned if she could tell him of all people what to do. But the strain in his groin yearned to push inside of her the longer the moments dragged on, until he couldn’t hold back any more.

“I don’t want to stop,” he finally looked up, meeting her near nose to nose. The prince was on the move again. There were other means to make her vocal. His thick fingers slid out, quickly moving himself into a push-up position over her. Forcing her back with his growing presence, he glared daggers down. The heaviness of his hips rocked just above her freshly licked thighs. She was just so damn stubborn ..it was making his heart pound in his chest.

“Take the top off ..or I’ll rip it off.” his brows bounced once, softening his stare. He was giving her an option, a dirty option. Vegeta was very well aware of the girl’s dumbfounded fortitude to have clothing. If she wanted to keep it, she’d have to remove it herself. It was a power move, and the bastard loved it.

* * *

The pushing and struggling wasn’t helping, but that much was obvious. Even the barrier he just bit her for trying, causing her to jerk her hand back and hold her new little wound. She would have whined, but his moan caught the whine in her throat and caused her to suck her breath in instead. She at least didn’t moan. She wouldn’t moan for him, even if he’d found ways of making her sort of want the act.

Just as she felt a tingling in her toes from an orgasm getting close, Vegeta stopped to stare at her face-to-face and tell her he didn’t want to stop. As if it mattered. She scowled at him, and had no problem crawling back from him and giving him a slap across the face if only just to embarrass HIM in front of the other Saiyans.

She debated the options he gave her about the top as she slowly crawled away and leaned down as he got closer, and decided it’d be better to be naked during this than to be naked all the time. She pulled the top off, but she clearly wasn’t happy about it– she continued to cover herself with her arm, and turned away from him as he finally hovered over her with his hands on either side of her.

She turned to lay on her stomach, if only for some slight attempt at modesty. It stopped her breasts from showing to everyone, and it allowed her to not have to look at him. She covered her face with her hands, with her forehead pressed against the ground. She wasn’t crying, but she sure was trying to pretend she was somewhere else. Maybe if she daydreamed, she wouldn’t moan. Wouldn’t orgasm. Or, must importantly, wouldn’t hurt from all the previous bruises she’d gotten on her hips and tears she’d gotten inside her, from Raditz pushing himself inside her without any lubricant.

* * *

She actually possessed the audacity to slap him! In front of his own soldiers. The prince wasn’t just embarrassed, he was raging in disbelief. He was just about to pounce on her, to bite her hand for striking his face, but then she began to do as he’d demanded. If she hadn’t begun to strip tease him by taking her top off, the animal may of seriously injured her. But she was doing as she was commanded, and it simmered the prince’s temper down to a low boil. Reclaiming his composure, Vegeta stood over her expectantly -watching her position herself. That was more like it. Even if he was still slightly irritated, how freely she presented herself didn’t go over his head.

He wasn’t going to go easy on her anymore; the earthling had lost the leeway he’d given her. The prince wasted no time in mounting her from the moment she’d pressed her face into the ground. Gripping her hip with one hand, he ran his other thumb down the slick line he’d just finished exploring with his tongue. She was plenty wet from him pleasuring her from before, making his sinking into her all the more gratifying. His lower abdomen soon pressed against her backside, guiding his swollen cock as deeply into her walls as he wanted to - all the way to the hilt, befor pleasuring himself by pumping himself steadily in and out.

What should have been a moan was more of a dangerous growl; the adrenaline and desire to put her in her place still running hot through the Saiyans veins. But he was feeling better, more in the moment the longer he rode into her. The heat sweltering off of his muscular body was surely felt by the girl when he leaned over. Pressing a warm palm onto her shoulder, the beast took the crook of her neck into his lips. It was gentle, but dominating, controlled.

She could have easily of gotten herself killed, but putting the little earthling in her place this way was much more satisfying. At first, the males hips rolled, jolted, and bucked into her without mercy, filling her up. Until the prince was satisfied that he’d reclaimed his position, and shown his dominance over the female to his on looking men. Then he really began to fuck her as he desired. The prince preferred a steady rhythm, not uneven or blunt like his men, but a pace that allowed him to feel the pull and suck of her wet flesh around his thick girth. It felt good to pull out of her, and ramming back into her only kept getting better. She may not have been moaning, but the prince had no reservations towards panting in her ear.

At first, it hurt. Even if she was plenty wet. It was painful when he shoved himself in her so ruthlessly, the same way Raditz and Nappa preferred to do things. She grunted in pain, and her hands moved from her face to grasp the ground. She wasn’t struggling anymore, even if she hated that fact. She was letting it happen, with a little grunt every time he thrusted, even as his hip movements became steady and rhythmic and less violent.

Her eyebrows knit as she felt his hands on her shoulder and his breath against her neck. His bare skin against her bare skin. No matter how much she hated it, she couldn’t help but move her head up to glance over at the other two Saiyans again to see them jack off to a sight that she wished she could gouge their eyes out for seeing. Her nails dug into the dirt, but not because of pain. Because of frustration and anger.

She had kept thinking to herself, ‘at least he’s being gentle.’ But why should she even feel that way? It doesn’t matter how he does it, she told him that she didn’t want it. Even if her body reacted positively, that didn’t mean she liked it. He kept calling her ‘slut,’ ‘whore,’ and ‘slave,’ but she didn’t want to act like it. She preferred it when he was drugged and claimed she was a goddess. She wasn’t about to bend over, literally and hypothetically, to his will. Even if she wasn’t struggling, it didn’t mean that she was letting it happen. 

Her eyes turned over to her top again. A sharp pin held two sections of the top together on the top middle of it, acting something like a button. Her hand slowly reached out and grabbed the top, and pulled it partially under her as if she was just using it to protect the skin of her chest from the dirty ground. The other two Saiyans wouldn’t really interfere, would they? If Raditz was staying back even when Vegeta had growled, then they shouldn’t be a problem. It was between the two of them, like the times in the pod. She couldn’t take two Saiyans at once, but one… One she could at least keep at bay. That’s what she’d learned, anyway.

* * *

It didn’t matter if her body fell out of resistance, if it accepted his every whim. No matter how her insides quivered or wrapped around his intruding cock, the prince knew the woman was still refusing him with that damned rebellion of hers. The same resilience she’d burned into him so many times with her bright blue eyes. He felt it in the way her body tensed under him, and the silent anger that dug at the ground. He knew it, and he was soaking it up. Her resilience drove him into her with more zeal then before.

It was that silence that gave her away. She was plotting against him, again. The prince lifted his eyes from his concentration, but never removed his mouth from the grip it held on her shoulder. He watched her tactfully maneuver her top under her; he noticed the way her fingers curled around the sharp pin like a knife. It was striking, stunning - the prince was actually impressed. She was choosing to fight, refusing to give in. It made churning his hips against her raised backside feel better than before.

“What does my little slave have there?” his voice purred quietly into her ear. It was meant just for the two of them, just like the silent battle they waged between one another. The prince was allowing her to strike at him, in his own way. Acting the fool. But Vegeta was fully aware and ready for her weaponry. His body was on full alert; ready to move swifter then her eye could follow, just waiting to pin her wrist down as soon as she made her decision to move. He knew he could over power her, but he still wanted her to try. He anticipated it, looked forward to it, he wanted that fire that pushed her to survive. He’d come to respected it more and more each time she tried. …it was exciting him.

His idiot men weren’t aware of her actions at all, and he knew it. They were busy jerking themselves. Raditz sounded like he was close to orgasm any time now. Nappa was watching the girl’s face sink into the dirt like a hungry dog. They were oblivious, but Vegeta didn’t care. He’d prefer them not interfere; he wanted to handle this himself. His hips kept crashing into the soft flesh of her ass cheeks, painting them pink with the heat of friction. It felt so good that the prince was torn between waiting to see her in action, and pumping her with one more stroke of his cock. The anticipation had even caused him to moan.. He was ungodly hard, and only getting harder, faster. Knowing the woman under him was capable of fighting back sent his blood racing. His palms pushed down the length of her back, holding her in place as well as he could, with as much jolting and jostling together their bare bodies were under going from the pounding of his relentless cock. He was ready for her.

* * *

Her hand slowly tightened around the pin, getting ready to make her move. But suddenly Vegeta whispered in her ear, and her hopes dropped. He knew. He saw it. The attack wouldn’t work now; he could move far faster than she could ever hope to. Damn, she should have been less obvious. She recalled the capsule holding the gun in her pouch, but he was probably on high alert now. …Actually, maybe it could distract him enough, if she was lucky.

She pulled the pin out as he started going faster, giving her shivers down her spine. She sucked her breath in every thrust, willing herself to not moan even once. It was hard, especially with her being such a typically loud woman. Even then, she knew he could probably feel her tensing up around him. Damn it. Her anger only grew, knowing he was probably smug about getting any kind of reaction out of her.

She pulled her head up to show her neck, and held the pin at her neck. If it was impossible to attack him with it, then she might as well kill herself, right? She’d puncture something, and then she’d get to see everyone else again. That was what she hoped Vegeta figured she was doing; attempting to will herself into suicide, while her other hand discretely pushed inside the pouch tied at the side of her top, to take out the capsule.

She was silent for a few moments as she held the capsule tight in her hand. Hoping even if he did see it, he’d forget about it by being too focused on his own pleasure. It didn’t take a genius (even if she was one) to realize that he was enjoying himself. But she would get this done before he got her to yet another sickening orgasm. She’d hurt him enough to leave her alone. She swore it.

She pressed on the button on the top of the capsule and tossed it straight upward, hoping it’d catch his attention even before the loud ‘BOOM’ and the burst of smoke. She tried to act quick to turn her torso around and stab him as close to the neck as possible with the needle, with all the force to try and kill.

* * *

She was right; the prince was feeling insatiably pompous. She was enjoying his cock on some level. Such a stubborn wench, when would she ever learn that she couldn’t win in the end?

And then she did the unthinkable, and the prince’s face dropped into worry, then flipped into rage. The world shifted into slow motion as he realized what was going on. The pin wasn’t predestined for his neck (he’d picked up she had a knack for aiming for the head). It was pointed dead center at her throat. The sharp end brushed her delicate, pale skin whenever he thrust into her from behind - nearly pushing her into it himself. He’d thought her too good for that - she had been his challenge. If anyone was going to be killing her, it would be himself, with his hands bound around her neck. She couldn’t take this away from him!

Then a boom broke the silence of his molasses moving world, and the prince realized what she’d done, but it was too late. Curse that wretched female. She never had any second thoughts of living! She’d caught him off guard, and when he’d been so ready for her to threaten him. The shock wave of the opening capsule grabbed his split-second attention, but a split-second was all it took, giving her an open shot for the side of his neck. He knew it too - knew exactly what was happening. The saiyan’s quick aim reached for her wrist just as the pin dug into his muscle. Blood splattered over her blue hair.

She might as well of castrated him right there in front of his own men, if he hadn’t taken control of the situation quick enough. The explosion and rapidness of Bulma’s attack had been so unexpected by the two soldiers, that Raditz nearly choked on his own spit, while Nappa took out his only good eye by means of pre-ejaculated cum shot. Nappa was yelling in pain over his eyes, but Raditz quickly ran to his prince’s aid. He could barely believe what he was witnessing. Vegeta never got hurt, never wounded by someone so.. so weak! What the hell was this woman after all? ..he was in shock, and impressed.

Vegeta grunted towards his hasty body-guard, halting Raditz in place. This was between he and the woman, and he had her by the wrist in no time. The momentum of her attack brought them backwards; Vegeta catching the woman onto his torso with his free hand, just as his shoulder blades fell into the grass. Their hands gripped together around her weapon of choice, high above their bumping heads. Unfortunately for his murderous little slave, she’d only turned him on. Vegeta’s heart was pounding under her. Kai licked off of his skin, sending static over their bound forms from the excitement, from the rush of battle and sex. The thick flesh wedged inside of her harder than ever. Even now he was still gently pumping between her legs.

“I’m sorry. Was that an attempt on my life? You’ll have to do better than that, _my little slave_.” He knew she hated being called that, but she’d pushed his buttons. Covering his hands over her own, the power-house quickly flipped them over in the grass, putting the girl flat on her belly. Pressing her into the ground with his full weight, he stretched their arms together in front of them, holding her down. He wasn’t giving her wiggle room this time. Laid flat on top of her with only the motion of his bucking hips to move them, the lulling growl of his amusement rushed against her ear. Vegeta still had full intentions of finishing what they’d begun.

* * *

She’d punctured the skin, but didn’t get anywhere before Vegeta grabbed her wrist and stopped her from pushing the pin in further. She glared at him, her jaw tight. He’d grabbed her by the torso just as they stumbled backward so that she was on top, and for a moment, she was distracted herself- Both raising her hips away from his, and taking a glance at where the gun had fallen. But before she could squirm away and grab the gun, he flipped her around and turned them over so he was on top of her yet again.

He pinned her down for real this time; she couldn’t squirm, and it felt like he was crushing her as he violated her. The bruises all over her body ached so badly that if they could, they’d be literally moaning from the pressure put on them. She glared at her hands outstretched before her, held down firmly by Vegeta’s. Her nails dug into the dirt again, a little more every time he thrusted inside her. Every time he breathed against her ear. Hate, anger, and frustration were all words that felt far too weak to describe how she felt.

She turned her head. She could still see Raditz, or at least his shins, while he stood nearby. Nappa was rubbing his eye and yelling in pain. Her leg jutted out, with her foot feeling around the dress for her gun. She found it, and slowly pulled it closer to her body with her toes. She didn’t really have a plan this time, with him pinning her down like this. She just had to hope that she figured something out. Maybe he’d trust her too much and decide to give her more room. Or maybe she could go for shooting him when he… ‘Finished.’ 

Either way, she was ready for it to be over. He smelled like sweat and blood, and it was beginning to stick to her skin. The electricity shooting off of him shocked her and gave her jolts with every thrust. Her cheek rubbed against the ground as he jostled her body, and all she could think about was how she’d make him pay, eventually.

* * *

She was still struggling? Vegeta was hardly surprised, but it didn’t stop his continual fucking into the helpless female under him. He may have finally had her pinned into place, but the girl was anything but submissive. While rolling the length of his entire body on top of the captured female felt phenomena; cramming her full of his thickening length, washing every inch of her curves with the churning of his sweltering muscle, it wasn’t the victory he’d wanted. He wanted her to stay in place, to take his cock like he knew she could. The battle of control between them was far from over.

Blood seeped down his throat, droplets catching onto the earthling’s cheek. He was watching down at her, pressing their hands firmly into the ground just enough to lift his chest. Every inch of him was completely aware of how her body squished and moved under him whenever he propelled them forward or backward in the grass. The prince’s whole body was tingling, sparking to life from the exhilaration. He’d never had a woman try and kill him so many times. The fact that he didn’t know what to expect next was bringing him a whole new wash of sensations; like the brush of electric butterflies in the pit of his stomach.

Then he noticed… Her squirming wasn’t so random anymore. What was she aiming for? His dark eyes trailed back down the length of their twined bodies, past his rutting hips, down to where he could barely make out the movement of her foot. The earthling still had some fight left in her. How could he deny the challenge? Pinning her down held no victory, seeing what she was up to was much more interesting. Even if the tight hold her thighs had on his cock was slowly bringing him closer to orgasm, he didn’t want to mark her until he’d seen this through.

With controlled movements, as not to alert her and let her know he was suspicious, the prince moved them into a new position. He’d grown tired of beating her into the ground, knowing full well that her small frame could only handle so much of his power and weight. She was no use to him dead; he preferred to see her thrive. Sliding his hands down her arms, shoulders, and waist, the prince gripped her hips. Jerking her onto her hands and knees, he did his best not to roll his eyes in bliss once he retained his steady rhythm again. Molten heat craved to pour through his torso and tense the muscles in his thighs, but he refused the need. Fixated on the female, he was ready to move with her if she tried to bring him down again.

* * *

There was something exciting about his blood dripping onto her skin. Not sexually- there was just something… Prideful in it. She made him bleed. Even if he was doing unspeakable things, she had that little, tiny bit of revenge for her to soak in. Even if her body screamed in pain, even if she was being shoved into the dirt like an animal, humiliated and abused, she had that to dwell on, as she pulled the gun a little closer with her toe, until there was nowhere else to bring it.

“Mn… Gn…” She kept quiet, but even if she wanted to speak, he was pressed so hard on her that she wouldn’t able to vocalize well. That was, until he suddenly changed their positions. The moment he lifted all his weight off her, she let out an audible gasp as she filled her lungs again. Her bruises still tingled in pain, but nowhere to the extent they had before. She retracted her hands to either side of her head, but just as she was getting adjusted, he pulled her up onto her hands and knees.

She had to get adjusted at first. He had her hips and was pushing into her with enough force to have her bobbing back and forth, making it hard to keep her balance. They were at an angle where he could easily see anything she did. It wouldn’t be smart for her to grab the gun now, so he could just destroy it straight away. She at least wanted to give him a good hit.

“Agh–” She furrowed her brows with every thrust, feeling a shiver at her shoulders. Maybe it was the fact of the matter that he was at least somewhat gentle that was causing her body to react so… Ugh. Positively. She had been ignoring how good that it felt, but it was hard to. She didn’t moan, though. But she didn’t keep silent, either. Little gasps and whimpers came from her lips as quiet as she could make them, but they came out nonetheless. She tried not to focus on it, but as he kept going and the pain fizzled, it was easier for it to take over her. But she couldn’t focus on that now. She had bigger fish to fry. She had to focus on the gun.

She’d do it when he was too focused on what he was doing to realize what she was reaching for. It wasn’t something she wanted, but she had to let him keep going, if only so she could take him by surprise in the last minutes. His moves were still too rhythmic to mean he couldn’t focus anymore. She had to wait until he was clearly feeling desperate.

* * *

Never had a woman kept him in such anticipation. Keeping himself under control was growing steadily... difficult. His hips moved faster, the relentless pounding between them impossible for him to deny. He could hear the soft sound of her biting back moans, refusing to please him like he’d demanded she would. It only drove him faster. The once stead beat of his hips sped into new vigor. It was as bad as trying to fight back a wild stallion who’d come into rut. If the prince wasn’t careful, he’d come before he’d fully punished her for humiliating him in front of his men.

“Moan for me, little slave…” he knew she was holding it back, and it made his twisted nature show itself. Oh yes, he was taking his time on purpose. Gripping her round flesh and sliding his hand down the curve of her hip. Remembering the spot that’d made her nearly yelp in pleasure just moments before, when his mouth had been all over her, he pressed his fingertips into the sweet spot, giving her clit a little swirl while he fucked her to his own satisfactions. Knowing that they had onlookers brought certain dirtiness to the scene. Holding her down and forcing her to take him so openly, letting them witness his dominance over the little earthling that’d tried to pierce his jugular just moments before. He was still bleeding profusely. Rivers of red ran down his bare chest, mixing with sweat and dirt before pooling into the sway of her back. The strands of red traced her skin, down her thighs, across her belly. The scent of blood and sex filled his nose. It was perfect.

How was he not supposed to get a little lost in the moment? Vegeta had been waiting for her to make her move, but as the moments drove past with each new thrust, he began to realize her next attack had been a false attempt. She was giving in, finally, at least that’s what the prince was gathering. And just in time too. His eyes begged to roll back and his breath fused with groaning. Heat flushed across his chest and arms, tensing his burning muscles, until a roar ripped from his mouth. The light of his kai consumed everything, warming them like blue sunshine. His men shook where they stood, covered in their own orgasm, staring down the girl as she took her beating.

The attack was forgotten, the only thing the prince could focus on was the ringing in his ears and the supple flesh his cock was filling with his seed. It was by no means a small orgasm, his body tensed and lingered over hers, his fingers dug into her flesh. The Saiyan pumped, and pumped, until her legs ran thick with the sticky white substance. The vibrancy of his kai buzzed over her body like a soft blue flame, his voice humming soft growls at the nape of her neck.

* * *

Every time he called her ‘little slave,’ she hated him a little more. But in some ways, she hated her own body a little worse. He was rubbing her clit as he fucked her, and she rolled her ankles in circles, curled and uncurled her toes as she felt it happen. Why’d it have to feel so good? Gn… She had a job to do, she couldn’t focus on it. She had to repress her orgasm that she could feel slowly start to rear its head each time he pressed up against her g-spot, each time he made a complete circle against her clit.

Rather than moan, she breathed in, and let a shaky breath out in turn. Quiet, and not true moans by themselves. It’d be too humiliating to do that. She shivered and lowered her head, taking notice of when he started going faster. He was losing control. But her plan didn’t go as smoothly as she thought it would. As he started jerking into her faster, she couldn’t keep her balance. She was knocked down onto her forearms just so she didn’t end up with her face in the dirt.

Bulma turned her head around to look at him- eyes rolled back, not focused on her actions anymore. Even as he thrusted into her to the point where she was dizzy, she knew this was the only time she was going to get a good shot. She pulled her leg inward to make it easier to reach the gun, but as soon as she grabbed it and held it in her hand, she went back to how she was kneeling- when he suddenly roared and began bucking into her more than before, she found it the only way to keep steady.

How was she supposed to not moan when he ‘used’ her like that? It felt so good. So good. Even as she wrapped her hand around the gun and tried to focus herself, it was too hard. What she’d been able to repress was suddenly hitting her hard. She moaned shakily, in a drawn-out breath, as he suddenly made her tingle all over. He didn’t stop as he came, either. He kept going, pushing into her and cumming hard enough that she could physically feel it hitting her cervix and spill out of her every time he moved in or out.

She was thankfully, however, in the right mind just seconds later, while Vegeta was still… Sidetracked. Murmuring into her neck. She looked down under herself, and steadied herself enough now that he had lessened the force behind his thrusts, and pointed the gun. It took her a moment to make sure where she was aiming was correct- she wanted to hurt him, not herself. Though if she felt a little burn in the process, it was worth it.

She mentally timed his thrusts, and at the right moment when he pulled out, she pulled the trigger with an aim to his balls.

* * *

Just when he thought it couldn’t get any better than this, indulging in the perpetual movement of her body against him, the tightening and winding of her insides finally giving way into submission and orgasming around his beating cock, that’s when he heard it. It was hard to catch over the beating of his own… but he heard it. His ‘little slave’ had moaned for him.

Vegeta ate it right up, imprinting the sound into his memory bank like it was precious gold. She’d moaned for him, and it was all he could think about while he watched the world blur around him. Everything went fuzzy. Not even the ground was felt beneath his knees - as if it’d dropped from under him during his heavy climax. The steady motion of his hips began to fade, until he felt the cool air slip past his cock. He was still half hard. The ‘V’ of his tanned abdomen tapered down to his over-sensitized erection, slick with the earthlings juices. He’d pulled out of her, and he was completely unprotected.

The first thing he saw when he came-to was the barrel of what looked to be a gun; the big blue eyes of his tricky little female aiming from its trigger point. He didn’t have time to think, only react. He had to move, and fast, faster than he had in a while if he wanted to save his dick. There was no way he was losing his royal jewels after he’d so thoroughly fucked her.

The moment the gun went off, Vegeta’s body bolted into the air and off to the side like a startled cat, but he didn’t end there. His acrobatics lunged toward the girl without mercy. Her wrists were his first target. Flipping her over and pinning her down was his second move. Rolling them far back into the grass, her head hit the ground. All that was left in her vision were his large canines bearing down at her, huffing out angry breaths between his pearly teeth. Oh, he was pissed, caught off guard …and on top of her again.

“Where the hell did that come from?” startled Raditz, “Where the hell did she get a gun!”

“That’s a good question,” Vegeta’s voice rumbled over her, more beast then man. “Where did you pull that out of, your ass?” Not that it mattered now, but his eyes did travel up to the unforeseen contraption. He could have sworn she hadn’t had it on her before.

* * *

She thought she got him, when he went flying up in the air like he did. But when she turned her body around and held her gun to shoot him again, it looked like she’d missed. Damn, it was because she got sidetracked. If she hadn’t been distracted, then she would have been able to time it right and shoot him.

If she was as quick as Saiyans were, maybe Bulma could have shot him for real this time. But he lunged at her with the anger of a beast and flipped her over onto her back, with enough force to send them toppling. She hit her head heard, and after a wince, she opened her eyes to see him staring at her with bared teeth, looking ready to kill. Men really didn’t fuck around when it came to their genitals.

She glared up at him, angry her plan was foiled. She’d really thought that she had him this time, but apparently she thought too soon. At least she still had the gun in her hand, even if he was holding her wrists down and preventing her from moving. She struggled to move her hands, knowing that aiming at his face would be impossible, much less his balls again. But maybe his other hand–

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She spat up at him, even if it wasn’t such a good idea, with gravity making it backfire slightly. So he really hadn’t been paying attention, then. She just had to hope that after this she had a chance to grab her capsule again. Even if they destroyed her gun, it’d come in handy again some other time, she was sure.

She attempted to shoot the hand holding her other wrist, trying to free herself at least partially. She just had to hope she didn’t doom herself to something worse than what she’d just gone through. She didn’t need even more bruises.

* * *

Spit ran from his cheek, but the prince didn’t move a muscle. He was staring down at her. Then, his teeth slowly hid behind his closing lips, narrowing expression down at her, quietly. The look in her eyes told him his little female was far from done. She never was, he was coming to understand. There was always a fire burning that refused to smother out. Something inside of her he couldn’t attain; something she refused to let him tame. It was always out of his reach. However, the gun was his for the taking.

The gun went off a second time, leaving Vegeta no choice but to release her wrist or face having his hand burnt to a crisp. His fingers slung out to the side angrily, surely twisting her wrist with the motion. He didn’t care, she’d become nothing more than a threat to him now. It was all about survival - a game Vegeta knew how to play far too well. His hand retracted as quickly as it shot out, finding homage around the girl’s neck. The fingers of his other hand slowly merged over her grip on the gun, making sure she’d not try something so tricky again. He wasn’t letting her get away with that a third time.

“You should stop while you’re ahead, little slave,” he warned lowly, so close to her lips he could feel her quickened breath. Vegeta’s eyes narrowed into dark seriousness. This wasn’t like when they were in the pod. He wasn’t about to let her win, he couldn’t in front of his men. It could easily have Raditz and Nappa questioning his superiority. Even if he tried to let her slip, he knew it’d appear weak. His tail twitched, finding himself between a rock and a hard place. A part of him was bursting with life, excited and thrilled by her stamina and will power. He’d gotten to witness her ability to fight back, something he’d gotten off on. He wasn’t done with her, but he couldn’t leave her unpunished, either.

Standing to his feet, the prince held the girl at arm’s length, letting her dangle in his hand, naked and used in front of his men. He had to do something, and soon, he knew that. He never let the gun go, however, his fist still bound around her hand like a vice. His hand grew tighter around her fingers, the strain of his grip felt in the gun. He was going to force her to break it herself… but then, his hold began to fade. The cold glare he was giving her only grew darker. Then, he ripped the gun from her hand completely.

The weapon fell to pieces at their feet, but Vegeta wasn’t done with her. A loud ‘smack!’ rang out across the starlit field. Both Nappa and Raditz watched closely, frozen in their stance, knowing damn well that had to smart. Vegeta had slapped her, hard. Hard enough that he had to let go of her neck as soon as the back of his hand made contact, or risk breaking it.

* * *

She’d freed her wrist, but at the expensive of a painful twist that left the wrist feeling sore. Not sprained, but definitely sore. The ki blast had hit part of her skin as well, but just barely skidding over it, giving her a little burn. She hadn’t aimed well enough, but it was hard, in the position she was in. She was lucky it wasn’t worse.

He got closer, enough that she could smell his breath. The odor of rotting flesh. She wrinkled her nose just knowing that he’d been kissing her all over her body just moments ago with that mouth, and tried to turn her head away. But his eyes locked on hers, and she found herself frozen. Beyond her hand, struggling with his to attempt to aim at him.

Her attempt didn’t work, however. His grip was strong, and before she could really struggle against it, he grabbed her throat and lifted her up. Her eyes went wide, with things getting far more intense than she thought they would. Was this it? Were they going to kill her? She wanted to head to Otherworld, but like this felt so brutal. And however ridiculous it was, in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder: If she died while naked, would she be naked as a ghost?

Her eyes shot from Vegeta, to the gun, to the other two Saiyans, and back again. That’s when his hand started tightening his grip. It was subtle at first, but then she felt the pain of so much pressure. Her hand was surely going to be crushed before the gun was, between the two hard objects. She winced and murmured in pain, her body tensing up and her legs shaking. If he crushed her hand like this, would it ever heal properly again? A completely shattered hand would–

…

The pain lightened as his grip loosened. She looked relieved, though her hand still throbbed from misuse. Bulma didn’t even mind when he ripped the gun from her hand and crushed it, though once her heart stopped beating so fast, she’d probably be angry. But just as it was slowing down, he slapped her. Hard enough to send her reeling, and toppling onto the grass. On her bad shoulder, no less.

“Ahh….” It took her a moment to push herself up onto her hands, as the pain washed over her in waves. It stung, worse than anything she’d ever felt before. She sniffled, and gently rubbed the side of her face- it was tender to the touch, and was already beginning to swell.

* * *

And that’s why they didn’t mess with the boss. It came as no surprised to Nappa and Raditz when the girl went crashing from their leaders hold. She’d deserved it, they thought in unison. Bulma was a slave, and she’d gotten exactly what was coming to her. Both of the men rounded the fallen girl in the wind swept grass. Now that their leader had rejected her for her disrespect, they were waiting around like vultures hoping for sloppy seconds.

The two men hadn’t seen the girl in action yet. It was the first time either of them had witnessed the strength that Vegeta found so appealing in her soul. He wasn’t the only one, apparently. Nappa was already licking his lips. It’d been a while since the old man had mated with a spirited female, not since his days on Planet Vegeta-sai, if he remembered right. Raditz, on the other hand, looked star struck by the whole display. Too young to remember females from his home, the display of vitality and strength from the girl was almost daunting, but a part of him wanted it. It was easy for him to give into the instinct to join in and circle the girl, too. She couldn’t fight them off if they went at it together, could she?

The prince didn’t look as pleased as his hungry men. Still staring motionless at the girl’s twisted body that lay at his feet. She was a slave; he’d treated her exactly as he should have. The fact that it left him feeling heated and undone was… unsettling. He may enjoy her cleverness and spirits, but at the end of the day she was nothing more than an object. Something for him to fuck into when he needed. So why did looking at her wounded in the grass agitate him? A guttural growl blew out of his lips, like steam. Jerking himself away from the sight of her, the prince turned his back on her, just as his two men towered closer.

She’d taken the hit very well, the prince deducted, with bravery. She hadn’t even begged for mercy when he’d threatened to render her hand useless. She hadn’t screamed, either, when he’d hit her. Instead, she tried to push herself to her feet. She was still strong, and that realization turned the prince’s gaze back over his shoulder. She’d done it again, in the silence of their unspoken war, she’d earned a bit more of his respect.

“We’ll finish her from here, Prince, if you’re done with her,” drooled Nappa.

“Yeah, I’m sure she couldn’t take on both of us,” sneered Raditz.

“As if either of you could handle her. Get your sorry asses back to camp,” murmured the prince under a thick growl. Both of his men looked wide eyed and displeased now that Vegeta’s attention was righted. They knew what was coming - their leader wasn’t finished with her yet. The prince’s hand reached down over the girls wounded head, winding his fingers into her thick blue hair, and dragged her upright to meet him face to face.

“If you wanted to play with toys so much, you should have just said,” his grip softened, but never let her fully go; finding reclaim to his hard smile now that his men were retreating into the shadows. “Now, are you going to finish your job, or am I going to give you to Nappa and Raditz. I’m sure they’d love to fulfill your punishments.”

* * *

She saw them get closer. Raditz and Nappa, staring at her with hungry eyes like before. She gulped, but didn’t say a word, hoping they’d leave her alone. She didn’t want to fight any more, anyway. Her cheek still stung, and her whole body, same as always, ached. Why did they have to keep doing this stuff to her? Couldn’t they just, for once, leave her alone? She sniffled, waiting for them to start grabbing her and demanding things of her. Hoping she didn’t get her arm torn out of its socket again.

She was just about to start crying as they talked to Vegeta about finishing her, but suddenly Vegeta interjected. Forced them to back off. It caught her by surprise, making her blink a few times. Had she heard that right? Maybe he just didn’t want any more fighting, either. But then he grabbed her by the hair, and roughly pulled her up.

She gasped and grabbed onto Vegeta’s wrist to try and get him to stop, or at least create some bit of barrier so her hair didn’t feel like it was being yanked from her scalp. She didn’t have it in her to glare too much at him in the moment, feeling more like a wounded dog than anything else, but the hatred still existed in her heart. Her attempts at killing him didn’t work this time, but one time she’d get him. She swore it.

“Gn…” She didn’t glare, but she gave him a pout as he spoke, avoiding looking at him. “Don’t talk to me like that. I’m not a baby,” she grumbled. “I don’t have anything to ‘finish,’ anyway! And you–” Eugh. “–You finished already. So just leave me alone.”

* * *

Once again, the prince wasn’t listening. Now that his men were gone, his attention was solely captured by the earthling in his grasp. Vegeta never knew when to stop. It was one thing the pair had in common. He was just as dead set on getting what he wanted as she was. But that’s why he put up with her, the prince just couldn’t back down from a challenge. Especially one so pretty and blue.

“I’ll tell you when I’m finished with you,” his free hand slid between her near thighs, pressing a well-aimed finger between the lips of her nakedness. The prince was feeling her up, doing a cavity search, as they so called it. And he was enjoying it. Leaning in to lick the fresh bruise on her cheek, it tasted of iron and salt, distinctly mixed with her individual scent. He could still take her again if he wanted, the prince held no doubts about that, but watching her squirm was becoming rather entertaining. Like a little mouse caught up by its ears.

“You are weak. Why should I care for the words of a slave,” he questioned but didn’t expect an answer. Her words were still meaningless. The words of a whore. Yet, the way his eyes shifted in contemplation meant he was reminiscing over the look she’d given him just before she’d pulled the trigger.

“You hesitated to kill me earlier, too.” He smoothed out, “That’s why you’re never going to win.” His cocky smile was back. Finally he dropped her, half expecting her to try and make a run for it again. If she did, he knew she’d only make it so far. What was she going to do, pull another gun out of thin air? The prince half hoped she would. Maybe then he could catch her in the act and figure out where she had gotten it. He’d already assumed it had something to do with that ‘poof’. It’d been the second time he’d heard it. The first time being when she’d cracked his jaw. The memory of it made his jaw clench. It still slightly popped whenever he tried to chew. The damn wench.

* * *

She sniffled again, holding back all but a little line of tears down her face. He shoved his fingers inside her, making her squirm and try to shove his hand away. Again? Eugh, just– Just leave her alone! She felt her hand burning with the need to slap him, but the sting on her face told her that maybe she should watch herself. But just for once, she wanted to be able to curl up and rest, without fear. Was that so much to ask, that she get some time to heal?

And again with that stupid word. Slave. Wishful thinking on his part. He could do whatever he wanted to her, and she’d never be his little slave. She pursed her lips tighter and stared out into the darkness, irritated by his words. Telling her that she’d never kill him… She would. Eventually. It might take her some time to succeed, like those old cartoons from back home where a cat would try over and over to catch a mouse but with plans that backfired in the process, but unlike those cartoons, she’d one day succeed. She just needed to succeed once. That’s all it took. He had to be on guard all the time.

When she was dropped, she rubbed her scalp. He couldn’t hold her high like Nappa could, she had that going for her, at least. She didn’t land hard, she only slightly stumbled. She hesitated for a moment before wiping away her streak of tears, and heading to pick up the clothes she’d left on the ground. She wasn’t in a hurry, but she didn’t care about ‘finishing’ anything, either. 

She pulled her top on again, and grabbed her pants a moment later. Her eyes scanned the dark grass as she pulled on her clothes, looking for that stupid capsule. Finally she found it, and picked it up, putting it back in her little pouch still tied to her top.

* * *

She was so determined to hold her ground, but the prince knew when he’d pushed her too far. It was the silvery lines of tears running down her cheeks that tipped him off. His malice never dropped, however. He watched her eyes gloss over in the moon light, as if he was fascinated that she possessed the ability. The prince was as stone cold as they came, but she’d earned his respect. When she’d moved from his feet, he didn’t stop her. He never moved, he let her go; more interested in watching where she’d go, what she’d do next, than try fucking her into submission again.

She was an anomaly. Were all of her race this persistent? Surely not, or they wouldn’t of been so easily defeated in battle. It had to just be her, but that just made her all the more of a curiosity. The prince hadn’t noticed he'd been staring. His nose followed her with the slow turn of his head, so lost in the turmoil of his own mind that he’d let her drag herself off to lick her wounds. And in that horribly irritating clothing she insisted on wearing.

It was like a predator watching a fish in a bowl. Not pawing or fishing. Just, watching. The object of his desire, fluttering around him like something he couldn’t figure out. Not that he’d allow her to realize it, not too freely at least. Instead, the man fixed what was left of his clothing back into place. His shirt was completely gone, blasted away by the blast of ki upon orgasm. His pants were ripped to shreds. All that was left in semi-good condition were his charred boots.

Then he did what any good alpha male did once his men were asleep. He rounded the campsite, tracing it’s boarder of tree-line and starlight, and eventually came to rest under a tree. A tree that wasn’t too far from the female he’d just forced himself on repeatedly. There he could sit, watch, and make sure she didn’t get any funny ideas - like escaping again. Vegeta didn’t have any intentions on sleeping tonight, which fit suited him just fine.

  



	7. Moonlight Bathing

  


Starting with her POV:

She straightened herself out and fixed her clothing, but the top now lacked the pin, leaving a bit of cleavage where the two pieces of the top had previously been connected, pushed apart. It didn’t reveal all that much, so Bulma didn’t bother to search for the bloody pin, wherever it had been tossed. Instead, she just stood. She did do a glance back at Vegeta to watch him get comfortable next to a tree, and then at the other two Saiyans, who’d fallen asleep close to the fire. Now that it’d gotten quiet, Nappa’s snorting could be heard from all the way over where they were.

She crossed her arms over her chest, wondering what even to do with herself. She didn’t feel like sleeping, half because she didn’t want to be woken to something horrible. But at the same time, she was exhausted. Everything hurt. She debated going back in the river to clean off Vegeta’s blood, but she didn’t want him peeping at her while she took her clothes off. But then it hit her. Her bladder. She needed to go to the bathroom.

Her nose wrinkled just at the idea of it. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure how she held it so long. Likely because she’d been eating so little, puking what she did eat, and stressing out so much that her intestines weren’t working correctly. Either way, she at least knew now she had to pee. It was embarrassing, but it’s not like she hadn’t gone in the forest before. It was just a matter of… Not being peeped at.

She eyed Vegeta for another moment, before she headed out into the forest. Maybe she’d get lucky and he’d let her go, but she doubted it. She had a feeling she was going to be followed all the way to wherever she decided to go, as embarrassing as it was. But she’d deal with that bridge when she got there. For now, all she knew was that she badly, badly had to pee.

* * *

His eyes never left her. No matter where she busied herself, no matter where she roamed along the forest's borderline, he always knew exactly where she was. The earthling might as well of had a homing beckon on her with how well the Saiyan was becoming attuned to her movements in the dark. Vegeta could smell her clear across the campsite. The pale moonlight allowed him to catch glimpses of the wisps of her hair as they blew across her face. He could even hear her footsteps over Nappa’s snoring, which as it were, sounded more like a dying cow.

She glanced in his direction, and he met her with the flick of eye shine. What the hell was she up to? He knew that look, her wheels were turning in her head, but this appeared different from before. The prince hadn’t moved from his position since he’d sat down. As still as a statue, one with its arms crossed comfortably over its bare chest. There was nothing more than the watchfulness of two glowing orbs against the shadow of trees to show his location. Then her movements differed than before, and he knew without a doubt this time - she was up to something.

The girl wasn’t really going to make a break for it again so soon, was she? Vegeta knew she was bold, but was she so fed up that she’d try to leave in plain sight? He’d expected her to be a little more tactful, like how she’d tried to sneak past him so many times before. No, this was different, she was up to something, and he was destined to follow her with exquisite curiosity. He stayed out of sight, however. The trees made more noise with their rustling than his movements did through the forest floor. His eye-shine - the only thing that could have given him away.

* * *

Stupid bladder. At least it acted up when they were asleep, though some part of her wished that she would have accidentally peed on one of them when they were having their way with her. That would have been entertaining. She snorted at the thought as she walked through the forest. At the very least, she didn’t even have to worry about wildlife anymore. The only real problem was the mud and thorns everywhere. There was nothing there to stare at her or run into her.

She finally figured that she’d walked far enough away from the campsite that it was alright. She hadn’t heard anyone following her, at least. She took a look around and didn’t see anything, either. Maybe a glimpse of a little bit of light, but maybe that was just an animal that had been spared for the time being, because of superior hiding skills. Otherwise, everything was silent.

She took her pants off and squatted, doing her business and grumbling about Vegeta’s blood that had dried against her thighs. Did that jerk really need to bleed so much? Goddamn it. She furrowed her brows at the thought of the asshole, thinking about just how much she wanted to kill him. Some day. To make up for all the aches and pains she was now going through. Especially the stinging side of her face. She touched it, and damn, did it hurt. It’d swollen badly, too.

When she finished, she glanced around. …Great. She had nothing to clean herself with, but thorns. Well. She might as well just sit around and wait for herself to dry, then. She didn’t want to soil her new pants already.

* * *

There was something rousing about following the girl through the forest. Did she even know how she played to his every whim? The Saiyan was stalking her, moving from one tree to the next, curving his spine around tree trunks and slinking past brush like an agile jungle cat. Nothing else in the world mattered; it was his nature kicking in. Eyes dilated, muscles flexing, breathing monitored. When it came to hunting, Vegeta was a professional.

As soon as she’d found what she must have thought to be a ‘decent’ resting area, his eyes rolled in rejection. This was hardly the place to be stopping. The whole forest smelt of something poisonous. Her earthling senses must not have been able to pick it up, he suspected. He continued to watch, all the way up until she squatted, and he realized why she’d picked such a remote area. She had to pee..

As a creature of no shame and even less modesty, the Saiyan was hardly fazed. Though, he did sit up from where he’d been crouching on a limb and fell deeper into the shadow of the tree, if just to give her a little privacy. Puffing his cheeks out that she’d do something as ridiculous as come this far just to relieve herself. She could have done that back at camp. It didn’t add up in his mind.

“You might want to get away from that patch of brush… It reeks of poison.” And there he was, making himself known. Sliding out from behind a tree trunk, his back never lifted from the bark. His arms were crossed into his favorite stance, just staring at her flatly.

His head tilted gingerly towards a different patch of shrubbery. “That one should work better.”

* * *

**_ “AHHHHHHH!” _ **

He’d damn near given her a heart attack, sneaking up on her like that. She’d partially fallen over, with her butt falling flat in the dirt. Great. She covered her lower half as her cheeks flared. How long had he been watching, anyway?! Did he watch the whole time?! She wasn’t even paying attention to what he was saying, at least not closely.

“Pervert! Peeping Tom! You’re disgusting! Horrible! Awful! Why’d you follow me, huh?! That’s disgusting!!” She yelled all kinds of obscenities at him out of embarrassment, and only after she was finished with the insults did she blow off some steam and actually pay attention to what he’d said. Something about what brush to use. For… Eugh.

She glanced at the bush that Vegeta nodded to, and hesitated before ripping off a chunk of leaves and cleaning herself. As soon as she could, she stood up and pulled her pants up, with her face redder than ever before. What kind of person watches another when the go to the bathroom?! What the hell was wrong with him?

“Don’t scare me like that next time! Better yet, don’t follow me into the woods when I just want to go to the bathroom! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Did she really need to ask that? He was fucked up in all kinds of ways, and him watching her go to the bathroom was the least of her worries.

* * *

That piercing scream shot right through his sensitive ear drums. The man’s face winced, closing one eye from how brutal her reaction had been. And… she was still yelling, and fussing, and turning a color that the Saiyan couldn’t help but find a little amusing. It never showed on his face, well much, other than a soft snort when he tried to stifle a grin. Some part of his fucked up head really did enjoy scaring the shit out of her.

His gaze turned elsewhere, anywhere but the girl. Refusing to give her the satisfaction of thinking she’d hurt him with all of her rude remarks. As if he’d listen in the first place. Though, he did find her rainbow of insults entertaining. Who else but this woman, this weak little earthling, would have the balls to yell at him like that? Not even his own men possessed the backbone. He had to give it to her, even if it was just due to him sneaking up on her while her pants were down, quite literally.

“What the hell do you think, woman? Did you honestly think I’d let you out of my sight?” He turned his attentions back on her, quirking a dulled expression. “Why the hell would you need to come this far out, just to relieve yourself?” He scoffed, then mumbled under his breath, “ _females..”_

Once she’d finished cleaning herself with something proper, something he knew wouldn’t give her a rash and make her completely unfuckable for a while, he made his approach. He didn’t mean for it to be too foreboding, but Vegeta had a way of moving through thick brush that just oozed ‘predator’.

“Now, if you’re quite finished, I’d like to get back to camp before sunrise,” he paused, getting a dirty idea, “unless you’d like to bathe too, while you’re at it.” His words slicked out.

* * *

“I wanted some privacy for once! I don’t want any of you perverts watching me while I do my business, alright? That’s not unreasonable. I wouldn’t want to see you pissing on the side of a tree, either. Though apparently you’re into those things.” She huffed and turned away from him, her arms crossed tightly. Though she supposed in some sense, she was lucky to have him there. She had a feeling that if he weren’t there, she’d probably have gotten lost on her way back. And it’s not like she had much of a choice but to go back.

But just as she was going to start walking toward where she thought the direction of the camp was, Vegeta was on the prowl again. She stared at him with a scowl, watching him creep closer like a predator. Eugh, he better not start rubbing up on her or something. She wouldn’t tolerate that. She’d shove his face into her waste if she had to.

But then he brought up… Bathing. She gave him a puzzled expression, her face contorting. What? What would he care, if she bathed or not? He did bring her out into that river, but still. She wasn’t next to a river now. And she got an unusual vibe from him that made her feel like there was probably more to what he was saying than he let off.

But a bath did sound nice. She was caked with sweat and Vegeta’s blood, after all. The wounds she had on her hand from the fight in the pod had been properly cleaned and dressed back before the village was pillaged, but the rags had since gotten messy and dirty.

“…What do you mean, by bathe? I don’t want you peeking at me while I get naked and hop around in a pond or something, if that’s what you mean. Haven’t you had enough being a pervert for one night?”

* * *

He could have sworn at some point she’d stopped tossing words and started throwing daggers out of her mouth instead. Boy, did she have a mouth on her when she wanted to. He was listening, however, if only to get a kick out of her turmoil. But then she said something that caught the prince off guard. It wiped the smug look right off of his face, dipping it into gentle surprise. It sounded like she’d actually considered his offer to bathe.

“I meant exactly what I said, woman. Bathe.” His silent footsteps crept closer, side winding his way towards her with his gaze forever fixed on her flushed face. Did she see any pond nearby? Had they passed some body of water he hadn’t known about? Highly unlikely. It appeared what the prince considered ‘bathing’ and what the female considered ‘a dip in the pond’ where two completely different things.

He wouldn’t let her go far, if she tried running again. His fingers lunged for her own, twining them forcefully between the gaps. Bringing her close enough to wrap his other arm around her waist securely, he held her in place against his bare and bloody chest. Once he had her where he wanted her, all that was left, was a bath.

The narrow tip of his nose roamed over the top of her head. Sniffing her like an animal, ruffling into the strands of blue, picking up the scent of forest, blood, and sweat. His features roamed further down, brushing cheek to cheek, following down to the crook of her neck, until his mouth slid along her shoulder. That’s when his tongue started lapping at her neck, clearly cleaning away the droplets of his own blood and the marks of dirt left from rolling around on the ground. If she wanted a bath, he’d so give it to her, and he was being unusually gentle about it.

* * *

He still had a strange look to him. When he stepped closer, she naturally stepped back. But then he lunged. She flinched and recoiled, only to find no pain. He’d only intertwined their fingers and pulled her close. Again, acting romantic. But she knew this would lead nowhere good.

And she was correct. He started sniffing her. While she didn’t think it was too sexual, it was certainly disturbing to say the least. She wrinkled her nose and squeezed her eyes shut when he sniffed her face, and, awfully enough, began… Licking her. Like a cat.

“EUGH! Stop, stop! I didn’t ask for this! I don’t want your slobber all over me, it’s disgusting! Your mouth is full of germs, you know! I want a bath, not to cake myself in more germs and grime!” She pressed her hand to his face to shove him away, all while trying to free her other hand from his grip.

“This isn’t the kind of bath I want!”

* * *

Why the hell was she fighting him this time? He hadn’t even slipped his hand up her shirt… yet. The prince had gone as far as to give her a damned bath and god damn it if she could refuse him once he’d started. He was ignoring her, on purpose. Instead of giving way at her shoving, he pressed into her palm, shoving right back at her like a head-butt, and continued with what he considered ‘cleaning’.

He’d gone so far as to plant both of them in the dirt, rebelliously dragging the woman down into his lap, completely focused on lapping up the dust from her undamaged cheek. Then, and only then, was he beginning to grow frustrated with her struggling. His brow twitched, his lip snarled. Though, her pushing on his face must have felt like pushing against a steal wall with features. Well he was hardheaded, there was no denying that.

“What the hell kind of bath do you want then, woman?!” His voice raged, snapping his maw right at her lips. Staring, snarling, and waiting for an answer. What the hell did she want from him? Just when he was giving her leniency, too. He couldn’t figure what was going on in that alien head of hers.

* * *

No matter how much she tried to shove him off, he just pressed further and kept licking. She shivered, but not in a positive way. It was gross! She could feel the saliva sticking to her skin. And once he finished with her face, who knows where he’d lick. She didn’t want to deal with that!

“I said let me go! Stop it!” She yelped when he dropped them down onto their butts and pulled her onto his lap. Geeze, only a matter of time before he forced her to take her top off, she was sure of that much. Any moment now–

Actually, he backed off. And complained at her. She raised a brow as she reached up to wipe all the saliva off herself, blinking. This really was his idea of a proper bath? Were Saiyans really this weird? Huh, maybe that’s why she had to bathe Goku that one time.

“I want a real bath! In a tub! With plumbing! And where I have access to stuff for a bubble bath, and with shampoo and soap! And a comb! I don’t want to be licked up by some creep! Hurry up and let go of me!”

* * *

He listened, and thought about her answer, and came to the conclusion that she was a complete lunatic. It felt like every time the earthling had the pluck to open her mouth, her demands grew more outlandish. Soaps and oils were luxuries, luxuries were for warriors, and their slaves when they felt like feeling up something soft and perfumed. She still hadn’t learned her place, and Vegeta knew it. She was lucky she was getting anything at all, as far as he was concerned.

“Not happening.” He finally retaliated, swifting his face away from her and dipping right back down into what he’d been doing. His tongue found her collar bone, and before she could stop him, the man was tracing along its line. Cradling her in one arm, he tried maneuvering her in his lap with his other hand - where he could groom down into the cleavage peeking from her top where the pin had gone missing, until his nose couldn’t plunge any further without removing the itchy fabric.

“Unlike you, I can’t materialize things out of thin air.” He mocked from between her breasts. “Such luxuries are not for whores.” He said dryly; fingering any remaining pins and buttons and flinging them away into the distant jungle. He wasn’t about to let her pin him a second time tonight. He was moving slow this time. Hardly harsh or forceful like before. The way his tongue lapped across her flesh was smooth and warm, full of purpose. His domineering aura tuned into the task at hand. This was different, this wasn’t just sexual (though the very way he held her claimed that she was his own), this was bath time, and the earthling had taken his offer. He wasn’t about to back down.

The only thing that seemed to distract him was that damn top, so naturally that’s what he went after. The prince’s pearly teeth snapped in warning at its hem. It smelt of reeds and wool, mud and sweat. A thick barrier hiding the supple flesh of her body just beneath, as if it were merely in place in order to taunt him. But as soon as he pushed the damn thing off of her, her skin was exposed to him, and a wave of victory washed over him. With her smooth moon kissed belly exposed before him, the prince rolled her body back onto the jungle floor; capturing her waist between his hands and mouth.

* * *

She refused to look at him, and had pushed her body to the side in his lap. It grossed her out so much every time he pressed his tongue against her skin again, but it didn’t stop. He kept going, licking her again and again, until he began licking her cleavage. The blush that had faded returned, and she crossed her arms over her chest to at least make it more difficult for him. And she wasn’t about to take that top off.

She huffed when he turned her to force her to stare at him, but still felt the sting on the side of her face from the slap last time. Maybe she shouldn’t be fighting back, no matter how disgusting this all was. And that threatening bite at the shirt, like he planned on ripping it off her if she weren’t careful… She huffed when he pulled it off, but let it happen nonetheless.

“I can’t believe this is your idea of washing. Can’t you at least just drop me in the water somewhere? I don’t want to get licked like this.” But there he was, he led her down on the ground. She’d be lying if it didn’t feel good at all for him to kiss her belly, but she refused to dwell on it, other than thinking about how she missed Yamcha’s kisses.

“…I hate you.”

* * *

He wasn’t listening. The further he licked down the soft dip of her belly, down the line of her abdomen, the less he cared for what she had to say. It was always the same by now. She wanted him to leave her alone, to stop touching her, or in the more serious circumstances - allow her to run away or try to kill him. The prince was doing a fine job of tuning her out, enjoying tracing the small circle of her navel, when her mumbled words pierced his ears.

She hated him. It wasn’t the first time she’d said it, but that did little to tame the buzz of irritation between his ears. His fingers trailed down the curves of her hips, focusing back on his cleaning of dried blood and debris (he’d even tasted himself once he’d licked so far down), mumbling a half-hearted “I don’t care,” against the ebbing barrier of her pants.

He truly didn’t care. The prince attained the ability to turn his stone cold heart onto a situation, just as easily as he could turn his head and look away. He couldn’t deny though, that some part of him wasn’t just getting himself off over this. His mouth found its way back up her chest, only to trace down her left arm instead. Even if grooming her was his way of doing what he pleased, some tiny, nagging, gnawing sensation at the far edge of his soul was doing it for her. It was an amends for the bruise on her cheek.

That bruise on her cheek, now swollen and unattractive… she’d earned it. The prince halted his assault once he made way to her raw hand. He’d been licking between her fingers and cleaning the healing wound, only to lift his gaze to meet her own. Narrowed and contemplative, he stared, but not without touching her inflamed jaw. A busted cheek in exchange for keeping her traitorous hand - he’d let her off easy. In fact, a little bit too easily. His all-but-forgotten agitation towards the female came knocking back into his head, the sight of her cheek reminding him of just how thoroughly she tried to humiliate him in front of his men.

His mouth broke away from her flesh, but not due to any of her weak demands or feeble attempts at fighting. No, he was doing this himself. The prince stood, bared his gaze down at the woman. Then, he scooped her up by the bend of her waist, carrying her over his shoulder as carelessly as a duffle-bag. Well, if she so wanted this ‘bath’ her way. He’d give it to her.

* * *

She scowled when he mumbled that he didn’t care as he got closer to her pants, knowing it was only a matter of time before he jerked them off and started licking more sensitive areas. But instead he began licking upward again, along her chest, to her arm. All the way down her hand, and along her wounds. Gn… She huffed again just knowing he was trying to lick her wounds. Like she needed his dirty mouth in her cuts.

She didn’t look at him, even when he turned his gaze up to her. She was just hoping he’d get bored and quit, rather than keep licking her. It was gross, and it was embarrassing. She blew a gust of air out her nose, but then, all at once, he picked her up. She was thankfully quick enough to grab her shirt before he pulled her all the way up.

“Oof–!” She struggled to pull her top on again, far too embarrassed to just go without. He might whine, but there was no way she’d be held by him while her breasts bounced next to his head every time he took a step. That was something she had allowed of her boyfriend when alone in their room, but not of some beastly alien who didn’t care about her.

“Does that mean you’ve finally had your fill of this stupid bath thing? I’m all covered in saliva now. It’s horrible.”

* * *

They walked for quite some time, the bounce of the girl’s body over his shoulder a constant reminder of things he’d do to her later… after he’d squared away this little squabble between them. Her grabbing that damned shirt didn’t slip by his peripheral vision, either. The prince witnessed it, and it earned the girl a little smack on her ass when she tried struggling back into it. The little quake of her backside against his cheek quirking his mouth into a sour smile.

The jungle was eerily silent. The lack of life proved just how dead the planet was, now that the Siayan had slaughtered its inhabitants. His footsteps never made a sound, though. Not even a twig snapped, even under the added weight of her legs draped down his chest. Not that her weight meant anything to him. How gentle the girl’s form fell over his shoulder reminded him of how delicate she really was, even if she had the nerve to kill. Then his thoughts stopped, sniffing the damp air. It was the scent of water filling his nose. The tip of his tail began to twitch, knowing exactly what he was going to do with the rebellious wench who wouldn’t take her bathing.

“If you’re so damned about being bathed, then do it yourself.” His grip tightened, the soles of his boots lifting from the ground,taking them high into the air; over a clearing, where a silvery pool laid still under the glow of the planets two moons. The pool’s center was a deep navy, proving its depth. The prince had flown them right over it. Without warning, he bounced his shoulder, allowing her to slip from his person and fall through the cool nightly air.

* * *

She yelped when her ass was smacked, with her cheeks turning red yet again. Geeze, was she sick of this! Sick of it like he must have been stick of walking everywhere, considering all of a sudden he launched into the air. If she hadn’t been so used to Yamcha flying around with her, she might have been scared. But she didn’t really have any fear. It’s not like Yamcha ever dropped her. Vegeta was somewhat different, but it’s not like he’d do that, either–

Just as she thought it, he dropped her. Right over a clearing of a giant pond. She hadn’t even been paying attention, so it’d given her a near-heart attack to feel him suddenly let go and let her fall. She at least managed to hold her breath right before she plunged in, creating a large splash as she hit the water.

He even dropped her from so far up that she fell for some time in the water. She sunk deep, deep enough that she could barely see the surface. There didn’t seem to be any animals in the body of water, at least, so she could at least focus on swimming up.

But it’s not like she was a good swimmer, or had good lungs, despite all the yelling she regularly did. The more she tried to struggle to the surface, the further away it seemed to look like it was. That asshole had dropped her from so high up that it seemed impossible to reach the top, even when her arms started aching and her lungs begged for air.

* * *

He waited, and waited, and waited - with the smuggest look of his damnable life smeared across his face. Served the whore right. The prince had taken his personal time to clean up his little slave, and she’d demanded he do otherwise. So, that’s exactly what he did. It wasn’t every day that a whore could say they’d had their wounds licked clean. Payback felt good, until he started noticing the moments waning by.

She wasn’t coming up. Just how long could earthlings hold their breath? The woman did have a pair of strong lungs on her …but. A twinge of unease winced between his shoulders, while tapping his finger on his bicep impatiently. She came from a watery planet, surely she could swim. However, the evidence was against him. The girl’s face never appeared. Instead, only the churning of bubbles seemed to reach the surface.

He had to make a decision…

“Damn it all!” This was not supposed to be how it ended! The prince dove into the water like a silver bullet, piercing the glass surface without as much as a splash. Zipping right in, his ki illuminated the otherwise dismal depths of the blue tomb. And then there she was, sinking towards the bottom like a little blue ghost being gobbled up by the dark. He didn’t hesitate; he caught her into his arms. Against the push of the pools heavy depths, he drove back towards the rippling light above. The surface burst alive once his shoulders breached. Holding the woman’s body across the bridge of his arms, the waters tied pulled and flowed against his waist, tugging at the girl’s legs.

* * *

She was drowning. Her mouth gasped for air and made the situation worse when her lungs filled with water, and in moments, she was nearly passed out and just slowly sinking to the bottom. She was lucky Vegeta was there to grab her and pick her up and bring her to the surface in a mere couple of seconds. She didn’t move at first when in his arms. It took a few beats, and then she began coughing.

She coughed up the water that she’d inhaled, and wheezed in the crisp air. She’d even been so forceful with the coughs that she toppled from his arms back into the water, but this time she was only under for a second before her head broke the surface and she paddled in place. Her eyes glaring daggers at Vegeta.

“Gn… Kk– What the hell… Is WRONG with you?!” She spat her words, as if she hadn’t had enough reason to be angry recently. Seriously?! “You couldn’t lower down and set me in?! You had to–” More coughing. Geeze, so much water in her lungs. “–You had to drop me from that high up?! You’re lucky I didn’t drown, or I would have come back from the grave just to haunt you! You’re so cruel!!”

She pressed her lips together and glared at him for a second longer, before glancing down. Well. She had wanted a bath. After some deliberation, she struggled with her pants while she kept herself above the surface of the water, and chucked the heavy fabric at Vegeta’s face. She did the same with her top, leaving her naked, but with water to cover her shame.

“Go wait somewhere else while I bathe, got it?! I’ve had enough of all three of you Saiyans! Especially you! As if you hadn’t done enough to me already! I don’t want you to be more of a peeping Tom! Just leave me alone for a few minutes!”

* * *

It was like watching angry feline spit and hiss about being dropped in the tub. At least she was aware of her surroundings, enough so that she could float on her own. The sudden shock of her reawakening to consciousness fizzled out any stress that may have been building in the back of his brain. He wasn’t about to bring her back to life (not that he planned on at least) by means of CPR or otherwise, but he was betting on her strength of will and survival instincts to pull her back up to the living.

She was alive, and back to her old self in no time. The prince was actually pleased to hear those remarks of hers, for once. Wading in his place, his feet kicked at the tide below, just as a pair of wet trousers came flying towards his face. He caught them with little effort and even less enthusiasm. His brow flat-lined, tossing the water-logged pants over his shoulder, followed by her shirt.

“I can do damn well whatever I please.” The look on his face only narrowed, smacking the water’s surface and sending a mighty splash over her head. “If I want to watch my slave bathe, then I sure as hell will.” He glared right back at her, but not without stealing a few glances towards her submerged body, especially now that it was lacking clothes.

“Watch whom you are trying to demand orders from, woman. I could just as easily push you back under.” His body moved forward, the water rippling at his naked waist line the closer he drew, his fingertips tracing the moonlit surface. He was meeting her challenge, head to head. But after a moments silence, he moved on, leaving her for the silence of the pools edge.

It was a true enough threat, but there was a look about him that hinted it wasn’t his first choice of options. He’d rather watch her bathe; it was the least he could get out of this night since she nearly shot his dick off and then claimed his bath licking wasn’t good enough. The female was just one insult after the next… but that look on her face when she puffed up at him, it possessed the ability to put him in his place for once in his life. She’d won her right to bathe, and for the first time since he’d met the woman, he did as she requested.

* * *

“I’m not your slave!” She yelled it nearly as soon as he called her one yet again, and when she saw him sneaking glances at her, she lowered her body just enough that her nose was just above the surface to allow her to breathe, but everything else relatively hidden by the water. Even as he came closer, she just glared at him.

She’d like to see him try to push her under again. Like he would. What a jerk, maybe she’d even prefer it that way. She kept wishing death on herself, anyway. If he finally decided to drown her, then even if it’d be a cruel death she’d regret wishing upon herself in the moment, she’d get to go to Otherworld.

He crept closer yet, and she figured that he’d try to grab her and teach her a lesson. Especially with how he’d been talking, even if she kind of wished he’d act upon it. But… He didn’t. He just up and left, and went to the edge of the pond, instead. She watched him even when he reached the grass, refusing to make much of a show for him while she bathed. Even if swimming in a pond wasn’t much of a bath.

She glared at him for a moment longer before holding her breath and dipping underneath the surface again. She balled up under the water and began scrubbing the mud and blood off her body, with it dissipating into the water in light clouds. Every time she felt the need to breathe again, she reached the surface to breathe in again, and dipped back under for some more cleaning.

She felt nowhere near as clean as she liked to by the end, given it was pond water and not proper bath water, but when she finally finished, she reached the surface again and made eye contact with Vegeta, all the way on the water’s edge.

“HEY! I want my clothes back! I’m not coming out naked!” They were soaking wet, anyway.

* * *

It was hardly a show by any means. The earthlings little figure was too far away, too blotted out by the darkness of the pond to see anything properly. Never the less, the bastard never kept his eyes from her. He’d made way past shallow rim of the pool and onto the gravely shore, planting himself on its smooth stones. Casually, he rested his cheek to fist and elbow to knee. It was hardly the show he wanted, but knowing how much it disturbed the little female for him to watch made it worthwhile.

“Now you want me to come back? Absolutely not.” It seemed her tossing her clothing to him in her moment of frustration hadn’t served her well… but it played to his hand nicely. The prince stood to his feet, grabbing the pile of wet clothing that he’d left beside him when he’d sat down. Lifting her dripping clothing out to the side, he tilted his head at her. Taunting her.

“If you want them, you have to come get them yourself.” And he wasn’t going to let her try and let her wiggle her way out of this one. The beast lifted his free hand, flickering a small ball of light to life in his palm. It was ki, and he was holding it right below her precious fabric. All he’d have to do is move his hand a little closer, and the clothing would go up in flame, soaked or not. It was terrible, horrible, and some part of the twisted saiyan was enjoying it. Not just due to his admiration of causing mayhem, but more so seeing that little earthling bursting into action. He’d hoped she’d take the bait.

* * *

“Come on!! Is it that hard?!” She swam slightly closer, hoping he’d eventually just toss it at her. She did see him holding the clothes out to taunt her; she figured that it wouldn’t be all that hard for him to just toss it once she got close enough. But that didn’t seem to be his plan. Instead, he moved closer, and held his other hand out, and suddenly, a ki blast–

She’d never swam so quickly in her life. No! No, no, no! She wasn’t going to be running around naked everywhere again! She didn’t even care that she was naked this time. Just that she was clothed all the rest of the time that she could be! Did he really have to tease her like this?! This was awful!

She climbed up the smooth rocks and stumbled onto her feet, grabbing the clothes Vegeta held as quick as possible. She held the fabric to her body to cover herself, with her face turning red yet again.

“Why do you always have to be like this?! Goku was a Saiyan, and he wasn’t awful like any of you! You’re all so mean, and horrible!” She spit in his direction, before wrinkling her nose. “Gn… At least turn around while I put my clothes on! Can’t you at least do that much?!”

* * *

Her insults were hardly grazing his thick skin. The prince had been called worse, much worse. Comparing him to some low life third class saiyan that’d grown up on a weak planet was hardly what he called insulting. More notably was the color in her cheeks again. The prince was beginning to put more stock to it.

But then she’d asked him to turn around, and every fiber of his being cried out to defy her. The man’s chest barreled, inhaling the night time air. “Tch..” his tongue clicked behind his visible canine. After a defiant tilt of his head, looking down his nose at her, the prince turned his head over shoulder and left her where she stood. Alone among the darkness of trees.

He was heading back to camp, with or without her. If she was smart, she’d follow, but the prince wasn’t about to wait on her every whim. Not that he wasn’t paying close attention to every breath she made, every twig she snapped, or every rustle of her clothing. Darkness shadowed his scarred skin, and his muscular build blended in silently against the tree line; the fluidity of his silent footsteps like perfect camouflage. His back may have turned on her, but he never lost her, allowing her to catch a glimpse of him if she’d fallen too far behind. He was aware of the female every step of the way.

The forest air was fresh in his lungs, and the peek of sunrise grazed above the tree line, hiding its rays of pink and grey just above the canopy. So much for sleep. Not that the Saiyan had any plans of sleeping on this damned rock any time soon. Though, he had to admit, the night had turned out much more interesting then he’d of imagined. It wasn’t a night of sitting on the camps edge, keeping an eye and ear alert for movement or threat. No, it’d been much more interesting. All because of that damn woman, and her need for privacy.

* * *

For a moment, she was sure he’d refuse to even turn around, and force her to let him watch. But he finally turned. And walked. And didn’t stop walking. Her eyes went wide and she started pulling her clothes on as quickly as she possibly could, all while walking after him.

“I said to turn around, not to leave me!!” She pulled her pants on all the way and followed him, running after his figure. She had thought she’d lost him for a few moments, but every time she did, she caught a small glimpse of him again. She was thankful, if only because she’d hate to be left in a poisonous forest for so long.

She followed him all the way to the campsite, and at the sight of it, she nearly ran to Vegeta to hug him. If she weren’t in her right mind. She was relieved to see the flicker of fire after being so scared of being left behind. The sun was rising, and she could see the other Saiyans stirring, but Bulma herself was exhausted. Her body had reached its limit after so much stress. 

She sat down on the grass and dropped onto her back, even knowing full well that they’d probably be getting off the planet soon. But she didn’t want to move anymore; she was so tired. She closed her eyes and found herself nodding off pretty quickly, even covered in her sopping wet clothes. She hadn’t realized how exhausted she was until just then, it seemed.

* * *

Raditz and Nappa were already breaking camp by the time Vegeta, and the little appeared out of the thick of woods. Both of the men turned to stare, but didn’t dare let so much as a word snap from their precarious mouths. What their prince and the slave had been doing alone in the woods, they could only guess. Probably fucking the rest of the night through, they both assumed, shrugging it off. Their leader had said he wasn’t finished with her. That was enough of a reason for them, even if the way the girl fell into the grass was a little suspicious. Both went on to packing up camp.

“Time to move out.” White, dust bitten boots fell just before the girl’s resting head. The gold toe tapped the girl’s cheek once, trying to get her attention, checking for consciousness. Out like a light. The prince’s eyes shifted towards his men. Raditz was busy gathering a few strips of meat for the journey, and Nappa was relieving himself out in the open, right onto the decapitated rams head, and having a good laugh about it. One final fair-the-well to poor planet, demeaning its dead hero, the best way the old warrior knew how, before it was time to call it a job well done.

Vegeta rolled his eyes and made the decision to carry the female himself. At least this time she wouldn’t be making a fool of him. Although the memory of her calling him master did filter through his mind. He wasn’t about to let his men break her before he was finished exploring the girl, and either of them taking her to their pod would have ended her existence, he knew that. So, he heaved the girl over his shoulder, and the three men made way back towards the red sands of the skirting desert. It’s once strong winds dead, still, silent, now that the planet was all but a corpse.

The pod doors on the three spheres hissed shut, and the planets devastators dismissed into the dredge of space once again. The girl held securely in the prince’s lap, while he pressed in the co-ordinance for a new destination. This time to a new planet, somewhere they could sell the rights to the freshly defeated world and maybe get some grub, if not some rest while they were at it.

  



	8. Frat Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life with Saiyans isn't an easy one, Bulma's going to have to think quick on her feet to survive this world. Again, a little warning: It's a little harsh in the beginning, but I think you'll enjoy the following scenes, I certainly enjoyed writing them. This chapter was heavily inspired by the song [Lone Digger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbQgXeY_zi4) by Caravan Palace. I suggest watching it for some visuals for this chapter, or wait til later to avoid mild spoilers. Thank you everyone again for waiting so patiently! I'll try to have the next one up sooner. Thank my writing partner for staying on me about it, she's over seeing the chapters now so it shouldn't be too long. Enjoy!
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

She slept the whole ride through without waking up for even a moment. She’d gone so far as to have been snoring rather loudly, even. That’s how passed out she was. She didn’t even dream, with her body simply working on repairing itself. She did, however, wake up at the next crash-landing. It was too violent to not wake up- and it was terrifying to be woken to. Shaking, with Vegeta holding her tight just as the pod slammed into the ground. She’d get a bad case of whip-lash one of these days.

She blinked as the hypothetical dust settled, and rubbed her eyes. For once, outside, they weren’t in a large crater. It looked like some kind of technology that was compatible with pods- the pod had landed harshly in some kind of hole, and spun the pod around to an opening. The pod’s door opened, and she didn’t wait around for Vegeta to yank or shove her out this time. She went out herself, taking a look around. Certainly a more advanced planet they’d been to than before. Lights and signs everywhere, similar to the cities on Earth.

“Huh…” She rubbed the tiredness from her eyes, and glanced back at Vegeta. Were they just here to sell the planet, or were they going to destroy this one, too? She was tired of moving around so often, didn’t the Saiyans ever settle down for a little while?

* * *

His POV

It was nice to have a pod ride that wasn’t doomed to drugs, sex, and extensive attempts on his life, for once. The girl was exhausted, her body was obviously trying to repair itself. The prince could see that whenever he turned his gaze down onto where she was so soundly resting on his chest; something he knew she’d never do unless at her ropes end. Though at one point Vegeta had considered waking her, if just to see her in a spat about it. He did love seeing her angry at him. But the prince resisted, finding peace by soaking up her body heat ...and snoring. She snored to the point that he'd pushed his finger in her mouth once, just to try and get her to quiet down a bit. It was startling how she could try his patience, even while asleep.

The rumble of his pod tumbling over metal was no surprise to him. The planet they landed on was ready for them. The two other pods, manned by his soldiers, followed right behind. Stretching their muscles from the cramped hold of their ships, Nappa scratched his backside once they’d made footfall.

Vegeta caught the glance the girl shot back at him the moment she hopped from his lap. He knew the question in her eyes but didn’t give her an answer.

Instead, Raditz asked the question for her, piping up with, ”Where to first boss?” Just as the prince was collecting his things, his things being Bulma.

“The planet can wait. I’m sick of looking at your shitty faces ...rest first.” That was the prince’s answer. Passing his men, he grabbed the girl by the arm and headed into the spoils of the city. Everything was trying to sell them the latest drone on the market or piece of technological delight from the moment they stepped out into its welcoming streets. The world was alive, crisp, white, and blinking with beautiful color, but the prince didn’t stop to give it a second glance. Not until a massive building rose over their heads. Its towering black walls of windows were much different from the chrome world around them. It was a hotel, and Vegeta wasted no time in finding the front desk that was manned by a pretty android of pink and silver, aiming to check them in.

* * *

Her POV

She couldn’t believe what she saw. She was so enthralled that she didn’t even care when Vegeta grabbed her by the arm and started forcing her along. She was too focused on the beauty that was the city. Pieces of technology she’d never seen before were everywhere. Things similar to the scouters the Saiyans all had, repairing prosthetics, things she had dreamed of, and some she hadn’t even thought up to dream. She had trouble keeping up with Vegeta, when she was so focused on what she saw.

Eventually Vegeta dragged her into what she instantly knew was a hotel. A large one, at that. She could recognize the front desk, and the people lounging around eating the food that was being served. She had begun to think that the universe outside of Earth was so uncivilized, but yet this was like Earth itself.

“Ah…” Her eyes widened just staring at the clerk. She was an android, colored in metallic pinks and silvers. Bulma’s fingers twitched at the urge to know how the android was put together. Her father had no interest in AI, but it was just so enthralling. It was just… Amazing. How could she not at least wish to know how it works?

* * *

His POV

The growing interest the earthling showed in the world that surrounded them didn’t go unnoticed by the prince. He side eyed her once or twice, but never allowed the woman to stare at one object too long before giving her a little grunt, followed by a meaningful tug to her arm, moving them into the next district of shops and delights. Some shops smelt more like perfumes then foods. Their bellowing scents visible to the naked eye, like puffs of rainbow.

“Room 283, and would you like us to take your slave down to the servant quarters?” Chimed the droid behind the counter. The planet may have been advanced, but it knew no restraints on slavery. It seemed the universe was saturated in it. In fact, in the distance of the lobby, a very fat green piggish looking alien was being fed by a another scrawny, malnourished alien wearing nothing more than the chain that dangled from its neck. The poor thing was bruised, beaten, while its owner dripped with jewels and fine silks.

The android didn’t gather a response other than ‘..hnnff..’ from the prince, turning his lip up at the desk clerk. That was enough of an answer from him, and the android quickly gave over the key. Hoping he and his entourage would leave without making a scene. Saiyans, they didn’t hold very good reputations in the androids mechanical memory banks.

Room 283, it was …efficient. After a zip of an elevator ride (where Nappa had taken the liberty to pinch the females ass in the small glass quarters), the prince lead them to their room. As quiet and fast paced as ever, he didn’t have a need to hold his slave now. That’s what Nappa and Raditz were for. The girl was sandwiched in between the two hulking men, whom where eyeing her with growing interest. The metal door whisked open and the room revealed itself. Three efficient beds with one well-placed desk placed just in front a massive glass window that over looked the futuristic city. Adjacent to it sat a bathroom, which was less then inviting and highly automatic. Naturally the lack of a forth bed meant one of two things; the female would be sleeping on the floor, or under one of the Saiyans tonight.

“This place better have a decent sized meal. I’m starved.” Grumbled Nappa as he made way towards one of the crisp beds.

“You should have eaten along the way, you dolt.” Ground out Raditz, who was already dismembering his armor, letting it hit the floor.

* * *

Her POV

At the mention of ‘slave,’ Bulma was tugged back into the world she was forced into. She was a ‘slave’ now, at least that’s what they claimed she was. No matter how side-tracked she got by the technology of this glittery new planet, it was still just a prison. Maybe a planet like this would make for an easier escape, though. She couldn’t help but wonder it. She could find her way away from Vegeta and the others and get lost and get hired by someone. She certainly had the kind of skills needed for this kind of scene.

She was tugged to the elevator, and she spent the time staring out the glass, only coming to her senses when Nappa pinched her ass. She flinched and looked up at him with a glare. Her expression quickly became a bit nervous when she realized how much both he and Raditz were looking her over. They weren’t gentle like Vegeta was. She hated them all, but if it was anything like the last time with them…

She looked forward again and hurried out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened. Her heart fluttered. The room wasn’t huge, but it felt like home. It felt like something she’d find on Earth. She was so caught up in it that she didn’t even notice the importance of there only being three beds. Instead, she walked to the large window and splayed her hands against it. Her face leaned close enough for her breath to fog the glass, and her eyes glued themselves to the scenery below.

Cars, motorcycles, buses, people going about their day… It really felt like Earth. It wasn’t as foreign as the other planets had been. She felt a pang in her heart just staring at it and knowing no matter how similar it looked, it wasn’t Earth at all. But she could at least try to find solace in some kind of familiarity in this strange new world she’d found herself in. Even if she expected it to be quickly ruined by the actions of the men around her.

She turned her head only to glance at Raditz and Nappa as they spoke about food, only perking up because of a loud rumbling in her stomach that was her body’s natural reaction to the word ‘food.’ She’d forgotten how hungry she was.

* * *

His POV

It wasn’t just Bulma’s stomach making a fuss about food. When one stomach rumbled, all of their stomached rumbled. There was nothing quite like the sound of three grown ass Saiyans bellies demanding being heard. Including Vegeta’s, which he admitted with an unpleased gruff from his lips. He hadn’t said much since they’d landed. A commander, a leader, he didn’t speak to lesser beings unless he was giving an order or getting something he wanted. That included the way he treated his men.

“Supplies first, then you can feed your whining belly,” hissed the prince, who’d been caught up with watching the female press herself to the perfectly clear window. Silver ships zoomed above, traffic beeped and bolted below. It was so earth like, yet the prince hadn’t the slightest clue. All he knew was that the female had appeared entranced since they’d arrived. It was driving him into gentle curiousness.

“Try not to escape this time, little slave.” The words purred out behind her. Vegeta had snuck up on the female while she’d been enamored by the streets below. The prince had no intentions of taking the female out while he and his men refreshed and hunted for supplies. Not this time, not with her track record, and especially not with how busy the city could be. The last thing he wanted was to go chasing a slave down the main boardwalk. He knew she’d be biding her chances for an exit - it wasn’t happening on his watch.

“Once this door shuts, no one gets in, or out. Not without turning into a lightning rod.” The horrible smile on his face was meant to be a threat. The prince backed away out of the only entrance, and pressed in the security code. The system was set to electrify anything that tried to leave the barrier of the room without proper clearance. He left without a word. Nappa stammered behind his comrades; he’d taken the opportunity to feel up the female’s backside from behind the moment Vegeta made way for the door. The pristine silvers and whites of the world went well with her delicate look, and it was making the big lug horny. Luckily for Bulma, however, the Saiyan’s stomach over powered his dick, and Nappa followed Vegeta and Raditz out into the hallway.

* * *

Her POV

She’d nearly jumped when Vegeta snuck up on her and whispered to her that she’d better not leave. She glared at him without saying a word, though she wasn’t sure whether to be happy she was going to be left alone, or upset that she wouldn’t be getting some food with the rest of them. Though that happiness was up in the air when Nappa began feeling her up as Vegeta walked toward the door.

She stiffened, and debated trying to make a run for the bathroom. Or maybe get outside just before the door closed and hope that he burnt to a crisp instead of her. But she didn’t have to worry about it, because after some deliberation, he left her alone to leave with his comrades. An audible sigh of relief left her lips as she watched him walk out the door, and watched the door shut tight.

She wasn’t going to dare getting it open. With how they seemed to treated slaves here, she wouldn’t be surprised if that lightning thing was true.

Instead, with Bulma’s newly-given time, she took a look around the little hotel room. She’d slept off any kind of tiredness she had in the pod, so instead, she decided to inspect everything. She went to the desk and rummaged around, finding some tools likely for people who owned android slaves. She raised her brows and looked it over, before her eyes moved over to lock onto the armor Raditz had left.

She grabbed Raditz’s scouter and sat down on the desk, getting busy with at least one thing that had interested her- what exactly the thing was, and how it worked. If they were gone for a long enough time, she could get lucky and maybe crack the thing to work in a language and numerical system she could understand.

* * *

His POV

There was an air of suspicion surrounding the prince before that hotel door ever whisked fully closed. She couldn’t get out, surely not. His little blue mouse was caught like a rat in a trap. Securely tucked away until he wanted her. Still, the prince couldn’t help but wonder if she’d find a way out. She was clever, for a homeless alien.

“I want a whole boar, with suckling piglets, and a side of stewed meat surprise. Hey, maybe we can find one of those places that have the naked ladies feed you-” Raditz was going on and on about food for the sole purpose of irritating Nappa.

“Will you shut the fuck up about food already, I can’t take it! The slave girl was looking good enough to eat before we left.” Nappa paused, then looked to his leader, “Hey, Vegeta, just how long do you plan on keeping that bitch? I was just wondering if I could-”

“Until she’s become useless, what the hell do you think, Nappa?” Vegeta snapped, earning the big Saiyan a punch in the chin and quieting him down. The prince had been busy feeling the silken fabrics from a shop’s display between his bare finger tips before Nappa had interrupted him. They were in the apparel sector of the city. They’d come to hunt for an armory but the sight of skimpy slave clothing had caught Vegeta’s attention.

Soft lavenders, pastel blues, and a silver collar were purchased at the slave shop’s check out. The string bound outfits were added to the crate that Raditz was already being forced to carry. The crate had been housing an assortment of medical supplies since the prince had used his last good jar of medical cream back on the last purged planet. Transparent fabrics were much more tolerable then that garb the female had insisted on wearing. Well, she wouldn’t be able to insist on them for long.

Now, to find something to suit himself. His clothes were all but rags at this point. Finding an armory was imperative. Thankfully there was one just down the next alleyway. And boy, was it a good one. Everything was up to date, brightly polished, and begging to be worn by the universe’s finest warriors. No matter how goddy or appealing, Vegeta went with a classic look - a blue second skin and pearly white armor. Two sets this time, since he seemed to go through them like water.

* * *

Her POV

They seemed to be out for quite some time. And while Bulma was enjoying the escapism through the tinkering of the scouter, she was growing hungry. So she called food service, and within a few minutes, android phased through the door with a large cart of food. Expensive food, as another way of getting back at the Saiyans. Anything that sounded good. And she’d picked wisely, it seemed. Even the food here seemed similar to that on Earth, and she dug into what looked and tasted like lobster (except a striking gold color) as she continued to work.

After she’d successfully cracked the scouter and made it so she could use it and understand, Bulma put it on. Being as they were the three men with the highest power level, she could find where they were easily, and it was quite a time away. She had plenty of time to spare. But she couldn’t help but explore a little further. Most the power levels she saw were at least in the 100s, and upon inspecting herself with it, she was a very pathetic 12. …Huh. She took the scouter off, and decided to experiment with it some more, while adding the extra pieces in the case in the dresser, likely for pieces that might be broken on an android.

Sooner or later, she created multiple pieces of the scouter- one was the glass that read power levels, one acted as a monocular, allowing someone to see far distances. Another yet was a microscope- something she figured would come in handy if she could do some more tinkering somewhere alone the line. She hid the scouter in one of the dresser drawers with the android kit, and decided to take a real bath, in order to scrub off the pond water still stuck to her.

She locked the door behind herself and stripped off her clothes. She stared in the mirror for a moment, frowning at the realization that she looked even worse than she felt. Bruises everywhere. But to her surprise, when she went to turn the water of the bath on, she found a button on the side that she couldn’t help but press, that poured out water that looked similar to the water in the bath at the brothel. She held her hand over it, and watched the deep cut slowly fade away.

Needless to say, she had a relaxing bath. Especially with the shampoo and bubble bath and body soap readily available for her to use. Finally, she could pretend, at least for a little while, that she was back on her planet.

* * *

His POV

It wasn’t long before the door to their quaint hotel room swooshed open. Once the security code was put in, Nappa and Raditz blundered in behind their prince. Raditz set down what they’d brought back, and Nappa sniffed the air like a hungry hound dog. Vegeta, on the other hand, hadn’t moved a muscle since the door had flung open. The prince’s face was boarding on shock; his left eyelid twitching.

What the hell had the woman been up to in the short amount of time they’d been gone? The room was littered with the scent of buttery meats and creamy vegetables - she’d ordered room service. The desk had obviously been used (though he couldn’t figure out what for), and there was a thick steam bellowing with the scent of rosy soaps coming from the direction of the bathroom.

“Heyyyy, food!” Raditz was the first to spot the left overs, abandoning the crate for a bite of fish tail.

“Leave some for the rest of us!” Nappa swiped the fishtail right out of Raditz’ clutch. The two proceeded to fight over the remaining food, downing any drink that went with it, leaving Vegeta to prowl the room. The female seemed to have made herself right at home while they were away. The few items on the desk had been moved. The prince scanned the pen and paper pad, and how the desk chair had swiveled out of its spot. He was one to take stock of his surroundings, and something was off.

“Damn, now I’ve gotta piss.” Nappa broke the prince’s concentration by making quick way for the bathroom door. The big bald Saiyan had no reservations about forcing the door open, dropping his pants, and taking a streaming piss into the toilet right beside the bathing girl. His junk out for her to see, he had no shame, even when he glanced her way, making eye contact.

* * *

Her POV

She had washed her hair three good times and scrubbed herself clean in the sweet, healing water, until she felt as good as new. Some part of her felt a dirtiness that she couldn’t seem to get off, but she took it by stride. She was at least alone now. She sunk deep into the bubble bath, only wishing that she had music to play to complete her relaxation ritual that was so reminiscent of what she used to do every night before bed. And just when she was really getting comfortable, she heard the door open, and the voices of all the Saiyans.

She scowled, but reminded herself that the door was locked. So she was safe, for the time being. Maybe she’d even stay the night in the bath-

She flinched and shot her head in the direction of a loud bang as Nappa forced the door off its hinges to open it, and felt the color leave her face. He didn’t seem interested in her, though. At least not yet. When he dropped his pathetic excuse for pants, it was only to turn to the toilet and begin pissing. She couldn’t help but stare for a second, given it was right beside her. It made her sick. Thick, long, and uncircumcised, with dark, coarse and clearly unwashed pubic hair. Eugh. She glanced up at him, to find him staring down at her. The disgust on her face had to be evident as she sunk deeper into the tub and finally turned her head.

And here she was, thinking she’d get some time alone. It was ruined all too soon, and she was hyper-aware of the fact she was nude under all the bubbles. With how much he’d been pinching and feeling her butt earlier, she knew what came next. Her eyes slowly gazed around what was readily within reach, but nothing looked like it’d be of use to her. Gn…

* * *

His POV

There was the tiny earthling, staring right back at him. The only sound - the healthy stream of piss that never seemed to end from the Saiyans giant bladder. Nappa was in no way, shape, or form, trying to hide his browsing of the woman’s figure in the high bubbles. Trying for a peek of well, anything. He knew she was naked under there, and without as much as shaking himself dry, the giant soldier started stripping himself of anything else that might be bothersome if wet. His shoes were tossed out of the bathroom, followed by his skimpy armor.

“Hey girlie, you’ve got the right idea.” The big hulk’s eye was still swollen purple. Nappa’s body was riddled with bruises from the pounding from Vegeta. The bald man knew healing waters when he saw them, and the appearance of a naked slave sitting in the middle of their rejuvenating properties sealed the deal. He was getting in with her, and he was going to make her scrub him down. All of him. His massive arms stretched out on either side; there was little chance of escape.

“What a good whore you are, you got the bath water ready for me and everything. Now you get to wash me off, doesn’t that sound great?” The giant man teased, naked and toppling right into the bath with her, his back to the tub’s exit. Nappa’s massive size sent the water gushing over the bath’s rim, flooding the flooring with suds. It wouldn’t be long until he’d gotten an erection, he was already half hard. The man’s grubby hands pawed, grabbing for the female’s slender frame as soon as she was in reach. He wanted her up against himself, straddling his lap, while he pushed a sponge into her hand.

The loud splash was heard all the way out of the bathroom door, turning both Vegeta’s and Raditz’ heads. Well, the earthling must have been in the bathroom after all, as the prince had suspected. Maybe her being forced to stay in there with Nappa and his demands would straighten her out for causing such a mess in the room. The prince turned his back on the sound of Nappa’s gawking over the girl in the tub, fixing his attention on the crate instead.

* * *

Her POV

She had covered her face after a few minutes of him pissing, her face turning more and more red. God, it was disgusting. None of them had any shame, did they? When the stream finally ended, she was hoping he’d just flush and walk away, but immediately after, he just about jumped into the bath. She had to force her legs up to her chest stop herself from being squished by him, and the bath water lurched over the side of the bath and onto the ground.

“Agh–!” She pressed her hands to his chest and tried to pull away when he grabbed her and forced her up onto his lap, only for him to force a sponge into her hand and hold her tight anyway. He was far too strong for her to fight back against. She scowled and stared up at him with hateful eyes, wishing she could kick his butt.

“I’m not a whore, and I’m not washing anything for you! Tough luck! You can wash yourself, can’t you? You’re a big boy. Or are you just a giant baby? You’re bald like one.” All that free time to relax and heal herself had given her some never that she had previously lost. The big mouth she’d been known for was rearing its ugly head, and she had no problem bad-mouthing someone who could easily snap her neck.

* * *

His POV

The big lug was all too ready to shove the little earthling onto his dick, mouth first, in order to shut her ranting and raving up, when she had to go and do it. Bulma made a comment about his missing hair. It was one of the few things that could sting the old Saiyan, and it showed on his face. Twisting up, he was no longer the light hearted, fuck the universe, Saiyan. He looked down right pissed off. His brow crumpled and his mustache curled over a grumble.

“Hey, what’d you say?! You’ll pay for that, girlie!” And down she went. Nappa’s massive palm pressed right onto the top of her head, plunging the girl into the water. It was only for a second or two. He had much better things to do with her then watch her drown between his legs.

Now that the girl was sopping wet, he tried a second time, pushing the sponge against the earthling’s chest, and holding her arm with his other hand. The tower of muscle pointed to his right peck, right where a cracked rib was leaving a nice, dark green bruise. Bulma would have to climb up him to reach, however, and Nappa was looking forward to it. His large hand was already sliding down from her arm and groping her soapy bottom among the suds. Not a gentle squeeze, either, he was fingering her thoroughly. Unfortunately, it was only helping his growing length harden against her near thigh.

The other two men in the next room paid them little attention. Raditz was busy trying to put away his armor just as his leader always insist he do when they boarded at a room, but he couldn’t seem to locate his scouter. The prince was paying little attention to his men’s ridiculous whining. He was sitting at the desk chair by now, systematically pulling the drawers out and meticulously searching each one for anything out of the ordinary. Then, his fingers roved over something tucked away. To his surprise, Vegeta rolled an android repair kit from the back of the drawer, along with Raditz missing scouter. Instead of calling attention to it, the prince silently put it back into place, just as he found it. The new revelation of where his soldier’s scouter had gone turned his attention towards the bathroom door. His suspicions of her grew.

* * *

Her POV

Clearly the comment upset the man. She watched his expression turn dark, and nearly had a heart attack when he shoved her under the water. She didn’t have the chance to take in a breath before being shoved under, causing water to fill up in her mouth and for her lungs to throb in pain nearly immediately following being deprived of air. As soon as she was above water again, she was coughing and gagging. And when Nappa gave her the sponge again, she was much more willing to do what he wanted.

She gulped and looked up at him to see where he was pointing, and figured that it couldn’t be that bad. So she was just cleaning him. Healing his wounds. She got up on her knees and reached up to start washing the bruise away, getting it sufficiently wet when Nappa started groping and squeezing her ass roughly. She glanced up at his face again, giving him an unapproving stare. He’d been doing this kind of stuff since she’d woken up. Was he just reminded of what it was like when he raped her until she passed out?

She cleaned the bruise away aggressively and as soon as it had faded, she moved onto the next wound- his eye. She had to actually stand for this one, which was embarrassing enough given she was naked. But she thought she might get revenge for it, and get away from his wandering hand.

She stuck the sponge in the water and shoved it against his eyes with as much quickness she could manage, in hopes of getting the suds of the bubble bath and the body soap inside. It wasn’t much pain, but she knew how much of a discomfort it was. If she could torment him just a little, she’d be happy. Happier, at least.

* * *

His POV

Any glare of vengeance from the earthling went right over the man’s chrome dome. Nappa didn’t notice, nor did he care. He was getting a rub down from a pretty little female - and she’d been right, his playing and squeezing of her ass cheek in his hand was Nappa’s way of reminiscing over taking the girl so forcefully back in the woods. He’d enjoyed fondling while she was passed out, but touching her while she was wet, squishy, and scrubbing him down, was even better.

The soap made for a slippery slide across the man’s chest. Nappa was quick to use it to his advantage. As soon as she lifted from the bath to reach his bruised eye, his hand pressed into the sway of her naked back, trapping the female’s body against his wide spread torso until her full breasts mounded against his chest. It was a good view down, even if his eye started to burn from the invasion of suds. Who cared when he could enjoy the view? He was enjoying the sensation of her wet flesh washing across his rock hard body, back and forth whenever she moved, to the point that he bellowed out a laugh right in her face.

“Don’t forget the back,” he grunted, eyeing the tiny girl’s face, so close to his big mustache wearing mug. Eventually, Nappa let the girl drop back into the water. Gently jerking himself in hand, he turned to rest one of his elbows on the baths rim. Giving her full access to his wide back, and the tail that was swishing back and forth under the surface of the water.

Meanwhile, a hotel android had beeped its way into the shared room. Vegeta had allowed it in. After looking down at the bot on wheels, he returned to his spot at the desk chair. The prince had been enjoying listening to the girl and Nappa fight over whether or not she’d wash him. Her lewd comment about his bald head had been somewhat amusing. However, as soon as the bot arrived, claiming that it was room-service, Vegeta demanded the android clean up the girl’s mess. All of it. The bot quietly picked up dirty towels, dishes, and the girls wardrobe - including her earthly shoes, before rolling its cart out and leaving the Saiyans to their business.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma was not pleased when Nappa pulled her close. She could see his eye turned downward to watch her breasts press against his oversized chest, like she was just a sexy little doll to look at. Though she supposed that’s truly what he and the others thought of her. Eugh. She debated spitting in the other eye just to blind him, but before she could go through with it, he told her to wash his back and dropped her down so he could turn.

Once he did, it was hard not to notice his tail. Swishing around in the water, occasionally brushing against her skin. Goku and Raditz both had their tails as weak spots, and it was time for Nappa to have what she figured was his weak spot be exploited as well. She grabbed hold of it and yanked as roughly as she could manage, dropping the sponge to do so.

She only got distracted by the android that came into the room and collected the clothes she’d left in a heap on the bathroom floor. She kept a strong hold, but she couldn’t help but be nervous when it took her shoes. The only thing she had left of her planet. But surely they’d be given back, right?

* * *

His POV

Nappa was ready for the earthling to give his back a well-deserved rub down, in his opinion at least. He was rock hard, and only growing hornier with her trying to maneuver around his massive frame. He’d fuck her soon enough. Daydreaming on the baths edge had put a dirty smile on his face. He was jerking himself harder than before, just as Bulma grabbed for his tail and pulled with what he assumed was all her might.

“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doin’?” The big man turned, looking over his shoulder. The wet fur in her hands whipped loose and grappled around the woman’s waist, giving her a punishing squeeze. It’d been a good idea, but her efforts proved useless. In fact, at first Nappa thought she was trying to scrub down his tail.

“That trick won’t work on me, girlie.” his brows shifted. “You think you’re hot stuff, don’t yah? Well, my tail is desensitized. That cheap trick might work on Raditz, but it ain’t goin’ to work on me. Try something like that again, and I’ll pummel yah. Now get back to scrubbin’!” Nappa’s booming voice could be heard all the way out the bathroom door. The look in his eye as he gazed over his shoulder was debating; maybe he should just go ahead and force the little female to ride his cock. The excitement had aroused him, and it was showing. His alien sized cock towered up out of the water, weighing heavy into the big man’s big hand. 

* * *

Her POV

To her surprise, Nappa looked back at her, and in a way that seemed to show he wasn’t affected at all by the weakness. B… But–! She stared at him with wide eyes, surprised and completely terrified by how her plan had failed. She figured that he’d probably try to punish her for trying it, at least by a slap on the face, but instead he only gave her a warning. It was a little bit of a relief to know. She made a note not to try the useless trick again to avoid the said pummeling.

She scrubbed down Nappa’s back instead, after having fished the sponge out from the water. It was by no means a pleasant back. How did a man with so little hair on his head collect so much hair on his back? She wrinkled her nose just looking at it. The other two Saiyans seemed to be at least her age, but this one had to be in his 50’s at least, if he was anything like the men on Earth.

But the back-washing was better than anything else she could have been doing. He wasn’t making her rub his cock; he was certainly doing that himself. She figured he had more plans for her beyond cleaning him up, but at least for the time being, she could prolong it. Maybe Vegeta would come in and tell him to go do something and end up sparing her. Though they seemed pretty quiet out there.

* * *

His POV

Once the girl piped down and did as she was told, Nappa sighed into his folded arm along the bath’s rim; still fondling himself contently in the water below. It was nice to have someone scrub all those hard to reach areas. Some of the deeper ridges of his muscular shoulder-line probably hadn’t been properly cleaned in years. Cakes of old blood and grime drifted down the center of his back, past the female, and into the swirling soapy tub that was now turning a nice murky brown. So much for a clean bath.

The Saiyan’s tail released the girl’s waist, whipping happily alongside of her instead. The big Saiyan had probably never smelt so good, but the bath could only go on forever. Soon enough, the dirty look in his eye was turning over his shoulder, surely making plans about how he’d force himself on the captive first.

Without much warning, Nappa’s big hand lunged for the girl, turning his big body with him. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub, his knees spreading apart, allowing his thick cock to bob right before her thighs. He’d obviously had enough of her washing.

“That’s good, now’s time to finish me off properly.” The big man grunted. By ‘properly’ he meant squeezing the girl’s thighs in his big hands and prying her knees apart so he could force her to straddle his wide hips. The swollen head of his erection licked between her legs, trying to push its way up inside of the girl, despite any resistance. He was massive, and he was going to force her to ride him.

The sound of sloshing water was drowned out in the hotel room, thanks to the sound of the local news casters voice flickering to life on the window. The window doubled as a screen. Vegeta’s dirty boots were propped up on the spotless desk, his bare arms crossed behind his head, seemingly uncaring to the variety of grunts coming from the bathroom. Though he did have one ear turned in, just out of habit of keeping aware of his surroundings. Raditz on the other hand, was lying back on the bed nearest the door, looking at what would have been considered a dirty mag - except there were no pages, only a 3-denominational hologram that was perfectly flip-able by fingertip.

* * *

Her POV

He was disturbingly dirty. She was thankful he was quiet and wasn’t even holding her in place with his tail, but… Grime was falling from his skin into the water and turning it a revolting brown color. She wrinkled her nose and reached down to unplug the drain, and as soon as the water began to drain, Nappa suddenly got sick of his bath and grabbed her instead.

“Agh–!” She struggled when he forced her legs apart so she straddled him, with her face red from feeling him rub up against her. Like hell she’d ‘finish him off’! She pressed her hands against his chest and tried to shove away and stand up, but he was strong. Damn that Saiyan strength.

“No! I’ll wash you, but I’m not doing that! Besides, you’re still caked with all kinds of gross stuff. Can’t you let me just keep washing you?” She felt pathetic, begging to wash someone rather than be forced to have sex with him, but it was honestly the better option. But she figured he’d only shove her down, so she began to think that maybe she could try to reason with him. Give him something.

“…I’ll only use my hands, even if you try to force me. You won’t get more than that.” She furrowed her brows and turned her head to refuse to look at him, her nose wrinkling in disgust. Maybe he’d remember when she jerked him off before and would take it.

* * *

His POV

The girl was just about to get on Nappa’s last nerve, with all her intrepid talking, but then she said something that caught the big brute’s undyingly horny attention. Jerking him. Instantly, the satisfying memory of the girl jerking him in the woods came flooding back to life. His thick erection pulsed under the thought. It’d felt good, one of the best hand jobs he’d had in a while, and he hadn’t gotten her to finish it, or the various things she’d said she’d do to him while he’d waited for his comrade. This seemed like the perfect moment to make her fulfill those promises.

“I have a better idea”, he eyed her, “How about you give me a nice spit polish, I want to feel you clean me up good, girlie.” Well, at least he wasn’t forcing her down anymore. Nappa’s hands slowly retreated from his captive’s thighs. One big hand landed on her back instead, aiming her down towards his massive dick. The big giant leaned back against the empty tub, the drip and pop of left over bubbles still dripping down its porcelain sides. 

Outside of the bathroom, the news updates had becoming dull and boring. It was always the same no matter what planet they ended up staying on. Crime, drama, creatures that the prince didn’t give two shits whether they lived or died. Purging the planet once he was finished with it was always debatable. His dusty boots met the floor, and his focus fell on his attire instead. His armor was removed from the crate. It sat alongside his folded clothing, military style under his bed. Just like he demanded his men do with their belongings, too. Everything was in order. Except, if he wanted to done his new suit, he’d need to wash up first.

Whatever Nappa and the earthling were doing, the prince didn’t seem to care. He didn’t even give them a glance before he began stripping off what was left of his tattered pants and shoes. They were tossed aside in a dirty heap, leaving the prince bare-ass-naked. His lean, bronze build left for all to see. Rubbing the back of his head, he roamed the small area of the bathroom, as if he were in the room alone. His rough fingers found the dial on the standing shower beside the tub. No curtain, just a drain below and a faucet above. He obviously didn’t care, and neither did Nappa. The old soldier was too concerned with the female on his dick, than his leader showering down beside them.

* * *

Her POV

“Hey–!” At least he wasn’t forcing her down on him anymore, but she knew she was in trouble when he told her to give him a spit-cleaning. That was even more disgusting than being forced to ride him! She shoved him and turned her head when he pushed her down, refusing to suck him off. These Saiyans were all so–!

“Mnph!” She still refused to open her mouth, but did clasp his dick, but only with the sponge. Only when she had that grasp did she open her mouth, but to blabber on more.

“Not when it’s that gross! I can already tell how dirty it is! I’m not putting my mouth on that!” Seriously. She could see the stuff under the foreskin, and how his pubes stuck together in sweat. The fact that that had ever been inside her made her feel sick.

Her eyes glanced up to see Vegeta stripping, and she was terrified for a moment that he’d join in. But he turned on the shower water instead. It was something of a relief, even if she was disturbed at the idea of him being able to watch as much as he wanted.

“L… Look! I’ll rub you off, just let go of me! Maybe I’ll suck you off, but only when you’re CLEAN!”

* * *

His POV

It was nice to see Nappa struggling with the loud mouth girl just as much as he had a few times before. The prince was doing his best to pay attention solely to his showering. The beaded waterfall washed over his shoulders, matting down his thick hair before he ever considered using soap. But he couldn’t help but tune in, especially with how she demanded the big Saiyan to let her clean him. The woman just always seemed to take charge, it was slightly engaging.

“Why I ought-a, get to suck’n!” Nappa was doing his best to cram the girl’s pink cheeks against the wall of his dick, rubbing her chin into his ball-sack. He didn’t care if she liked it or not, that’s what slaves were for! And it looked like he’d get his way, if his leader hadn’t interrupted…

“You heard her Nappa, the slave wants to clean you first.” Vegeta’s words shocked the big Saiyan still. Looking towards his leader, then back to the girl, Nappa knew he couldn’t go against his prince’s words, even if Vegeta had sounded kind of sarcastic.

“Fine, but you better make it good,” the big man barked, releasing the girl and letting her sponge him off as she pleased. He eyed his leader once, wondering what had gotten into the prince. If it was some form of punishment or entertainment, Nappa couldn’t decide. Who cared, he was getting his off.

It wasn’t until the bathroom fell silent, with only the sound of the shower head raining down over the bathroom tiles, did Vegeta dart his gaze down at the girl in the tub. She never made him such offers like that; only to threaten or to kill him. It was a little insulting. But it got his attention all the same. Soaping up his hair, he turned back towards the dingy shower wall after catching himself in a stare.

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta saved her yet again. If he himself wasn’t so awful, maybe she wouldn’t mind him so much. She sat up straight and huffed loudly, giving Nappa a once-over glare. Good, she at least didn’t have to suck off that disgusting thing anymore. She said maybe when it was clean, but she had no intents of doing that.

She started cleaning him again, particularly his dick. If he was going to lose his patience, she at least wanted him to have the important part clean. She didn’t bother being sweet about it, either; roughly cleaning it with the sponge rather than her fingers. Disgusting, truly disgusting.

“So? Turn on the water again. And plug the drain back in.” She was ordering him around no problem; at least thankful that Vegeta got enough of a kick out of it to allow it.

* * *

His POV

It was disgusting. The prince knew that without having to glance at the expression of disgust on the earthling’s face. Vegeta had done many terrible, questionable things in his life span, but subjugating himself to washing Nappa’s dick was right up there with circumcising himself. Still, the girl held true to her word, and somewhere down in the depths of his soul, the cold hearted prince had to acknowledge her endurance, if not just her will power alone.

Not that greatly mattered. In the prince’s eyes she was still a slave doing her job. That is, until she took the newly bestowed liberty he’d allowed and began ordering Nappa around a second time. The big bald brute was confused at first. What, him? Taking orders from a slave? But with Vegeta in ear shot, and having just been told to do as the girl says, Nappa wasn’t going to question his leader a second time. Instead, the stunned soldier stared at the girl, felt around in the suds for the plug, turned on the water, and then waited - expecting the woman to do as she said she would.

Vegeta had to do his best to hold back a bellow of dark, rough laughter. Clicking his tongue behind his teeth, he focused on the shower wall in front of him. It wasn’t just the balls on the female that amused the prince; it was the humiliation on Nappa’s face. Vegeta was always one to get a kick out of disgracing others. Soon enough though, he went back to scrubbing himself down, cleaning the wound on his side, and ringing his furry tail free from soap.

* * *

Her POV

Cleaning him off was coming along nice enough, and maybe after a little bit of this, he wouldn’t smell so horribly. While she was rough with her scrubbing, and had no problem trying to get back at him by occasionally giving him a pinch anywhere she happened to be reaching at the moment, she was at least doing the job. And he was listening to her. She glanced up at Nappa as he turned on the water, rather pleased with herself about it.

Then it occurred to her. She could definitely use this to her advantage. She was just about done cleaning him, but there were still other things that had to be done. Nappa was still a revolting beast. He needed more than just a scrubbing. So when she moved down to start rubbing his feet, she looked up at him again.

“I need a razor. They’ve got a bag of disposable ones over there.” She nodded in the direction of the corner of the bath, with many other little things for guests to use, like travel-sized shampoo bottles. “Give me one. As soon as I’m done with your feet, you’re getting more than just a scrub down. You smell and look horrible, so maybe if I fix you, you won’t even need to pin down a woman to have them do things.” 

She didn’t actually mean herself when she talked about ‘woman,’ but she figured it might help convince him. Besides, in the off-chance that he forced her to suck his dick, she’d rather shave off all the disgusting pubic hair beforehand. And all that back hair. And that toe hair. And maybe trim the mustache. She’d been to spas enough before; maybe he wouldn’t mind forgetting about the handjob in order to get a full treatment.

* * *

His POV

Neither of the men could actually believe what they were witnessing. The little earthling was actually pulling through with it. And not just the scrub down of Nappa’s softening member, but his feet too. It was hard to debate whether his feet or his dick were worse on the gross-factor scale. The female had guts, no doubt about it.

The spectacle occurring in the bathtub even had Vegeta turning his head, escaping from his nonchalant nature to actually watching for a while. Slowing his rising to a halt, he allowed the water to beat over the nape of his neck. Then the little female said it - she wanted Nappa to hand her a razor, and every warning system in Vegeta’s body went into high alert. The woman didn’t exactly have a clean record when it came to deceit, especially when handling sharp objects. He wanted to see how this played out.

The prince never let it show, however, other than a gentle flexing of his shoulders, ready to lunge into action. Not that he would. If his soldier was dumb enough to get himself killed by a pint sized earthling, then that was his own fault; no skin off the prince’s nose. Still, Vegeta watched with new intensity as Nappa reached towards the collection of bath odds and ends, and handed over the razor to the little blue female sitting at his feet in the tub.

The big brute had resisted making noises like ‘oof’ and ‘ouch’ or ‘is it supposed to hurt’ with his prince nearby. The older man wasn’t about to look like a weakling, so any abuse Bulma inflicted on his gentiles was taken in stride. Not to mention, what she’d said had intrigued him. Nappa was in no way interested in getting himself clean until the earthling mentioned females. While the big Saiyan had no quarrels with forcing himself on a girl whenever he wanted some action, the idea of having one fawn over him for a change was ...appealing.

* * *

Her POV

As the saying went, ‘you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.’ That was Bulma’s thought process this time around. She’d been brutally violated so many times from fighting back, biting, trying to kill the other, and Vegeta’s slap was still clear in her mind. She was hoping that, no matter how degrading it was, she could get out of the violation in other ways. She was still being violated in some sense, with how both of them were staring at her naked form, but her arm wasn’t being ripped out its socket, she wasn’t being slapped, and she wasn’t being held down while she was raped.

She took the razor from Nappa and eyed Vegeta as he bathed, while she cleaned Nappa’s other foot quickly. She could tell he was on edge. If she was alone, maybe she’d try to get close and slit Nappa’s neck. But she knew by now that while she could injure one Saiyan, two or more at a time proved too much to handle. She wasn’t going to get injured again just after being healed because she decided to be stupid. So she finished washing Nappa’s feet, shaved his toes of what hairs they had, and focused in on the important part.

She pulled herself closer to between Nappa’s legs again, and reached over only to turn off the water to prevent it from getting high enough that shaving became a bit of a pain. Then she did it- she began shaving off all the pubic hair from his genitals. Bulma made sure to manhandle him as she did so. If there were scratches here and there, it only meant he may end up finding it uncomfortable to have sex. She’d done this enough for Yamcha and all the hair that man could grow that she knew the ritual by now.

It took a few minutes to get everything, but soon the area was clean and clear, with soft skin left where rough and grimy dirt used to be. She got up on the edge of the bath, if only so she didn’t have to sit in water full of the man’s pubes, and tapped his shoulder.

“I’m doing your back now. Turn around.”

* * *

His POV

At first the big Saiyan thought the woman was finally coming onto him when Bulma reached in the direction of the water spout. But as soon as the brute’s dick started getting hard again, it flattened back down. Bulma had been good with her work; Nappa’s cock was so nicked up that standing it up straight was somewhat of a pain. Besides, he was still a little bewildered by the experience of getting his toes done, not to mention he couldn’t stop glancing down at his shaven balls, which he could see clearly for the first time in his life.

Vegeta, however, wasn’t bought so easily. He was still eyeing the woman suspiciously. The quick glance she’d given him the moment her fingers found the razor told him everything he wanted to know. That yes, the thought of taking down the big Saiyan had crossed her mind, if just in passing. But once the mood tamed down and the girl went to work, Vegeta’s stance relaxed. Rising down then turning off the spigot, he shook his hair out like a dog until it stood upright again. Glossy, dripping, clean.

“What the hell is _taking_ -” Raditz walked in just in time to see Nappa resting his arms on the tub’s rim, giving his back to Bulma as she’d commanded. The long haired Saiyan’s eyes were as big as dinner plates. “What the hell is she doing?!”

“What does it look like, ass crack. _I_ am going to have females come to me for a change,” grunted the man in the tub. Raditz did not look convinced; in fact he started scowling in Bulma’s direction.

“What the hell would you want that for? When you can just drag them off by the hair…” Raditz huffed and then eyed the toilet. “…and god damn it Nappa! Learn how to flush!”

“Will both of you idiots shut it?” Vegeta interrupted. “Hurry up. Or I’m leaving both of your worthless hides behind.” That was an order, Vegeta was growing irritable with how crowded the bathroom became. The prince quickly grabbed a towel, escaping into the hotel room as swift as ever.

* * *

Her POV

When Nappa turned his back to her, Bulma spent no time at all leaning over and grabbing one of the hanging towels beside the bath. She wrapped herself to give herself some modesty, rather than sitting nude in front of the two Saiyans. Lucky, too, because just as she did, Raditz walked in. She didn’t bother paying attention to him, and instead did her work, shaving Nappa’s back of all the gross hairs. There was plenty of dead skin that needed to be scraped off, anyway. 

She did notice, however, when Vegeta got out and commanded them to hurry up. She was hoping they wouldn’t be leaving to a new planet so soon, but either way, it gave her the perfect opportunity. She could hurry up, and Nappa wouldn’t have the chance to do anything to her. He’d just have to follow Vegeta. She’d used up enough time! It made her smug. She finished up, and only then did she reach for the Saiyan’s chin. She forced him to look up as she shaved his neck and chin, everything around his nose. Normally she’d get a different razor for this, or at least do this first. But this was a monster she was shaving. She couldn’t be bothered if he ended up with some alien STD on his mouth.

As soon as she was finished, she didn’t give him anything else. Not even a pat on the shoulder. She just stood up and got off the edge of the bath and began wondering about this going out the Saiyans were apparently doing. Best case scenario, she was going to be left in the room alone again. She certainly hoped so, at least; she liked it last time. No one to bother her, to strip her and then pry her legs apart. She dumped the razor in the trash and grabbed a brush from a little cup of hair essentials next to the mirror, and began to comb out her hair as she left the bathroom. That’s when it hit her- the android had taken her clothes, hadn’t it? It hadn’t come back.

“…I don’t have any clothes.” It was a risky move to mention it. She doubted the Saiyans cared, and if anything, they probably preferred that she be paraded around naked. But she could tell they had some semblance of respect for her now- Vegeta hadn’t torn her clothes off from before, despite him not having paid for them like the dress. 

* * *

His POV

The Saiyan men didn’t notice the lack of affection or gentleness Bulma was omitting from her clean up. As far as Nappa knew, a few nicks here and there were routine. After all, the female certainly seemed to know what she was doing by the time she reached his face. Despite Vegeta’s barking that he’d leave them, Nappa was feeling better than usual. Maybe it was due to how clean he was, or the lingering thought of having girls fall into his lap. Who knew.

The men didn’t even bother when Bulma toweled herself up and started rooting around the room in need of her own clothing. They were too busy; well aware that Vegeta could leave them at any moment. In fact, by the time the earthling made way into the room, the prince was already downed in blue. The metallic cobalt color appeared to be poured over his frame, all except for his arms which were left bare. He was wearing a new pair of white boots, but lacked his normal layer of armor. He wouldn’t need it for what they were doing tonight; not usually at least.

“Your slave attire is on the desk. Put it on, you’re coming too.” It was an order barked like any other order Vegeta had given that day. Finally flicking his gaze at the female in the towel, he knew she wasn’t going to like this, but he was leaving her little choice. Call it pay back for wearing the itchy fabric he’d disapproved of.

On the desk lay a very scanty piece of lavender fabric. What could be called a bikini top and bottom, only the fabric wore so thin that its sheer hue was all there was to hide her flesh. It was slave wear. There was something else on the desk, too. A collar, as silver as the city itself.

Neither of the other two men looked up. They expected her to do as she was told, even if that was rarely the case. Raditz was busy with booting his feet and Nappa was strapping on his trusty belted armor. The armor made him feel a little more appealing, robust, now that was expecting action.

* * *

Her POV

The moment Vegeta barked at her about clothes, Bulma knew she wasn’t going to like it. She went to go look anyway, and, of course, was disgusted by what she saw. She pulled out the fabric to look it over. A bikini bottom with long pieces of see-through fabric both in front and behind it, and a bikini top with a see-through fabric that looked a little like a crop-top over it. And, to put it all together, a silver collar. She wrinkled her nose, deciding the only good thing about the outfit being the sandals that laced up to the knee that came with the outfit. Maybe in another time, she would have at least worn those. But no way.

“I’m not wearing this crap,” she announced, dropping the fabric back into the box and crossing her arms with meaning across her chest. “I want my old clothes! My shoes especially. They need to hurry up and clean them and bring them back to me, because if you want me coming with you anywhere, that’s the only thing I’ll be wearing until you buy me something that doesn’t look… _Like that._ ”

She stuck her tongue out at Vegeta for extra effect, deciding that she’d made her stand well enough. She pushed the box away and went to go sit down on the closest bed as she continued to brush her hair as if she hadn’t the slightest care in the world. Hey, if she threw a fit, maybe she’d get lucky and they would decide she wasn’t worth it and simply leave her in the hotel room. That’d certainly work to her advantage. Even if some part of her did want to go explore the city.

* * *

His POV

That attitude just wasn’t going to fly with Vegeta. No matter how much she pouted. No matter the fit, tantrum, or demands she made, the prince was putting his foot down on this one. He met her ‘sticking out her tongue’ with his own scowl; even if the way she was brushing through her freshly washed hair was perfuming the air with her floral scent and toying with his head. The sight of her sitting on that bedside in little more than a towel was drawing him nearer, better then he anticipated, until his shadow fell over the bedside.

“And here I thought you’d jump at the chance,” his smug sneer shot in her direction, remembering just how hungry she’d stared into every window they’d pasted when they first arrived. 

“You’ll wear it, unless you’d rather go naked. The choice is yours.” That got his men’s attention. Both Nappa and Raditz heads perked up, hoping to see a show. Unfortunately for them, all they got to see was her towel still firmly bound around her waist. The prince’s hands pressed into the mattress on either side of her hips, closing in on the female slowly. He leaned in, until her big blue eyes the only thing that filled his vision. 

“Your so called clothing has been taken out with the trash. So it doesn’t look like your demands will be working this time, little slave. ” He taunted gently. Some part of him still held respect for her due to her brazen demands. It was true enough; her clothing was as good as burned or recycled by now. The prince, feeling he’d made his case strong enough, left the bed side and grabbed the slave garb, tossing it on to the bed. The arch in his brow stated ‘he’d just as well put it on her if she refused to do it herself’.

* * *

Her POV

No matter how much she didn’t want to admit it, she knew that was going to be the response. ‘Do it or you’re going naked.’ She knew he wasn’t kidding, either, so she figured she’d probably just be better off putting the clothes on even if she hated it. She glared at Vegeta as he came close nonetheless, making it clear to him that even if he convinced her, she still hated it. He would never get her to wear it happily. 

But the glare faded when he explained that her clothes had been trashed. Her heart dropped, and her eyes widened. It’s not like Bulma cared all that much about the pants and shirt beyond the fact that they made her feel more comfortable than the skimpy things the Saiyans seemed to enjoy watching her prance around in, but there was something important in that heap. Her… Her shoes!

“W… Wait! No! It can’t all be thrown out! My shoes were in there! That’s all that I had from– I need my shoes! I want my shoes! They can fish it out from the trash, right?! I need them, I need my shoes!” She was, to say the least of the situation, distressed. How could she not be?! Those were the one thing she had of Earth. They had ripped her clothes up the first time they violated her, but had left her shoes. The whole time, she had her shoes. And now they were just gone?!

She did n’t even care about how awful the outfit looked anymore. She maneuvered the fabric on while wearing the towel to prevent the Saiyans from peeping, but her mind was elsewhere, with her eyes wide and still locked on Vegeta. Who thought she’d be begging over a simple pair of shoes?

“L… Look! I’ll be nice, I won’t run off even when I get the chance! I just need those shoes back! I don’t even care about the rest of the clothes! I’ll wear this stupid thing all the time if you really want me to! But I need my shoes back!”

* * *

His POV

The dastardly sneer on Vegeta’s face slowly began to fade. The earthling wasn’t just spitting demands this time. The way she was gawking up at him, she looked terrified. Suddenly any affirmation he was receiving in teasing her over the outfit turned bitter sweet. He’d been expecting her to play their game. He wanted to bat her around until she surprised him or did as he said. No, not this time. Something in the way the girl begged for her shoes so desperately, the way her gaze pleaded up at him, it made his gut plummet. He had to look away.

“God damn it, they’re gone, woman!” Hot air huffed from his nose. How was he supposed to know she was attached to something as damn idiotic as shoes? His fists clenched; his brow a hard line. He refused to be anything but cold, detached, and hard when he spoke again. “This planet doesn’t exactly keep its garbage for long. You can’t hold onto things forever out here. The sooner you let it go, the better off you’ll be.”

The men in the room fell silent. Aside from the small whine Raditz made when Bulma found a way to slip on her outfit without removing her towel. At least she was wearing the slave clothing. The prince had noticed her change in wear, but it was hardly as satisfying to see her wiggle into it as he’d thought. Maybe another time. For now, there was still one thing left to do. Despite the high tension in the air, Vegeta had the ability to move past any unpleasantness and attain his goal. To do what he needed to do. And what he needed to do was fit her with her new collar.

“Put this on, you won’t be leaving the room without it.” The silver ring snapped, opening up and blinking to life in Vegeta’s hands. It was a piece of technology much like the rest of this world. It’d keep her bound to him. A little insurance that she couldn’t try to make an escape while they were amidst the bustling crowds tonight, or any other night for that matter. She’d have to stay near him, or risk getting a shocking reminder that she was wondering off too far.

* * *

Her POV

She dropped the towel when she was finished putting her clothes on, and while she was painfully aware of how naked she was, she couldn’t find herself to care. She was too busy sniffling and tearing up at Vegeta’s response. He looked uncomfortable explaining it to her, but it didn’t make her any more pleased. That was the one thing she had from her home planet. It was silly, to get so attached to shoes, and she hadn’t really noticed her attachment before they were gone, but she just… Couldn’t help it.

She didn’t have any of her friends anymore, her old tools, accessories, clothes, anything. Anything but those shoes. They were a little worn from running away from the Saiyans so much, but they were still good. Practical, as well. And a style that just made her heart ache of things that were gone and would stay gone. 

She was holding back full-on sobs by the time Vegeta grabbed her collar and showed it to her. She knew, even in her semi-delirious state, that it was bad news. It was blinking, and she wouldn’t be surprised to find that it was no better than the drugs that the prostitutes at the brothel had given to her. She knit her brows as she stared at it, and finally reached out to take it– and promptly tossed it across the room.

“No! I’m not wearing that stupid thing! I want my shoes back! That’s all I want! Why are all of you so horrible?! Do you have any kind of empathy in those little brains of yours?! My shoes were the one thing you didn’t tear up and destroy from my planet, and you just– You just want me to move past it?!” The more she yelled, the more the tears started falling. And sooner or later, she was sobbing between yelling. “I hate you! I hate all of you! You could rape me a thousand times and I’ll still hold onto everything you took away! I bet you want me to be a lifeless doll! I’ll kill all of you before that ever happens! I swear I will! You couldn’t have even let me have the shoes! You couldn’t even give me that…”

* * *

His POV

Shame. It was not something the saiyan prince had access to in his experience other than the loss of battle. But if he didn’t know better, he’d suspect that was what the cold unpleasantness was that was threatening to move across the edges of his short range of emotions. His heartless will bit it back, and his stable frame of mind came back to him. The girl was a slave. Holding onto something as materialistic as footwear, something so easily torn and lost was idiotic and useless in this universe. No matter how attached she was. Still, it didn’t make looking at her tear streaked face any less aggravating.

“ _Tch.._.” The prince had nothing left to say. The only response he’d give to the girl’s wicked tongue lashing was the snarl of his lip and the narrowing of his thick brow. She’d shaken him on some level, but his brutal nature met the challenge with hostility and aggression. His glove found the silver collar that’d skidded across the hotel floor. Blinking, ready for use, he took it in hand. She wasn’t getting out of this, no matter how much she resisted.

In moments, the prince had the girl laid out on the bed, his knees on either side of her frame. His quick movements pinned her down like a beast pouncing its prey. The soft ‘click’ of the collar closed in on her slender throat, breaking the silence. He was so close, he could smell the salt of her tears streaming down her near cheeks, see the hate in her eyes, but it hardly phased his determination. Vegeta could be ruthless when he needed to be, and that hard temperament was showing itself now.

“ _This is me telling you to move past it_.” The words were a gentle whisper, flowing out of his mouth before removing his presence from the bed. His eyes dragged over her, and then to his men. Both Raditz and Nappa were standing straight and tall, waiting for their leader at the door. They knew when things got serious the best idea was to fall into formation. Vegeta gave the earthling one last stern look, before disappearing out of the door and into the hall. Expecting her to follow. If she didn’t, it was Raditz and Nappa’s job to grab her and move her along.

* * *

Her POV

If she wasn’t too busy being upset, maybe she would have been able to recognize the expression in Vegeta’s face. The slightest little hint of shame and upset, as if he knew what he had done was wrong. It didn’t last, however, and soon faded when he jumped on her. She fought him back and tried scratching his skin, but the collar beeped and locked around her neck, and Bulma felt a little more of her humanity die off.

She didn’t move, even when he got up and left the room. She could hear a gentle beeping getting louder when he moved away, but she was too busy crying her eyes out with her hands wiping away tears to care. Before the collar had a chance to shock her from being too far away, Raditz grabbed her by the arm and dragged her off the bed and into the elevator. 

Bulma kept wiping her eyes as she followed, albeit slowly. How else was she supposed to react? The one thing from her planet was gone. As far as anyone could tell now, even herself, she was just some humanoid slave. Those stupid shoes had meaning. She still remembered when she went to buy them, all the places she’d gone in them, her day in them up until the Saiyan attack–

“Snf.. Gn…” She wiped her eyes and nose with her hands and arms as she kept weeping, unable to pay attention to where they were going. What did it matter, anyway? Even if this place looked like Earth, it wasn’t. Earth was dead. Everyone except her and those two girls who were likely dead by now were gone. Why couldn’t they just kill her, if they were so set on tormenting her like this?

* * *

His POV

The elevator ride was a long one; quite, awkward, and with Raditz occasionally changing his stance or clearing his throat. He was doing his best not to be too noticeable with how he was shifting his vision from Vegeta, to the earthling, to Nappa, and back. However, the longer the glass chamber dropped, the more of the city came into view. It was bright, lit up with neon flashes and buzzing traffic. The beautiful world cast its glow through the glass, showering its inhabitants with soft purples and blues, until the doors dinged open and let them out into the hotel lobby.

Vegeta cut through the hotel and headed straight out the door. He didn’t want to look back. The sound of the girl’s sniffling during the whole elevator ride down was enough to grind his teeth. Raditz and Nappa were left to see to it the girl didn’t get away. Not that she could go far if she tried, with that collar bound around her neck. Little to her knowledge, Vegeta held the only key to getting it off, and he had no intentions of doing that any time soon.

He guided them through the heard of alien life with fluidity. They crossed streets that towered with advertisements displaying the latest fashions and androids on the market. Glossy sky scrapers loomed over head and disappeared into the nightly sky. The three Saiyans moved as swiftly together as regularly as a group of frat boys looking for a place to cause a bit of trouble; lead by none other than their prince. The brisk walk through the city streets was clearing Vegeta’s head of the steam he’d felt back in the hotel room. The way the woman had looked at him - he didn’t like it. Maybe going out tonight was his best bet. It’d mean a bit of food, drink, and if he was lucky, a fight.

All forms of life shoved and moved around them; some robotic, others beautiful exotics with multiple limbs, offering themselves behind windows. They were in the right district. Vegeta finally stopped, taking a sniff around. The perfumed streets were saturated in black velvet and rainbow flashes. Nappa’s large hand never left the girl’s back; both the soldiers were her ushering her towards the lively sound of a bar. Its mirror floors and dark interior was much different from the brothel before. It was sleek and refined like the chrome city, but definitely spoke of the world’s under belly.

* * *

Her POV

Even when her crying ceased by the time they began walking the city streets, she was by no means in a good mood. She stared at the stores and little street stalls as the two Saiyans pushed her along, with red eyes and a sore throat. Some part of her did want to enjoy the sights. But how was she supposed to be able to? It just helped remind her of the things she’s lost. Her heart had begun to mend, but just when it had, Vegeta had taken away the one thing that she had a connection to. And then forced her into skimpy clothes and a collar.

She really was a slave. Just like the girls in the windows, showing off their bodies for the taking. She couldn’t help but wonder what they were all thinking. Did they enjoy it? Or did they feel like she did? Maybe they were too drugged up to feel at all. When she made eye contact with a couple of them, she could have sworn she saw the slight hint of empathy in their features.

She gulped down the lump in her throat, and tried to be more aware of her surroundings. She didn’t have a chance to run with these three Saiyans, but maybe at some point she would. Or perhaps she could injure one with something. She just had to get lucky. For once in the past few days, if she could just have a little bit of luck…

She rubbed her eyes again as she was forced into a bar with a very modern look to it. Dim lights, mirror flooring, and with plenty of skimpily-dressed aliens skipping around, serving warrior aliens much like the Saiyans that had ‘claimed’ her for their own. As if she needed to be around more of them. Maybe she could still escape, if she tried hard enough. There were so many people here, it’d be hard for them to find her once they lost track of where she was, right?

* * *

His POV

Vegeta walked into the club like he owned the place. His royal head held high, his shoulders squared, flanked by his lackeys, and of course his acclaimed slave. He hadn’t turned to face them since they’d left the hotel. There was a slick look in his eye while the saiyan pack went on the prowl. They caused some heads to turn as they passed table after table. The well-built saiyans gathered some attention, but all eyes dared to turn to the little female fluttering along with them in her nearly invisible clothes. There weren’t too many humanoids in the place, other than the androids that were made to look like them.

It wasn’t long until the prince brought his crew to the back of the scene. Vegeta whispered something to the large bull horned bouncer, surely a threat, before being allowed to pass behind the impregnatable curtain. The idea of a body guard keeping himself out of a restricted area was laughable, but the prince knew how to play this game. It wasn’t just alien customers behind the curtain this time around. Faceless droids beeped and clicked in their own dialog around glass tables. Females of various species and some effeminate young males danced in cages - only instead of bars, they were held captive by glowing beams. Screens flickered with visions of death matches in rings. This pent house was only for the best in the system. The glow of war hardened eyes and scowling scarred faces watching the Saiyans roll in and find their own round table.

The three soldiers didn’t seem to pay attention to the looks they were receiving. They were use to it by now. They found their places around in the chairs just as a slave came to their side, bumping right into Bulma. The slave didn’t expect Bulma to sit, but to stand. That was the first that Vegeta turned his vision on the girl. Up until then he didn’t seem to care about her state of being; whether she was enjoying herself or not.

Already Raditz was ordering a drink. Nappa on the other hand, pulled a passing android over by the arm, nearly ripping the poor thing’s joint off, demanding food in his biggest voice yet. Vegeta was as stone quiet as ever, aside from the lip curl at someone bumping into his slave. He was watching the club play out like a predator watching the Savannah plains. He expected to be taken care of without having to tell a servant what to do. A girl with tentacles for hair noticed this, and hurriedly brought the prince a drink.

* * *

Her POV

She kept hoping for an opening for her to run off, but the two Saiyans behind her prevented that from happening. She trudged along, conscious of all the stares they were getting. She was getting. Did she have to be so naked? It was better than no clothes at all, but did they need to strip her dignity so much to make her wear a bikini and a collar? This was something she’d wear for roleplaying in the bedroom, not something the wanted to be seen wearing in public. It was just another way the Saiyans tried to strip her of her dignity a little more. Like they hadn’t done it enough already.

She followed as they were led in a back room, with dancers in laser cages and machine robots chatting each other up. It looked so futuristic, but how could the future be like this? She always liked thinking that the future wouldn’t have problems like this. But it seemed she was wrong. Slavery was even more common in this futuristic city than it was bad on Earth. At least as far as she could tell. Maybe her position of privilege in her home planet stopped her from seeing how bad it was. She had a few run-ins as a teenager, but Goku had always protected her from the ‘bad guys’ before something happened. Except for this time, that was.

“…” She didn’t say anything when the slave bumped into her just as she tried sitting in one of the chairs. For a moment, she thought it’d be a good distraction, but she could see Vegeta staring at her. It wasn’t until a moment later, when he began looking across the club, did she see her opportunity. She took a step back, and then another, and turned and walked straight into the crowd.

As soon as she felt she was far enough away, her walk increased to a run. She hurried, and the voices of everyone around her as well as the music prevented her from hearing the beeping on her collar start and slowly begin to increase in frequency the further she went. She managed to get outside the bar, and she thought she’d surely be home free. But in the middle of one of her strides, a strong zap enough for her to nearly fall and certainly stop what she was doing ran through her body, starting with her neck. Th… The thing was a shock collar! She grabbed at it and tried to remove it, but to no avail. She glanced over her shoulder at the door to the club, and decided it was worth it.

Despite the painful shock, she kept running, still grabbing at her collar to try and get it off. She didn’t really care where she ran, she just did- bumping into people and tripping over things in the process. The shock increased in intensity again, making her yell out in a way that had people turning heads. But she kept going. It wasn’t until four increases in shock that she finally dropped onto the ground and clawed at her collar, no longer able to force herself through the pain. She didn’t even know how far she’d actually gotten from the club, and at that point, she didn’t even care. Not about that, or the people staring at her as they walked by, or the occasional people stepping on her from just being too focused on their destination. 

* * *

His POV

It was about that time: his _little slave_ was going to make a run for it. He’d known it was bound to happen from the moment he let her slip from the hotel door. It was only a matter of her finding what she assumed was an opening. Vegeta had been aware and ready for it. However, the moment the girl began slipping out of his peripheral vision and into the shadows, he let her go. That’s what the shock collar was for.

He had to admit, she impressed him with her skills of observation. It’d been a golden opportunity. His sight had been turned and his men were busy stuffing their faces once trays of steaming food arrived. He’d actually not seen her disappearing act. One moment she was there, a sip of his drink later, she’d disappeared. It was even more impressive the longer the minutes waned on. The prince suspected at some point she’d be back by his side, demanding him remove the collar with that lashing tongue of hers after experiencing a few unpleasant shocks. But no, she didn’t return. After a while he realized he may have to go and track her down.

His men lifted their heads from their inhaling of food and drink, caught in surprise when Vegeta lifted from the table, but they soon returned to the annihilation of their meal. Nappa was already ordering a second course. His nose to the air, the prince vanished into the shadows of the bouncing club. His little earthling really couldn’t escape him. Past the rolling smoke of cigars and burning oil, the scent of bodies writhing upon one another, he could sense it. The faint aroma that he’d come to recognize so well. It lead him right out of the club door.

Just how far could she of gotten? Her power level was minimal at best; the shock of the collar must have been a jolt to her system. Her scent trailed along the city streets. The prince lifted into the air for a better view. And then a few blocks away, he saw her. His little blue earthling lay clawing at her bonds. No one dared to stop, knowing full well that she was a slave on the run. The selfish civilians treated her as something to be stepped on. His brow darkened. _No one should step on something that belonged to him_ ; _something he was in a perpetual battle with_. The closer he floated, the more the electric shock buzzing from the blinking silver died away. 

“I think that’s far enough.” The prince wasted no effort in picking her up by the arm, catching her by the waist. Her body was shaking, he could feel it. The electricity was seeping into him. He hadn’t expected her to be able to handle such high voltage.

* * *

Her POV

Her feet were jittering from the electric shock, and she was beginning to go numb as the pain continued. She had been electrocuted plenty of times when she worked on things in the lab before, and she did love technology. Maybe it’d be good for her to die this way. Getting electrocuted rather than bleeding out from her orifices after the Saiyans did whatever they wanted with her. It didn’t take long for her to come to terms with it, but then the shock level lowered. Vegeta was coming to get her. She wanted to run, but the shock was still too much and she found herself almost wishing for him to come closer just so she didn’t have to deal with it anymore.

It lowered again. And again. And then she saw Vegeta lowering down from hovering in the sky, with his dark eyes on her. She was pulled up into his arms, and yet she was too incapacitated to fight back. Or even hold herself up. She leaned against him with all her weight, her eyes wide as the electricity dissipated. Like a victim of a taser, she was unable to move, but her eyes were wide and her breathing was shallow and fast. Her neck burned. She was bound to have some kind of burn marks underneath the collar.

When she began to recover the ability to move again, she grabbed the collar and tugged on it uselessly. She kicked her legs and struggled, though not with the vigor she would have if she hadn’t just endured the levels of electric shock that she just had. God damn him! As if her life couldn’t have gotten awful enough. The collars were clearly made smart- enough to incapacitate, but not to kill. As far as Bulma could tell, the ability to kill a slave would only make them more likely to make a run for it.

“Let– Gn… Let go of me…!” She whined, her heart still racing from the experience. Though she wasn’t entirely sure she could yet stand on her own. Prolonged exposure made sure of that. “Aghn… Get this… This stupid collar… Off of me…” She made her demands as if she weren’t in the pathetic situation she was in, and yet meant it all the same. She knew the moment that she saw it that it wouldn’t be any good, but to have it shock her of all things… She really was no better than a dog in their eyes. Her hatred only grew. If not for the jittery adrenaline running through her system, maybe she would have started to cry again. Instead, she only imagined finally ridding the universe of the three monsters.

* * *

His POV

Her fighter’s spirit never ceased to amaze the prince of Saiyans. Here, when he’d been sure he’d have to drag her lifeless body back to the club and wait for her to reclaim consciousness; she was already mustering up the strength to try to slap her way free from his gasp. Not that that was going to happen any time soon. The girl was putting up a pathetic excuse for a fight, even by weakling standards. Not that he didn’t welcome the small tussle, though. It appeared that the collar had done its duty after all. It’d tamed down the woman’s fortitude, if just by a fraction.

“Will you be still! You god damn idiot..! You’ll only end up damaging yourself further.” The woman’s hands were the first thing he pinned down, grabbing both of her wrists into one of his gloved hands; followed by taking hold of her waist with his other arm. They were high in the air in no time, the city blinking and shifting below like rivers of metal dots.

“Could you really not feel the shock? ...or are you just that stupid!” Stubborn was more like it, and Vegeta knew it, but he wasn’t willing to admit that. She’d run as far as she could, further then most slaves would. During her struggling against his floating frame, the prince’s eyes trailed her face and over the collar she so desperately tried to remove. He could see the blooming pink hues of burnt flesh bordering the silver band around her neck. She’d burnt herself trying to escape. He wasn’t expecting her to go that far. The prince was doing his best to not inwardly congratulate her endurance; he was too fed up for that.

Their feet never touched the ground, not until the club’s vibrating beats rattled the air. He’d carry her in this time, past the bouncer and right back to their table. Only this time, he wasn’t letting her go. Raditz and Nappa both shot their prince and his captive odd looks. The girl looked unhappy, but that wasn’t unheard of. What was unexpected was to witness Vegeta sit back in his chair and insist that the female sit on his right thigh. Cupping her waist firmly with one hand, he refused to let her escape. The girl had damaged herself and forced him to leave his seat. Two things he wouldn’t allow a second time. He wasn’t about to let her have an open window again. Not so easily.

* * *

Her POV

She scowled at Vegeta when he pinned her wrists and forced her to stop pushing back against him. It’s not like she could do much about it, though. She was lifted in the air and stubbornly stared down at the scenery below while she wished she could give him ten times the pain he put her through. Her nose wrinkled when he decided to speak, asking about the shock she felt. Feh. There were more important questions she wanted to hear answered.

“How did it know when I was far enough away from you?” Her eyes went back to him, narrowing. Surely there had to be something on him. Maybe it worked by sensing ki like her dragon radar sensed the energy put off by the bulbs, but she doubted it. How would it be that specific? There had to be something on him. Maybe a little remote that doubled as a sensor, something to that extent. She at least knew it was on Vegeta; it was with him that the shocks ceased, and she didn’t see either of the other two Saiyans around.

Even when they lowered to the ground, Vegeta still carried her. It was humiliating, especially since she’d caught her breath and her heart was no longer beating to insane degrees. She was fine, and he needed to let her go. But he refused, and even when he got back to the club and sat down, he forced her to sit on his lap. Another little humiliation to add to the list of reasons why she’d get her revenge in the worst ways she could imagine.

The shock had made her forget all about the shoe. She was more focused on how angry she was at the three rather than how upset she was at the fact her planet was long gone. Her eyes wandered to the large bounty of food in front of them, and she grabbed a large leg of meat–some kind of poultry?–in front of her, before taking an aggressive bite. She couldn’t eat when she was upset, but she could certainly eat when she was angry. 

* * *

His POV

He didn’t give her an answer. The prince wasn’t about to give away secrets that would lead to the girl trying to get away in his sleep. She’d suspected correctly though. The device that’d lead her to her freedom was right under her nose, almost literally. Hidden away under the tight fabric that covered Vegeta’s chest was a small, paper thin sheet of metal, like a dog tag, hung around the man’s neck. If she wanted it, she’d have to fish it off the Saiyan somehow.

The prince was a little surprised to feel the lack of struggle from the female once they’d sat down. Was she actually going to mind her place for once? Of course not. Instead, the girl decided to act as if that collar around her delicate neck held no meaning, and dug into the Saiyan’s food as if she’d been entitled to it. There was one thing the blue earthling hadn’t learned yet about the company she was in. Never take food from a Saiyan.

Three pairs of white hot eyes burned directly at her; particularly Nappa and Raditz from across the table. Their lips curled up, displaying their large canines and incisors. Both Nappa and Raditz had already laid claim to their own portions of the bounty. It was unspoken Saiyan cultural law. The only one that’d get away with something like that was Vegeta himself. Bulma may have gotten her brave up around the men now and again, but to them she was still a slave, and it was not a slaves place to be picking at the food of a warrior.

“Mind your place, slave,” the prince barked darkly in her ear, snapping the leg of meat from her grasp and biting into it for himself. Tilting his head back, he finished off his second drink. If the earthling was going to run away like a slave, he’d treat her like the slave she was supposed to be. She hadn’t earned her food, thus was getting little pity from the prince after the stunt she pulled. Glowering at her as he leaned back in his seat, the soft murmur of a growl radiated from his chest. Then, the hand at the girl’s waist smoothly groped down the line of her waist to her hip bone.

Once Vegeta took control, the two other saiyans went back to swallowing up the prime cuts of meat, leaving the vegetables until they really had to eat them. All the commotion the woman sitting on the prince’s lap had made was gaining some attention. A large rhino looking alien across the way was staring her down from behind a black visor. His table filled with dog faced and dinosaur-esc men. All of them were wearing what was supposedly ‘cool’ and ‘in style’ on their planet, but looked more like bikers wear. They were colorful, sleek, but threatening.

* * *

Her POV

She had seen enough growling and showing of teeth by these idiots by now that it didn’t faze her. She bit into the leg of meat again, until Vegeta growled in her ear and took the food from her. She was about to fight for it, but the moment he bit into it, she decided she had better things to do than try to earn back something he’d gotten his dirty saliva all over. She glanced at the meat on the table again, but the Saiyans were going through it fast enough she figured she might end up losing a hand by trying to reach for something else again.

She crossed her arms tightly instead, looking at anything but the three stooges. Except ‘till Bulma felt Vegeta’s hand slowly lowering down. His grip had softened, and she took it as an opportunity to slap the hand away from her. He was lucky enough she was tolerating sitting on his leg, at least for the time being. A short, aggressive snort of air came from her nose, coupled with an expression that proved looks can kill.

She turned her head away from the damn monkey again, to find an alien that looked like a rhino staring at her from the next table over. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was up to and keep eye contact with him for a little, even while her lips pouted and her jaw stayed tight. It was the outfit again, wasn’t it? She hated that stupid thing. She wasn’t something to be ogled at, unless it was on her own terms. And she didn’t feel like being stared down by a rhino.

“Gn…” She broke her gaze and grumbled about the outfit under her breath, going back to glancing at the food at the table. They were bound to be getting a new batch of meat any moment now, she’d just steal again. Even if she only managed a bite before Vegeta took it away again, it’d be something. 

* * *

His POV

The girl’s manageable temper wasn’t working for her by any means; it was only reminding the saiyan why he enjoyed keeping her around. The way she clenched her jaw, the strength she displayed. It was bewitching the prince into a concentrated stare. Her huff of air was met by Vegeta’s own soft grunt, communicating with her like an animal. He knew she hated his hands roaming over her skin, that she had no intentions of acting the slave, but he wasn’t all too happy when she removed his hand either. His fingers found refuge on her belly the second time around.

When she turned her head, the prince’s eyes roamed over her bare shoulders, noting how the sheer fabric fell across the line of her back. Further still, his eyes fell on her backside, it resting so warm and comfortably on his thigh. His distracted state of mind was only broken when he noticed the presence of another male heading towards their table. His brow winced angrily, silently watching the new player, but he didn’t move. He wasn’t one to be intimidated in the face of an approaching threat. No, the prince kept a calm dominance.

“Nice slave you’ve got there.” It was one of the dog men from the table Bulma had been making eye contact with. The pooch was decked out with white short fur, a colorful jacket bracketed with spikes, and smoking a cigar. “Haven’t seen a humanoid like that before,” he continued. “Boss wants to buy _it_ off of you.”

“She’s not for sale. Now get lost ... _trash_.” Vegeta warned, his body flexing under Bulma’s legs. She must have felt the prince’s hand tense against her skin, tightening possessively. Both Raditz and Nappa had stopped what they were doing. Nappa had called a servant over to order drinks, and Raditz had been busy flirting with the pretty slave. Not anymore, all eyes were on the pair of males.

“Don’t think you understand,” the dog leaned in, his breath as bad as his attitude. “Boss always gets what he wants, he’s tops around here.”

The rhino must have been the equivalent of a ‘Don’. Not that Vegeta gave a shit. He’d kill them where they stood, and was about to, before the dog spoke up again. “Tell you what, how bout we play for keeps? Unless you can’t hold your liquor.”

A challenge, it was all the dog had to imply to get Vegeta’s attention. He wasn’t about to be humiliated as someone who couldn’t hold his drink. Instead, he waved his fingers at a passing slave, and she ran to get drinks. Only problem was, there were three Saiyans and six gang members. Vegeta certainly had faith in himself as a drinker.

* * *

Her POV

“Gn–!” She forced Vegeta’s hand from her belly, finding it even more bothersome of a spot than her hip. But just as she pried his hand off her, they were interrupted by one of the dogs from the table. She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the man, wondering what his problem was. And what the hell was with the get-up. It looked like something out of a movie. If he had hair on his head rather than fur, she imagined it’d likely be slicked back with grease.

Then he spoke up. About buying her, specifically. Bulma might have hated her captors, but the idea of being a sex slave to animals was far more disturbing than anything these three could throw at her. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at first, but was calmed at Vegeta telling him to piss off. While the Saiyans were busy as another servant came and dropped more food off at their table, Bulma took the honors of grabbing another leg that looked more or less the same as the one she’d originally took.

She munched on it and raised a brow as the men actually continued to talk, and then discuss a challenge. At first she was horrified at the prospect of even possibly going home with that rhino. But then something hit her. She blinked, and looked the dog up and down. If he thought he could take Vegeta in a fight, then he would have. He had to insist on another challenge to even get the possibility of winning. 

If she was given off to the rhino, she had a better chance against them, even in their numbers. At least with struggling, that did absolutely nothing for the Saiyans other than arouse them more. She chewed the meat slowly as the inner cogs of her brain worked, and she found herself hoping that she’d be handed over. At the very least, maybe she’d be able to grab whatever thing Vegeta had on him that reacted with her collar, and just make a run for it. Those men, despite looking like animals, seemed to be pretty clearly bipedal. How fast could they run? Especially when drunk.

* * *

His POV

It wasn’t hard to note the wheels turning in the little earthling’s head who sat so prominently on his lap. Once the dog faced alien dismissed to his table to relay the message of a challenge, Vegeta’s eyes trailed up the girl’s profile. She’d stolen another bite to eat - he let her have it. The prince was much more interested in watching the gears in her head turn. As to what she was concocting, he hadn’t the slightest clue, but it had to of been due to the offer on the table. The girl didn’t look all too frightened about the prospect of being owned by a hoard of animals. She must have been up to something.

He didn’t have too much time to wonder, things were getting serious, and quick. Once the Don agreed to the challenge, the six crew members pulled up chairs along the Saiyans table. A dino rested its feathery arms over the back of a chair next to Raditz, a hairless pug snarled its ugly mug next to Nappa. Nappa was all too ready to snarl back; finishing his last hunk of meat with ferocity. Just in time too, a few of the club’s slaves had made their way over. They cleared the table and set down a hefty bottle of green glowing alcohol, along with nine shot glasses.

“Last one standing gets to fuck the girl first.” The leader of the dog pack howled, amping up his men into a barrage of dark laughter.

“That won’t be happening. Now shut up and drink, you pieces of dog shit.” Vegeta snapped. One drink down, then two, the boys were throwing back their heads faster than the slaves could switch out their bottles.

“Your nuts ...if you think you can out drink Vegeta.” Raditz was already slurring, but Nappa and Vegeta looked to be doing just fine. Except the prince did get a little looser with his handling of the female. His once steady hand insisted on roaming the length of her waist. His tail was getting frisky too. The soft fur flicked against the girls calf. It wasn’t just Vegeta, though. After another drink, one of the dino faced boys leaned into Bulma’s personal space, slurping it’s lizard like tongue out and giving her a generous lick to the face. Maybe the liquor was getting to the prince, because his growl came a little too late.

* * *

Her POV

The drinks were put on the table, and Bulma quietly ate her meat as she watched and waited. Her eyes narrowed and jaw tightened when the dog that had issued the challenge in the first place howled about the winner getting to fuck her first. Like that would happen. If it did get that far, she was sure they were much more susceptible to a stab to the throat than Vegeta was. She began chewing at the bone of the leg, already working on getting it to a point for when it was needed.

Otherwise, she didn’t make a fuss. Only biding her time. That was, until Vegeta started feeling her up. She kicked his tail away and kept trying to squirm away from his grip as she focused on creating a shank out of the bone, when she felt a tongue slowly running across her face. Her eyes widened and glanced beside her to find the drunken dinosaur staring at her with bedroom eyes.

No.

She got off Vegeta’s lap, swatting away his hands, before promptly standing behind the Saiyans. They might grab her with their tails, but she could tolerate that far more than being licked by a dinosaur. She swore to God, if that was the one to be the last one standing, she’d puke on him even more than she puked on Raditz. She didn’t want to find out what a dinosaur’s cock looked like.

She spat little bits of bone on the ground as she worked to create her shank, and when she succeeded to the point where she was happy with the sharp edge she’d created, she held it to hide the point and went back to eating the meat itself. Raditz was clearly out, but Nappa and Vegeta seemed fine. Vegeta was small, though, so she doubted he could last long. It’d definitely take Nappa a little longer, but she couldn’t imagine that it’d be easy to out-drink a rhino.

Just in case, she debated what she should be doing. They’d all be drunk by that point, right? Maybe she could still make her getaway. Vegeta wasn’t wearing that much, where was the sensor bound to be hidden. She could take off his shoes and pretend to massage them to see if they were there, and then book it. If he was drunk enough, maybe he wouldn’t be suspicious of her. Because he was clearly constantly suspicious. It was obvious enough when she forced Nappa to give her that razor. She saw the look he’d given her.

* * *

His POV

The tongue happy dino got off easy - Vegeta was too busy concentrating on keeping himself as sobered up as possible, rather than bothering to punish someone for touching his property. Bulma seemed to handle it herself anyhow. Typical of the female, she never let anyone handle her for too long. The inclination of what would happen if these fuckers actually got their hands on her played into mind. Vegeta entertained the idea that she just might get away with killing these idiots, when she’d failed with his own men, if he wasn’t so damned to beat them at their own game.

He was quickly retracted from the memory of seeing the girl in action, to the dark table before him. Six gang members whittled down to four. Two of the leather toting mongrels had fallen onto the floor, one of them moaning in its own puddle of sick. Not that the Saiyans couldn’t count their losses. Raditz was barely hanging in there. Conjuring what strength he had, he downed another shot when he clearly had hit his limit some time ago.

Nappa hardly looked phased at all, except for his getting louder. A lot louder… The bald saiyan’s voice was booming over the jazzy music and right out the front door. Nappa definitely had some lungs on him, that was for sure, but even the big Saiyan was starting to sway in his spot by the time the game came down to two on two.

Two dead beats to go, and then he could take his female back to the hotel and rub one out on her. His hand subconsciously rubbed at the dog tag under his tight suit, the unfamiliar metal irritating his now sensitive skin. The drink had made him somewhat aroused, if Bulma couldn’t have been able to tell by the way he’d been handling her before. His glance finally flittered in the girl’s direction. Checking on her status, but missing the makeshift weapon she’d fashioned out of bone. The prince’s face was dusted with a soft flush of pink across his tanned cheeks and nose, his eyes slightly darkened around the edges. She was right, his size wasn’t made for drinking games, but the prince had a strong will, and he was using it to its fullest potential. He wasn’t about to let some horned faced dead beat take the earthling he’d fought for so many times; he was determined.

And then it happened. The last two losers of the gang hit the table, one right after the next, followed by Nappa’s big head. Vegeta seemed to be the last one standing. Satisfaction would have been wafting off of him if he wasn’t trying to hold himself upright. But it wasn’t over yet. The Rhino stormed over, and he was downright pissed off. Knocking one of his own men out of their chair, he planted himself at the table, yelling at the top of his lungs, “I want that female!”

* * *

Her POV

She wiped her face with her arm when she finished with the bone, and simply held it behind her back as she watched the game go on. It was entertaining, at least, to watch the men start puking and moaning from excess drinking, one by one. Over her. If she hadn’t been through what she had, she might have found it flattering. She at least still found it funny enough to smirk a little.

The smirk faded when Vegeta took a look at her, and she made a moderate attempt to look innocent. Not like the bone was for him, but if he saw it, he might as well think that. But he seemed too drunk to take notice of her being suspicious, and instead just kept rubbing something under his shirt. …Was it there? She hoped it wasn’t taped to him, or worse yet, a chip under the skin. It was certainly possible; her birth control could be felt under her arm if you knew to search for it.

The game went on, and the last lackeys dropped. Nappa dropped as well, but that wasn’t the important part– Vegeta was still up. It was a little disappointing, but she could still work it out to her advantage, somehow. Especially in that drunk state he was in. Maybe she could get him to take all those clothes off and–

She was jerked out of her thoughts by the rhino’s booming voice. Huh. So she might just get given to them, after all. She stepped around to the side of the table, no longer caring about the incapacitated lackeys since they could no longer try to sexually assault her, and watched the two. It was obvious who the winner would be. Vegeta seemed mostly to be hanging on by a thread. The rhino was just beginning. She just had to worry about whether or not the bone would pierce the thick skin of a rhino.

Well. Hopefully the first one to grab her before she made a break for it wasn’t the rhino. Luck hadn’t been on her side lately, but maybe for once, she’d have something going for her. He had other lackeys, clearly, still watching while smoking cigars as their boss took control. Or maybe if she just went for the rhino’s eye in the same way she’d gone for Vegeta’s before…

* * *

His POV

It was coming down to the wire. The big wrinkly faced Don looked more like a big grey blur with a dribbling lip, rather than a threat to the Saiyan. Vegeta’s scowl only worsened, fully aware that he was at the end of his rope when it came to hanging onto any form of sobriety. But backing down was not an option. Even if the Rhino was taking full advantage of the situation, it’d only make beating him into the ground and fucking his woman later all the more gratifying.

“You honestly think you can defeat me? I am the prince of all Saiyans! When this is over I’ll be feasting on your innards!” He was getting brave. Standing from his seat, he clenched his fists, restraining the need to punch the thug. Vegeta was so enthralled with making himself known, spitting ferociously at the Don, that he hadn’t noticed the pack of wolves closing in on the female behind him.

“Show me what you’ve got, little man,” roared the Don, and the game began again. Both of the men stood to their feet, grabbing for their drinks and downing shots in record time. It was about then a pair of claws hooked around the earthling’s arms, pulling her back into someone’s lap. It was dino like creature. Its large talons made sure that the female wasn’t going anywhere, well, until she was passed over onto another lap, this time another dog that was more like a Doberman then anything. It’s long pink tongue panting at her cheek, while its hands went for a solid grab of her barely clothed breast.

“Hey there pretty mama’, how about a lap dance for your new owners.” The dog laughed, confident that Vegeta was going down. Another gang member slid its hand under the girls chin, forcing her to lean her head back for a better inspection of her face. 

“She’s soft, too. What do you bet she’s a screamer,” interjected a random thug. She was being passed around, fondled, and more than one of their laps had a hard on. It wasn’t looking good.

Meanwhile, fists were about to fly at the prince’s table. The Don had started rattling off ‘How he was going to enjoy fucking his newest toy’, and the prince retaliating with ‘touch her and I’ll rip your limbs off and beat you over the head with them’. It was then Vegeta finally hit his limit… The prince didn’t care about the challenge anymore, his vicious teeth were out for blood. His fist raised back, his teeth snapped, and he went flying over the table and towards the big Rhino with a kai blast in hand. A massive chunk of the Don’s shoulder was blown away, like chunky rain.

* * *

Her POV

She’d been growing fed up with being pushed around, licked, and fondled. There were even more of them than there were of the Saiyans, and she was beginning to wonder if it’d be as easy to get away from them as she originally thought. Thankfully, Vegeta was on her side, even if he didn’t really mean to be. In the way that benefited her the most, at least. When his anger caused him to blast off a chunk of the rhino’s shoulders, all but one dog with the face of a pit bull rushed at the Saiyan.

There were a lot of them, and Vegeta was drunk. Was it any wonder that they were able to pin him down and start biting and scratching him like they were? Then, she saw it- with a thrown piece of fabric from his clothing, went flying dog tags. Blinking, and clearly belonging to the collar that he’d forced on her.

Bulma wasted no time at all. She held the bone in the proper way you’d hold a shank, and went straight for the unsuspecting dog’s throat. Unlike Vegeta, he didn’t brush it off. He yelped in pain only for a short moment before he couldn’t do more than try to cover the gushing wound. It was traumatic to see, but adrenaline had her in its grasp and she had no time to stop and watch and think about how she never knew that much blood could spurt that far.

She dropped the bone and ran for the dog tags and picked them up, but didn’t stop. She kept doing, booking it as fast as she could out of the club. People were turning their heads at the commotion, but no one stopped her. She got out the club, and kept running, still expecting a shock. But nothing came. It worked! It worked! It really was the dog tags!

She managed further than she did the last time, passing windows of strippers and stalls selling sex toys and large stores that were clearly casinos. She ran far enough to even reach the less shady part of the city, where more children could be seen and the casinos gave way to supermarkets. It was only then that she skidding into an alleyway and dropped onto her butt to catch her breath and relax her burning legs after such a long run.

Maybe she was safe this time. She looked over the dog tags, trying to figure them out. Were they a key? Certainly there had to be a way to get this stupid collar off. She eventually found a slot that they fit in, and with a small ‘click,’ the collar opened. Bulma let out a breath of relief and rubbed her neck, only to be reminded of the light burns on the skin. Her eyes turned down to the collar, and she got up again to toss it in one of the trash cans in the alley, along with the dog tag. There was no way she was letting anyone put that on her again.

* * *

His POV

There was blood everywhere. Vegeta had taken to beating the Don’s face in before the pack of dogs pried him off of their leader. The rhino’s head now a gurgling purple mess of broken horn and imploded brains. Now with their leader’s face all over the floor, the gang didn’t hold back. They had to reap revenge for their Don! Tooth and claw ripped into the prince, shredding into his clothing and tearing at his hardy flesh. They weren’t so tough, the prince easily blasted a few of them into pieces of flying gut and bone, but it was hard to take on so many when his head was pounding and the ceiling was spinning.

Raditz and Nappa jumped up just in time to see the blue little earthling they’d pushed around so easily, turn one of the gang members into a blood rich fountain ...with a …was that a bone turned into a shank? The two soldiers didn’t have time to stare for long before the dogs were on them. They barreled into the fray without ever reaching full consciousness. Be it blacked-out or awake, their warrior nature kicked right in and the two large men started pulling the beastly aliens off their prince, blasting them away into beams of light before the brawl was done. 

By the end of it there was nothing left aside the scattered body parts and splashes of blood that painted the walls. The servants had ran for their lives, and anyone left in the pent house had done their best to escape the club without being pulled into the fight - not all of the bi-standards had made it out alive. There was no sign of the living other than his two moaning soldiers. Nappa was looking for foes that weren’t there and Raditz was holding his throbbing head. There was no one in the prince’s vision …there was no Bulma.

She wasn’t dead was she? It hadn’t all been for naught?! The prince tried to regain his swirling senses. He could hear his heart in his ears and the world was as a spinning blur, but still, his mind raced to collect himself. His hand felt over his chest ...his bare chest. Shit. The dog tag was gone, and by the looks of it, so was the girl. At least that meant she was probably still alive, some part of him felt relieved, but it didn’t curb his growing aggression. That little bitch had used the time to get away. If he had been in his right mind, he may have pieced together the obvious, and realized that’s what she had been after all along. But the only thing going through the princes’ head was how to get her back.

The drunk and staggering trio pushed their way out of the bar, much to the owner’s relief (but unhappy about the giant mess they’d made of their best customers). Vegeta’s grumpy and gurgled voice ordered his men to stay alert, but that was better said than done. It was hard enough for him to pick up the girl’s trail. The world had stopped moving, but his senses were dulled down to numbness. It’d be almost impossible to find her like this. He debated leaving her to her fate and returning to the hotel. More concerned with himself then anything. Let her find her death, he thought. But some part of the Saiyan egged him on to find her, and he hated that he was listening to it.

  



	9. Bloodthirsty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last time we left off our captive and predator had been separated. Will Vegeta find Bulma again, or will something else find her first? Is this finally her means of escape?

  


Her POV

Once she had thrown away the collar, Bulma continued down the street at a brisk pace, although she wasn’t running like before. What was she supposed to do now? She didn’t have money, so she couldn’t buy a place to stay or new clothes to wear. She didn’t want to get into more trouble by stealing. But she couldn’t just keep roaming the streets, that wouldn’t do her any good.

Women with their children were gawking at her and covering the eyes of their sons or daughters, but Bulma continued on. Maybe she could steal a pod, or any other kind of spacecraft, and just get out of there. It was then that Bulma realized just how lost she was. It wasn’t so obvious when she was just trying to escape horrible men that did horrible things to her, but for the first time where she had some room to breathe and think about her plan of action now that she was free…

She didn’t know what to do.

Even if she got onto a ship, where would she go? She couldn’t go back to Earth, it was destroyed. Or at least what she knew of it. She kept walking, her eyes turned up to the sky to all the flying cars, airships, and spaceships hovering overhead. Maybe she should just stay on the planet. Make money by being a mechanic. Her luck seemed be turning up, too, because when her eyes lowered, they landed on what looked to be a car garage nearby.

Curiosity and hope got the best of her, and she headed in its direction. She might not be dressed to impress, but she had skills to prove she could do her work, if they didn’t believe her. Though by the look on the faces of the workers, it might take a lot of convincing. She must have looked truly ridiculous. Burn marks, a silly get-up, and splatters of blood on her, with her cheeks still dirty from tears earlier in the day.

“Are you guys looking for any openings? I could use a… A job.”

* * *

His POV

No matter where the trio turned, whatever winding alleyway Vegeta insisted on leading them, there was no sign of the girl. At some point Nappa had collected the courage to tell his prince to call it a night; it must have been the alcohol in the big bald man’s system. To Nappa’s luck and Vegeta’s dismay, when the prince went to take a swing at his soldier he missed, and that’s when reality hit him. He couldn’t even hit the giant target in front of him, let alone track down someone who shouldn’t of even been worth his time. He was no one’s dog, he wasn’t about to go running after some female. He’d find her, but not like this, he had standards.

As soon as they returned to the hotel, Raditz lost it all over the lobby floor. He’d been holding it in all night, afraid to show a weak stomach in front of the other two men, but as soon as comfort came into view his stomach contents went everywhere. Glowing green and smelling of rancid meat.

Rays of pink and pale orange streaked into the hotel room. There was no sign of the girl, not that he’d expect her to return, but there was still a sense of disgrace and shame that went with knowing he’d lost her so easily. To let a slave slip from between his fingers when he’d been so aware of her intentions. He’d let his guard down and his pride was hinging on taking her back, if only for the principle of the thing. No, there was more to it than that. He’d wanted her to win at some level but not to lose her completely. It was confusing, and his tired head didn’t want to deal with it. Instead, he gave into his anger - the part of him that hoped that she’d be dead before he found her.

His head sunk into his pillow, looking more dead than alive. The prince’s body fell limp but his mind wouldn’t let him rest. To be bested by a slave, if he could even call her a slave after knowing what she was capable of… he would have been impressed in any other circumstance. He felt more disrespected then anything, and his oncoming hanger wasn’t helping that fact. Luckily though, sleep overpowered him soon enough. The wounds and bite marks could be cleaned up when he regained consciousness. The room was a mess anyhow. Raditz hadn’t made it to his bed, passed out in the floor, and Nappa had blacked out before either of them, but at least the big lug had made it into his sheets.

* * *

Her POV

They laughed at her, at first, but an elderly man with dark blue skin and bug-like wings on his back shushed them. He didn’t give her a job, but he gave her proper clothing that was apparently his granddaughter’s. She kept the bikini set as underwear, but over it she got to wear a cute set of khaki shorts and a gray zip-up jacket with the garage’s logo on the back. Since she was the one in control now, she had no problem showing off a little bit of the see-through fabric and bikini underneath the jacket. Even a cute plain black choker to cover the burn marks.

The old man and his family gave her a place to bathe, fed her and tried to get her to go to sleep after applying cream to her burn marks, but she couldn’t help but think this had begun to play out similarly to before. Even after they tried to get her to sleep on a nice guest bedroom above the shop, she ended up going down and fixing up whatever was left in the garage to fix. It took her about half the night after spending the first hour or two learning about these alien machines, and for the rest, she just tinkered around with one of the dingy, old cars collecting dust in the corner of the garage. 

It felt like home, and the old man was pleased and surprised to see it when he woke up the next morning. He paid her for what she’d done. A good amount, ‘worth three month’s pay’ according to him. She couldn’t tell how much or little the foreign currency was, but she took his word for it. But something told her not to linger long. Vegeta hadn’t come around yet, and as far as she knew he was mauled by dogs, but…

She had a bad feeling.

She asked for some parts and tools for the road, and showed the old man how to make a capsule when she used the things he’d given her to make a few of them. She pocketed the capsules with the tools and materials inside and even got a ship for the road, free of charge for sharing the valuable secrets of her father’s invention.

She wasn’t sure where she was going, even when she got in the ship and lifted off, taking to the sky. Maybe after she had the feeling that Vegeta wasn’t coming for her anymore, she’d come back.

* * *

His POV

The last thing the prince remembered were splatters of blood, a lot of blood … he’d been fighting, there’d been a contest, and ah that’s right, he’d killed a gang of men, and… and his slave had slipped right through his fingers. Vegeta shot straight up from his dreary hotel bed; a look of vengeance still permanent in his features. His headache told him exactly what he needed to know - it hadn’t been a dream, he’d really lost her. Even with his high metabolism, the claws of his hangover dredged through his body. His men were still asleep - good. The prince didn’t feel like the company of his men, of anyone. After stepping on Raditz' tail, that was lying so limp in the floor, he disappeared into the bathroom. The long haired soldier yelped to life, waking Nappa, who sat straight up with, “That bitch, she still owes me a blow job!”

The warm healing waters felt good over his beaten skin, washing away the shame of the night before. Vegeta was focused on taking care of himself, convinced that he didn’t give a shit where the female was. He depicted her lying dead in a gutter somewhere, or bleeding out under some male that’d likely caught her. Though the idea of some other male beating into her, using her up, didn’t set well with the prince. Grinding his teeth, he nearly broke off the shower faucet under the pressure of his fingertips.

He was going to kill her. The little female had shamed him. The prince was going to find her, and kill her himself. That would rid his mind of her once and for all. Then he could leave this planet and return to life as it was, maybe he’d even purge this planet for good measure. It was just a matter of tracking her down, which shouldn’t be insanely difficult. Her scent still lingered in the room and the trail she’d left when running from the club would take some time to wash away. Besides, just how far could she of actually of gotten? It wasn’t exactly like she had means of transportation last time he checked. Her style seemed to be more aimless running then anything.

He left the hotel without a word to his men. Nappa and Raditz knew the look in Vegeta’s eye, the one that meant ‘don’t follow me’. It didn’t take him long to pick up her spiced scent, he never even had to leave the hotel floor. The female’s aroma struck him like a lightning bolt. Was she close? What the fuck was the little bitch doing back at the hotel? It was too good to be true and Vegeta knew it, but he wasn’t about to pass up a lead. The trail lead him past the public domain of the hotel, deep into the inner workings of its cogs and gears, and straight to a little droid with a house keeping cart.

It didn’t take much threatening to get the droid to answer him. It was a garbage droid, and that’s when Vegeta realized what the fuck was going on. The scent, it wasn’t just the girl’s, it was the smell of reeds and dirt, of sweat and mud, it was her god damn clothing. The same he’d had thrown out. The memory felt like a kick to the gut. He wasn’t sure why, but he was damned to track down those god forsaken shoes before anything else. Pushing it out of his mind wasn’t working; it only made him feel shittier then before. If finding her fucking shoes would bring him a little peace, that’s what he’d do. Besides, they’d make the perfect tracking tool.

* * *

Her POV

It was only an hour or so after she left that her sleepiness finally caught up to her. She parked her car in a parking lot of some nice-looking store and slept there with all the doors locked and hoped she wouldn’t be bothered. To her surprise, she wasn’t. She slept for a couple hours, and while it wasn’t enough to truly feel rested, it was something. It’s not like she’d be able to sleep longer, anyway. She found that instead of dreaming about Yamcha and the life she used to had, her dreams were instead nightmares about the Saiyans.

After the rest, she got out of her ship and headed into the store. She had money this time around; she could buy things. And that she did. She bought clothes, mostly. It’s not like she could wear one outfit forever. She bought new pairs of panties, new shirts, new pants, jackets, and… Shoes. She got a pang just recalling the old shoes she’d lost. None of the shoes in the store even looked remotely similar. Like a sign telling her to move on.

She went so far as to even buy a dresser to keep all the clothes in, ignoring the mumbling of someone helping her move the dresser to the front about her having nowhere to put it. She bought it, capsuled it all (much to the horror and surprise of everyone near the front lanes), and headed back to her car with barely a dent in her earnings. Still no sign of the Saiyans. She still felt nervous, and went back into the store to find a scouter. It was a good thing that it seemed to sell everything, because they did have one. She felt a little more like herself when she was able to grab the cute pink-and-white one. 

She turned it on, and after having so much exposure, particularly when she fiddled with Raditz’s before, that she was able to recognize enough of the alien letters and numbers to find the dots of the three Saiyans. All still somewhat close to each other, far away. What was it? The… The hotel, she assumed. She wasn’t happy that they were alive, but they weren’t coming for her. Did they think she was dead?

She made her way back into her ship and took to the air again, making a note to stay clear of those dots, wherever they were to move. And the largest one–Vegeta’s–was on the move somewhere. 

Whatever, she was getting hungry. Did they have coffee shops on this planet?

* * *

His POV

There was no way. No how that he was going to go down a garbage shoot. Not a chance in hell. He was the god damn prince of all Saiyans! One of the most powerful and feared beings in the universe! Vegeta stood at the top of a long drop, looking down the face of a metal wall that lead into a dark abyss. The trail of the woman’s scent had gone cold as soon as it’d lead him towards the edge of the industrial side of the city. That’s when long tubes and miles of wiring began guiding him under the city streets. Sparks and grimy droids were busy at work keeping the city running where no one could see them. He’d followed the light perfume of her clothing all the way here, to the beginnings of the city’s garbage disintegration systems.

“God damn it!” He took a breath then jumped right in, free falling down through the smelly wind until the soft glow of the world below grew into view. His feet never touched the ground, instead, he hovered. There was no way he was going to stay down here longer then he had to. The screech and hum of cogs and gears bled through his ears. The large machinery pounded, churning around every muggy, steamy, humid corner. It was hot, the oxygen level little to none, and the intense stench was burning his sensitive nose until his eye watered.

There were giant rail carts of trash, brown muck bubbling out of drain pipes, and heaps of scrap metal piled in every direction. The garbage hole under the city was massive, flickering with fire and bellowing with smoke. All of the city’s garbage was being funneled into a single spot by the hard working droids to an incinerator. This planets incinerator wasn’t like Earth’s - fire wasn’t needed. It was a massive laser cannon pointed directly down at a conveyor-belt below, zapping portion after portion of garbage into little more than dust flakes. The prince hadn’t been kidding when he said the planet didn’t hang onto its trash for long. He knew there was little chance he’d find what he was looking for in the endless mess, but it wasn’t about to stop him.

Every time the prince thought he was coming to his right mind, the voice in the back of his head that called him an idiot for even being there, he was pulled straight back into his mission by his own stubbornness. He hadn’t come this far to give up now, and damn if he was going to leave empty handed. But there was no sign of the hotel’s trash, no lead on her scent; it was like finding a needle in a hay stack. He couldn’t exactly blast his way through without risking burning what he was looking for.

It was no wonder when the second hour passed that he was still looking. Just when he thought he’d have to give up and bite into the rotten taste of yet another defeat, something whispered past his nose. It was faint; more of a memory then a smell, but it definitely got his attention. It was her, even in this burning hell, he could smell her. And then there they were on top of a garbage portion and heading right for the cannon’s fire. The cannon powered up with a bright light, buzzing with static electricity; the prince didn’t have a second to lose. Darting through the opening of the conveyor-belt, he zoomed right past the cannon fire with little more than the singe of his tail.

Back in the city’s limits, the smelly prince waltz right up to the hotel desk as proud as ever. His head held high and his face grim despite the looks of disgust he was getting.

Slamming the dirty pair of earthling shoes viciously on the counter he demanded, “Clean these up, and if you so much as loose a string off of them, I’ll burn this planet down until there’s not even an asteroid left to put on the map.”

And then he disappeared, heading back to his room for a shower or two. The stench that followed him was certain to run the other two Saiyans out of the room as soon as they got wind of him.

* * *

Her POV

She couldn’t help but keep looking back at the dots on her scouter to check where they were, even as she flew through the sky. They never went too far from their location, but they still hadn’t left. Wouldn’t they have gone to another planet by now? She had hoped so. Then she could really relax and think of what she should do in the long-term.

She eventually found a little shop in a less industrial part of the large planet that looked like what a coffee shop on Earth looked like. She doubted it’d be exactly the same, but she was at least curious. She parked her car again and got out, heading straight for the shop. It smelled similar, even with the pastries. Maybe living in this planet wouldn’t be so bad.

This time, she hung around, even after ordering a random thing off the menu and whatever pastry on display that looked best- a toasted roll with what she guessed was chocolate drizzled over it. She sat down near the window and kept track of the dots while she ate, but ended up slightly disappointed with the taste. The food was good, but it was a reminder that she wasn’t on Earth. It wasn’t coffee, even with the undertones that reminded her of pumpkin spice. It wasn’t a roll with chocolate, even if she tasted buttery crispness when she bit in. It was off, and she could tell it was off.

She felt a pit in her stomach as she realized how homesick she was, and she recalled the shoes again. She was free from the Saiyans now, maybe she could find her way back to Earth? Even if they destroyed the surface of the planet, perhaps the Dragon Balls still existed. If they did, she could wish everything to be like how it used to be. She still wouldn’t be able to wish Krillin, Roshi, or Chiaotzu back given that they’d died already, but that’s not what was important to her, anyway. She wanted her home, her family, her boyfriend. Maybe she had a shot of getting that back.

* * *

His POV

“God damn, did you smell him? Vegeta smelled like fucking shit… Where the hell do you think he went?” Raditz was questioning the older Saiyan, Nappa, as they reluctantly left their hotel board. The two had fled the room the moment their prince had returned. To their dismay, too. The pair had just ordered room service and a couple of sex bots, only for Vegeta to appear in a blind rage and demand the place to himself. Their prince wanted to be alone, and the two Saiyans were starting to suspect his odd behavior had more to do then just winning back his pride by means of finding that bitch. Their prince could be obsessive, intense, and sometimes unreasonable, but lately he’d just been acting a little …strange.

Once the room was quiet, Vegeta stepped out of the bath and away from his cleansing routine, only to find four sex bots lounging across the three uniform beds. The room smelt of fine foods and fresh meats. Normally he’d of dug right in, uncaring that it was probably ordered for his men, and rather took what he wanted, what was his given right as an elite prince… but not this time. He passed up the mechanical sound of giggling females and shoved right past the silver cart of food. He wasn’t interested. There were more pressing matters on his mind.

There was little time to find the slave he’d lost before the city’s stench ate up the last traces of her trail. He went right back to where it all started, the club, and soon enough was walking the alleyways. His walk swayed with new purpose; he was on the prowl. The various thoughts of what he’d do to the female, the many ways he could make her suffer, kill her, drowned out the noisy traffic the further the trail lead him. His pride had pangs in it whenever the vision of her face filtered through his psychotic fantasies. He hated his own driving force, yet he couldn’t stop looking for her; denying the part of him that wasn’t sure if he could kill her at all. Of course he could, that’s why he was looking for her after all.

It was faint, but he’d picked it up much easier than the night before when he’d been drunk out of his gourd. The city died into suburbs and soon Vegeta found himself looking up at what appeared to be a shop. It didn’t take long to find its inhabitants in the garage; an older, bug winged man under the hood of a silver ship. It all happened so quickly that the man barely had time to confess he’d given a ship to a young girl in exchange for her handy work, that she was long gone and out of his hands by now; insisting the Siayan leave her alone. That’s where the man made a mistake - telling the prince he wouldn’t find the female. That was the last thing the old man ever said before his blue body was blasted all over the garage.

So, she was out on her own, and in a ship. Had the old man mentioned she’d fixed up the old ship? Was she even capable of that? The bitch was clever and more resourceful then he’d anticipated. Vegeta tried to dismiss the pleased grin that wanted to tug at his lips. This was turning into a man hunt. Some aspect of the hunt boiled the Saiyan’s blood to life, lighting a fire in his chest that burst from his lips in the form of a demented growl. He took to the air and began his search again. There had to be some sign of the woman somewhere on the god forsaken planet. She couldn’t disappear entirely.

* * *

Her POV

She knew when he was getting closer. The other two stayed behind, and that meant one thing- He was looking for her. Just when she was thinking she was safe, just when she thought she’d be able to get away. She finished her roll and took the drink, heading out the door as quick as possible. He wasn’t in the best of moods, obviously- when he stopped again, a relatively nearby ki was eliminated before he continued on his way. 

She got into her ship and lifted off into the air again, heading as far out from Vegeta as she possibly could. Did she really have to be on the run again? Why couldn’t he let her go? She didn’t even technically ‘belong’ to him anymore, if she ever belonged to anyone in the first place! He lost a drinking game, killed the rhino, and she killed the man holding her and escaped. As far as she was concerned, she was free!

She locked the ship’s doors and kept the windows up, and found herself wishing there was a button to tint the windows for even more safety. She apparently wasn’t that lucky. It occurred to her that she was weaponless; a stupid move, not buying something to defend herself back at that shop. She wouldn’t go back to him willingly, to get raped and smacked around and violated all over again. Whatever was going on in his head, she was sure he was thinking that she deserved punishment. She wasn’t going to let that happen.

When she felt to be a safe distance away again, in a suburb similar to the last one but slightly shadier, she found herself another store with the same alien letters on it as the first one. A chain brand, obviously. She felt unsure about parking the ship, so this time, she used one of her capsules to hide it and went inside. She must have looked strange, buying so many weapons. A couple daggers, a proper belt to keep her weapons, a switchblade, a pistol, and a semi-automatic rifle to strap to her back. The guns lacked barrels, and it was obvious they were more guns that worked by means of sending off artificial ki. It didn’t matter to her, she just wanted to harm him. Kill him. Stop him from getting her again.

She didn’t want to harm anyone else, and decided her chances of being caught were minimized further if she found somewhere empty. She didn’t bother getting her ship out again this time, deciding by his distance and odd movement that she had enough time. She kept hurrying to where she could find any kind of field, keeping an eye on his ki.

* * *

His POV

The trail had gone cold again. By mid-day Vegeta found himself perched atop a high radio tower that over looked the scenery of suburbs below. He wanted to blow it up, to decimate every last creature that called this place home. But in doing that he’d probably blow up the female along with it, and that wouldn’t get him the victory he’d plotted out in his head. That tricky female, she’d trapped him in a horrible situation yet again. This time without even meaning to, more than likely. Did she know that he was on her trail? She must, she’d of been an idiot to think he’d let her get away with her actions. The girl was smart; Vegeta knew he’d have to be quick on his toes if he wanted to keep up with this particular form of prey.

His body dove from the tower and the prince fled into the air once again. Darting through the cooling sky and whisps of clouds, he noticed the atmosphere was changing. There was static crackling through the skyline and the building pressure was that of an oncoming storm. Whatever form of weather this planet had, it looked very similar to a thunderstorm. A big was one rolling in, stirring the wind and blacking out the bright blue sky the closer it came.

Little to the Saiyan’s knowing the girl wasn’t that far off. Just beyond the rows of houses and homesteads were large fields of purple, flourishing with whatever crop this planet grew in abundance. The oceans of purple stretched out in every direction until they met the churning horizon, the storm rumbling ominously in the distance. The only thing disrupting the ongoing color was a spark of distant silver. It was a ship, what appeared to be a crash site like something out of Earth’s 1950′s Roswell.

The silver ship was massive, abandoned, and slowly decaying with the passage of time. Its round disk like shape stuck half way out of the fields of purple. There was no door, only welcoming silence. It really appeared to be abandoned. Its winding hallways were half submerged into the ground below where the ship had begun to sink into the soft dirt. There were no guards, no signs of life, no way to know that the ship was only a cover up. Past the rusting first few rooms was a laboratory. A drug nest. It was by no means a small operation, either. There were aliens in lab coats, guards with guns, and unfortunately, security cameras being watched 24/7. Bulma may have strapped herself down with every type of weapon available but they had their artillery, too.

* * *

Her POV

When she found the start of the fields of purple crop, similar to wheat, she went straight in. She kept walking, deciding that if she could get as far as she could just in these fields, she may just lose Vegeta. He could give up on her, and she could decide what she wanted to do next. That sounded like a good enough plan. His ki had halted again, from what she could tell. But she kept going. 

She eventually stumbled across a giant spaceship, run-down and clearly unusable. But it would be a good hiding spot. She found her way inside and snuck down the abandoned hallway, but she noticed something. She’d been so busy focusing on Vegeta’s ki, but when she turned to face straight ahead, she realized there was a huge amount of ki just up ahead. This place wasn’t abandoned.

She didn’t want to kill anyone. Anyone who didn’t need to be, anyway. She killed the gang member who was holding her before she’d made her escape, and she planned to kill those three Saiyans. But anyone else didn’t deserve it. So when she heard footsteps, she hurried into a room with no dots of ki on her scouter, and hid out for the time being. What were so many people doing in an abandoned ship like this, anyway? It’d clearly been there for years, with the moss and ivy that was growing on the surface.

She quietly moved to the corner and pulled out her semi-automatic, holding it ready just in case things got bad. But if she just stayed quiet, maybe nothing would happen. She just had to wait it out until Vegeta either gave up looking for her, or found his way to her– in which case, she’d kill him. Maybe it was the sickness of the Saiyans rubbing off on her, but the idea brought her some peace. She even liked the concept of ripping off his head and bringing it back to Nappa and Raditz for them to see.

* * *

His POV

Bulma wasn’t the only one wearing a scouter. The guardsmen walking the ship’s halls were toting them too. However, with so many people on board the abandoned space ship, it was easy for the black booted men to pass her up once or twice, carrying guns of their own, similar to automatic rifles. A large creature in a lab coat with several tentacles waddled right by her too.

She seemed to go unnoticed until the scouters on one of the alien’s red faces started blinking frantically, right outside the room the girl had tucked herself away in. The alien really wasn’t expecting to find much other then one of his co-workers that’d snuck off for a nap, so when he saw a small humanoid crouching at gun point, needless to say he was more than surprised. Taking a few steps back, he aimed his gun right back at the girl.

“What- who the hell let you in here? How did you get in here?!” The guard grumbled, doing his best to cut off the humans escape route. The guard’s commotion caught the attention of a few more aliens. Their red and blue faces poked in to see what all the fuss was about. Who would have known that a pretty little thing like that had found their way into their operation? They may have had orders to kill any intruders, but how could they take down such a hot piece of ass when they could offer her a job instead. After all, she seemed to be armed and ready for action. This was obviously no ordinary humanoid from the suburbs.

“Hey, wait. Lower your weapon.” The blue faced guard pressed his suction cup fingers onto his co-workers gun, pointing it away from their stow-away.

“She’s obviously got skills if she can sneak in this far,” his attention turned to the girl. “Are you hear to steal or would you be more interested in… a job?” The offer of a job was more of a means to win her trust then to actually employ her, but the female didn’t have to know that. All the drug dealers had to do was win her trust, then they could decide what to do with her. 

* * *

Her POV

She should have known she’d be caught sooner or later. She was held at gunpoint, but with her gun held up and ready for action like it was, it was a stalemate. She didn’t want to kill him, anyway. They stayed silent and Bulma stared at him with narrowed eyes, regretful that she couldn’t focus on Vegeta’s location, as more people filed into the room as he yelled.

Eventually, someone in a lab coat forced the alien to lower his gun. Bulma wasn’t that easily tricked, though, and continued to keep her gun up. She didn’t pull the trigger, but she was ready to if anything fishy happened. Her gun’s direction even changed to land on the alien speaking to her. Offering her a job.

“…” She pursed her lips. They were all men, adult men. What good could they be up to, in a situation like this? Then again, what was she going to do if she denied them? There were a lot of them. She could mow them all down, but what’d that do? 

She lowered her gun slowly, still ready to lift it and attack if need be. She didn’t trust them, but… Hm. It could be protection from Vegeta if he found her. Or at least give her time to get away. 

“What kind of job?”

* * *

His POV

It didn’t look like this humanoid was so easily swayed. Not like the rest of the random explorers that’d fallen into their nest before her. It’d take some cunning to get this one on their side. The alien in the lab coat jumped a few feet back when Bulma aimed the gun in his direction. And after he’d offered her a job, instead of ordering the men to gun her down - he was a little vexed, but no matter, he still had a sly move or two left.

“You certainly look like you know your way around a gun,” that sounded a little too suggestive but the creature carried on after clearing his throat. “You’re pretty slippery to get past our defenses.” As if. The guard had been asleep on the job, little to the scientists knowing. “We need someone slippery to move in and out of the city undetected. Someone to make a few runs for us …or you could just stay here and tend to our men, instead.” That was it; that was what the creature was going for. His slow movements encroached in on the girl’s position until he was close enough to wrap an arm around her and give her shoulder a slimy grope.

She was being stared at like a piece of meat, again. And apparently if she didn’t do as they said and worked for them they had no problem with putting her to work in other ways. In fact, the men were closing in. Their guns pointed in her direction, smacking their slobbery mouths and shoving past one another for first dibs. That’s when one of them reached for the barrel of her gun and another went for her thighs. Before long there were multiple pairs of hands and tentacles on her. Sliding past her jacket and trying to make their way into her clothing. The idea of making the girl their new drug runner was hardly something on their mind. This was turning out to be more of a gang bang, and all eyes were on Bulma.

* * *

Her POV

She furrowed her brows when he got closer, hearing the suggestive tone in his voice. But the job sounded alright. Maybe she could lie low here for a while in return. She was about to speak up and try to haggle, when he added on that she should ‘tend’ to his men. Her eyes widened slightly, and her stomach twisted in knots when he wrapped an arm around one of hers. He wanted her to be a sex slave.

Again.

She watched the others get closer and start grabbing and fondling her, and she forgot all about not wanting to kill. Something snapped in her head. How dare he. How dare they. She wasn’t a piece of meat! They weren’t allowed to just rob their cocks and testicles all over her! She was sick of it! She wasn’t going to go back to this!

She didn’t think, she just acted. Her trigger finger pushed down, and a ki blast shot right through the hand of a sorry alien that had his hand over it. It was enough to cause the men to back up off her, but she knew at this point, she’d get killed if she hesitated. She mowed the men down, and when she had enough wiggle room, she smacked the man in the lab coat with the side of the gun as hard as she could.

She got out all her anger, shooting each man who came running to see what the problem was. Anyone still left struggling on the floor, she shot a few more times in the crotch, especially the ones who had their genitals out in the open from being so ready to gang rape her. She was sick o being treated like this. Before, she had hesitated to kill Vegeta the one time she had the chance because ‘it wasn’t her.’ But she didn’t care anymore. Absolutely not. They all deserved to die. Every single one of them!

Eventually, they stopped filing in the room. She could still see ki of men cowering in another room, and she went to go investigate. They were probably as bad as the rest of them. They’d be ready to have other women as sex slaves to rape when they saw fit. They didn’t deserve to live. She’d kill them all. Every single one.

* * *

His POV

It was an all hands on deck scenario. There were rumors flooding the ship that a police raid had taken the compound. Who would have thought so much commotion could have been caused by one little earthling that was so far from her home. The men never saw it coming. Sure, she was armed to the teeth, but with their great numbers they’d been sure they’d have her pinned to the floor and having their way with her without much trouble. Damn, were the sick bastards wrong.

The room Bulma had backed herself into soon ran thick with green and blue blood. Guts splattered out of the door way, but still more men tunneled their way down the twisting turns of the ship. Alarms were going off, flashes of red light flickering through the hall, and then the brought out the big guns. One giant alien came smashing its way through the rest of the men. Shoving them aside, he grabbed for Bulma with the intent to snap her spine.

The ship was getting unwanted attention from the outside; it’d collected the attention of the Saiyan. The numbers ran rampant on Vegeta’s scouter. He hadn’t bothered using it up until now. The girl’s signature was so weak it’d blended right in with the locals, rendering the scouter useless. However, as soon as it started blinking, alerting him that ki signatures were dropping like flies, he had to investigate. The prince didn’t care if the girl was involved or not. There was a battle going on nearby and his warrior’s instinct drove him towards it. Though …something just told him the female was involved. It just felt like the sort of trouble she’d end up getting herself into. He just knew it.

The roof of the silver ship came crashing in, rocking the entire complex. The screech and twist of metal kicked up enough dust to hide whatever had hit the ship from the gawking men inside. But then as soon as the dust cleared, there he stood with a vengeful look of malice burdening his features. He was so ready, ready to rip into that little female. The carnage and chaos around him held little distraction. Men bumped into him as they tried to run past, others aimed their bullets at his armored chest. Vegeta deflected the incoming rounds with a swing of his hand. He didn’t give a shit about them; his eyes were focused on the scene in front of him.

What he saw froze him in place.

It was her, he was sure of it. The blue wisps of hair and angry expression that only she could conjure… but she was covered in blood and smelled of ammunition. The woman hardly looked helpless, this wasn’t the slave he’d had pinned under him before. She was acting like a damn warrior, and she was killing every man that came tunneling into her direction right in front of his very eyes.

* * *

Her POV

When they still came at her, it gave her more incentive to kill them without feeling bad. She mowed down every man, until a huge alien built like a tank and only sporting a single eye, came her way. He struggled through the ki blasts from her gun enough that he managed to grab her, but it wasn’t like she would just let herself be killed there. Not when she was finally in control. One hand let go of the gun and grabbed a dagger from her belt, and drove it straight into his eye. The yell he made was inhuman, and after collecting her dagger (the eyeball with it) shortly before being dropped, she had no problem shooting him through the chest. He wasn’t human, and it was either her or him. She picked what would make her survive.

She wiped the dagger on the wall to get rid of the eyeball before she put it back in its place in her belt, and continued down the hallway with her gun. The ship was creaking in ways she didn’t like, and it was great that when she followed the few more running men there were, they led her to the outside of the ship.

Just when she landed her feet on the ground, the ship’s roof crashed down behind her, kicking up a huge wave of dust. She still shot into it blindly, knowing full well that she could only shoot terrible people. There’d be no innocent bystanders she’d accidentally be killing. But just when the dust settled and she shot the last man that hadn’t escaped into the safety of the tall crops, she realized who else was there.

She stared at Vegeta, unsure of whether to be afraid or furious. He looked surprised; did he expect her to be dead? Did he expect her to have been in the process of being violated again? No. She’d never let that happen again. She lifted her gun and shot at him without hesitation this time. Knowing better than to aim for the armor. She aimed for his face and let loose. That stupid face that mocked her and smiled every time she’d yell and scream and cry and tell him how much she hated him. She’d get rid of that before castrating him. She’d do it personally, too. A gun wasn’t enough for that. She’d have to cut it off with her bloody dagger. Then maybe she could shove it down his throat.

* * *

His POV

There were only so many expressions that a face could make. No matter where he ventured in the universe Vegeta felt he had seen them all, and on the battle field in particular. The look of vengeance, rage, fear, hopelessness, and sometimes pleasure from the act of the kill. The expression that took the girls face, he knew all too well. It was the look of someone with full intent to destroy.

He didn’t know she had it in her. The earthling had tried to end him many times before, but her hesitation had always been her down fall. Not this time, not now. The bodies strode in every direction were her testimony of survival. The blood on her hands was from the art of killing. The girl had obviously snapped, and the prince was awestruck by it.

It didn’t stop him from closing in on her, though. Pressing his brow together, his heavy footsteps marched right towards the pool of blood she’d made for herself. She’d even aimed for his head - that was a kill strike and Vegeta recognized it. He was quick though, and with a simple crane of his neck it flew right past him. Deflection after deflection of blast, nothing seemed to detour the beast. And then he really started to mov. He was booking it so fast his appearance was little more than an after image.

It was between him and the female, as it had been from the start. Her shooting at him only confirmed to him that she was worth the challenge, worth seeing this battle out to the end. He’d almost forgotten why he’d come here. It was to kill her, to rip off her pretty little head. As soon as he closed in he had her by the neck in one hand, and crunching the barrel of the gun at her side with the other. His dark eyes were bearing down at her, mixing aggression with confusion. For once the prince was hesitating to kill.

“You left. _I should kill you._ Did you honestly think you could shame a prince and get away with it?!” He sounded more like a beast then a man. The prince was furious, almost as furious as the earthling in his grasp… but not as quite. Vegeta couldn’t muster the anger he needed to kill her, as violently furious as he was. The look in her blue eyes burned with more rage then he could combat. He wanted to kill her, so badly did he want to end the turmoil in his own soul, but he couldn’t bring himself to snap her neck. Not after witnessing her fight for her life, as bravely as an equal. Not now that he had her back where he wanted her. Ending her life felt bitter sweet. The tables had turned.

* * *

Her POV

He couldn’t just leave her. He had to stalk her out, find her, torment her all over again. She was reminded that the people she’d killed were only small fry compared to Vegeta each time he tilted his head and avoided the ki blasts. She kept trying nonetheless, all the way up until he had her by the throat. All the way up until he crumpled her gun and rendered it useless.

**_“You’re only going to kill me now that I’m not crying under you?”_** She spat in his face and dropped the gun to take hold of her bloody dagger as well as her switchblade. She went for his neck with the dagger, and his wrist with her switchblade, hoping at least one of them would hit their mark. She wouldn’t be killed now that she finally felt in control of her destiny. She’d take that revenge she kept telling him about. She didn’t care about meeting Yamcha anymore, at least not at the moment. She’d live, and Vegeta would be the one to die. She’d kill him and make him regret what he did. 

Besides, she knew what’d happen if she died. He’d just violate her again. Rip her clothes off her dead body and use her as a doll. She wasn’t going to let that happen! Not when she’d come so far. She finally tasted escape. She had money, a ship, clothes, weapons– She wasn’t about to let him take it all away from her because she dared refuse to be his little sex toy. And if he wanted to bring her back, then he would get what was coming for him for even holding the thought in his head.

* * *

His POV

When she went for the blade he was ready for her this time. This wasn’t a spat like back in the pod. They were trying to kill each other. At least, Vegeta was thinking about it. He’d dodged the swing to his neck easy enough but the stab to his wrist slit open his skin, allowing his rich blood to stream down his thick arm. The warrior didn’t seem to care, smacking the blade into the grass, followed by flicking the switch blade off to the side. He was too focused on his own stormy anger and need to put the female in her place. Something was stopping him though. Confusing him. He wasn’t sure what the girl’s place was anymore.

His feelings were conflicted. Slave, survivor, warrior. The girl could be called a number of things as far as he was concerned. All of it made his lip curl, disgusted by his own faultiness to care. It was coming to the point that the prince didn’t care what she was anymore, only that she belonged to him, dead or alive. He stepped closer, forcing her back at arm’s length. The blood from his open wrist mingled with the carnage that already coated her clothing. The look in his eyes was the look of a man trying to make a decision. She’d dared to say he would kill her now because she was fighting him, was that really what she thought of him? The idea only made him angrier.

“You idiot woman! Is that what you think? That’s the only god damn reason I haven’t killed you yet!” He barked, finally dropping the girl at his feet. Whether she tried to aim for him again, he didn’t care, he was on a tangent. “I will not be out done by a little female from a nameless, pathetic speck of dirt!” He said it but his heart was hardly in it, and it was showing. “You just had to be different. You can’t mind your place. I am the prince of all Saiyans. If I want to kill you, I will kill you!” He snarled, he growled, and then he roared, “ _What the hell do you want from me, Bulma?!”_

* * *

Her POV

She got him at least on the wrist before he flicked her weapons away from her, but she only grew more frustrated. Even with how much he was bleeding, he didn’t recoil from pain. He didn’t let go of her. Her hands gripped his wrist rather than go for the pistol in vain. It was her last line of defense outside of getting creative with her weaponry– she’d have to use it wisely. She instead let him go off on his tangent after she realized he wasn’t immediately going to kill her, her lip turning upward and her nose wrinkling as he went off.

She was finally let go, and she took a few steps back to create a safe distance between the two of them. She rubbed her neck lightly and fixed her choker, but her eyes never left Vegeta’s face. She glared as he spoke, until he roared. His volume or what he said wasn’t important, but was important is what he called her. By her name. When was the last time she heard it said aloud? He’d only ever called her things like ‘little slave.’ She didn’t hate him any less, but the anger and hatred left her face if only for a second as she blinked at him in surprise.

Then it returned, if only for a lesser extent, as she glanced away for a split second to eye her switchblade in the grass. She slowly began turning around Vegeta to get to it, taking it one step at a time. She didn’t want to just rely on her pistol. She had to keep the weapons if she wanted to hurt him again.

“What do I want? I want my home back. I want my boyfriend back. I want everything you took from me back. And I want you and your stupid lackeys dead. I want to turn you into eunuchs and force you to eat and digest your own body parts before I bother slitting your throats, that’s what I want! I’m not from a nameless speck of dirt! I’m from Earth! I’m from West City! I’m someone important, and someone loved! But you had to take that away from me!” She grabbed the switchblade off the grass in one quick movement, and squeezed it tight enough in her hand that her knuckles turned white.

“So what do I want from you?! I want you to lie down and accept my revenge so I can bring your head to the other idiots!”

* * *

His POV

There was that damnable look on her face again. The one that scrunched up her nose and pouted out her lips in anger until his stomach felt like it was twisted into knots. He hated that look, which was precisely why he couldn’t turn away. Her intentions of swinging past her switch blade didn’t go unnoticed, either. Vegeta may have been completely useless when it came to speaking with women, but there was one thing he was very well versed in - the language of war tactics.

He let her slide around him, side stepping her just as she side stepped him, waiting for her to make her next attempt. Never breaking their gaze, their anger burned into one another. He listened, his ear completely tuned into every word the little earthling said. She claimed to be important but that meant little to him. It held no value in the grand scheme of the universe; the woman would have to come to terms with that. Though, her creativity when it came to how she desired to torment him did perk his interest. She could get violent when she wanted, for a second it halted his thoughts. Much like she had when he’d said her name.

He huffed out of his nose in defiance; blue kai licking its flames from his bare arms. He eyed her again just as she made her next grab for her knife. Ready for her next attack, the prince crouched in his stance; his hands before him flat palmed, ready to accept and deflect an incoming assault. He never quit their circling dance of side stepping one another. If she wanted to fight him, he’d fight her. And he wasn’t about to hold back. That would only make this fight dishonoring, pointless. If she was so damned ready to take him on, to kill him, he wasn’t about to back down from her calling him out.

“You want to fight me? Are you finally ready to kill me, _little slave_?” He prodded her, wanting to see if she possessed the ability to hold true to her threats.

“If you want my head so badly, _come and get it._..”

* * *

Her POV

They kept circling each other, and Bulma was able to grab her dagger as well. She held both weapons tight as she stared him down, her heart thumping faster than she’d ever felt it before. She hated this man. More strongly than she’d ever felt for anything ever before. Her hatred only grew every time she was forced to look at his face, every time she had to hear his voice. She didn’t think it was humanly possible, to hate something this much.

Then he said it. Told her to go ahead and try, and said that goddamn nickname again. Her eyes went wide from how furious she was, and she inhaled deeply through her nose before lunging at him. She didn’t even think about it, about how stupid of a move it was. She could have planned things better, but something went off in her head when he called her ‘little slave’ again. She was not a slave! She’d never be a slave! And she certainly wasn’t his to give pet names to!

She tried to stab him. She didn’t just go for a particular region. She kept moving her arms, over and over, trying desperately to puncture his skin over and over, with an iron grip on the two weapons she held. She could use her pistol, but that didn’t feel personal enough. She just wanted to hit him over and over and make him bleed. Make him suffer, the same way she had suffered.

* * *

His POV

He’d never seen a display of such unbridled rage. The prince met her clash head on, grabbing the girl’s body as soon as she came into his personal space. A thunder clash lit up the stormy sky, but Vegeta was hardly aware of anything other than the woman trying to aimlessly rid him of any if not all of his body parts.

By the time she’d flung herself so passionately into her attack, the prince’s arms were nicked and stabbed, running rivers of blood down his bare arms, but it was futile to aim for his chest. His heavy armor saw to it that his chest cavity remained unscathed. The only region the prince had to look out for was his face and neck, and he knew she had a bad history going for the face.

By the time he caught her wrists he’d landed on his back in the grass. The storm over head was rolling in steadily, whipping the pair of fighter’s hair wildly. The prince had had full intentions of ripping into her the moment she lunged for him, but he quickly found himself in a defensive position. It would be so easy to end her now. There was no rhyme or rhythm to her blade, but his abysmal glare still couldn’t look away. His cheek suffered a slash mark from the random hit that had gotten through while trying to grab her arms without completely breaking them. She’d shown her true colors, her will to fight, and the prince had never been so pleased to be attacked in all his violent life. It was her determination. Her spirit made it a more memorable moment then the vast expanse of battles he’d been through. He respected her.

Looking up into her brilliant blue eyes, the prince knew the battle was over. He’d over powered her, as he knew he would, but it didn’t feel like a fruitless victory. Some part of the female had won the fight. It was all over in a matter of minutes, though. The prince’s quick hand came down and slammed into the space between the earthling’s shoulder and neck, aiming to knock her out. It made her more manageable until he decided what to do with her. 

* * *

Her POV

She was doing it! Every time she forced one of the blades deep into his skin, she felt a little more prideful. A little more powerful. A little more in control. She kept swinging, making him bleed and actually at a certain point knocking him on the ground. She paid no attention to the weather or the noises around her. As far as she was concerned, it was only her, and him. She got all her anger out, swinging again and again and thrashing, feeling jittery and pleased every time she saw him bleed.

He seemed overwhelmed, and maybe she’d actually be able to stab him somewhere important and kill him. She got his cheek while he struggled to try and grab her, and even when he got a hold of her wrists, she kept struggling to force her hands downward to puncture his skin yet again. She’d get him. She’d kill him, she swore she would.

As she struggled to try and stab him again, she became slightly more aware of their surroundings. She could feel the drips of rain touch her. Nothing too intense. Just a big blotch of water on her scalp, a few seconds later one on her leg, a moment later on her opposite thigh, and so on. It was background noise, and when he let go of one of her hands, she tuned it out to raise her arm up and force it down again, aiming for the eye with the full intent to force it in so far that she stabbed his brain.

She didn’t get that far before Vegeta whacked her and caused her to lose consciousness. She was knocked over onto her side and off of Vegeta so quickly that she didn’t even have time to be angry about passing out before she could properly enact her revenge.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I think our prince just may be seeing more to Bulma than just a slave, what do you think? I love the confrontation in this chapter but I have to say - in my opinion, the confrontations only keep getting better from here


	10. Suicide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is the confrontation over? Or had it barely begun. Just how far will Bulma go to escape the evil Saiyans? Will Vegeta finally push her too far? Many buttons will be pushed in this chapter, and maybe just a few sparks will fly.

  


His POV

He was littered with wounds. There was some sort of pride in that. Maybe it had been the way the woman had stared him down. Vegeta knew she was enjoying taking her kill. Driving her knife into his flesh, burning him with a new sting from her blade. Where it would have disturbed most, it only tamed down the Saiyan’s previous rage. There was some sort of release budding off of her presence with every swing, and he was the object of her strife. She’d finally become the survivor he saw hiding behind her piercing glares. She was becoming a creature that could take up for herself. He was witnessing it. The buildup that’d been bubbling up between them - it all came down to this moment.

As soon as her limp body fell over into the storm-swept grass, Vegeta sat upright. Licking the blood from his lip, he looked down at the splatters of red that now painted his armor. It was his blood. He knew he should be angry, but the prince found himself more content then he’d been in a few days. His eyes trailed over to the female in the grass, the little warrior. She was covered in carnage too, much more then himself, but he couldn’t pick up any detection that the blood spilled belonged to her. Had she really caused so much death without so much as a scratch? … _Impressive_.

As the rain began to pelt heavier over the fields of violet, he lifted her body into his arms. The storm was ready to burst. The wind dragged at his back from the moment he lifted into the air, heading back towards the city. By the time he made footfall at the hotel lobby the both of them were soaked. The pink-hued rain of the planet was pelting the hotel room’s large window when the metal door slid open. Both Raditz and Nappa sat upright from their careless lounging on their beds, where they’d been waiting out the storm, when their leader finally walked in …holding that girl.

Both of them looked in shock. Despite the heavy rain fall, Vegeta and the earthling were still covered in the stain of blood. A warning growl from the prince told his men to stay away. Both of the soldiers were more perplexed then ever when Vegeta finally laid the girl down to rest on a bed. His bed.

“What the hell happened, why the hell is she covered in blood?!” The two Saiyan men wanted all the details, they were worse than a couple of school girls craving drama. Shit had obviously gone down.

“Don’t touch her,” Vegeta snapped, causing Raditz’s hand to lurch back from touching the girl. Nappa on the other hand, was crossing his arms and arching a brow at the stoic prince. He’d seen the girl kill at the club, and that blue blood didn’t look like hers. There had been a battle. After a while, the two men got the jest of what had happened at the space ship out of Vegeta. The prince only telling that the girl had killed her fair share of men, but conveniently left out the battle between the two of them. He sat on the bed’s edge, watching her closely, half anticipating her to lunge at him at any moment. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with her yet, but letting her out of his sight wasn’t one of them.

* * *

Her POV

She was passed out for some time. She didn’t dream or snore, but the sleep she had been deprived of because of nightmares was clearly hitting her. She wasn’t a mess like before, but in the past few days she’d only gotten a few hours of sleep. Even if she hid it, she had been exhausted.

When she finally woke up, it took her a moment to brush off the drowsiness. Her eyes fluttered and squinted up at the ceiling, until she remembered where she knew that ceiling from. Her heart dropped. She was back, back with those three idiots. Her eyes moved and focused in on Vegeta, and as soon as she saw him, she scrambled backward and up against the wall.

He couldn’t have just killed her?! Why? Why did he have to keep tormenting her like this? She rubbed the area he had hit to force her to pass out. If he hit maybe just a little harder, she’d be dead. But no. Her hands reached up to cover her face, and her temple hit the wall. She just… She couldn’t believe she was back. She had so long to taste freedom. And he still found her and dragged her back.

With her bloodthirst having faded and the hopelessness setting in, Bulma began to sob. Not the sight of a warrior, but what else was she supposed to do? She was back to being… Being someone’s slave. She didn’t want to die, she wanted to be free. But she was beginning to think freedom was impossible without death. Would they try to stop her, if she tried to shoot herself with the pistol?

* * *

His POV

When the girl finally awoke, the prince’s dark stare was there to meet her confused gaze. He wasn’t sure how she’d react. Ready to fight, to run, to scream? No, she backed into her corner, and began to sob. For the first time since he’d brought her back, Vegeta looked away, disappointed in her show of weakness. So quickly, things began to return to normalcy. Really, what else could he of expected. The girl had just had her taste of freedom, she’d fought tooth and nail for it, and he’d stripped it away. Maybe some part of him just wanted to see her fight him again. He rose from her bedside and stood about-face at the rainy window.

“...See I told you, Vegeta was just trying to pull one over on us. Now pay up, fifty credits.” It was Raditz, the long haired Saiyan was sitting next to Nappa on the bed opposite of the girl. Opening his palm at the bald man, he expected some cash.

“No way, that ain’t proof!” Declared Nappa, then both the soldiers’ eyes fell on the girl. “That ain’t her blood on her clothing. Besides, I saw her with that bone, I say she killed em’.”

“So …tell us what happened.” Raditz dully turned his attention on Bulma, resting his cheek in one hand and an elbow to knee. “The prince tells us you killed a bunch of men, but he won’t give us any of the gory details.”

A grunt came from the direction of Vegeta, whom was making his way towards the bathroom door.

“So how many was it?” Nappa demanded loudly, slapping both hands on his knees where he sat.

“I didn’t know you could even fight. Was it just artillery, or was it hand to hand combat? Where there any big opponents?” Raditz rattled. The more the two talked over one another, the more amped up they became over the idea of battle. It was their game, and war talk always excited a good soldier. They were too busy arguing and trying to pry the information out of the girl in order to settle their bet over how many she actually killed, to notice that she still had a pistol on her. Or that she was upset at all. It hardly phased the two big men. The only thing they were interested in was battle talk, like two kids bragging about their scars to one another.

* * *

Her POV

The deliriousness wore off when she heard them chattering on about all the men she’d killed. She had been debating suicide, but her thoughts changed when she heard them speak. Her fingers rolled into her hands to reveal her eyes, and she slowly moved her gaze to stare at Nappa. Why did they care? They looked so excited about the story, but she just felt sick about the whole thing. She had snapped after being touched and treated like a piece of meat again and …killed people. She did something horrible. And they were taking bets and joking about it.

She shouldn’t be the one dying. It should be them. They’d turned her into this. They were the ones that had destroyed her planet, violated her, and ruined who she was. She didn’t even feel like herself anymore. She felt bits of it before, when she could go clothes shopping and when she bought the cute pink scouter and when she got to tinker with all those cars. At the moment, there was not a single feeling inside her that she could label as Bulma’s feelings. She felt… Wrong. Ruined.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled in response to how many she killed. She pulled the sheets around herself and stared out the window, gulping down the knot in her throat. Vegeta had left for the bathroom, but she hated him most of all. He was the one that had actively sought her out and brought her back, over and over. Even if the other two were more cruel, Vegeta was the one with the sick obsession with her.

But she’d found out well enough that fighting on equal grounds wouldn’t get her far. She’d stabbed him a few times, but she didn’t do anything lasting. She still had her pistol, and while she wanted to just put it in her mouth and fire, she decided maybe there were better uses for it. Maybe if she played nice, she could shove it in one of _their_ mouths and fire.

* * *

His POV

Both of the men stopped short when the girl finally mewled out an answer. It was hardly the description of battle they were looking for, and it showed on their faces. Nappa twitched his thin mustache, while Raditz narrowed his eyes at the girl skeptically.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Raditz bit out, not satisfied with her words. He obviously didn’t know how to handle someone who was in shock and crying. “Didn’t you keep count? What’s the point if you’re not keeping score?”

“Nah, don’t listen to him.” Nappa’s big hand shoved his comrade over on the bed. “Vegeta ain’t one to keep score neither. Least, I don’t think so.” It was hard to know exactly went on in that prince’s head, but they knew he rarely joined in when they were making bets. As if he were too high and mighty for it.

The men were nearly speaking to the ‘slave’ as if she were one of them. The idea of her killing armed men brought her closer to their social circle, for the moment at least. It wasn’t a moment to last, though. Raditz was making his demands that Nappa pay him when a buzz rang at the hotel door. It was a house keeping droid beeping the word ‘delivery’ on the other side of the metal slab. That was enough to get Vegeta’s attention; the prince exiting the bathroom in little more than a towel. He was dripping wet and drying his upright hair with the towel that hung around his shoulders. He’d been trying to rinse off the smell of rain and blood, but as soon as he heard the word ‘delivery’ he darted out. The prince wasn’t about to give two shits in explaining things to his two men.

“Both of you get the hell out of my sight.” Vegeta barked as soon as the door slid open. Raditz and Nappa passed up the droid without much notice. They were ready to get out of that dank room and get some action. Nappa was going on about food, and Raditz suggesting they go see a fight that was scheduled later at the city square. That only left the droid, the girl, and Vegeta. The prince made his casual way back towards the bathroom while the droid rolled right in through the security barrier. It had a delivery to make; some footwear that it left on the desk. Buffed and polished and as good as new. The loose hems sewn together and the hole in the sole patched through. It was Bulma’s earthling shoes.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t bother listening to them as they babbled on. Under the covers, her hand reached down to brush over her pistol. Maybe if she shot them through the sheets, they wouldn’t see it coming? But if they did, they’d only destroy it later. She had to think more about this. It’d probably be best if she waited until they were asleep. It might mean dealing with being violated again, but she’d be able to finally get her revenge. If she could kill at least one of them, it’d be nice. Vegeta, maybe. The other two didn’t care about her. He was the one that kept bringing her back.

The doorbell rang and an android came in with a box. The two Saiyans filed out on Vegeta’s orders, and she stared at the scene as it happened without really processing it. Not like it mattered to her, anyway. She turned her head to start looking out the window again, and found herself sniffling. Gn… But then she watched Vegeta go back to the bathroom. 

So she was alone again.

What else would she do, other than try to leave? She still had her ship. She could escape again. She nodded her head to herself and pushed away the covers, getting off the bed. Her legs were wobbly from just how upset she was, but she persevered and walked passed the desk to the door, only to stop and do a double-take. It was… Her shoes. Looking as good as new!

She dropped what she’d been doing to pull the stupid slave sandals off her feet and replace them with the shoes. She lacked socks now, but it still felt… Indescribable. A piece of her that had gone missing had returned. It felt so sweet to have them on her feet again, laced up and comfortable and clean. They’d gotten so dirty from all the abuse they’d suffered over the last few days, but here they were, fixed up. She could tell it wasn’t even a remake- she saw a unique stain here and there that proved it was the ones she originally had.

She wanted to keep running, but instead she just burst into tears again. She wasn’t sure why this time, but it wasn’t entirely negative, and she couldn’t stop. She leaned against the desk for support as she sobbed, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

* * *

His POV

By the time Vegeta finished cleaning himself off he could hear the girl crying again from the next room. Where all earthlings this emotional, or was it just this female? At least he had pants on this time when exiting the bathroom. He’d finished with clearing his wounds and toweled off properly. The once deep gashes were already fading into new scars thanks to the showers healing waters. It looked like the pair of shoes were already slipped onto the girl’s feet, but his gaze didn’t end there. Vegeta stared a hole into her pistol before raking back up towards her tear streaked face. His quiet presence stopped short at the far side of the desk.

His nose crinkling, the prince huffed a soft grunt from his closed lips that meant ‘ _stop that racket_ ’. He wasn’t about to let the question of where the shoes came from loose. That wasn’t something he was willing to explain. Though, some part of him was pleased to see she’d found them so soon. Doing his best to not pay further attention, his fingers found the back of the swiveling desk chair, turning it once before plopping right into it. Carelessly, he aimed his gaze up at the girl from under his hard brow, while leaning back into the dip of the chair until he was resting comfortably.

“Don’t. Loose them.” He pointed at her sternly, speaking about the shoes. As much as he hated talking about the damn footwear, he wasn’t about to have her loosing something that’d caused him so much trouble. His attention quickly darted to anything that be a retreat from the subject. He busied himself with the desk instead. Pulling open a drawer and searching around it until he’d found what he was looking for. It was Raditz scouter. The prince placed it accusingly on the desk top.

“If I recall correctly, your planet didn’t have scouter technology. So what the hell were you doing with it…? Fashioning another weapon?” Sarcasm was just naturally part of the prince’s speech pattern, even if he didn’t mean to sound so harsh. He was being more nosy then anything; the hint of curiosity glinting behind his dead-set stare.

* * *

Her POV

Despite Vegeta huffing at her to tell her to shut her mouth, she couldn’t stop crying. Of course she couldn’t. She’d just been through so much grief that all she could think to do was keep sobbing uncontrollably. It only got worse when she actually saw him and was reminded of where she was. Of what he’d done to her. Of how he dragged her back to this damn hotel. She debated running out the door right then, but she knew he’d just grab her by the hair and bring her back.

She’d been crying so much she started coughing, and only after a round of that did she finally quiet down, though she was shaking worse than before. She looked at Vegeta to see him leaning back in his chair as if nothing was wrong, and that’s when he pulled out the scouter she’d messed with the other night. Mumbling about it being a weapon. She wished she had thought of that at the time. She wished it was a weapon. She’d take pride in seeing it explode in his face.

“No.” She took her scouter off and grabbed Raditz’s instead, looking it over. When she had made it before, she felt so relaxed. She was able to escape from her situation mentally just by only focusing on that. She flipped the three screens of the scouter, looking at each. It still looked strange considering the parts she used for it were meant for an android and not a scouter, but she still felt pride in looking at it.

“I made it so I could use it.” She rubbed her eyes as she explained, though she wasn’t quite sure why she bothered talking to him. Maybe it just made her feel better to talk about something she created. She didn’t feel like such a pathetic, inhuman piece of trash. She turned the scouter on and switched it to the screen that showed power levels, and was reminded of how much stronger Vegeta was than her. “I have a power level of twelve.”

* * *

His POV

It was as if she’d never put an end to her infernal weeping. Vegeta hated that sound, more so then ever when it was coming from the girl. He may have looked cool and rational on the outside, but the prince was debating how long he could put up with the piercing noise. He could feel his short temper yearning to bubble to the surface, but luckily Bulma quieted herself down just in time by bringing both of their attentions to the scouter in question.

Suddenly, she’d perked his interest, taming down whatever beast had dared to show its ugly face just moments before. He could see alien symbols flashing from the other side of the screen on her face. It must have been her own language, but that only raised more in depth questions. Vegeta was getting inquisitive. Scouters weren’t things that were easily broken down. 

“That’s not the easiest thing to accomplish.” It was almost a compliment, almost. “Scouters aren’t exactly made for reprogramming.” His fingers pressed into his temple, thinking, all the while watching the girl’s face. Her face had changed, too, from the moment she began rattling about the piece of technology. For a moment there she’d looked like someone different. Someone in control. He was partially taken by the new side of her, pressing to learn a little more. He’d need to know exactly what she was capable anyhow if he was going to keep her in line. She was clever, and growing more so every time he dug a little deeper.

“Apparently you’ve got some skill with mechanics, too.” He was talking about the ship, revealing he knew partially what she’d been up to during her joy ride. “Just how the hell is someone like you so well versed with technology? Your planet wasn’t exactly on the cutting edge,” he questioned himself more than anything. “Anything else I should know about?” It was rare, but he was genuinely curious in his own mocking way. The way he brushed his thumb over his lip, trying to figure the woman out, showed it. The little ‘poof’ trick of hers also came to mind. Though with as tricky as the girl was, he wasn’t sure if she’d reveal it to him. He may have to catch it in the act.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t care how interested he was, or whether or not he thought it was unusual. She kept her eyes on the scouter, thinking back to how she’d managed to do it, and how it felt to be away from the Saiyans for a while, especially mentally. She recalled the night spent fixing all those cars at the garage, and how nice it felt to have so much money in her pocket again. If she could get away from him again, maybe she could find somewhere to buy a ticket to a different planet. How easily would he be able to follow her?

Finally, she scowled when he asked how she was able to do it. As if she shouldn’t be able to. As if she were lesser. If he gave a shit about who she was, what her planet was, maybe he would know. She gazed hatefully at him for a few seconds before turning her body away and focusing again on her scouter.

“I’m the daughter of the man who revolutionized technology on our planet. Even as a little girl I was discussing theories with him on artificial gravity, time-travel, things like that. I was the smartest, richest, prettiest girl on my planet. Not that you care. Not that I care if you care.” There was malice behind her words, though the fact she’d been crying so hard made her voice sound shaky. But her hatred was present to an uncomfortable degree.

“Why didn’t you kill me before? I’d be happier then. You kept saying you should kill me, but you didn’t. You should. I’m sick of you three. I’m sick of it all. I want to see my boyfriend again.” She blabbered on, not really caring if she made him angry. “He kept telling me that we’re getting older and that we should finally settle down. I wish I did. Maybe you would have killed me if I was pregnant.”

* * *

His POV

The more she talked, the heavier Vegeta’s scowl returned to his face. She’d said she was of high class on her planet, that she’d been on the more intelligent scale of her species. It was starting to make sense, with her brat like entitled nature and abundance in brains. He’d had a moment of interest, but it was quickly dissolved by the girl’s innate ability to tell him off. He may have deserved it, he may even get the information out of her that he’d wanted, but she was going a little too far for his liking.

“If you want to be impregnated so badly, I can see to that.” It was a threat, and he was coming right at her. His hands found the desk top with a firm slam, lifting himself from his chair and meeting the girl face to face, leaving little if any space between their glares. A few things she’d said had set him off. Her claiming that she’d wish he’d kill her. The prince knew that was a lie, deep down. The girl was too head-strong and determined to kill him, to survive, to ever consider death. At least, that’s how he saw her, that’s what she’d shown him. Secondly, she’d brought up some male from her past. Not that he greatly cared. She was here now for him to fuck, for his men to fuck. The prince was hardly going to care about some weakling from her past, especially a dead one. What irked him was the way it filled her voice with longing. He didn’t like the sniveling sound coming off of her.

“Next time, be a little more careful with whom you’re advertising yourself to, woman.” He warned in true. Telling anyone else that would have her classed as a desirable slave. His brow twitched; his demanding footsteps prowling closer, trying to back her towards the bed behind her. “I don’t think you want me to kill you, so don’t give me that shit. If any ounce of you craved death, you wouldn’t be fighting so damned hard for your life. Or have you forgotten all the men you have killed to save your own skin.” A look of disgust crossed his face, curling his lip. He had no intentions of keeping weaklings around. Somewhere under his breath he murmured, “... _you’re better than that.”_

* * *

Her POV

She had picked up on his obsession with her by now. She knew it irked him every time she talked about her boyfriend. It pleased her to see him get so angry, and to threaten her with impregnation. She glared back, but didn’t say a word. As far as she knew, if she told him that was impossible because of her implant, he’d rip it right out of her skin. She needed it, though- they’d raped her enough already. That was her only line of defense. She’d certainly kill herself if they managed to get her pregnant. If they even could.

She pushed off the desk and started backing away from Vegeta, but when she glanced backward and realized he was trying to lead her to the bed, she stopped in her tracks and faced him head-on. She glared at him with that pout, listening to him whine. Like he knew who she was. It was sick. He didn’t know anything about her, how dare he pretend?

“The only reason I haven’t done it yet is because I think you deserve it more than I do.” And because there was a possibility that the dragon balls were still intact on Earth’s surface. It was a dull idea she kept in the back of her mind for when the time came. She’d get to them some time. And if they were gone, then she’d really kill herself. But until then, she could at least try to torment him.

“…You think you’re so smart. Like you know who I am. But you’re nothing but a monster. You’re not even a man. Even when you rape me. All I can see is a monster. But… Yamcha. My boyfriend, he’s more of a man than you can ever be, even if you killed him. He never had to rape me to get me in bed with him. He never had to threaten me to get me to do things to and for him. I gave every idea of virginity I could possibly have to him. And I loved it. You’re never going to get that from me, because no woman is going to yell for a monster to keep going.”

* * *

His POV

She kept yammering, and his anger just kept boiling until it finally boiled over. He’d picked up on the way she’d held her ground as strong as ever, and it only called him back to her like a moth to a flame. She wasn’t being the pathetic slave that wished for death, she was biting right back at him with that sweet pout that usually put him in his place, but for once it was having a negative effect. The words spilling out of her mouth, it was getting to him.

Before she’d finished her last word, his grip had her cheeks squeezed between his thumb and fingers, shutting her up from spewing anything else. Oh, he was furious, and it was burning in his eyes. The massive incisors housed in his maw were showing. The hand on her face forced her back onto the bed, flinging her into the mattress, quickly followed by the prince himself. Pouncing right onto her like a wild cat, his tail flipped angrily behind him.

“I don’t remember ever asking, probably because I don’t give a shit.” He bore down closer, edging his hands up her arms, finding her wrists among the dirty sheets that still smelt of blood and rain water. Hushing his warm words over her face, he leaned closer. “So tell me then,” his smile became sarcastic, amused with what he was about to ask of her, “… _what’s it like to have a monster in bed_.”

The prince was completely vicious, bringing his weight down against the woman’s frame. He wanted to harm her, to put her in her place under him after what she’d said. He claimed to not care, but clearly she’d struck a never within him. If she claimed he was a monster, that’s exactly what he’d be. The idea of taking what was his becoming more and more inciting, exciting his animal side. The prince had no quarrels with being called a monster. If anything, he’d almost taken it as a compliment ...if she hadn’t called him less of a man. It’d stung, and it brought his mouth crashing down onto her skin as punishment. His nose and gaping maw pressed against her shoulder for an authoritative bite. She’d finally pushed him a little too far. 

* * *

Her POV

She gave him a death stare when he held her mouth in his hands, burning from how tight his hold was. Did he not like being called a monster? That’s exactly what he was. That’s all he’d ever be. She was shoved onto the bed, and she knew that her thoughts would just be proven right. A man who acted like this was no man at all. Touching her like she was his property. His hands up her arms made her want to puke.

But she decided to anger him further. He wasn’t stopping by now either way. She knew it the moment he took advantage of the piece of skin that showed between her choker and her jacket by biting down on it. He had full plans on violating her again.

“He could make me beg for him to finally enter me,” she continued, though her voice was laced with hatred and sickness. “He could make me cum again and again in just a few minutes. And afterward he wouldn’t discard me like a piece of dirt! He never hit me! He never told me I was his property, but I belonged to him far more than I’ll ever belong to you!” She made strategic kicks, attempting to hit him in the crotch.

“You’re never going to know all the things I did to him, because you don’t deserve it! You’re not man enough! True men don’t feel the need to pin a girl down like this for dominance! True men don’t strangle and slap women! True men don’t abuse girls and then ask for kisses! Now get off of me, you monster! Get off of me!”

* * *

His POV

“Will you shut the hell up?!” His maw bit against her cheek, clashing his teeth against the corner of her abusive mouth, but he never bit into her. He was angry, beyond furious. If the female muttered one more word, he might just kill her right there and then after all. She was trying to anger him, and it was working. Why the earthling was trying to push him to his limits, the prince hadn’t the faintest clue. Maybe she really did have a death wish.

“I’m _so sorry_ you’ve been used up by a man that can’t even dominate his woman.” It was pure sarcastic rage bleeding through. “Trust me, _little slave_ , you’ll be begging me to stop before I’m done with you.” There was definitely a cultural barrier playing between their views of mating. His tail flicked again, back and forth behind him. The prince had stopped his assault. Pinning the woman’s arms down into the bed with his weight, he raised above her on his knees. Her kicking did little to detour him, he shifted himself out of the way easily enough. He went as far as planting one of his knees on the top of her thigh for good measure, allowing him time to plan his next move.

Confusion and anger was staring down at her. It was the type of anger that only came after a hurt, and just before revenge. She was digging at his pride as a man, and worse, questioning his authority when it came to how to take a woman. He’d always done it the same. It’s how it’d been done generations before him. Why the hell should he care what some runaway slave thought about his tactics; about him taking what was owed to him? It was his due right as an elite, as a prince, as someone who’d rightfully won her in a fight. A fight that she’d initiated. Oh yes, he still believed she rightfully belonged to him from her own doing. So why was she putting up such a struggle? He couldn’t understand the concept.

What infuriated him more than anything else… was the fact that he cared at all. He knew it was weakness, and he refuted it. He’d prove his weakness wrong, he’d show the girl her place, even if his heart was denying his actions. The prince was falling back on what he knew to be true by giving into his darker side. Calling up his strong will to do what he thought he had to do to reclaim his status by pushing back down atop her again. Pinning her arms above her in one hand, he slid his fingers into her pants with the other. Though, the last look he gave her was hardly in the moment.

* * *

Her POV

He yelled at her to shut up, but why should she? She wanted to make him angry. She wanted him to be as upset as she was. If she couldn’t harm him physically, she’d do it with her words. Even if it got her into more trouble. She struggled and yelled the more he tried to push his weight down on her, and not just from the pain of his frame crushing her.

“ ** _I HATE YOU!_** I hate everything you’ve done! Even if I never get to kill you, you’re going to rot in Hell! Stop touching me! If I’m so damn used up, then stop touching me already! Kill me and let me go! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you most of all!” She yelled it until she was out of breath. She panted in anger and frustration when he made eye contact again. Looking as if he ‘had to’ do something.

She felt his fingers push under the hem of her shorts and passed her underwear. Her anger multiplied. She couldn’t hold herself back. Even with the pistol still readily available to her, she attacked him in other ways. She mustered up more strength than she thought she had to get her hands free, and clawed his face as well as tried to shove her thumbs in his eye sockets, all the while her legs still kicking and struggling. She’d make him feel the pain she felt. Those stab wounds may have faded, but she’d just make new wounds all over again.

* * *

His POV

It was difficult to try to numb himself into the routine of pleasure when the woman started scratching and clawing at his rough face. The screaming he could drown out, as he had many times before. But the ferocity that she was fighting him with, it’s what got his attention. The prince gave up his fingering beneath her underwear to grab at her flailing hands instead. He’d suffered a few more scratch marks, but nothing too serious. His head butted and nosed away her hands, keeping his sensitive features safe. His skin was tough, and pain was hardly something he paid much attention to after so much of it in his life.

His large palms caught her hands, once again pushing them into the softness of the bed. He didn’t look as angry this time. The prince looked wounded, but not physically. The earthling wanted to damage him mentally, and she was slowly encroaching in on her wish. From the moment he’d laid eyes on that woman, bent over and being fondled by his men, she’d had an effect on his actions. Without knowing, the woman had manipulated his emotions countless times since he’d encountered her, and she was doing it again, but on a grander scale. And like the animal he was, he’d react with vital defensiveness. Seeking an amends wasn’t even on his radar. He had his pride to think of.

“And why me most of all?” He finally confessed, his eyes blazing. “Have I not been a good master, have I not served you well as a prince? Tell me!” He shook her on the bed, curling the length of his tail around her thigh to keep it still. “Why are you so damn stubborn? When you’ll let dogs like Nappa touch you, or prostitute yourself to rival gangs!” He really didn’t get it, and he was taking it personally. 

“I should have put you in your place from the start,” he snapped, leaning down closer, hushing his words in his own curiosity. His gaze darted any direction other than the girl below; his violence was waning away. “I’ve been nothing but lenient. I gave you the fight that you pleaded for. I fought you like a rival, by rights you are mine. So why do you fight me now?!” For once, the prince was being completely honest. His concentrated scowl searched her face frantically for answers. He truly didn’t understand the girl’s thought process, or her actions. To the Saiyan she was completely… alien.

* * *

Her POV

It was enough to get him to stop trying to finger her. He caught her hands and thumped them against the bed, and her struggling was stilled, half in part to Vegeta’s tail catching her other thigh. She glared up at him as he yelled back, noticing the look in his eyes. He truly didn’t understand, did he? Was the universe outside of Earth that terrible? Her nose wrinkled. He had the gall to ask why she hated him most of all?

“You’re no master,” she spat, her eyes narrowing. “I’m not some slave! I’ll never be a slave! Even when I escape, you’re the one who comes dragging me back by my hair! I don’t care if we fought, I want to be free! Let me go!” She struggled again, a few tears beginning to roll down the sides of her face, stinging her eyes as they rolled out of them.

“I didn’t ask for any of it! Every time that big bald asshole touches me, I hate him just as much! I didn’t prostitute myself to anyone! But every time I get free, you drag me back! You force me back to you! You kill anyone else! You’re horrible! You’re a monster, worse than the rest of them!” She struggled more, trying to free any of her limbs to attack further. 

He moved closer, and she blew air out her nose when her nostrils were invaded by his terrible breath. Gn– Disgusting. Just like every other part of him. She turned her head to the side, but continued to stare at him. A couple more tears fell as she spoke, her voice low and harsh with her upper lip revealing her teeth. “You don’t get to own me just because we fought. You don’t get to own me at all. I don’t belong to you, and I never will.” 

* * *

His POV

“I never dragged you by the hair,” he voiced lowly, defiance rumbling from his chest. Not the last time at least- he remembered carrying her back to the hotel. He met her huff of air with his own grunt. The room had slightly calmed, the volume between them lulling into an angry murmur, but the prince still wasn’t finished digging for answers from his supposed slave.

“That is exactly why I get to own you! You have much to learn about the universe, woman. I will not be the prince that cannot keep a single female under control. I will not be weak. The strong dictate the weak, it is the way of nature itself. I will not lose my prestige because of some defiant brat!” His rule was all he had left. The moment he let her win, the prince knew he’d lose his place among the planets. Among his own men even. Nappa and Raditz would question him simply out of the law of their own race. They’d strike him down as something easily pushed around, something without merit. He’d never allow it to come to that.

He wasn’t finished holding her in place, nor with glaring down at that angry stare of hers. His dark features only narrowed further once the glitter of salt dribbled down her cheek. If anything, he was more confused than ever by her words. The ideas she preached offended him, offended his race. The prince was completely insulted by her rejection of his ownership over her. That any slave wouldn’t desire to be owned by a proud Saiyan Prince. Was her planet so mellow? How did they even manage to procreate?

“Call me what you will. I’ve been called worse, and with good reason.” He didn’t sound offended by that at all, in fact he welcomed her fiery nature and creativity of name calling. It was something he could understand, something he could combat with ease. Then finally, he let her go. Rolling himself upright, he rested back on his knees, but still wore the most infuriated scowl - a scowl of bewilderment and expectancy. The prince was betting on the female’s fight or flight instinct to kick in as soon as he removed his weight from her body. The tail that had a hold of her thigh slowly slipped away, flicking with agitation instead. 

* * *

Her POV

She gulped down her nerves as she stared at him. He still insisted that he owned her. It made sense– Not that she agreed with him, but that he felt that way. That’s why he slapped her before. That’s why he’d done everything he had, and been particularly harsh with her around those idiot lackeys. She scowled as she thought about it. And when he let go of her, she scrambled away and sat up, but she didn’t cool her tongue.

“You’re pathetic. You think trying to ‘claim’ me in the Neanderthal way you try to do makes you strong? You can destroy as many planets as you like and you still won’t be strong. Strength is more about physical ability, you know. How can you call yourself strong when you care so much about what a few idiots think of you?”

She thought about her pistol again, but he was too aware of what she was doing. It’d do nothing at this point. Instead, she got up off the bed on the opposite side, and began slowly making it for the door while always being sure to face Vegeta. 

“You’re a pathetic man. You can’t take away the title of a prince just because you refuse to be a slave! What kind of a prince are you!? You’re as much a prince as you are a man. Not one at all.” If he’d strip her identity from her, she could easily do the same to him. “You’re a small, angry little monster with a monkey tail. That’s all. Not a prince. Not a man. No one worth bowing down to. No one worth belonging to.”

* * *

His POV

He knew exactly what her game was by this point, but it didn’t make it any less annoying to listen to. She was trying to anger him. It’s how she stopped him before, it was the distraction she was aiming for now as she made way towards the hotel doorway. The prince was onto her by now, and he wasn’t going to let her get very far this time.

In a moment’s flash, he was on her. The prince could move faster than the human eye when he set his mind to it. Within a few breaths of her words, he had her by the neck again, pinning her this time to the wall. He outstretched his arm above his head until her feet left the flooring. True, his anger wasn’t there like before, but his determination to instill his dominance over her was burning bright.

“Watch that tongue of yours, woman, or you’ll lose it,” he warned. Her tongue was indeed a double-edged sword. The prince reveled in listening to her threats, her motivations to survive, but as quickly as her fire turned on him, his anger turned right back on her.

“And what do you know of strength, what do you know of power?! You are nothing.” He spat, allowing her body to slide to the floor. He paced, right by the door. He wasn’t going to let her slip by, but he wasn’t about to stand still either. The Saiyan was too ready to brawl for that.

“Don’t pretend to know anything of my lineage. Disrespect me again and I will not let you go a second time,” he tisk’ed her, lifting his chin with pride. With the whip of his tail, his pacing ended right in front of her. The all-knowing smug look on his face conveying ‘he knew what she was up to’ and he wasn’t going to let it slip a second round. He was giving her a small window of opportunity to back down, rather than to have him force himself on her again. A thought that both enticed, and irritated him. He wanted her, every instinct that ran hot in his blood screamed at him to finish what he’d started, as a Saiyan, as a prince, but somehow this little human had stirred him up and put him in his place. If only for the meantime; for just this once.

* * *

Her POV

He moved straight up to her and stopped her from making her escape, instead pinning her up against the wall. It was fast enough to knock the breath out of her and actually make her listen to Vegeta, but that didn’t mean she was happy about it. She continued to glare at the Saiyan with that hateful expression, her eyes narrowing. Like she cared about his threats.

When she was dropped to the ground, she watched him pace around and crossed her arms. So she’d succeeded in getting under his skin. Now he was blabbering about how she didn’t know true strength. She stayed silent, somehow, though the more he whined the more she hated him. It wasn’t until he came up to her and told her not to talk that she bothered doing so.

“I hate you.” She didn’t go on a tirade this time. No long-winded yelling about how much of a monster he was. Just three words, spoken quietly and with as much malice as she could muster. He looked so full of himself, with how he lifted his chin and wagged his stupid tail. She could disrespect him all she wanted. Who was he? What did it matter? He’d rape her, sure, but what else could he do? He refused to kill her.

She turned her head away, to look anywhere but at him. She wanted to escape again, but how was she going to do that? If he was smart, he might even not let all three of the Saiyans sleep at once. But if she was lucky, maybe she’d get to blow one of their brains in tonight and then run out the door. She had plenty of money still. She’d have to go find somewhere to take her into space immediately.

* * *

His POV

Those three little words, she’d said them more times than he could count by now. The prince didn’t care, his only reaction to her confession was him turning on his heel and storming away from her. Well, he was going to storm away, but then he glared over his shoulder. There was one thing left to do before he’d be done with her completely. Take her gun.

“So you’ve said...” he mocked sourly. The prince ripped the pistol right off of her, smacking away any resistance she may have put up, determined to crush it in his palm like all of her weapons before it. It was a pity, too. He’d hoped she’d have been smart enough to keep it on her for the next round of planets they’d venture to. Their next stop wasn’t going to be a welcoming party like this one, but it looked like she’d left him no choice but to force her hand to stay defenseless. It was the only way he could turn his back on her.

The truth was, the prince’s mind was exhausted. His psyche craved to be alone. The earthling had managed to get a conversation out of him, as horrible as it was. She stimulated not only his brain but his senses, leaving some part of him feeling restless yet satisfied all in one. It was more social interaction then he could recall through years past. Not even Nappa or Raditz could claim to have heard his voice so much. He looked over his shoulder at her again, checking to see if she was up to any more treachery so soon. She kept trying for the door, but unless she’d cracked the security code the barrier wouldn’t let her pass - unless she wanted to turn out like crispy bacon.

It was over, as far as he was concerned. The Saiyan prince retired to the desk chair, ignoring the woman as much as possible. Just in time too, his stomach had started to growl. All the excitement had made him famished.

* * *

Her POV

He took her gun. She struggled to get it back, but he crushed it. And with it, he crushed her plans to try to kill him in his sleep. The dismay was all over her face, and she was left struggling with what she should be doing next. She looked down at her hands as he walked away, feeling even more frustration than before. She absolutely couldn’t show him her capsules, then. If she did, he’d probably destroy all of them as well. And the money…

She turned her attention to the door. He no longer bothered blocking it, and while if she got out, he’d probably run and get her again, she did debate trying anyway. Her brows knit, and tears began dripping down from her eyes again. Every time she thought that she could be free again, he took it away from her. Why? He blabbered about pride, but she didn’t understand. Why was it so tightly tied to his pride? Why did he have to be so obsessed with her?

Other than the few tears, there wasn’t any more action from her. She didn’t yell at him, she didn’t try to make her escape. She just stared at her hands and cried silently. There really, truly wasn’t a way out of this, then. She had to come to terms with that. So her current option was whether or not she wanted to stay around long enough to get raped again or not.

She turned the other way and went for the bathroom. The door had been ripped off its hinges by Nappa before and was all but useless, but she just pushed it off to the side to get in. She began running the water in the bath and plugged the drain. No clothes came off. Instead, she grabbed the appliances sitting for guest use on the counter and dropped them in. 

She was sick of living like this. She’d rather kill him, she’d rather bring her friends back, but it looked like that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. How bad could Otherworld be?

* * *

His POV

He’d just called up room service. Nappa and Raditz would be out the rest of the night, if he knew them by now, which suited him just as well. The prince had had enough of dealing with what he considered idiots for the last hours, to last him a while. Instead, he commanded the front desk to send him up food, and a lot of it, without any great details as to what, as long as there was meat involved. He was just about to bark at the android for being an idiot for not assuming that ‘of course he’d need drink’, when he heard a splash come from the bathroom.

He’d seen the girl force her way past the unhinged door, but he didn’t give a damn at the time, too busy stewing and steaming in his own left over irritated vibes to possess any attention in her given direction. As long as she wasn’t trying to make a break for it, she could do as she pleased… as long as it didn’t disturb him.

But no, something felt off, it smelt off, and Vegeta went rushing through the bathroom doorway just in time to see the last appliance flop into the water, right beside a fully clothed Bulma. Needless to say she wasn’t the only one about to get a massive shock- the prince was completely surprised. She’d actually go through with it. She’d actually kill herself.

His eyes went wide, grabbing her without question. Ripping her from the water just as it began to spark to life. His fury was back on her, but this time it sounded more like concern then anything. Even if he was holding her tighter than he ever managed before. He didn’t want the woman to die. It hadn’t been so much that he refused to kill her, as he wanted her around, and it was showing without his consent.

“What the actual hell is wrong with you?! What the fuck, woman!” He yelled in her face, but he didn’t let her go. The prince had her so tightly bound up in his arms that his muscles were flexing. “I thought you of all creatures would be better than that!” He scolded her, truly furious, truly disappointed in her. To the prince she was strong, determined, and not a quitter. And his disappointment was twisting up his face all the way out of the bathroom and into the main room.

* * *

Her POV

She stood on the edge of the bath and stared down at the water below. That’d be enough to get her electrocuted. Hopefully it’d be quick, that’s all she’d ask for. That’s why she didn’t bother with the door; it sounded more terrifying and painful than her other options. …The others would probably be upset with her for not bringing them all back to life, but they’d have to live with it, no pun intended. She wouldn’t be getting a chance to get the dragon balls again.

She hopped into the bath, but just as she did, Vegeta’s arms wrapped around her and jerked her away from the water before she could get so much as a slight buzz. It knocked her breath out of her lungs and took her by complete surprise. At first, even, she thought it might be Yamcha’s ghost. Those dark, strong arms around her so tight that it made her feel safe, who else could it be?

She turned her head to face Vegeta and stared at him with wide eyes as he held her and yelled at her for what she just attempted. Why was he acting like that? Scolding her, telling her she was better than suicide. All while holding her tight against his chest so protectively.

“I–” The initial shock began to wear off, and it began again to feel like Vegeta had ripped yet another thing from her. She couldn’t kill him, she couldn’t run away, she couldn’t even kill herself. She began to struggle in his grasp, hoping to at least free herself of physical contact with her captor.

“Shut up! Let me go! I know what it’s like when you die! I have friends who witnessed it! It’s better than this shithole! If you won’t kill me, let me kill myself! I want to see my boyfriend again! I want to be with my family again! I don’t want to hear your damn voice anymore!” Without even thinking about it, she began to weep. Partially for what she had nearly done. To think she was driven to the limit that she’d willingly kill herself… But then, there was homesickness. She was lonely. She missed everyone that she knew and loved all her life. She just wanted to see them again. If only just one more time…

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t letting go. She could shit talk him to her hearts content this time, the prince truly wasn’t giving a damn. In his moment of trying to collect her, his spread fingers had gone as far as pressing against her blue hair, catching her head under his ridged jaw line in order to hold her more securely during her squabbling. Not that it was too hard, his other arm was already wound so tightly around her knees, catching her up bridle style against his chest. There wasn’t much room left between them.

“Shut the hell up!” He insisted, trying to find any sort of sense in this situation. His mind was swimming, his body was reacting without him, he felt confused and determined all at once. Determined to end this foolishness - that was the only thought in his head that he understood. The rest, a jumbled mess of sensations that he couldn’t put name to if he tried, probably because none of them were housed in his vocabulary.

“Aren’t you the one that just got finished lecturing me on honor?! And you go and do something stupid like this. You hypocrite.” It was the nicest thing he’d ever said to anybody. “And here I thought you were so determined to end me. I’m not allowing you to slip away from that promise so easily.” It was the only means he had for making sense of his own actions. The way he was clinging to her like something to protect, like something he coveted. Fighting. Battle. Pride. They were the only things he could understand. He and the earthling weren’t finished yet, she’d promised him she’d kill him, and he’d been looking forward to her trying. He always had.

And then he noticed her weeping, and his jaw snapped shut. Quieting. Allowing her to cry. The prince was at a loss of what his next move was supposed to be. All he knew was, he wasn’t letting her go so she could run off and try it again. The very idea puffed his chest up right under her and hardened his brow. Then, the door buzzed, and he finally looked up. It was room service, with the meal he’d ordered. Only, he wasn’t answering the door. It buzzed again. He still didn’t budge. Instead, a gentle rumble filled his chest, frustrated. His eyes darted down to the girl in his arms, apprehensively letting her slip from his arms, if just to let the droid roll in the cart.

* * *

Her POV

He yelled at her until she realized she was crying, and after that, it was just silence. She hated him, but it felt nice to be held so close. He pressed her to his body and rested his chin on her head, and she just kept crying. It only made it worse. It made her realize how much she missed her boyfriend. How much she missed Yamcha holding her like that, giving her gentle kisses to the top of the head while they cuddled. She stopped struggling, and with time, he let her go to answer the doorbell she hadn’t even registered was ringing.

She didn’t go running back to the bathroom again. She wanted to, but she didn’t. He’d probably go run and grab her to stop her, anyway. She was no longer her own person, in control of her own decisions. He could make it about killing him as much as he liked, but he made sure she had no chance to do that. What else was there to do but kill herself?

Her stomach rumbled at the smell of the food, and she pulled her legs up to her chest as she watched him, effectively becoming a ball.

“There’s no honor in doing anything but dying,” she replied shallowly when the android left. “There’s no honor in sitting around while I get–” She sobbed before she could say the word ‘raped,’ and wiped her eyes. Really, he couldn’t have just let her end her own life? Why did he have to be so obsessed with her? She wanted to see everyone again. So badly…

“I can’t kill you, so I might as well kill myself. Since you won’t do that much for me, either.” She was starving, but her stomach was in knots and knocked her appetite out. And yet Bulma still eyed the meal he’d ordered, even through the tears and all the emotion. Then again, that was another thing he’d probably deny her. Just like the other night, before she’d gotten her taste of freedom. She wasn’t allowed anything. Because she’s his ‘property.’

“Just let me die.”

* * *

His POV

It wasn’t until the girl slipped away from his grasp that the prince noticed he’d been enjoying the close contact, the warmth coming off of her body. Suddenly his arms became unreasonably bare. He quickly pulled himself together, standing straight backed and hard browed. The droid slipped in and out of the room, but his eyes never let the woman that was slowly becoming a pathetic ball of limbs. He was watching her like a hawk. A suspicious hawk.

“There’s honor is surviving.” He knew that all to true for himself. It’d been his whole existence up until he’d met the girl. Kill to survive, become the strongest in order to ensure he’d keep on living. Surviving was his way of life, something he’d turned into a life style since the destruction of what he was supposed to be. He made a second life for himself among the planets. He’d understood the hand dealt to him by fate and he’d accepted it. Conquered it, owned it. Couldn’t she do the same?

“No.” He answered her bluntly about letting her die. “Learn how to make a new life for yourself.” He munched; content from his food. “Don’t think so much on the past. It won’t serve you now. The only way to survive is to move forward.” The prince set himself back in the desk chair and took a massive bite out of a leg of meat, then shoved a dinner roll in his maw. No matter how intense things were, the Saiyan always had room to eat. 

After a few more healthy bites, he noticed her eyeing the food. The earthling was bringing his way of life into question again. Saiyans didn’t share food, but Royals didn’t share at all. To share food was to treat someone equal, and she was anything but royalty. But... then again, she didn’t know that. It was just the two of them, and the prince wasn’t exactly acting his princely self since their fight in the sheets. His eyes shifted, he paused, and then he quietly offered her the second dinner roll on the tray, handing it out to her casually from his fingertips.

* * *

Her POV

He blabbered about surviving, and it only pissed her off more. What did he know about it? She was only in the position she was because of him. This was all his fault. He kept her around like a pretty, funny little doll to abuse. He was the reason why she needed to do any kind of surviving.

“Don’t tell me things like that. How am I supposed to make a new life for myself? I almost did, and then you dragged me back here. There’s no ‘making.’ You just want me to be your slave. That’s not a life. I’d rather die.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes again, to be met with his offer immediately after. She hesitated before grabbing the roll, as well as the thigh of meat, without caring if he meant to give her that second bit. She ate the food in small nibbles, still eyeing Vegeta. Why did he care so much? Why? It made no sense. He insisted she follow through with her promise to murder him, but what sense did that of all things make? Why would he want to be killed by her?

“…I don’t have anything to kill you with. I’m sick of trying. I just want my family again. I don’t want to be a slave. If I die, I’ll meet them again. Otherworld sounds like paradise compared to this.” She mumbled on, giving another sniffle. He may not know what lies beyond the grave, but she was sure from her friends what it was like, and it didn’t sound like anything to be scared of. She wanted it. She wanted to be back home with everyone again.

* * *

His POV

The prince was trying to listen, but there was very little of what the girl had to say that made sense, to him at least. It sounded weak, and if there was one thing the female had proven to him so far, it was she was anything other than a weakling. Even as she spoke of death she spoke with passion. Her fire for life was burning, but it was fueled by something he couldn’t understand. To him her claims just didn’t add up. That’s when he realized it. She must be homesick.

“Idiot.” He finally drawled out, biting into the last bit of the second piece of meat on his plate. “What makes you so sure you’ll be welcomed to Otherworld? You weren’t exactly innocent yesterday when you were mowing down all those men...” He chewed before continuing, eyeing her. “You’re just looking for another means of running away. If you were smart you’d learn to take down your captor and earn your freedom. Where’s your sense of pride?” He spoke with a little too much experience in his voice.

“That’s what you do when you’re captured. You bide your time until you’re able to rip off their heads with your bare hands. Then you are free. And strong, stronger than ever.” His fingertips pressed to his temple, resting back in his chair, back into a thought. He was off on another tangent, as he seemed to do whenever the subjects of survival, pride, or life was brought up. They were things the prince was passionate about. 

“You’re a smart woman, you should know this.” At least he was quiet for the moment, watching the girl nibble away at her food. It was kind of interesting to watch her eat, she seemed to enjoy it. His fingers inched towards the desert left on the cart. It was a parfait of pink and cream. Hardly something to his taste, but maybe the girl would take it. He pushed the fruity sweet in her direction.

* * *

Her POV

Again, he blabbered about her taking out her captor. She scowled at him as she ate, her anger slowly beginning to bloom again. How could he just say something like that? It was horrible… She shook her head slowly, resisting the urge to cry again. She just wanted her old life. It might be easy for him to tell her to get over it, but how could she be expected to just move on? From everything she ever knew?

“You really are a monster,” she murmured, finishing up her roll and focusing on the meat. She was silent while eating, dwelling on her own thoughts. She’d never be able to kill him. She found that out last time. She kept stabbing him, and all it took to incapacitate her was a single hit. She couldn’t take down a guy like that. She had to give up.

Bulma sighed as she finished the meat, and stared at the leftover bone. Before, she had gnawed a shank out of it. But she didn’t have the energy this time. Vegeta’d just destroy it before she could think of doing anything with it. But he had a point; she killed a bunch of men. Would she still be allowed in Otherworld? They were bad men, that’d surely make it okay? Right? …Right? She couldn’t be sure, though. And that scared her. Terrified her.

“Gnn…” She glanced at him and saw the parfait he pushed close. She dropped the bone on the tray to eat the dessert instead, buy she still couldn’t keep her eyes off him. How could someone be such a monster? If she couldn’t go to Otherworld now, then it was his fault. He pushed her to that breaking point even if he hadn’t been the one to pull the trigger.

“I don’t care about being strong. I just want to see all of my family and friends again. That’s all I want. You’re such a monster, maybe you don’t understand what it feels like to miss people you love.”

* * *

His POV

Monster. He was starting to get the feeling of what it must have been like every time he’d called her ‘little slave’. The prince rolled his eyes, sneering at her use of the term. His attention was quickly distracted by her eating, becoming a little too infatuated with the way she brought the spoon to her mouth. He didn’t even mean to stare; it was more subconscious then anything. 

“Love, don’t make me laugh.” He snapped back to reality, flicking his hard gaze up to meet her own. She’d taken the parfait easy enough and appeared to be calming down. Though he still felt like she was burning a hole through him with that staring of hers. The woman really could pierce. The prince refused to make further eye contact, shaking it off with a gruff and turning his gaze away.

“...but never say I don’t regret the loss of my people,” he said sternly. “I am the last royal decedent of a great race. I carry their pride on my shoulders. I keep their honor and greatness. Instead of whining about it like a little bitch I know.” It was then the prince stood, tired with the conversation. Their meal was over, too. Nothing but the bone that Bulma had tossed back onto the plate remained.

“Maybe next time I should get you cuffs instead of a collar, if I’m to make sure you’re not going to try something foolish again.” It was a tease, which was obvious in his voice. The prince shot a look over his shoulder, just as his tail wound back around his naked waist. It was getting late, but once again he found himself looking down the barrel of a long night ahead. There would be no leaving the girl unsupervised for a multitude of reasons. So, instead, he began to stretch. Raising one arm over his head and tilting, and then the other. The prince was about to drop and do 20, right there in the hotel floor.

* * *

Her POV

He proved her point. Mocking her at just the idea of love. She knew it. He didn’t even understand the idea of love, of course he’d tell her just to get over herself. He had no clue what she felt like. She glared him down, and she could tell that he didn’t like it. He refused to make eye contact with her, and it made her more eager to glare him down more.

But then he began talking about ‘his people.’ She frowned and watched him, not understanding what he meant. So he was like her? …No, he wasn’t. He was the one that destroyed her planet, raped her, and kept forcing her to come back to be raped again. He might be sharing food with her now, but how long would that last? He’d get horny and pin her down again sometime. She was beginning to debate if she should try suicide again. Pretend she only needed to go to the bathroom.

“I’m not a little bitch. I don’t care about 'my people.’ I just want the people I love back. You’re– Eugh.” She pursed her lips and watched him get up and start doing push-ups. He was such an ass. Pretending he was so much better than her because he didn’t like that she cried over the death of her loved ones and her lost life. Of her loss of identity.

“You can’t tell me that I need to be strong and kill you, and then tell me that I need to be put in cuffs,” she spat, finishing the parfait and leaving the cup and spoon at the tray with the bones. “You just want to keep torturing me. Just kill me and go find some other girl.”

* * *

His POV

“No.” He simply remarked, keeping his nose to the grindstone, or to the floor as it were, since he was doing push-ups. He was getting her riled up again, he could feel it, and it felt good. In some twisted sense it was _‘fun_ ’. Though after a few moments he began to focus on the task at hand, calming-up those riled up feelings.

Up. Down. Up. Down. Steady. Allowing the pain to burn into his back muscles, rather than quickly move through the pain. One hand and then the other, and then the Saiyan’s feet went right over his head. Hand-stand push-ups. At least this way he could somewhat make eye contact with her flustered expression, even if it was upside down. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight for too long. If there was anyone to be suspicious of, it was that girl.

“Why don’t you make yourself useful and call room-service to clean up that shit. And don’t even think about going back into the bathroom. You’ve used up your chances in there, woman.” The sheets were still damp with rain and blood and the tub was useless now, thanks to her. It was her fault; she should be the one to clean it up. At least he wasn’t calling her slave anymore. The term seemed to of slipped the Saiyan’s mind ever since he witnessed her murder a brigade of armed men.

All he had to do was wait her out. The earthling had to grow tired at some point. It was a waiting game. Luckily for the prince, he could train all night if he wanted to. And after their battle of wit and words, he was more than ready to burn off a few thousand calories, or more. His blood was simply steaming.

* * *

Her POV

He was ordering her around like a slave again. She wasn’t about to listen to him. She’d make as much of a mess as she wanted. She shook her head at him to tell him she refused, but after a moment of deliberation, she got up. He couldn’t control her life. He could go straight to hell for acting like it. He could pretend that he was above her, but that didn’t make it true. 

She walked passed him into the bathroom without the slightest care. He was doing push-ups on his hands anyway, how long could it take him to react? She took advantage of his business, her eyes focusing on that bathtub. He didn’t get to tell her what she could and could not do. He was obsessed with this idea of strength she didn’t even think she had, and she was sick of it. Sick of him telling her who she was. She knew herself more than he did, even in the state she was in. And she knew what she wanted.

But she didn’t move. She lingered in the doorway, her eyes still locked on her attempted means of suicide. …Would she get to Otherworld, if she were killed? She liked to think she would. Chiaotzu wasn’t as good of a person as he could have been when he died the first time, and yet he still went to Otherworld and came back. Roshi was a pervert. She may have killed men, but… But wasn’t it alright? It was self-defense.

She breathed out slowly, finding that she’d lost the nerves she had before. No matter how much she wanted to, she didn’t think she’d be able to make it happen. Then again, even if she could… Vegeta would stop her anyway. This was hell, wasn’t it? There was no escape. She couldn’t kill or escape her captors, who raped and abused her whenever they saw fit, but they wouldn’t kill her, either. And if she tried to kill herself? She was stopped from that, too.

And Vegeta had the nerve to try and tell her how she needed to make a new life for herself and move on, be strong. Like he wasn’t the cause of these problems in the first place. The more she began to dwell on it, she felt nauseous. She struggled to keep her food down, and turned her head to look over at Vegeta.

“How was it that your stupid people were killed? Did the universe decide that they were sick of you all, terrorizing other people like you do?”

* * *

His POV

This was hands-down the most defiant woman he’d ever met. So much so that the prince was left staggering still in his hand-stand position just in order to watch her rebellious nature play out before his eyes. It was somehow bewitching, despite how much it was playing at his anger. Thank Kami he didn’t have to rule a planet where all the inhabitants were as bull-headed as this girl, or he may of had to wipe them all out himself.

She marched right past him, right towards the bathroom, and he let her. Sure, he could try to stop her again, but more importantly the prince wanted to see her decision for herself. To understand if the girl had a change of mind; if he’d have to keep such a close eye on her after all.

He waited, and waited, but he never seemed to more than pose as an onlooker to her own failed attempt at suicide left in the tub. After a few moments, the man tucked his knees into his stomach and rolled his body down from the air. Just as the question of his people’s existence fell from the woman’s lips. How dare she speak so ill of his grand race. The earthling was about to learn about his people, because the prince was about to give her what for.

“My people were a great and well-respected power across the universe!” He snapped, edging closer and closer to the woman as he spoke. “My people were not _purgers_ like we are now _,_ we were warriors. We did not terrorize, we conquered and ruled.” He huffed, stopping short and folding his thick arms over his chest. It was easy boasting. That was one of the things Vegeta had a Kami-given talent for. But admitting defeat... well, it left a bitter taste in his mouth; one that scrunched up his nose and turned his powerful voice into a murmur.

“... _It was hit by an asteroid_.” He finally admitted. “...at the peak of its reign, too. Now it’s nothing more than an asteroid belt. Nappa, Raditz and myself were away on a mission when it hit. I was just a pup, not that it matters.” He ground out harshly. “I didn’t give a damn then, and I certainly don’t give a damn now. Like I told you, _Earthling,_ shit happens.”

As if right on cue, Nappa and Raditz came stumbling through the door. Nappa had a nice shiner on his left eye, but too drunk to realize it, and Raditz was covered in what looked like suction cup kisses anywhere there was visible skin. He was drunk as a skunk, too. Both of them men fumbled in and found their beds, doing their best to salute their exceedingly irritated prince, before Raditz had to call it quits and once again ending up passing out on the floor.

“.. _.idiots_.”

* * *

Her POV

She was silent as he spoke, but it was clear on her face how she felt. He was a hypocrite, and an idiot. How dare he talk to her about what she should feel, when he’s never been in a situation like hers? He didn’t get to see someone murder all his people and keep him as a slave, much less a sex slave. He didn’t understand. She opened her mouth to give him a stern talking-to about how pathetic he was, when the other two Saiyans walked in.

For a moment, she was scared that she’d need to watch her mouth. But they were drunk, and nearly immediately passed out. So when she found it safe, she turned and took a step closer to Vegeta, pointing a finger in his face. She was sick of hearing his voice, so this time, he’d get to hear her.

“How DARE you! You get your stupid little planet of ‘warriors’ wiped out as a kid by asteroids, and you try to act like you’re anything like me?! Don’t you even know what you did to me?! You personally killed everyone I knew! You personally murdered my boyfriend! And you chased me down, and you– You–” She breathed in sharply, her hopelessness molding into anger as she thought about it again. Her jaw tightened.

“You ARE pathetic! You talk all this crap about being stronger, but look at you! You can’t even conquer, even if you’re supposed to be a prince?! You just go around, destroying other people’s planets, as some kind of sick revenge for what happened to yours, huh!? And then you have the nerve to tell survivors to get over it! I’ll say it again– you’re a monster! You’re the worst kind of monster! A hypocrite, too! And you don’t even have the nerve to kill me!”

She slapped him across the face, and found herself shaking slightly just from how angry she was. “’Shit’ didn’t happen! You happened! You and those other idiots killed everyone I ever knew, and then you did what you wanted to me! And you won’t even let me die to be with all of them again! You’re horrible! There’s no words to properly describe just how much of a monster you are!”

* * *

His POV

There may have been four bodies in the room, but it still felt like it was only the two of them. The prince didn’t give a shit about acknowledging his men’s’ existence, or the fact that they were passed out before they ever hit their bunks. He was furious, and only growing more so with every sharp word that spat out of that woman’s mouth, and then she had the nerve to strike his royal face.

His shoulders hunched, his eyes burned white hot. He couldn’t find words to argue this time. He didn’t want to; the prince was finished with defending himself to some homeless twerp. And that’s when he did it. With no warning, he smacked her again in the muscle of her neck, knocking her clean out. 

It was a long night. The prince couldn’t sleep, and the buzz of irritation was vividly wafting off of his being where ever he went. But eventually, the night passed. Both Raditz and Nappa kept their distance as best as they could as soon as their heavy eyelids opened. The prince was ready to swat flies, to fight, to get off of the planet as soon as possible.

Luckily, it looked like the woman was still sleeping hard from the fall she’d suffered the night before. Perfect. It made sweeping her up over his shoulder and heading back to the pod easier than before. The prince had already collected his next mission some days before when he and his men had gone on their supply collecting spree. Raditz grabbed the crate of supplies while Vegeta carried the girl, finding their ships right where they left them. In no time, they were rocketing away from the glow of the technological playground and into the vastness of space yet again.

Their next destination, a distant planet that was inhabited by giants that were said to be monsters. Monsters. The word held new meaning now. It was almost ironic that he’d be slaying creatures that she’d claimed he to be.

Hours past, steadily a new world grew into view from the round window of his tranquil pod. Past the sleeping head of the girl in his lap, Vegeta caught the glimps of the brilliantly glowing orb before them. The planet had a prism like rainbow around its borders due to the various species of fungi that forested its surface. Giant-ass mushrooms by day, bio-luminescence by night.

  



	11. What is jealousy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, I wonder if someone's going to get jeeealouuus in this chapter?

  


Her POV

When Bulma awoke, she ached. Not just her neck. Her head hurt, her whole side of her body that had hit the floor after Vegeta smacked her pressure point all ached. She didn’t open her eyes at first, not wanting to reveal she was awake. Or acknowledge it. She had strange, out-of-body dreams, and she wished they’d continue. It was better than the life she otherwise lived, even if they were unusual. They were always filled with feelings of warmth, of being touched so softly by the people she loved, hearing the voices of others telling her she’d be okay. The dream somehow made her feel so comforted and at home, and remembering that she was the exact opposite of that was too rude of an awakening for her to take all at once.

She could tell where they were as she began to become more aware of their surroundings. She was strewn across Vegeta’s lap, with her head laying against familiar soft, rounded walls. They were in the pod again. And he seemed to be leaving her alone, for the most part. Her clothes were still on, and he wasn’t fondling or violating her. If he’d decide to do it once she showed she was awoke, well… Who knew.

She opened her eyes slowly, her first sight being the oncoming planet. It was beautiful. She stared at the sight, unmoving. The glowing rainbows that emitted from the planet were breathtaking. And… He was just doing to destroy it all? All thoughts of pretending to be asleep to avoid being violated and to try and hang onto the last bits of her dream were thrown out the window. She swung her head and looked up at Vegeta with that ever-present hateful look, making it known how upset she was. Not just that she was still with him. He was going to destroy another planet.

“Is this your sick fetish? Destroying beautiful planets like this? Killing whatever innocent people live there? You’re really a sick monster.” She sunk lower into her spot, not even bothering to try and make room off of him anymore. It was pointless. She was expecting him to start trying to peel her clothes off at any minute, anyway.

“You don’t have any form of a conscious, do you? You don’t love, you don’t have any shame, you can’t even process what you do is bad by any means… You can’t even have any form of empathy. …I hope they’re strong enough to kill you this time.”

* * *

His POV

Throughout the journey, the prince hadn’t touched her. Well, not much at least. He’d moved her position now and again when it became bothersome, but beyond that the prince hadn’t harmed the woman in his lap. He wasn’t in the mood, he told himself, clicking his tongue behind his teeth. He needed rest desperately anyhow. He’d been avoiding sleep since he’d gone to search for the earthling across the purple fields. He’d need his strength when they landed. Feeling the woman wouldn’t stir during their flight, the prince had slept nearly the whole way.

But then the woman in his lap began to stir, and his eyes slit open. She was bickering, again, but what about this time, he wasn’t sure. He only noted that the woman had the ability to run her mouth the moment she regained consciousness. Her tongue appeared to be her super weapon.

“Now that would be nice, wouldn’t it.” He sneered, the red light that meant ‘incoming’ flashing to life. “I’d love a good fight, for once.”

The prince didn’t ask, he just grabbed her. Though, there was a gentleness about how he maneuvered her into his lap. Catching the girl under one of his thick biceps, he held her head down against the crook of his neck. He’d noticed the last few times how her head jostled on impact. He was preparing them for making contact with the planet.

“Now hold still” His cheek pressed against the top of her head, gazing towards the console; pressing in the landing codes with his free hand. In no time, the pod was whistling through the atmosphere and crashing right into a patch of mushrooms. The impact of the three pods kicked up enough dirt to coat the air with a thin mist of dust and pollen. 

When the three pod doors hissed open there was nothing but silence. It was a serene planet, if anything. Like something out of a dream. The dust was blue and as fine as powder, raining down like glitter. It must have been day break on the side of the planet that they hit because the rays of a white star sun were reaching over the horizon of the glowing forest. A mushroom forest.

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t argue much with her, but that was likely because the pod was ready to land. She grumbled when he pulled her close, but didn’t bother to argue either, for that same reason. She wasn’t going to end up with bruises from going flying. She even realized that he was holding her head down with his cheek. She didn’t say anything about it, but she recognized what he was doing. He was preventing her from getting whiplash. 

They crashed, and she stayed mostly in place. There was obvious jostling, and her brain still felt like it had rattled around in her skull, but she was in one piece, and with less of a headache than she usually did. She climbed out of the pod as soon as he set her free, at least eager to be away from his arms before he could decide to begin wandering his hands to grope her.

The world was beautiful. She’d never seen something like this before. It was a forest made out of mushrooms, glowing and breathtaking. As far as she could tell, it must be somewhere that giants lived. Or pixies. Maybe both. It was silent and peaceful, and her blood boiled knowing why the Saiyans were here. They were going to destroy this planet.

She turned her head to glare at the three of them, her nose wrinkling. “I can’t believe you all. You’re just going to wreck this planet? You three really don’t care about anything, do you? You’re like super villains. You kill children, you rape women, and you completely destroy natural wonders.”

She walked further out into the planet, investigating further. It seemed everything on this planet was giant. They stood on dirt that was a magnificently deep shade of red that seemed to become blue when it was kicked into the air, and any grass or other kind of plant life was at least their height, or higher. She felt like an ant, but there was still enough sunlight seeping through to let her see everything in all its beauty. And to think she could have been exploring space all these years. Her father was certainly capable of making a space ship, but he was never interested in it. But they’d all been missing out on sights like this.

“ _Wow…”_

* * *

His POV

The three Saiyans were right behind her. They didn’t care to see the beauty in the place, as dreamlike as it was. It was just another dollar, another day. The planet would burn soon and they’d head off into another arm of the galaxy. Vegeta in particular simply saw it as nature. It was just evolution at work, and he was a final blow. The big predator in the food chain that’d cause another mass extinction; rolling the dice for something new to begin.

“Super... Villains...?” The comic book reference went right over Raditz head, tiling his head at Bulma.

“Let’s move out,” their leader roared, raising his hand over his head and ushering them into a new direction. The three Saiyan lifted from the towering grass and over grown vegetation to get a better scout out of their new territory. Nappa had caught the girl right around the waist, just before liftoff. It was his place to tend to the girl, not Vegeta’s. The prince was there to lead them to battle, not to carry their goods.

It looked peaceful from above, but once in a while the giant fungi would move below. As if something enormous was storming its way through the forest. There were occasional booms in the distance. The ground rumbled, but luckily the Saiyans were traveling away from whatever was stalking the giant flora and fauna. They traveled for some time before they came across a small clearing in the midst of the disk-topped forest. It was small, remote, secured by a cliff on one side, and a water source within walking distance. It was perfect.

The three pairs of boots landed, and Nappa let the girl fall right out of his grasp. Immediately after, he stretched his giant arms free of knots from the cramped flight in the round pod. Mists of star like pollen drifted through the air and on a far tree a giant insect was softly fanning its giant polka-dotted wings. Giant yellow-belled flowers hung from above, big enough to hide in... Nappa and Raditz didn’t seem to notice, too busy building their newest campsite. Vegeta however, was eyeing the girl now that they’d landed. 

* * *

Her POV

None of them really seemed to give a shit how she thought of them. Not like she expected them to, but some acknowledgement would have been pleasant. Instead, they almost instantly took to the sky, taking Bulma with her. She struggled at first under Nappa’s arm, but then she found that the view was even more beautiful than her previous one. She got to see all the mushrooms and other flora swaying in the gentle breeze, glowing just barely in the light of the sun. 

Occasionally, she saw movement underneath the flora. A glowing pink or green or blue figure that almost seemed human, but only for a quick moment as Nappa carried her. She didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help but wonder what the people here were like. Those figures seemed fairly big. Bigger than Nappa, that was for certain.

She was set down on a cliff, and the first thing she did was go to the edge. It scared her almost, but it was amazing to watch the landscape from above. Even the giant insect that looked like a cross between a cricket and a dragonfly looked beautiful to her, though it could probably eat her for dinner.

She wished she had somewhere to write all this, on the off-chance she was able to get back to her planet and bring the others back to life. She’d have pictures and a diary to show them of how beautiful it was. Beautiful enough to make her forget about committing suicide or in general the terrible situation she was in. It was a fairytale planet, something she never thought would actually be real.

* * *

His POV

The way the human watched the world was beginning to baffle the Saiyan prince. She stared wide-eyed and in wonder, moving as gently as the breeze around her. Captivated. Vegeta had never bothered to notice the worlds around him. They came and went on a regular basis, bleeding together in a blur of smolder and ash as the years went by. But this girl, she seemed to notice everything, and it was strikingly puzzling.

He moved closer, as quiet as ever. The prince’s hands were laced behind his waist as he looked ahead from over her shoulder. Tall and proud, his breast plate glistened in the coming sunshine. He wasn’t so much interested in the view, as he was making sure the little female wasn’t getting any funny ideas about toppling over cliff side. But the longer he side-eyed her, acting as if he was just watching the rising sun, the more he was beginning to trust her.

It was just about then that a massive ‘crunch’ came from behind. It was Raditz. He’d pounced right onto the giant insect and was planning on making it his dinner. The wings were stripped off and the thing was kicking wildly, still alive while the Saiyan pawed it and ripped it, until he bit one of its cricket like legs clean off. Green goo splattered everywhere in mass amounts.

…But that wasn’t all.

Raditz had set off a chain reaction. Apparently the bug hadn’t been the only nearby one in the forest, and as soon as it started chirping to its death, a whole swarm of the insects shot out from behind the mushroom trunks, knocking the Saiyan right off his feet. The hoard of frightened creatures flew right over the cliff and into the distance.

* * *

Her POV

When she glanced to the side, she noticed Vegeta’s shoes. He was beside her, but she didn’t bother spending much time entertaining that idea. She didn’t give a shit about that asshole. Why should she? He was nothing but a pathetic monster. Instead, she kept observing the beauty the world had to offer, when she heard a loud crunch come from behind her. She had an idea what it was, and wrinkled her nose in disgust but did not look.

That gave her the perfect opportunity, however, to witness all those bugs come flying out from the mushrooms and across the cliff. The buzzing was loud and jostling enough that she instinctively dunked down and covered her head as they flew straight over her, close enough to brush against her skin. Only when she didn’t feel them over her anymore did she sit up and watch them fly into the sky, into the horizon. It was horrifying to witness, but at the same time, amazing. Like watching giant hordes of migrating butterflies.

She got up onto her feet and started walking away from the cliff and toward the riverbed nearby. It was a massive one, though for all these plants it probably looked like just a little splatter of water rushing off from a small puddle. The rocks were translucent pastels, and Bulma couldn’t resist squatting down to pick a few up. Under one, she found something underneath that was a dark orange. She began brushing the rocks out of the way to reveal it, and found a turtle. Giant by what was considered so on Earth, but not by this planet’s standards. It hid its head in its shell, and she found what looked to be pieces of egg underneath. It was a baby.

She picked the turtle up from the riverbed, and glanced over her shoulder at the Saiyans. They were just going to destroy all the life on this planet, just like that? She really still couldn’t come to terms with it. Of course they would, though. They didn’t care about her planet; why would they care about this one? The only beauty they could see was in a woman screaming and pinned down while covered in the blood of her family.

* * *

His POV

Vegeta hadn’t moved when the swarm went buzzing overhead. The wings and legs of the beasts brushed past his hair and shoulder pads, but he was as immobile as a stone pillar. His gaze did turn in the direction of the girl when she decided to run off. All seemed well, the girl was more interested in exploring the new planet then making a mess of herself. That worked perfectly into his hands. He had a mission to complete.

“Nappa, stay here with the girl. See to it she doesn’t do anything ...stupid.” He glowered, passing right by Raditz (whom was munching on the cricket’s head) and motioned for the long haired Saiyan to follow him. Raditz reluctantly dropped his meal, slinging off the sticky ooze of bug guts, and followed his prince into the sky line. They were about to make a hard day’s work of reaping havoc across the planet’s continents.

Nappa was all too pleased about being left on guard duty with the female. It was rare that something was just dropped into his lap. All the missions beforehand had always begun with him being sent across the planet to burn an army, to destroy a country, this time his only orders were to watch a female. It was like a vacation, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with her.

The giant Saiyan’s eyes roamed over the female’s figure before kneeling down beside the river bed. Cupping his hands, he splashed the cool liquid into his face, before lapping it up from his palms like a dog, slurping loudly until he’d had his fill. His attention immediately went to the female thereafter.

“Looks like it’s just going to be you and me, girlie...” He rose to his feet, towering over her ominously. The look in his eyes was one full of ill intent. “Now what in the world could we do for entertainment until they get back? Got any more bright ideas?” Nappa bellowed laughter, making a remark regarding the various times she’d offered to pleasure him. He hadn’t forgotten, and it was about time she paid up.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t pay much attention to what the Saiyans were up to after she turned her head and focused on the turtle again. What did she care? She didn’t want to think about the horrible crimes they were committing against a beautiful planet. She was more focused on the turtle. She set it down away enough from her and facing the opposite direction to watch how he reacted when he thought she was gone. His head popped out from his shell, and he began wadding into the clear, sparkling water.

Of course, the moment couldn’t last. She was irritated to be brought out of the beauty of the moment by Nappa coming up and splashing water in his face. He was loud and obnoxious, slurping as noisily as he possibly could and generally making himself known to her through sound alone. It wasn’t as if she was stupid- she knew what was coming. She knew the kind of things she’d pulled on him before. Begging him to do things in favor for other things. Over and over. She was just hoping he’d forgotten.

She didn’t look at him much until he stepped up and began towering over her. She stared up at his face, and it didn’t take a genius to see the ill intent. Bulma wished that she could hide her head in a shell like the turtle. Instead, she opted for turning her body away and crossing her arms tightly.

“You should go take a nap or something. I don’t care what you do, but I’m fine as I am. Leave me alone.” She knew it wouldn’t work. When did it ever work? Still, she felt the need to try. She got up and began walking away, back to the campsite they Saiyans had created when she was busy observing their surroundings. Trying her best to ignore the large Saiyan in hopes that he’d just shrug it off and go do something else.

* * *

His POV

“Not so fast, girlie...” In moments, the big Saiyan was right behind the fleeing girl. His large hand came down onto her shoulder; big enough to cover the entirety of her of skin from her neck to arm. She wasn’t getting away that easily, not when he’d been denied so many times before. There had been a few times when Nappa had just been shit out of luck with timing, but the last time he’d tried fucking the female she’d tricked him. That escalated things from a simple fuck to a little pay back.

“You’ve got some work to do.” His voice lowered dangerously. The large hand that’d weighed on her shoulder was now shoving her in the back, trying to push the girl into the dirt where she’d be more manageable for him. It was a beautiful place; there couldn’t have been a more fanciful setting. But what the Saiyan was about to force on the woman was nothing short of a nightmare. He was already rubbing his cock through his skimpy pants. The large bulge under his lower armor was growing thicker, the closer his shadow cast over the girl.

“I want that handjob you promised me first, and then we’ll see about you sucking it.” The grin on his face was joyous, but for the worst reasons. Nappa really was getting a kick out of this. Already his heavy armor was hitting the ground and his hand was venturing below his hem line, fondling himself. “Why don’t ya’ make it easier on yourself? Get on your knees.”

* * *

Her POV

She closed her eyes and froze when he grabbed her. She knew it. She let out a breath, and gulped down her nerves as he spoke. He shoved her to the ground, but just as quickly as she caught herself, she flipped around to look at him. Looming over her, creeping closer. She was so sick of being treated like an animal. Like a blow-up doll. She couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like if she shoved a capsule inside his urethra and pressed the button, but then she recalled how he’d acted before. He’d popped her arm straight out of its socket once. She didn’t want to die doing something stupid.

He wasn’t demanding much, even if it disgusted her to think that. A handjob, maybe a blowjob. The blowjob maybe she could weasel her way out of, especially if she did good enough of a handjob. He couldn’t be that dirty from when she last washed him, either. She stared up at him, and while her face showed just how disturbed she was, she didn’t try to run away. She had a decent deal here. If she fucked it up, he’d be pinning her down and violating her.

“It’s not like it was my fault,” she replied, trying to look away from the growing bulge after Nappa had revealed it by dropping the armor around his waist. He was jerking himself off already. These Saiyans were strange in that way, she’d observed. They could get themselves up with ease. 

“…Get down. Lay down on the grass, you’ll enjoy it more that way, anyway.” She said it in a low voice to show her distaste, but she’d be doing it anyway. She didn’t care. It was just a handjob. Just a handjob. 

* * *

His POV

The unsettling look in the girl’s eyes did little to disturb the older Saiyan, unlike the effect it had on the prince the night before. If anything it egged the big male forward in his march towards the girl. Nappa had fucked too many, seen too much, and cared too little about the universe to give two shits what a female had to say before he fucked them. He’d be the one calling the shots, taking her as aggressively as he pleased. Though, what she said about it feeling better did weigh on his mind.

Jerking his exposed meat in one hand, he considered the options she was trying to give him. The girl had pulled one over on his head before, he wasn’t about to let her get away with it this time. But they were alone, and she appeared to be unarmed. Maybe the little female was finally doing her job for once, maybe she knew she couldn’t get out of it this time. Good.

“Don’t try to get out of it this time, or I won’t go so easy on you! You better make it worth it.” He huffed, eyeing the girl, twitching his brows and mustache. His heavy body hit the ground with a thud, and in no time Nappa was planted in the grass right beside Bulma. He’d landed in reaching range of her, and gave no hesitation in pulling her closer by the wrist, seeing to it that she got to work as quickly as possible.

As soon as he’d let her go, his massive hands propped himself up by pressing into the soft earth behind him. He was lounging. His inhumanly large cock was almost completely hard from his previous handling. It was so big it wasn’t difficult to see the big vein along the side pulse, twitching the huge thing right in front of it. It was too bad she didn’t bring that lube. Oh well, a hand job was a hand job. It was better having a female rub him off then using his own rough and dry patchy palm for once.

* * *

Her POV

He dropped down, and it at least spared her knees the pain of having to kneel for what she could already feel was going to be a while. She let out a little huff when Nappa grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her close, but she still thanked her luck that for once she wasn’t getting groped and fondled and violated. All she had to do was jack him off. And that’s something she had plenty of experience with. Even if he was… Huge. 

She couldn’t help but furrow her brows and wrinkle her nose just at the sight. It made sense that his cock would be big– He was big. She just… Didn’t expect it to quite this degree, perhaps. He was big enough that if she had to suck him off, she’d have to hope it didn’t last long and end up locking her jaw. Bulma crossed her legs loosely as she sat to get comfortable, figuring she might as well as a means of making up for willingly doing something so gross. 

She placed a hand on him and began moving it slowly, her cheeks reddening at the act. She slowly started going faster, and with her free hand, began fondling his balls. She found herself occasionally looking away just because of how disgusting she found it. The way he twitched and throbbed was just… Eugh. He had one large vein in particular that grossed her out. That was one thing she’d liked about her boyfriend- he wasn’t very veiny. 

“Ugh.” She couldn’t resist voicing her disgust when he began precumming in large quantities. Everything about this man was big, wasn’t it? It was intimidating, to say the least about it. She was lucky she’d given him that little makeover when she had the chance. But that was when something occurred to her. Her eyes turned upward, with one brow raised. She couldn’t help but be a little curious, even if it felt strange to be. Any besides that, if she kept his attention on that, maybe he’d be less likely to demand she suck him off afterward.

“…Did the work I did on you do anything for you? With… _Girls._ ”

* * *

His POV

He had to give it to her, the little bitch was good. Nappa began to wonder if she’d been a slave on her home planet, or maybe a local whore. The woman definitely had talent working in her hands, and it was beginning to make the massive soldier moan. He had no shame, even less than his two comrades. He moaned as loudly as he pleased without trying to hold back. His legs spread unattractively apart, allowing the woman full access when massaging his sack. The big lug didn’t even mean to start pre-coming so soon. It felt good, ungodly good. It was beginning to make sense to him why Vegeta insisted on keeping her around.

“What...?” His drift through a dazed indulgence was disturbed when she muttered something. Something about girls. Why was the female talking when she was pleasuring him? He eyed the girl jerking the loose skin around his thick member, debating if he should even give an answer.

“No, in fact, it didn’t,” he grumbled, unhappy with that fact. “...Well, not like you said it- ...ahh ahhh ahhhh!” All his moaning was doing a good job at interrupting his thought pattern. “...not like you said, said it would-” another chain of groans rolled out of his gaping mouth. “...at the end of it, I still had to …to force em.’”

Words refused him, all the Saiyan could concentrate on was the intense sensation crawling through his legs. He was about to come all over the little female. The massive dick between his thighs was standing unbelievably hard and erect. The Saiyan wanted more pleasure. Something to come into. That’s why he landed his giant palm on top of the girl’s head, pressing her face closer to the spurting tip, just as a thick jet came erupting out. Just like there was a lot of Nappa, there was a lot of sperm. A few of the onslaught of shots hit the girl in the chest and face, sure to get some in her hair too.

At least he fell back on his back, if just to soak up the aftermath of orgasm. Though, he was still partially hard. Saiyans, they didn’t go down easy, and neither did their erections.

“Now why don’t you show me something else,” he panted lightly, starting to sit up, rubbing his head. “I’m sure Vegeta’s had you do all kinds of shit in that pod. Give me some of that, or else I’ll just have you ride me til I’m done.”

* * *

Her POV

Ah. So it hadn’t worked. Nevermind that, he didn’t seem the type to give a rat’s ass if a girl was consenting or not. And either way, he was obviously… Enjoying himself. She was hoping with how hard he was and just how much he was moaning, that maybe she’d get lucky. Maybe she wouldn’t need to suck him off. She jerked him a little faster, and moved one hand from his balls to his shaft so she could work both her hands on it, twisting as well.

He was moaning louder, and suddenly he grabbed the back of her head and tried to shove her downward. Her mouth snapped shut and so did her eyes, just as he started cumming. It hit her face, her hair, her chest, making her a mess. As if she weren’t one already. And as soon as he let go of her head, she jerked upward again and let go of him, instead wiping her face. As soon as her eyelids were cleared of cum, Bulma’s eyes opened again, and she glared at him with a face burning with embarrassment and humiliation. 

“No wonder you had to force them, if you act like that. Eugh, it’s not like I have shampoo on me all the time! And my clothes–” She turned her attention down at herself, making a meager attempt to wipe off the cum that had shot both onto her clothes and onto the bare cleavage she had. Great. And now he was demanding more! He was so greedy.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. He doesn’t get to do anything to me. If he tries, I hit him back. Unless you want to be stabbed in the eye with your own scouter–” That’s when it occurred to her. What happened to her scouter? Or the one she’d tinkered with before? She turned away from Nappa, disinterested with him, and instead squinted at the bit of stuff they had around the burning campfire. 

She got up and began to walk to the campfire, despite knowing Nappa’s threat. Whatever, she gave him what he’d wanted. If he tried to force himself onto her, she’d hurt him just like she said she would. There was no way in hell she was going to start sucking him off.

* * *

His POV

The girl got off easy - Nappa was still too busy soaking up the nice vibe given off from his orgasm to bother grabbing for the girl a second time once she’d decided to make way for the camp. He hadn’t given a shit about her complaining about him cumming on her, and he wasn’t about to start complaining when she left. It was just as easy to go and retrieve her, to force her back down. What was she going to do, go flying off the cliff?

“Don’t give me that bull-shit, girlie.” The large man slowly rolled to his feet, staggering towards the woman’s direction. He was eyeing the way she was so freely going through their supplies. As if she had any rights to handle the items carried by soldiers. The woman was either insanely stupid, or insanely rebellious. The memory of Vegeta’s blood shot eye started to make sense ...he’d even seen her murder a man. The girl had spunk, that was for sure, and it make the pursuit of having her jack him off again bubble with more appeal.

“Why the hell else would he keep you around? No Saiyan in their right mind would let a slave get away with shit like that. Unless…” His long shadow was over her now, eyeing the woman suspiciously. There was something uncanny about the way the woman acted. Something that brought back old memories of the days spent humping his own race. It was fun making her suck him off despite her vicious defiance, sure, but he wasn’t about to believe Vegeta let her get away without getting him off. Vegeta hadn’t known the ways of Saiyan females. She was just a slave to the prince, wasn’t she?

The big man shook it off, not finding the trail of thoughts worth debating when he had a half-hard on and a pretty girl to fuck. He stepped right over the items around the camp. It wasn’t much, just a parcel that Vegeta had instructed Raditz to bring (The prince didn’t want to have to go back to the pods; last time it’d given the woman the ability to run off)- a bag holding medical cream, a vile of anti-poison, a few bandages and a spare scouter. Nappa wasn’t interested in any of it. No, his great big hand was coming down for a handful of the girl’s blue hair. He was going to make her suck him off. She couldn’t blab if her mouth was full.

* * *

Her POV

Ah-ha! There it was! She grabbed her cute pink scouter with a smile, looking it over before she heard Nappa’s footsteps getting closer. Yeah, of course he wouldn’t let her go so easily. She pursed her lips as he spoke, and set down the scouter back inside the box. She wasn’t going to let that happen. Couldn’t he just be happy with a handjob? She waited until he stopped getting closer, and it didn’t take looking over her shoulder to know he was going to lean down and grab her by the hair.

To prevent that, in a quick motion Bulma grabbed one of the pieces of firewood from the campfire and turned, sending the fire on it straight into Nappa’s hand. She stumbled upward onto her feet and made room between the two of them, still grasping the piece of firewood-turned-torch after she’d given him enough of a burn.

“Why don’t you ask him why he keeps me around? I don’t know either, but he refuses to kill me or let me go, so how about you talk to him about it? Instead of trying to do things to me.” She meant it. He might be the more dangerous of the three, but if she had to, she’d hurt him. Besides, shouldn’t he have learned his lesson by now? He got pummeled by Vegeta for tearing up her dress last time. And given that it was just one-on-one, she thought she’d have enough of a chance to at least harm him enough to leave her alone.

“Look, I’m not doing anything else for you. You’re going to sit somewhere and leave me alone until the others come back. No more handjobs, or blowjobs, or anything else! Go have sex with one of the giant insects if you want to put yourself inside something so badly.”

* * *

His POV

Heat seared its way through his palm; his loud mouth let the entire forest of shrooms know his pain. He’d been sure he’d aimed right for the tiny slave. Who would have known she could be so quick, so sly? She was brave, that was for sure. Nappa knew he could easily step on her and wipe her off like sticky gum from the bottom of his boot. He thought the female knew when she was outmatched. He definitely wasn’t expecting a surprise attack, and it only pissed him off, turning him from easygoing to an angry bear in a matter of moments.

“You sneaky little fucker! That hurt!” He yelled, clenching his burnt hand tight, forcing the pain away. The air smelt of smoke and charred flesh. It’d gotten him, but it felt like nothing more than a good ki blast to the seasoned warrior. Nappa was not backing down, she’d have to do better than that.

“You’re going to do exactly as I say, the prince left me in charge!” Now he knew where he’d seen that look before. It was the look Saiyan women gave when they’d had enough of being fucked around. It was hardly fazing the tower of muscle, sadly. This was no Saiyan woman, as bold as she may be. It was a little alien that they’d picked up on some backwater planet. Her qualities may have been admirable, even nostalgic to fuck, but that was about it when it came to the giant bald man.

His undamaged hand lit to life with his own ball of ki. A counter attack aimed right for the dirt beside the woman, blasting a small crater in the dirt. It was a warning shot. Bulma had been right, out of the three, Nappa was the least timid when it came to rough housing with the girl. The soldier knew he’d have to be careful with this one, Vegeta had claimed she killed a fair share of men. He was starting to believe that.

His massive boot went flying next, aiming to kick the glowing ember of wood from her hands. The giant was after her. He’d have her pinned down in no time, if he played this right. Nappa was planning on taking the girl face down in the dirt this time, making quick work at whatever fabric he could get his hands on. He’d been meaning to feel her pussy anyhow, Raditz always got the best spot when they doubled up. It was his turn.

* * *

Her POV

“I don’t care what he says! I’m not doing anything with you!” She spat in his general direction, but she quickly stiffened up and realized the trouble she was in when he shot a ki blast right next to her. It must have been funny to him, how wide her eyes got, but to her it was simply terrifying. Shit, maybe she should just have sucked him off. Then again, as far as she knew, the last time he bathed was when he forced his way into the bath with her.

When he kicked the firewood out of her hand, she knew what she had to do. She went running right away, and while she knew she couldn’t outrun him, she knew she could outrun him _to the cliff._ She kept saying how she’d rather die than get raped again, and while she wasn’t as suicidal as she was last night, she knew whatever Nappa had in store for her was something she wouldn’t want to witness. He’d pulled her arm out of its socket and brutally raped her when she wasn’t even struggling that much. Who knew what the hell he’d do now that he was actually pissed off.

She did manage to run to the cliff, and jump right over the edge. She smacked against the cliff’s wall and caused a few scratches to herself, but it was better than what she was sure Nappa would do when he had the chance. She was hoping that he’d just let her go, or maybe she could try to hide or something, even if he was able to fly to meet her. Maybe she’d manage to hit the ground before he could grab her.

She looked up as she fell, her heart racing from the speed. Oh, oh God, she was so low down from the top of the cliff already. It didn’t look that high up when she was looking before! 

* * *

His POV

It was pathetic watching the female try and run from his massive size. Nappa was a wall in himself, a cliff of muscle that wouldn’t let her pass. He was sure he had her this time, closing in on her, enjoying the terrified look in her face. That’s right, she needed to know who she was messing with! …And then she fell right over the edge. No, she didn’t just fall, the idiot woman had _jumped._

She was going to get him killed! Oh kami, oh kami, if Vegeta came back and found her dead, he’d really beat him to death this time! There was no doubt about it! Fearing for his own life, Nappa swooped right over the cliff face after her, catching up to her with remarkable speed. Just in time too. The big brute had caught the girl by the leg right before her head could hit the ground. Though, the sway of her hair was brushing the dirt just beneath.

“You damn slave! You’re gonna get me killed!” Oh, he wasn’t having any of that. It was time to lay the smack down. All of Nappa’s give-no-fucks attitudes had bit the dust. He was going to fuck her properly this time, and he was going to be thorough about it. 

The two came swinging up and over the cliff. Nappa threw the girl down onto her stomach as soon as the ground was in range. She must have skidded, he’d tossed her so carelessly. The giant Saiyan flew in right behind her. This must have been what the majority of his foes saw right before they died. A missile of muscle careening right for them. Only instead of pounding her with a death blow, the hulk crashed his knees into the dirt instead. With one thigh on either side of her, baring his torso over her, he pawed at her shoulders until he had her in the position he wanted. Ass up, face down. One hand pressed between her shoulders, one hand groped her hip, and his panting mug hovered beside her ear. It was like getting mounted by a raging bull, surely.

* * *

Her POV

She squeezed her eyes shut the further she fell, and she was sure at any moment she’d be a pile of mush. But instead, Nappa grabbed her leg. Her eyes opened and she found herself nearly on the ground. If it were just a second longer, she’d be dead. And she wasn’t sure if she was terrified of that or not. She breathed heavily from the stress, and held onto Nappa’s arms while he brought her back to the cliff’s edge. The shock wand adrenaline was enough that the pain searing through her leg from the force of being grabbed abruptly prevented from falling further, was numbed.

Vegeta had held her close when she attempted suicide, and some part of her thought Nappa might be similar. What a pathetic idea. No, as soon as his feet touched the ground, Bulma went skidding along the grass, only able to reach quick enough to cover her face so her arms got the majority of the damage.

“Agh–!” She attempted to get up so she could try the cliff again, knowing full well this wouldn’t end up good for her. But Nappa’s arms grabbed her and forced her down into the dirt. Her cheeks burned as he forced her ‘into position,’ with her waist up in the air for easy access and the side of her face pressed down into the dirt. 

“St… Stop it! Stop and I’ll suck you off like I said I would! I won’t run off!” She reached behind herself and held the hem of her shorts, trying to keep them up as he got her ready. Her eyes searched the forest in hopes that the other two would be coming back soon, and maybe Vegeta would order Nappa to go do something else. 

“Don’t hurt me, please,” she begged out of terror, her voice more panicked than anything else, evident enough by her quick and shallow breaths. “I’ll put on a show for you if you don’t. I’ll take my clothes off and do stuff to myself, just… Stop, stop…”

* * *

His POV

Her pleads for mercy fell on deft ears. Nappa’s hard heart wasn’t easily swayed from getting what he wanted. From putting a ‘slave’ in her place. He’d been looking forward to this, and the more his wide hips began to rut against her clothed backside, the harder his erection grew. Her clothing made for a pathetic attempt at a barrier. The man’s strong grip made quick work of it - stripping the girl’s pants down to her knees forcefully. Sliding the hand that once pressed between her shoulders under the hem of her shirt, he bunched the fabric up and over her head until her blue hair was hardly visible; surely making it difficult on her arms in the caught up mess of fabric. This left the sway of her spine and heaviness of her breasts exposed underneath him.

“Too late for that, girlie.” There was no stopping him now. With the pink sensitive folds of flesh between her thighs exposed, the Saiyan guided the bulbous head of his dick into her soft opening. He didn’t wait for her to get wet, he didn’t go for a gentle glide, either. He pushed right in, all the way down to the hilt, and then he started thrusting.

A loud groan ripped from the man’s open maw. She was tight, or his cock was too big for her, either way Nappa was enjoying the intense squeeze. He was used to it by now, forcing himself into females that tried rejecting him. It always turned out the same - once he found a steady pace it’d grow more and more pleasurable with or without lubrication. He was putting his massive weight behind each buck of his cock, too, slamming down into the little female until he saw her body jolt from the heavy blow, again and again. The bounce of her breasts enticed him to lean over for a better look. A better grope. Slipping his hand from her back, he fondled her right breast instead. Giving it a firm squeeze in his giant palm, his physique strained behind her while he drove further in on one long stroke in and out.

The image of her stripping herself for him had been impressive. This slave seemed to think herself pretty sly, trying to get out of being fucked like that. Nappa wasn’t one for a show, he was in it for the act. And after dealing with so many women over the years, fondling so many, he knew a trick or two. Like how some species had a sweet spot, one that made them enjoy taking a cock whether they liked it or not. It’s why the giant male never bothered with attracting a female. Why go through the trouble, when he could dip his other hand around and down her waist and play with her clit instead?

* * *

Her POV

God, he was humping her. It was embarrassing. Humiliating. She hated being able to feel him shove up against her like that. Bulma tried desperately to hold onto her shorts to keep them up and hoped he’d just get off to humping her, but she knew that was a pipe dream. She wasn’t surprised at all when he grabbed her shorts and shoved them and the slave wear she was using as underwear down around her knees. She planned on struggling to pull them up, but when he shoved her jacket and shirt up, she found herself pinned and struggling with her arms forced over her head.

“Gn– Stop! Let me go! You’ll be sorry!” Her voice was slightly muffled as she struggled to try and get herself free of the mess of fabric around her head, but he clearly wasn’t listening. He shoved himself inside her without a second thought, and Bulma could only be thankful that the cum and precum from before made it somewhat lubricated. He was huge and she wasn’t turned on at all, but there was something to make it less painful when he began thrusting. But only slightly less so; the pain was still enough to knock her breathless.

She grunted with every jolt he gave her with his hip movements and closed her eyes. She managed to get herself partially free of the jacket when she used her nose to unzip it, but it was difficult to try and get herself free when he was ramming himself into her so roughly. She couldn’t focus on anything but the feeling. It was like she was going to get ripped in half.

“Stop! St– Aghn–!” She whined and yelped as he began playing with one of her breasts, and worse yet, started circling her clit. Her shivers from the bit of pleasure were visible, but it didn’t stop her from whining and telling him to stop it. And when she finally managed to pull the jacket over her head and accidentally undo the slave bikini top that had already been pulled upward by Nappa, she turned her upper half around to try and jab him in the eyes.

_“L… Let me– ugh– **go**!”_

* * *

His POV

It looked like the little female was going to be helping him out after all, regardless of any disputing she was trying to bark at him. She was taking her clothes off, right in front of him. It looked to Nappa that he’d be getting that strip tease after all. And with good timing, he was ready to see her fully naked and writhing under him. 

She went for his eyes and he batted her hand away like it was a gnat. Her attempt at fighting him good enough to get a bellow of laughter from the big brute. All the while fucking, bucking, and wedging himself in and out of the tight flesh wound around his member. His massive size stared down at her from above. Circling his fingers over her clit a little faster, he applied a little more pressure for good measure. The spirit she showed enthralled him into action much like it did Vegeta. Except Nappa wasn’t exactly respecting her for it. No, he was taking her like a bitch in heat that was begging for a good fuck from a big male.

The hand that once roamed her chest now caught up her arms, pressing the girl’s wrists to her own body. Pulling her backward until she was upright, bumping up against the wall of his torso. Thump. Thump. Thump. The Saiyan was growing steadily quicker in his movements. A little deeper, a little harder, the more the woman accepted the pleasure he was forcing on her. The slap of her increasingly wet skin smacking into his hips sounded good, mixing with the man’s own guttural groans. The swell of her were hips pinned securely in place by the hand playing between her legs. The man’s massive fingers ventured past her clit to the sensitive lips. Stroking her back and forth, from clit to opening, he was able to feel his own massive shaft pounding into her now and again.

All that noise was gaining attention. Every pant, moan, mewl, the other two Saiyans could hear it all. ...all while trying to wage battle. It wasn’t easy to fight for your life when they could hear Nappa fucking the female they’d left back at camp. If anything, it was distracting. And no matter how many times Vegeta yelled ‘Nappa you idiot, turn off your damn scouter’ the big lug never heard it. Nappa was too busy filling the female with his solid erection. Raditz took Vegeta’s screaming as a sign and left to find Nappa and the girl. It wasn’t long before the long haired Saiyan was back at camp. Staring at the two while they fucked together, Raditz found himself more and more turned on the closer he strode.

* * *

Her POV

“Agh– Mn–” She whined and gasped with every thrust, but still tried to struggle to hit him. It didn’t work, and all that happened was that he insisted on grabbing both her wrists in his large hands and force her upright. It burned for him to try and enter her from her new position, but her eyes fluttered as he kept playing with her clit. She wouldn’t say it. She wouldn’t admit it even in her thoughts, that it felt good.

She tried freeing her wrists from his grasp and wriggled her hips to try and get away from his cock, but it only backfired. Her breasts puffed out more between her upper arms, and he just shoved into her more violently than if she’d just kept still. It caused more than just a jolt, with his over-sized cock hitting right at her g-spot. This wasn’t like before, when he was inflicting pain on her and not giving a shit. He was actively trying to turn her on.

He began running his fingers up and down between her lips, and she shifted in pleasure. It was especially hard to try and contain herself given that when he lifted her upright, she couldn’t find her footing. He was kneeling, but his thighs were much larger than her own. Her feet pressed to the ground, but her knees were a few inches off of it, held up by the part of Nappa’s hand that wasn’t actively running over her privates.

Her head leaned up and rested on Nappa’s chest so she could look at him, attempting a glare of hatred through her half-lidded eyes and slightly ajar mouth. Her legs quivered slightly each time he thrusted inside and pressed against her g-spot again. That asshole– She wouldn’t orgasm to his actions. No, no. She tried to focus her eyes elsewhere to find a plan even through her clouded mind, only to land her gaze on Raditz. Slowly creeping closer, clearly entertained by the show.

She turned her head away from him, half out of humiliation. It was no longer clear if her face was such a shade of red because of the act itself, or out of embarrassment. Her hair brushed over Nappa’s skin as she rested her head against him to take a second to breathe. Her toes curled, and she could feel her orgasm starting to form. No. No–! She wouldn’t let it happen. She bit on Nappa’s skin, wherever she could reach, as hard as she could in an effort to try and get him to let go of her.

* * *

His POV

“God damn, Nappa, turn your scouter off, why don’t you!” Raditz had finally snapped out of his dazed watching of the big Saiyan taking the tiny female, long enough to relay the message he’d come to deliver. However, now that he was there, witnessing such a good round of humping, the other soldier was starting to wonder just how long it’d take for him to join in and rub one out. Nappa seemed to be enjoying the weak-kneed female under him without notice of the other soldier at all. No wonder he hadn’t heard them over the com-link.

He stepped closer, mindlessly rubbing the swelling girth hidden behind his armor. His pants were growing too tight, he couldn’t return to the fight feeling horny and distracted. Just real quick, before Vegeta could ever notice he’d stayed away too long. The last opportunity had been ages ago it felt. Raditz felt he’d have to be out of his mind to pass up getting a little revenge on the female for vomiting all over him and ending his good time. It was worth the risk of getting his ass beat by Vegeta. He’d just turn his scouter off until then... 

“Eyes forward,” Nappa finally groaned, shoving the females head down when she tried to glare up at him. It was only then that he noticed Raditz, it was only then that he finally ripped off his scouter - knowing full well what had brought the other Saiyan around. Damn, and he’d been hoping to fuck the girl solo the rest of the time the others had been war waging.

“Hurry up, I want a piece of action too, before Vegeta realizes.” Raditz gruffed, his brows knit finely together. He’d already tossed his scouter, making sure to turn it off first. His armor was discarded and before long he was stroking himself in hand, readying to penetrate the captured female. Nappa wasn’t listening, he could feel the girl’s insides quivering, quaking, sucking him deeper. She was about to orgasm and the excitement blew one out of the man, bigger than before. It contracted the large brutes bulging muscles, and brought his towering stature over her until she surely would have buckled under the weight, had he not been holding her by the crotch.

The giant was heaving, but he still wasn’t finished. He knew what his comrade wanted from the moment he looked up. After a few more heaving breaths, Nappa finally slid out of the girl’s used insides, but not without aiming himself right back into her, anally this time. He was only half hard from coming so soon, but the importance was to make room for the second male that was staring the girl down. Both of their heavy hands forced the girl still between them, prying her legs apart for a second round. Allowing Raditz to get into position in front of her before nestling himself between her thighs in for a good fuck.

* * *

Her POV

The biting didn’t work, and Nappa was getting more rough. Her eyes fluttered the more he bucked into her, and she couldn’t keep herself from orgasming even if she tried. Her brows furrowed and her mouth opened wider as she felt herself cumming. She couldn’t help it herself from moaning, either, though she tried to contain it. It was made even more humiliating with the knowledge that Raditz was in front of them, and maybe Vegeta somewhere else.

She was left sweating and panting after the initial orgasm, and she was hoping that maybe Raditz would be told to go back and do whatever it was he should be doing. It was wishful thinking on her part, but maybe. She was just too caught up in the after-glow to fight back when Nappa rearranged her, and when Raditz nuzzled himself in in front of her.

“Gn… Wait…” She mumbled, her eyes focusing. Nappa pushed himself inside of her ass this time, causing a grimace on her part from the searing pain. And with their hands all busy spreading her legs further apart, she planted her hands on Raditz and tried to shove him away. When that failed, she settled for holding her arms over her breasts to hide herself, and looking away.

“Mn–” She breathed in when Raditz shoved himself inside her, leaving her sandwiched between the two and doubly penetrated, just like before. She could be thankful that Nappa’s previous fuck and handjob ensured that there was lubrication when he shoved himself inside her, but she couldn’t even think properly given it came so quick after her orgasm. She mainly tried to give Raditz angry stares that appeared far more sensual than she aimed for, with her lip jutting out just so and her cheeks still shaded red.

“Let… me… go…”

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

His POV

Everything was gone. Vegeta had finished a day’s worth of destruction within a matter of hours. It wasn’t hard, even without his two bumbling idiots to cause a little mayhem and grief across the land. The once prism-like sky was on fire. It had been darkly enjoyable at first - the squeak of pain or occasional burst of fury that came spitting out of the female’s mouth, quietly buzzing into his ear from the speaker of his scouter. The fool had forgotten to turn it off before he began fucking the woman, but as it went on, the prince found it more amusing than anything. The woman was always so passionate about never allowing a male to touch her. Part of him just wanted to watch her squirm in pleasure, though the warrior side of him kept falling victim to distraction; he’d taken a hit or two while listening.

That’s when he started yelling at Nappa to turn off his scouter. The nest of foes he’d gotten himself into was growing steadily thicker. The thick skin of the local inhabitants was tough enough to take a ki blast, and keep on coming. It was nothing he couldn’t push through, but then he heard the sound of moaning, and something inside of his derange head snapped. He debated stripping the scouter from his face, but that’d only mean the female had won. That she’d gotten to him. But keeping it on meant listening to her moan on top of Nappa’s cock. It was a huge hit to his ego.

It was somewhere between torture and sadistic satisfaction. The prince forced himself to listen to every last bit. Convincing himself that he didn’t give a damn. It fueled his aggression worse than before. Hitting his targets with acute accuracy and blowing the heads off of the massive opponents that had once posed a threat. It was a new kind of anger, and the confused prince was using it to annihilate the planet. The worst part was, he didn’t even know why he gave a shit. The prince had known exactly what would happen once he’d left her in Nappa’s care. He’d been counting on it. To keep her busy while he completed the work his twisted nature deemed worthy of his time.

His ears focused on the sound of Raditz huffing voice as the big Saiyan pushed his way into the tiny female. Nappa may have thrown his scouter, but the damn thing was never turned off. Nappa and Raditz had managed to catch the woman in a steady hold. Their simultaneously beating cocks pistoning in and out between her legs, until they were moving in unison. She was always filled, one huge cock pushing its way in, and then the other. The two men could even feel the other erection through the thin wall of flesh that separated them, each and every time they moved their way in.

They hadn’t gotten to finish what they’d started the first time. The buildup and anticipation was making them harder than ever. One of them were bound to blow soon, and it looked like it’d be Raditz. The girl’s small hands that were beating on his chest were doing little more than grabbing the big Saiyan’s attention. Baring his dazed eyes down at her, he watched the little blue female as he fucked her. Knowing that they were finally taking what they wanted, what they’d waited so long to feel. When she gasped, they moaned, and when she fought, they pawed her. Her breasts, her thighs, the smooth skin of her neck, it was all susceptible to their roving hands.

* * *

Her POV

It was hard to focus. Nappa thrust into her, and then Raditz, and Nappa again, over and over, just like before. She tried to struggle, but she was too tired, and when she did manage to, it was met with more fondling. She gasped and whined as they kept going, her body smacking against whichever had just withdrawn thanks to the movement of the one pressing inside. Her breasts, clit, and anywhere else on her body was subject to the two pairs of hands’ misuse, squeezing and groping as they saw fit.

“Gn– I told you… I told you to stop…” It was hard to say it. It was like being on a roller coaster, with no autonomy over herself. Some part of her enjoyed it. She couldn’t help but moan and gasp, and her body wouldn’t stop shivering and shaking in pleasure. It was the most humiliating part of it, and she was certain they’d hold it over her head later. Mention just how much of a slut she was. Her eyes wandered away from all the skin she was sandwiched between, trying to find anything to prevent what was happening.

Her jacket.

She managed to reach down far enough to grab it, but only just barely. The other two seemed even more side-tracked than she was, and didn’t notice her hold on it. She knew, though, exactly what she’d be doing. But the waves of pleasure ran over her and prevented her from acting at first, instead leaning back against Nappa and fluttering her eyes. She felt so dirty, mewling and moaning like she was with every thrust and grope. She had to resist. Her eyes focused on the jacket again, and then the campfire.

She swung her jacket backward so that it got partially suck in the fire, and her head turned to try and focus in on Raditz’s face even with her being jerked back and forth between the two of them. And in one quick motion, she swung the flaming jacket and hit Raditz in the head with it, lighting up his giant head of hair.

* * *

His POV

It was beginning to feel unbearably good. The woman may of been trying to stifle her moans, but the two Saiyan males were feasting on the sounds coming from the three of them. The sensation of warm sweaty flesh caught between them, the friction of heat that chaffed their thighs and brushed against the female’s curves. She was so small compared to them, it wasn’t difficult for the two soldiers to overpower her once they had her in their clutches. They were treating her like a piece of meat to be fucked. Finding dirty satisfaction in knowing that she was trying to claw her way out, yet felt her body react to their penetration in the sweetest of ways. It was perfect.

They never even saw it coming. Raditz was on his last glide before orgasm. Dipping into that floating realm of pleasure and release. His mouth gaped open and his hips rammed in between her wide-spread thighs, jolting her whole being against the other man that was taking her ass without reservation. There may have been a quick slip of the eye, a held gaze between the two men as they used the earthling’s fragile body, but luckily it didn’t look like the earthling noticed. Both of them quickly closed their eyes after realizing eye contact, concentrating on increasing their speed until the woman’s body vibrated between them instead. That gave the girl the perfect opportunity to pull one over on the two towers of flesh. Nappa had already came twice, coming a third time inside the tiny female was like icing on the cake. He too was about to blow, and then it happened.

There was fire, everywhere. Particularly on the top of Raditz head, like a burning bush. He’d been so far into ecstasy, pumping his seed into the woman until it dribbled down all three of their twined legs, that he hadn’t noticed until it was too late. Of course, he ripped right out of the female before he was completely finished soaking up the afterglow of orgasm; patting his hair and ringing it with his hands, all the while generally freaking out, until the flames simmered down to a sizzle. The smell of burnt hair, everywhere.

It was then the two soldiers noticed their leader watching everything from the forest line. Nappa saw him first, and quickly tried to regain himself after coming into the female’s backside. He’d burst into her ass cheeks with sticky white until it clung to his own torso in thick streams. The bald Saiyan quickly pushed the woman down into the dirt, face first. Both of the men expected a tongue lashing for fucking a slave with their scouters on, instead of returning to battle.

“Don’t let me stop you. You seem to be enjoying yourselves.” His voice was sarcastic, dark, mocking. The prince’s eyes fell on the girl, retrieving his sly smile. The truth was, he didn’t know how to feel about her. Impressed, irritated, disrespected. He’d arrived soon enough to watch the last leg of their threesome. He’d watched through a thick coat of blood hid his chiseled features, getting some sort of dark enjoyment out of forcing himself to stare. He’d come to punish he lot of them, but then he saw the look of pleasure take her face, and he couldn’t help but feel dirty …he was enjoying watching. And then she caught Raditz hair on fire, and some part of him longed to feel something other than vulgar pleasure; he felt amusement. He really did hate her for toying with his emotions like that.

* * *

Her POV

Raditz didn’t notice his hair on fire at first. It wasn’t until he finished cumming inside her did he realize and quickly run off to pat his hair and prevent it from burning anymore. She had been hoping it would cause enough of a distraction to stop them, but it didn’t. Nappa continued, all the way until he filled her up with his cum again.

She was shoved straight into the dirt when he was finished, but afterward she saw Vegeta as well, watching the whole thing. How long had he been there? All of these men were sick. At the very least, didn’t they dislike watching each other get their rocks off? She scowled and pulled herself up on one hand, pulling up her shorts and underwear with the other. She glanced at the flaming jacket that had fallen from Raditz’s head, sitting in the cold, clearly non-flammable dirt. …She’d be wearing that bikini until she could get alone to use her capsule and get a new shirt, it seemed.

She grabbed onto the slave bikini top and pulled it on again, tying it properly behind her back as she watched the other three, her body filling with hatred again. They’d tossed her aside as soon as they finished with her. Again she thanked God that she had her implant. They never bothered using condoms, and Vegeta had threatened to get her pregnant. If it weren’t for that implant, she certainly would be by now.

She attempted to get up onto her feet, but it only worked out so well. Her legs were wobbly from how much she’d endured, making her feel very much like a newborn lamb. Again, another form of humiliation. They seemed to thrive on it. To make matters worse, they’d pounded her bladder enough that she needed to go to the bathroom.

“Gn… Assholes,” she grumbled under her breath, slowly making her way to the forest’s edge to attempt to venture in and go to the bathroom. And maybe this time get some privacy, too. 

* * *

His POV

The girl had her moment of privacy. Vegeta was busy beating his two lackeys senseless. Raditz was first, taking most of the abuse. He was borderline being punished as if he was a deserter of war. He knew his men could hardly contain themselves when the prospect of fucking a female was on the line, but he wasn’t about to let it go unscathed, either. By the end of it, the long haired (aside from the tips that had been singed off) Saiyan was laying limp in the dirt. Covered in his own cum. Raditz refused to make a sound, he knew the sound of whimpering, the sound of weakness, would only bring about a second round of hurt.

Nappa was easily caught up into the cross fire, suffering his own onslaught of heavy blows and nearly broken features. The prince was taking a strange new feeling out on them, and he didn’t even realize it, well, not completely. All he knew was, there was some pent up rage bubbling to the surface with every swing he gave to his men, and he wasn’t above using them to get it out of his system. Especially when one of them had run away from a fight in the middle of battle, and the other had been too much of a numb-skull to listen to orders.

The two Saiyan men knew when to retreat, and quietly took their beating. They may of been able to walk, but knew better then to try until Vegeta relieved himself of their presence. Which he eventually did by means of making way towards the riverbed. The same direction the girl had gone not too long ago to clean herself up most likely, concluded the prince.

He didn’t care, and unlike the last time when he’d so desperately stalked her through the jungle at night, he never once looked in her direction. He knew exactly where she was, however. He was able to pinpoint her direction by a thick mix of scents, the twining smells of his men’s release that coated her own gentle aroma. He focused on cleaning his torn gloves and blood soa ked arms of the fresh liquid that’d gathered from both battle and punishment. Quietly, precisely, splashing his face of the planet’s clear waters, wiping his brow until the stream ran dark with the bellows of blood.

* * *

Her POV

She did her business without being disturbed, amazingly. And when she was finished, she got up and decided her next manner of business would be to clean herself up. She was covered in cum, dirt, and sweat, along with the old blood from the men she had killed the other day. She wouldn’t just continue sitting around like that, it was disgusting. The three Saiyans might be disgusting, but she was not.

She found her way the river that lined their campsite, but when she got closer, she realized it was dark with blood. She wrinkled her nose, and despite her not wanting to find out the source, she needed clean water and began to walk upstream until she found Vegeta, washing himself.

She tried to straighten out her walk so she didn’t look so wobbly and pathetic with a slight limp, but it was hard to after what she’d just gone through. She made her way around the man, hoping that he didn’t decide he wanted his turn with her, and sat on the riverbed beside the clean water. She began to wash her face and skin, everywhere that was covered in blood and cum and sweat, without taking off her clothes. She might be in that stupid bikini, but it was better than willingly showing off her breasts.

Maybe when they were asleep, she’d get to take a proper bath. She glanced over at Vegeta, when she realized something. The blood he was washing off was not his own, but it was also red. She could tell it was different from the pastel blue blood that he’d been covered with before. …He was beating up Nappa and Raditz. How could she not smile at a fact like that? They deserved it. She went back to cleaning herself, and was pleased enough to speak up.

“…Is there food? I’m hungry.”

* * *

His POV

He knew when the earthling had found him, aware of how she kept her distance when rounding his crouched position at the river side. He never looked, but did manage to pause his actions before returning to his work. Normally he wouldn’t care too much about cleaning himself of the blood of battle. It was a badge of honor, like war paint, a show of what he’d accomplished. But having a giant’s guts crust up his eye lashes was becoming bothersome.

Besides, the prince needed distance between himself and his men. Rinsing himself clean of their scent was the perfect opportunity. He hadn’t felt himself the last couple of days. Ever since he’d let the little female get away without giving her a proper fuck. He needed to get his head together if he were to survive. Whatever the sensation was when he’d feared for her life, or when he’d spoken to her as an equal, it felt unstable. For once in his life he’d faltered, backed down. It had been a first. Perhaps this is what weakness felt like, perhaps this feeling is what it felt like to be weak. If only he knew.

His thought pattern was broken when the girl asked him a question, something about food. All to soon his cocky nature came roaring back in all its divine glory. The smug smirk that often crooked his lips hooked into place. Standing, he slung his hands of the river water.

“Haven’t you eaten enough cock for one day?” He mocked. It felt good to be taunting the earthling once again, as things should be. Still, she had a point. His own bottomless pit was calling to him, aching for nourishment, and he hadn’t brought back a damn thing from battle. Not a single victim. Damn, he really had been distracted. He’d have no choice; he’d have to improvise.

The prince’s attention went from the girl, taking a moment to watch her wash herself free from the mess his men had made of her, and turned his attention up above. Towards the towering mushrooms. That’d do. For now, at least. In no time, he’d darted into the thicket of round disks above. The loud sound of ripping fungi followed soon after.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty smutty and intense chapter you guys, so I put a few break-lines in to signal where the best place to pick up reading is once things start getting rough, in case you want to skip ahead to the main event. I promise this intense scene has a lot of character development behind it though, particularly for our prince. Smut includes NappaxBulma, NappaxBulmaxRaditz, NappaxRaditz(or maybe that's my own sick fantasies...)
> 
> Also! Me and my writing partner have been gifted with this amazing fan art from the last chapter! Omg, thank you blueswordangel!  
> Check it out: https://blueswordangel.deviantart.com/art/On-to-Otherworld-703254928
> 
>   
> 


	12. Thumbelina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Saiyans incapacitated, Bulma has an opportunity to escape- again. Maybe she's more successful this time?
> 
> Edit: Hey, we now have some art for this chapter, please enjoy!  
> Vegebul: https://galacticshark17art.tumblr.com/post/153870400343/galacticpridefulprincevegeta-mushroom-cuddles  
> Stumppa: https://galacticshark17art.tumblr.com/post/165857068118/remember-that-time-nappa-fell-in-love-with-a
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

She pouted at him, her jaw tightening. As if she hadn’t dealt with enough today. Of course he’d say something like that. He was such a cruel person, just like the others. She quickly turned back to cleaning herself, making a mental note to not bother talking to the idiots unless she absolutely had to. Meaning, they’d violate her again if she didn’t.

She was just finished with rinsing the last bit of cum out of her hair when she heard a ripping noise coming from above. She glanced up, to see Vegeta ripping pieces of the giant mushrooms above out. …That was a good idea, actually. They ran the risk of being poisonous, but as long as they were properly cooked, it would be alright. She hoped, anyway. She’d have to watch the others eat them before deciding for herself.

Finally, Bulma got to her feet and began walking along the river’s side to find her way back to camp. The wobble and limp was still evident, though better than it was just moments ago. Hopefully those idiots would leave some mushrooms for her if Vegeta returned sooner. It’d be a pain to try and figure out how to get to the top to rip out parts for herself, considering she couldn’t fly like they could. And with how things were shaping up, she doubted they’d care if she was hungry. 

* * *

His POV

The prince gathered only enough of the glowing green fungi to feed himself. Granted, that was a fuck ton; enough that he barely had enough arm space to carry it all back to camp. But he did, plopping the mounds of fungus next to the campfire, but far enough away to keep himself distant, secluded. Making it known that they didn’t deserve to be in his presence.

His men had already begun to circle the fire. Nappa sat on a mossy stalk of grass that was big enough to be mistaken for a rotten log. Raditz was cleaning his tail, straightening it out after the beating he’d gotten from Vegeta. He’d landed on his tail wrong during all the commotion. All in all, the two Saiyans looked like shit. Raditz’ once beautiful mane of hair had been singed, and there was a good chance Nappa had lost another tooth. But it had been worth it. So worth it, just to fuck that little earthling. If it just meant taking a beating from Vegeta, they’d be willing to do it again. She was indeed a good time.

However, as soon as Vegeta returned with his meal in tow, the two soldiers got the drift. The mushrooms, that’s what they’d have to be munching on tonight since they spent their whole day fucking instead of fighting. The two brutes left to harvest their own carvings out of the forest, returning not too long after. Nappa’s meal was glowing red with white dots. Raditz’ was a beautiful rainbow hue that resembled pearl more than a velvety fungi top.

Naturally, they didn’t offer the girl any, but neither did they bother her too much. Perhaps because their leader was sitting ominously across the fire side. Vegeta was eyeing the glowing meat of his own plant. Vegetables weren’t really his thing, and lesser was anything associated with rot. But, perhaps if he didn’t think about it, it’d taste like every other piece of flesh he’d shoved into his maw over the years. And without much hesitation, aside from a quick lick of his tongue between the ribs of the mushroom’s top, he bit right in.

* * *

Her POV

By the time she got back to camp, they were all eating mushrooms. Raw. She watched them in disbelief as she got closer, and sat at the campfire to observe. Had they never eaten vegetables before? Bright colors were dangerous, and Nappa’s especially looked like something he would regret eating. Raw, of all things…

But it helped her out, certainly. She laid down on her back and casually observed, despite her rumbling stomach. She’d get to see exactly what the side-effects were of these things. If they were safe to eat, no problem. Otherwise? She’d boil them and laugh at whatever idiotic misfortune that befell them. It was karma for what they did to her. She wasn’t about to speak up.

She closed her eyes for a little rest after how exhausted she was from everything, but kept her ears open to hear if they started coughing from poison or something. Her fingers combed through her hair lightly, waiting it out. Who knew, maybe they wouldn’t need her to kill them. Maybe they could end up stupid enough to kill themselves.

* * *

His POV

If there was one thing a Saiyan knew they could rely on about themselves, it was their digestive system. The trio dug into the mass of fungi without concern. It wasn’t the first time they’d had to make due with something other than fresh meat. Their stomachs were acid pits and they knew it. Metal didn’t even survive once it’d passed down their gullet. What they weren’t suspecting was the side effects their digestive track would have, once it’d absorbed all that potent pollen.

“It tastes terrible.” Nappa grumbled, tearing off a large hunk and eating it.

“I’d do anything for a bite of mea,.” whined Raditz, digging into his second helping of the evening.

“You had your chance an’ you blew it!” Nappa angrily bellowed back at the other soldier.

“Will both of you shut the hell up!” A hunk of mushroom went flying across the camp like a frisbee, smacking Nappa’s big head first, and then ricocheting into Raditz, nearly knocking the warrior over. Vegeta had tossed a portion of his meal at them. Anything to gain a little quiet and eat his meal in peace. His eyes drifted, finally falling on the girl whom was lounging so lazily in the grass. He watched subtly, ripping into his meal until he heard the faint sound of her stomach rumble.

A piece of the glowing plant found its way before the girl. Vegeta was willingly offering it to her growling belly. He’d offered her food before, but this was different. This was in front of his men, both of whom had stopped chewing just in order to digest what they were seeing. Quite frankly, the prince didn’t care. He handed it to the girl until she took the raw hunk of mushroom for herself; as if he was demanding she own it. Though, the look on his face when he handed it to her, it was as if his brain was hanging onto reality for dear life. His features were slightly flushed and his eyes were growing dilated. The other two had stopped eating with such gust, too. Oh yes, the fungi were indeed toxic. It was getting the trio of warriors high.

* * *

Her POV

Geeze, they were such idiots. Fighting amongst each other and whining that they had something better to eat because they didn’t like eating raw mushrooms. She even grabbed the giant chunk that had gone flying into the grass after hitting one of their heads, and looked it over quietly. Maybe a little longer, and she’d begin eating. She wasn’t quite sure if there were any negative side-effects just yet.

It was then that Vegeta handed his mushroom to her. She turned her head to watch him, blinking with wide eyes. Sure, he’d offered her food before, but he was always an asshole in front of the other two. Like when he’d slapped her after almost crushing her hand back on that other planet. He seemed odd about it, too. Was he blushing? She took the mushroom nonetheless, and looked to the other Saiyans. 

…No, he wasn’t blushing, at least not about giving her food. All their cheeks were red, and all their eyes were dilated. The idiots were high. She let out a slight snort, before taking both her pieces of mushroom and getting up onto her feet. Whatever, apparently it wasn’t poisonous enough to kill. She’d cook them and eat them like a normal person, rather than raw like a certain bunch of apes.

She went and found a flat rock to cook on, and, figuring the deeper the Saiyans got in their high the less they’d care about what she did, set the rock over the fire. Good think Yamcha’d always been so good at surviving in the wilderness and had passed some techniques off to her, like how to cook without a stove. She ripped the mushroom pieces up and dropped them on the rock as it started heating up, and glanced again over at the gang of Saiyans.

Hn. She hoped this wasn’t the kind of high that got men really horny.

* * *

His POV

For a while they just sat there while the unsuspecting effects were waging war in their Saiyan systems. Normally things like rot, poison, or even heavy metals were made quick work of when it came to Saiyan digestion, but the claws of the spores were soon taking effect. Could she really blame them for not expecting to be able to dig right into their dinners? They always had before. ...but the trio of soldiers had never ventured to this particular uninhabitable planet before, or eaten of its foods either. They had no way of knowing just how high they could get.

Raditz had fallen backwards as soon as Bulma had passed by to find her cooking stone. The long haired soldier sprawled out in the grass, gazing straight up into oblivion. “Look at all the stars. _...look how pretty,_ ” he’d mumble, as if he weren’t an intergalactic space invader and was instead seeing the night sky for the very first time.

Nappa, on the other hand, was clearly hallucinating. He’d grab to the left, he’d grab to the right; obviously trying to catch something that wasn’t there. Then, the bald man was convinced something was crawling on him and began trying to brush himself off, freaking out until he too hit the dirt. Groaning, he snatched his hands at the nothingness in front of him, as if he were trying to catch the stars swarming his vision.

Vegeta… Vegeta was the only one trying to hold some form of constitution ...at least, it looked that way. He hadn’t moved, aside from occasionally holding his head, or shaking of it with a soft grunt. The desperate prince was trying to hold onto that small voice in the back of his head that told him to hold his defenses, but that little voice eventually whittled away, leaving a dazy-eyed prince. He hadn’t even noticed he’d offered the bit of mushroom to the girl. Sure, he’d wanted to, but it was nothing he’d avidly act upon in front of his men. It had been the fungi; he was losing all sense of reason.

When the prince looked down it appeared as if the grass was flowing past his feet in bright colors. Was it water? Oh god, how did he get to the river? No, he wasn’t at the river; he was still sat at the fire side, trying to make sense of the moving world around him. Abruptly he stood, trying to shake off the colorful liquid from his feet. That thought was quickly forgotten though as soon as he noticed something else. It was the earthling. She was doing something. Poking at the fire, it appeared.

Before he knew it he was sitting beside her rather casually, though he didn’t remember getting there. His eyes were half-lidded, watching whatever she was creating at the fire side with concentration. Was that food? It smelt funny. His nose twitched, leaning in closer to the bright flame. Concentrating was proving useless, and soon he went swaying back. Shaking his head he asked, “What the hell are you doing?”

* * *

Her POV

She was definitely debating killing them right then and there. They were clearly too high to fight back- Nappa was groaning on the ground, and Raditz was laying down and staring up at the sky, mumbling to himself. Vegeta was barely hanging on by a thread, but she assumed he’d get to the others’ level soon enough. She wished she had one of her weapons like she had before. She’d certainly be able to kill them. Maybe she could set them on fire, but… She had a feeling it would backfire.

Though it was entertaining to watch Vegeta stomp like he was trying to keep his shoes dry in a river. She prodded her mushrooms with a stick, and only glanced at him again when he got closer. He sat down next to her and was clearly trying to keep his composure, though he was leaning so close to the fire that she was hoping his hair would go aflame. Instead, he leaned back and started rocking.

“Hn?” She raised a brow at him. It took him something like ten minutes to even ask after rocking for so long, and she was kind of impressed that he even really noticed, with how far gone the other two were. …Well. He wasn’t any harm like this, not that she could tell. So she’d tell him.

“I’m cooking. Because I’m not one of you barbarians who like eating things raw.” She shrugged her shoulders and kept poking at the mushrooms, waiting for them to be finished cooking as the liquid left them and evaporated onto the heated rock. Hopefully she wouldn’t get more than a little bit of good feelings when they were finished.

* * *

His POV

The only thing he’d heard her say was ‘I’m cooking.’ The rest of her sentence died out, deafened by his ongoing trail of thoughts. Thoughts that held little to no meaning. For instance, how he noticed that the fire was so bright that it was burning his eyes. In fact, it was so intense that it was nothing more than blinding white light. If he kept his eyes closed did it still give off heat? He’d close his eyes for a few moments and then reopen with the sternest of expressions, trying to deduct a conclusion. 

It didn’t last too long though, and before he knew it was doing his best to pay attention to the female beside him. Had she been there the whole time? It was as if she’d popped in and out of existence. His body moved without realization - a reaction to his awareness of the woman’s presence. Without thinking his cheek bone found her shoulder, a fraction of his weight gently using her to prop himself up, rather than swaying whenever he moved. That’s when he noticed her meal again, this time he tried to poke it with his finger.

“Oh,” he finally answered- it took him long enough. “I think it’s gone rancid. You should throw it back.” He was sincerely trying to warn her that her meal (or fish, as he seemed to think it was) wasn’t fit for consumption. Scrunching his nose, he tucked his burning eyes against the woman’s soft flesh, trying to find some comfort from the overpowering vividness of colors and smells around him. His senses felt like they were cranked up and set on over drive. But then that’s when he started to purr. It wasn’t a loud, thunderous sound like back in the pod. It was barely audible. Non-threatening. The prince hadn’t even tried to touch her since he’d sat down. No, the mushrooms had turned the cold blooded killer into a giant pussycat.

And meanwhile…

“How is it that the universe is so big, but I can see all of it right now?! ...All the stars are so small... I could pick them up! ...I can see the whole universe from here. I think this is a special spot. Oh god, Nappa, I think I’ve found the center of the universe!” Raditz went babbling on, still looking deep into the glow of nebula above them. Nappa, on the other hand, had made his way over to an old stump, and was starting to give it bedroom eyes.

* * *

Her POV

She was beginning to wish that Vegeta would leave her alone and go on and start acting like the idiots Raditz and Nappa were. But no. He leaned against her and began to purr, not even moving when she tried to jerk him off. Eugh. She didn’t want to be close to this man. Or any of them. Hadn’t he just been mocking her for ‘eating cock,’ as he put it? She was really hoping that he’d burn his hand when poking her food, but that didn’t happen, either.

“It’s not rancid, I know how to cook,” she replied, taking a look over at the other Saiyans as they jabbered on. …Why the hell was Nappa fondling a tree stump? Jeeze. It had been entertaining at first, but she was beginning to wish they were back to normal. …Though, maybe it’d be easy to run away from them like this. Or at least change her disgusting clothes.

She gave Vegeta a good shove to get him off her, and stood up. She fished in her pocket for one of her capsules, and in a matter of a few quick movements, her dresser was laying in the middle of the grass. With them high like this, it wouldn’t be a problem to do this in front of them. She’d go run off behind a tree to change, but actually getting the clothes would be easy. She picked out a pair of panties, a blue tube top and a white pair of shorts, and returned her dresser to the capsule.

She pursed her lips and looked back at Vegeta again, finding herself to not trust him to be alone with her food. So she dropped her clean clothes to carefully take the big pieces of mushrooms off of the rock and pop them into her mouth one by one, eating it up. They didn’t taste strange, maybe she’d be in the clear. And as she chewed, she looked over at Vegeta again, furrowing her brows. He was pathetic, purring like he was. And he’d even been trying to cuddle up to her before. All because of that sick obsession she had. When she made eye contact, she wrinkled her nose at him and spoke to him like he had to her earlier.

“Go eat a cock.”

* * *

His POV

One minute she’d been there, the next she was gone. The noise of something heavy hitting the ground caught the prince’s attention. He had no way of realizing what the female was doing with the dresser, or that the large object was a dresser at all. Here she was, revealing the secret of the ‘poof’ noise she’d held from him, right before his very eyes, and he was too high to grasp it. 

He watched nonetheless. Not so much at what was happening, but the girl herself. The effects of the fungi brought his senses to life. Every sight, sound, smell, had its own brilliance. And when the figure of the girl went fluttering across his vision; well, the way her outline glistened before the backdrop of luminescent mushrooms made her appear like a fey herself. Something supernatural.

Had she said something? His dilated gaze shot up at her, but he clearly wasn’t aware of her insult. The moment her hand reached for her last bit of food, Vegeta caught her wrist. He was trying to use her as a stability point to pull himself up from the ground, but with his immense weight and uncontrolled strength, there was little chance the girl could stay steady. So instead of standing, the off balance prince came toppling right towards her, catching his steel arms around her waist and collapsing them both back into the grass.

Luckily he hadn’t fallen completely on top of her, just off to the side. One of his massive arms laid across her, steadily curling inward, pulling her closer against his frame. He felt good; insatiably amazing. His whole body felt like it was drifting in space, and his sense of smell was drowning in something wonderful. He didn’t know it, but Vegeta was burring his nose into the girls soft hair, curling his body around the female until he’d wound her up so tightly against his frame that she was caught between his thighs and arms.

“...Why are you so damn pretty? . _..It’s infuriating._..” he’d stopped his nuzzling long enough to look at the female caught in his vice-like arms. His dreamy-eyed look and soft flush of pink watching the halo around her head dazzle like diamond. “...You look like an angel...” he didn’t mean it to sound like a compliment. The warrior was just telling as he saw it, so to speak. His purrs grew louder and his tail flopped lazily in the grass. The strangest part - there was nothing sexual about it- well, not really. He was a cuddler.

* * *

Her POV

She scowled when he grabbed her wrist, trying her hardest to get free of his grip. But he pushed more of his weight onto her wrist, and the more she fought, the more it hurt. In a sudden moment, he stumbled and Bulma managed to prevent them–mainly herself–from knocking straight into the fire by instead falling onto the grass beside it. She thought that was that as she popped the last mushroom into her mouth and tried to continue on her plan. But nope. He cuddled up to her, purring loudly still.

“Gn… Get off me!” The more she struggled, the tighter his grip seemed to be getting. But he wasn’t doing anything sexual. He was simply sniffing her hair and enjoying himself, curling up against her. Cuddling with her. All she wanted to do was go put on clean clothes, and the jerk was cuddling her.

In a way, the fact it wasn’t sexual made her even more upset. He began whispering to her about being so damn pretty, just like an angel, and it made her recall when he claimed she was a goddess back the last time he was high. It would be nice to hear from a cute boy who hadn’t been so terrible to her. But with everything she’d been through, it just made her upset.

“If I’m such an angel, how come you’ve done everything you have to me?! Do you make angels suck your penis until they want to puke? Do you rape angels while they’re sleeping?! Do you put shock collars on your angels and then let your men gang-rape them for your amusement?! Get off of me, you asshole!” She slapped him across the face and barely managed to get herself free, and when she got onto her feet, she made sure to step all over him, her feet pressing into his cheek, his bicep, anywhere she could reach.

“I hate you. Monsters shouldn’t have anything to do with angels.” She kicked him swiftly on the temple for good measure, and grabbed the clothes that had been discarded on the ground before walking off into the forest.

* * *

His POV

Somewhere in the background came the sounds of bad pick-up lines and squeaking wood. Nappa had taken his wooing of the rotten stump to new levels. The bald man had a stupid grin on his face; trying to fondle what he thought were his lover’s ass, but turned out to be a nest of large maggots. One of which he picked up, and after telling it that it had a fine ass, started trying to mate with the thing. It squirmed away but that only left the stump as his next humping victim.

All of Nappa’s grunting went right over the other two Saiyans heads. Vegeta was trying desperately to keep the woman in her grasp when she attempted to wiggle out of his arms. Grunting and purring, he rubbed the length of his torso against her with rough affection. But just as he was enjoying the softness of her flesh beneath his cheek, she was gone, and the Saiyan eventually realized he was left rubbing himself on the grass.

The swift kick to his temple brought him back to, momentarily. Abruptly, he sat up and began searching for his attacker. Darting his snarl left, then right. But there was no one. Nobody but the girl, oh, and she was leaving, it looked like.

After a few more good rolls on his back, wriggling and pushing his spine along the grassy ground by his feet, enjoying the textured sensation, he finally noticed he was alone. Something brushed by his senses, it was the aroma of the earthling. Staggering to his feet, he followed it like a mouse to the pied-piper, or a sailor to a sirens call. Completely oblivious to his own trance, he dredged past the thick bases of the tall mushrooms until he stumbled upon where she’d gone. Well, mostly. By the time his silent self was in her viewing range, he was rubbing his cheek and shoulder against a moss covered mushroom. Scent marking his territory like a feline. It felt good; how was he supposed to know it was making his once bronze skin turn a rosy red?

“You shouldn’t go off by yourself.” The dazed Saiyan tried to focus, tried to pin point where she was exactly, all the while giving the trunk another hard rub with his chin. “...There are monsters in here...” He was warning her again, and this time, the monster he spoke of wasn’t himself.

* * *

Her POV

As soon as she was far enough away that she figured she had a sufficient amount of privacy, she stripped her clothes off. They were smelly, and she debated taking some extra time to clean them in the river since all the Saiyans were high. But that debating time was cut short when Vegeta scared her to death with his sudden voice. She turned her head to find him rubbing up against a mushroom, with its spores covering him and dying him red.

Geeze, he was really, really high, wasn’t he?

“Gn… There’s enough monsters back at camp! Get away from me, I’m sure whatever monsters are out there are far nicer than you are!” She spit in his direction and pulled on her clothes, finishing up by wiggling her breasts into the tube top with a little bit of difficulty, grumbling about flat-chested aliens somewhere along the way.

She picked up her dirty clothes and walked closer to Vegeta, though she was certain to not get close enough that he could grab her again. She wasn’t about to get cuddled with again. No way.

“Why don’t you take a nap or something? I’m sick of watching you in this state. You’re acting pathetic. More pathetic than usual, I mean.” It was nice to be able to mouth him off and even assault him without him seeming to care, though. So, she took the opportunity to twist up her dirty shorts and hit him with it like a whip. “At least just stop bothering me!”

* * *

His POV

She’d been too far out of range to reach to grab, but that didn’t mean one of his hands didn’t try as she passed. He stopped short, barely following her; slowly, intently watching her stroll through the dim light. Some part of him told himself ‘she’d been naked’. He was sure of it. Vegeta had been staring a hole in her trying to wiggle into that top. Thank kami he was high because he probably would have gotten frisky.

He turned abruptly when something went whipping at him. She’d hit him! High or not, the prince scowled back at her, puffing his chest out and kitting his brow. He was just about to retaliate too, when something caught his attention.

It was faint, but it was a howl. A horrible sound rumbling from the distance. It was so massive it could have been Jurassic. The prince stopped, freezing in place (aside from his slight swaying), then shot a more serious glance at the girl. It was the most right in his mind he’d looked since eating the mushrooms. He’d heard that sound before. While he may not have been in perfect mental health, his instincts were kicking in loud and clear.

“Wait,” he insisted. Quickening his unstable footfall, he caught her by the wrist again. With his other hand, he pressed his finger to his lips, hushing her. His predatory intuition was taking over, telling him to take cover and stay alive, and he intended on pulling the woman with him. He hid them underneath a large growth of enormous ivy that was blooming with rainbow colors across its leaves.

It was a good enough spot to hide, and just in time too. Footsteps were coming towards them from the distance. Massive. Footsteps. The kind that shook the ground and knocked you off your feet. If she thought Nappa was big, he was about to look like small potatoes compared to the locals.

* * *

Her POV

She took a step back when he gave her that serious look, thinking that even if he was high, she’d still be in for it. But instead, he got distracted by a roar. She’d heard it too. Her brows raised and she looked around for the source. It’d been loud enough to rumble the ground below them, what the hell could have–? The fear was what made Bulma allow Vegeta to grab her by the wrist and lead her down to some bushes, telling her to be quiet. Normally she’d yell at him, but not this time.

In their hiding spot, the ground only shook more, with a steady thumping from multiple footsteps in the distance. They got louder, and then Bulma could see their origin: giants. She could only see their feet, but they were certainly giants, alright. Slightly yellowed skin, no toenails, and only two toes where the big and second toe were on a normal foot, and definitely, definitely… Huge.

“Oh my god,” she murmured under her breath, her eyes wide from shock. It made sense, obviously, that a planet filled with giant everything would also have giant people. But it didn’t stop her from being terrified. She’d even grabbed onto Vegeta’s arm for extra support as the ground shook as they passed, but when they were far enough away that there was only a slight rumble again, she jumped up to her feet.

“Wh– What the hell was that?! Those are what you guys are–? They’re huge!” C… Certainly they couldn’t be too bad, though, right? That’s what she’d found from the goats back on the other planet. Or even the old man she’d met on the last planet. Aliens weren’t all like the disgusting Saiyans.

…But maybe it’d be safer for her to try and get to the pods.

* * *

His POV

As the great hoard of creatures passed, Vegeta hunkered down and wiggled his shoulders like a jungle cat preparing to pounce. His wicked eyes never left the beast’s giant bare feet until they were completely out of their range, where his instincts knew they could no longer pose as a threat. A little growl rolled off of his tongue. Curling his lip over his teeth, he snorted out a breath, as if to tell them ‘good riddance’. He was the real threat in this forest.

When the girl jumped out of place, Vegeta went tugging along with her. His prehensile tail had curled itself securely around her waist while the giants passed through. It’d been a subconscious, gentle movement that Vegeta himself hadn’t noticed, until he felt himself being tugged upright.

She was making noise again, too, was she squawking because she’d been injured? The earthling may have tried to resist, but the prince’s persistent hands found her face, cupping her cheeks. He was staring down at her but there was no one home. No Vegeta. Only an animal, more ape than man. The Saiyan was functioning purely on dexterity. His primal side had awoken as soon as there’d been a threat, thanks to the heavy drugs. It was one of the great things about the Saiyan race; their relentless drive to survive.

But the moment he’d taken her cheeks into his palms, he quickly went to work sniffing her ear, neck, and back to her nose. No, no sign of injury, she was fine. His brow knit together in a bit of confusion to that fact, but quickly shrugged it off.ossing the woman over his shoulder, the urge to find safety pushing him like a brick wall. Jolting over mossy logs, scaling high stones, and leaping over thickets of shrubs with ease; his instincts were sending him straight back towards the camp site. The place he knew was called a safe haven.

* * *

Her POV

“Agh–!” She tried to push Vegeta away from her, but he got close, all but slapped his hands on either side of her face and began sniffing her. All over. It was disturbing, to say the least. She struggled, but he continued, as if he was looking for something wrong. She didn’t understand it, and was relieved when he finally let go of her.

Only for her to get tossed over his shoulder.

“HEY!” She kicked and punched him in an effort to get him to let her go, but he continued with her in his grasp. What the hell was wrong with these damn Saiyans?! She thought they were over carrying her like a sack of potatoes! She only managed to free herself from his clutches when they were back at the campsite, where the other two Saiyans were clearly very high. 

Even if they were high, apparently they were still capable of doing bad things. Maybe even more so. Nappa’s cock was out and he was rubbing it all over the stump, and Vegeta… She didn’t know what the hell had gotten into Vegeta. With the cuddling and closeness, she didn’t feel comfortable staying with him. Who knows what kind of shit he’d pull. No, she had to get away. …But she didn’t really want to find out personally if those giants were as bad as she thought. Good thing she still had the capsule with her ship in it.

“Wait.” This time, Bulma was commanding Vegeta, hoping that he’d actually listen to her. She turned her head and ran off back into the woods, all the way to the clearing she’d used to change in. She got out the ship and immediately took to the sky, travelling just above all the mushrooms in an effort to find the craters that the pods had left. She’d be able to leave, and maybe she could figure out the Earth’s coordinates and get back there to follow through with the plan she’d had.

* * *

His POV

Yes, this was definitely a safe spot. The woman wiggled down from his shoulder, and he let her find her feet. Nappa had made love to the stump for the second time, and Raditz was coming to a philosophical epiphany. The beast himself was looking off into the distance, out into the dome of stars that fell past the cliff-side. Vegeta had always been a gazer. A loner. The solitude of nature soothed his savage beast - the beast that was prominent now; at the forefront of his mind. The wind was clear and the night brisk. In his sensitive state, it was captivating.

His lucid state also gave the woman the perfect opportunity to slip right past him. She’d asked him to wait. Wait, wait for what? Before she’d left, he’d cocked his head like a confused English bull terrier, but like a good dog, he stayed put. Though, not without his own stubbornness. He’d take a step towards the forest, growled in defiance, and then taken another; outstretching his fingers towards the line of the forest, expecting his longing to call her back. Commanding her to appear. But she never returned. The Saiyan was left stargazing, unknowing that the woman was well on her way to leave the planet for good.

She’d almost gotten away with it too, if it hadn’t been for those pesky giants and their big hands. Something went zooming overhead, like a little silver bird! And one of the bigger locals couldn’t resist plucking it from the sky.

“I caught a star! A shooting star!” Its booming voice spoke to a second giant. One of pink, one of yellow, and both monstrous. It’d nearly crushed the little silver ship. Taking it to its eye and trying to peer inside. That’s when the giant fey realized that this was no star. It wasn’t even a bug or a bird, it was a cocoon. And in it, looked to be a little fairy.

* * *

Her POV

She scanned the ground below, but found she was only heading over deep red mushrooms rather than the mushrooms she remembered seeing, and so she buzzed right on passed the scenery without looking. So she had a heart attack when the ship so suddenly stopped thanks to being plucked right out of the sky, and Bulma nearly ended up with a bad case of whiplash.

At first, she thought she was caught on something. She tried to push the jets to continue, but nothing happened. Then, she saw her scenery lowering. Her eyes widened, and nearly bugged out of their sockets when she found herself face-to-face with two giants. They were peeping into the cockpit with little smiles, admiring her, but she was just scared shitless. How couldn’t she be?!

She tried to force the ship into action, but nothing happened. No matter how hard she tried to push it, it stayed in the giant’s grasp. One of them began poking the cockpit, causing a rumble that made her realize why you weren’t supposed to tap the glass of a fishbowl. So against her better judgement, she opened up the cockpit and held a fist up in the air.

“LET ME GO RIGHT NOW, OR YOU’LL BE SORRY!” Yeah, she was certain they wouldn’t be threatened at all. But they at least had little smiles, rather than looking antagonistic. Maybe she’d be lucky. “I have places to go!! Leave me alone!!”

* * *

His POV

“Hey listen, it’s try’n to talk,” one giant said to the next. To the pair of pastel-colored towers, Bulma was little more than a tiny animal, a fairytale creature come to life, and they’d caught her. She was hardly sentient to them, even if their intelligence level was far lacking when compared to her own.

They could understand her, but the problem was that they weren’t listening. Instead, the one holding the silver ship between its fingers started tipping it over until Bulma fell right out into its open palm. The second giant greedily plucking the ship from its friends fingers while he was distracted, and began chewing it like bubble gum. Needless to say, it was not bubble gum, and the creature soon found itself spitting out parts in despair.

“It’s… It’s a fairy! Or a witch. It’s a fairy witch!” The giant, holding Bulma yards above the ground, proclaimed. “Think it’ll grant wishes?”

“We should put it in a cage, then it’ll have to grant us a wish,” said the other, now that it’s mouth was clear of metal. It poked at her chest and gingerly wiggled the big tip of its finger against her tummy. Then, the two started moving through the woods... walking back to wherever they’d come from. Probably their home, where more of them were sure to be waiting.

* * *

Her POV

She tried to hold onto anything she could when the giant tipped the ship over, but with a little shaking, she slipped loose and fell on his palm. They clearly weren’t listening to her, even as she yelled at one to stop chewing on her ship. No! No, how come whenever she got to use something, if was destroyed?! She was nearly in tears watching the parts go flying.

The two giants must be more of cavemen than the Saiyans. She sniffled as they spoke about her in a way that vaguely reminded her of Goku in their first encounter, and it only made her heart ache more. Whenever she thought she was home free, she was ripped away from any hope and reminded of the past she unwillingly left behind. She had such a happy life only a month ago, and now? She was being prodded at by giants.

She made a halfassed effort to shove the giant’s finger away from her breasts and belly, feeling uncomfortable when he rubbed it in. It was enough when the Saiyans groped and violated her, but somehow it was just so much worse when it was a warm, large fingertip rubbing up against her. But he lowered his finger, thankfully, as the giants began to walk.

She pressed her lips tightly together and crawled to the edge of the giant’s hand, watching the ground far below. It’d be some time before she got to get free; she certainly wouldn’t be jumping from this height. But their words worried her. Put her in a cage…? And that wish thing… As far as she knew, they’d squash her if she didn’t live up to expectations. They certainly looked to be the type.

* * *

His POV

The pair of massive humanoids were certainly giddy about their new catch. It wasn’t very usual that they found something in the forest out of the mundane. Sure, there were tall tales of little people fluttering around, but that was just a myth, right? Bugs were giant, plants were giant, even the turtles were giant. There was no such thing as little people. Well, until the day the Saiyans attacked.

The creatures had clearly never had any contact with an outside world before, claiming to one another that their new little fairy was probably a gift from their mushroom god. Or maybe she’d been birthed from a flower, since she was small enough to fit inside of one. Eventually the two came to a large cave. Many more pairs of eyes (and some with only one optic) curious about what the two had brought home. The evidence of their living the in the cave possible by hanging dried herbs, the makeshift furniture made of toadstools and rocks, and a large table that was made from a fallen log. 

The giant handling Bulma finally slid her from his sweaty palm and onto the table, the drop sure to kill her if she ventured too close to the edge. Forks and knives littered the top, as well as a half-eaten centipede that was as large as a semi-truck. Their tools were just as primitive, too; made of rock and bone instead of metal and plastic.

“It must have came out of sky, like that little imp.” The little imp they were speaking about was Vegeta, naturally. “Maybe we should be careful, the last one killed all the neighbors.”

“This one’s no imp,” huffed the largest giant in the room, crouching down to eye Bulma on the table top. “I say it’s a fairy, and fey have magic. It’s got to be magic.”

All of the giants in the room looked towards the biggest, bluest male. It must have been their pack leader. “It’s a pretty one too, I bet it’d be even prettier if it danced.” Its large blue finger prodded the tiny earthling, pushing her to try and make her entertain them. “Go on little fey, dance or I’ll smash you like a bug."

* * *

Her POV

They brought her into some freaky cave. So many other giants stared down at her, looking intimidating and terrifying. She was sure they’d kill her or do any other unspeakable things. They were barbarians and cavemen, in the most literal sense. She could even see the handprints on the cave walls, drawings made from what she assumed was blood or some kind of primitive dye.

She was dropped onto the table in the center of them all, and they began to discuss her being some kind of imp. Wiith the crowd’s angered reactions to the word, she had a feeling she’d be squashed flat by those clubs they were clinging to. Her heart jumped into her throat, and she found herself unable to move. Not that it mattered if she could; she’d be falling to her death if she tried to jump from the table. She was helpless.

“Fairy…” She mumbled it as they discussed it, listening to them talk amongst themselves. Her eyes landed on the leader, and he began speaking. Thankfully, they believed that she was a pretty, magical fairy, rather than an imp. They wouldn’t be squashing her. Instead, they demanded she danced for them– or else they’d be squashing her. She was shaking like crazy, stumbling backward when he prodded her.

She may have been quivering, but if it was a life-or-death situation; of course she’d be dancing! She swayed her hips from side to side, though she clearly wasn’t into it. Little whimpers came from her lips, and damn, was she sweating bullets. Her eyes glided along to see their reactions, attempting to dance a little more aggressively when they didn’t seem impressed. Swinging her hips, rolling her head- an attempt at making it somewhat sexual, just to please them. That’s usually what these kinds of freaks enjoyed, right?

* * *

His POV

When the tiny doll like figure began to dance, all of the men grew quiet and drew their big faces closer for a better look. Bulma’s dancing was hardly gaining any awards, and the big leader of the pack was looking irritated enough to squash her under his palm, but then she began rolling her head, swaying her hips, and the cavern grew quiet again.

“Look at that, she likes it!” one declared, clearly unaware of how frightened the earthling was of them. Its big orange finger brushed the outside of one of her thigh. The delicate nature of her human body a great contrast to it’s rough and bumpy skin. The giant male was getting off to it, and even began grunting. Thankfully though, a different one standing beside it reached for a vase on the table, and plucked a small buttercup flower. Small to their breed, but big enough for Bulma to use as a mini skirt. It shooed its friends fondling finger away long enough to nudge the yellow floral piece to the suspected fairy.

“Take off your clothes little fairy, go on, we want to see you what you’ve got under there.” They were all curious, unknowing as to what fairy genitals looked like. Bulma’s seductive dance working to gain their attentive attention. Perhaps unwanted attention, since they were starting to look at her like a pack of horny dogs.

That’s when another one got a brilliant idea. It’d ventured to the back of the cave, retrieving what could be called a music box, only as primitive as possible. No beautiful paint job or uniformity, no. It was just a wooden box with some ashen paint splattered across it, and inside, a little wheel that chimed a soft tune after being cranked a few times.

* * *

Her POV

They were clearly enjoying it. She regretted it, too. They looked at her the same way that the Saiyans all did– like they were moments from pouncing. There was some relief in knowing they were too big to rape her, but then they told her to take off her clothes. She glanced down bashfully with bright red cheeks, and she began shaking more. Oh, no. No, couldn’t she ever catch a break?

“N-no…” She held her hands up, and heard the leader growling. She gulped and glanced up at him- looking so ready to beat her down with the club. Oh, God. No, no… She didn’t want to die.

She did what she was told. Her shoes first, then pants. Her underwear came next, and she could hear them oo-ing and aah-ing at the sight. Her legs quivered, and when she saw the leader’s hand tightened around his club, she took her shirt off. Naked, in front of a crowd of caveman giants. This was pathetic.

“Gn…” She tried to cover herself up, shaking like a leaf. She looked down at the flower in front of her, and quickly grabbed it and put it on, trying to simultaneously use it to cover up her breasts and lower half. “P… Please, let me go…”

* * *

His POV

She was winning over a hoard of cavemen. If the Saiyans could see her now they wouldn’t have believed it. Well, Vegeta may have; he had seen the woman perform amazing feats by now. He’d even seen her writhe around at the brothel, but dancing wasn’t something on his radar. The earthling should be glad the prince wasn’t anywhere near to witness what she was being forced into doing, or he may of yearned for a whole new side of the human girl.

She was perfect. So much more appealing than their own race’s females. No hairy warts, no unsightly acne. She had a voluptuous figure, too. Even at her small size, there was nothing hidden from their prying eyes. The leader was getting pushy, too. Nudging the other men away with his shoulders, grunting horribly, and taking front row seat to her strip show. He may of been too big to fit inside of her, even for her to rub against, but it didn’t mean he still didn’t want to see the ‘fairy’ get off. How pretty could that be?

“Pretty fairy…” he wasn’t listening, his drooping lip and big black eyes watching her. And then, he began fingering her - more literally than anything she’d dealt with before. The big blue giant’s fingertip lifted the soft petals that hid the girl’s thighs. Wiggling the end until he could feel between her tiny legs. He wanted her to rub on him.

“Rub on my finger little fairy, make yourself feel good.” he demanded, pressing the big stub of flesh against her thighs again. They were all watching now, and there was a good chance a few of them were getting a hard on. The big one was, definitely. Seen whenever he stood up right from the table to get comfortable into a new spot. It was a little bothersome bending down to see her, but worth it if she was going to get off on his hand.

* * *

Her POV

They were loving her. Wooing and elbowing each other, despite her small stature. And just when she was hoping they’d let her go–what else could they demand of her? –the leader stuck his finger between her legs and rubbed. She gasped as he rubbed up against her clit, and her eyes went wide when he commanded her to do what he did. To ride him. He wanted her to get herself off on his finger, in front of this whole hoard. 

At least they couldn’t gang-rape her afterward. If she were their size, she was certain that’s what they’d be doing. Her bottom lip trembled, and she began to cry quietly. How could she not? It was humiliating and disturbing, and she was so damn sick of being put in this kind of situation, time and time again. It was a rollercoaster. When she wanted to live and escape, she was forced to do humiliating acts while trying to find a way out of her situation. When she finally did escape, she was dragged back in. And when she wanted to commit suicide, she wasn’t allowed that, either. But then when she didn’t want to die, and only wanted to escape again, she was threatened with death if she didn’t do the humiliating acts demanded of her.

“Gn… Ahn…” She slowly began running herself back and forth along the caveman giant’s finger, feeling dirty as she did it. She held onto the rough skin for support as she rocked her hips, with her legs quivering in pleasure. That’s what always disgusted her the most- when she enjoyed it in some way. She let out little gasps as she rocked, with a few tears falling down her cheeks. Her toes pressed against the surface of the table, and she could feel her hands start to get sweaty. She couldn’t help beginning to rock a little faster, with her clit demanding more attention. 

She pulled herself up his finger to be between the joint. The bump made it feel all the better to rock against, and her head lowered as she breathed in sharply every time her clit passed over it. Maybe if she just pretended she was somewhere else, she’d be able to enjoy it. They couldn’t do worse, right? She’d put on her show, and maybe they’d let her go.

* * *

His POV

The fugly giant tried his best to keep his hand as steady and still as possible. Its big, blacked-out eyes blinked. There wasn’t a chance in hell he was about to miss this. There was a fairy rolling its tiny clit over his finger tip, how many could say they’ve had that? The giant’s leader was becoming enamored with her. Already making plans to keep his new favorite pet under an old mug at his bedside, and make her dance and rub for him whenever he wanted to see something pretty.

“That’s a good little fairy...” he awarded, “...look how pretty she is when she blushes.” all of the towering men leaned in for a better look. Indeed, they liked the color of her cheeks bloomed whenever she gasped in for air. Their big noses pressed to the table’s edge, and the leader himself bent down for a closer look. Surely every luminescent spot on his face visible. His rough finger wiggled gently, tickling between the delicate legs that wrapped around it. The tiny dot of dew from her wetness making the big creature softly grunt. Huffing its soft pants across the table, like waves of hot air.

One of the giants off to the side carefully reached its hand below the table top; it was going for its pants. It had a hard on. The up and down motion of its arm making it exactly what it’s hand was doing out of view. It wasn’t the only one though, after a few noticed that one giant was getting off, they majority of them thought it a brilliant idea and started jacking themselves off too. Some a little more obviously then the others.

The leader didn’t seem to care, focused on his so-called fairy and the seductive way she was riding his knuckle. Then, he got an idea. Tilting his hand up, he slid her down the length of his finger, planting her at the base of his thumb. Her legs hung over either side, he began pumping his thumb gently up and down under her, mimicking the thrusts of a male. He watched her tiny breasts squish whenever he pressed the end of his thumb up against her torso. The twitch in his brows meaning he was expecting her to ride his thumb until she came on him.

* * *

Her POV

“Ahn… Ah…” She was just beginning to disassociate herself and try to enjoy it, when she began to slide down his finger as gravity did its work. She opened her eyes in surprise, and hoped that that meant that he was no longer into messing with her like he was. But instead, he just ensured she fell with her legs between his thumb and index finger instead, met with the movements of the giant trying to mimic thrusts. She held onto the loose skin of his hand for support as he began moving it up and down, pressed right up against her clit. 

Her eyes wandered to the men in the room, who all seemed to be eating up her little moans and embarrassed whines. She could see their arms moving– the obvious motions for jacking off. They were getting off to her. And she was willingly doing what they wanted. It was revolting. Dirty. She hated herself for it, but at the same time, what else was she going to do? They’d kill her otherwise.

She rubbed up and down his digit, the extra attention of his thumb smacking against her bottom feeling more pleasurable than she cared to admit. The occasional tear fell down her cheek as she kept moving, until her legs were really shaking and she needed to move herself more with her hips and arms to keep up the movements as they got faster. Her voice began to get a little louder, cracking as she got closer to her release.

“Ahhn–” Bulma was grateful that the Saiyans weren’t there to watch her get off like this, or they’d surely mock her when they finally dragged her back. She was sure they would by now. But for the time being, she was stuck rubbing up against the giant. A little faster, a little faster, until her abdomen ached from overuse. Her voice cracked, and finally her toes tightened and she arched her back, with her arms holding onto the thumb for dear life. She hit her orgasm, and the endorphins caused her hair to stand on edge. She stared up at the leader after, with her by now trademark pout, and still clinging onto him, panting slightly.

“L… Let me… ahh… go…”

* * *

His POV

More than one giant let it be known that he was about to orgasm. It’s loud voice carrying over the crowd and causing a chain reaction. Once one got the nerve up to groan and heave heavy breaths, they all started. Their enormous erections visible once they lost their shame. One of them was stroking themselves avidly right beside the table, too. Its towering member was several times as big as the pixie-sized earthling. It was pre-cumming, too. Though the girl was never given option to do anything other than rub against the leader big thumb, his other hand having disappeared too; the leader was getting off to her orgasming in his palm.

Once she’d exhausted herself against his thumb, the monstrous creature let her go. Sliding her onto the table top in order to finish himself off. Grunting and growling like a Neanderthal, he rubbed one out at the table side without much care. The massive blue member was in view, and almost shooted it’s load all over Bulma, if it hadn’t gone flying right over her head and into a distant direction. Ugh, these creatures were even less hygienic then the Saiyan whom had captured her. No wonder the females of their kind refused to live with them.

Once he was done, and the rest of the pack stole across the room in post-orgasm heaps, the leader’s big hand reached back towards Bulma. Swooping her right back into his capture once again.

They were headed to what was considered his resting den. A far back cavern in the depths of the cave. A piece of leather laid out over a slab of rock for a bed, and a few stacks of logs with a second slab of rock placed on top, making for a night stand. That’s where he’d set her, right under an old useless mug he’d brought from the living area. After a grunt, he planted the little ‘fairy’ on the night stand’s top, and bent down to give her one eye to eye look, before shutting her up in the mug, and away from the world for his own safe keeping.

* * *

Her POV

They were all moaning and groaning as they jacked off to her actions. She was still panting when the leader retracted his thumb, and she managed to get a glance and realize his other arm was moving very aggressively under the table, as well. She went to collect her clothes while she had the chance, and held them tight just as the leader stood and showed his cock. God, it was huge. Massive, dark-blue, and veiny. It must have been three times the size of her, at least. Lengthwise, who knew about width.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and covered herself with her clothes in shame, feeling all too disgusting about having all these men jack off to her. One by one, they orgasmed. And then came the leader- he beat himself off harder, until his load burst. She dunked just in time for it to fly over her head, and off into the distance, partially dirtying the table. She was thankful she wasn’t full of it; she had a feeling she’d probably drown.

“Ahn…” She took a glance over at the leader, who scooped her up into his hand again. For a moment, she hoped that he’d set her free. What else would you do, after catching a fairy? Wouldn’t they be nice? But no. He simply led her deeper into the caves, and for a moment, she was horrified to the point of being paralyzed that perhaps he’d try to violate her anyway. That she’d end up being ripped in half by a massive cock bigger than she was.

But he only set her on a table beside his rock of a bed. He leaned down, and his black eye stared straight at her. She shivered and fell flat on her bottom in fear, and he quickly ended the interaction by placing a mug over her. Her lip began quivering, and in just moments, she began to sob. That’s the only thing she could think to do in her situation– sob. Cry, for everything that had happened, out of embarrassment, out of fear, out of frustration. She just wanted to _go **home.**_

She stumbled around in the mug and pulled her clothing on, tossing aside the stupid flower in a fit of anger. So what, she was supposed to just sleep in this thing? There were no holes big enough for her to crawl through, and it was too heavy for her to tip over herself. That’s when it occurred to her, through all her crying– If she stayed, she’d surely suffocate. Where was the air supposed to come from? There was a crack, but it didn’t chip. There was no space for air to travel through. She was locked away somewhere to die horribly.

And that only made her cry more.

* * *

His POV

It was quite. And it stayed quiet for a long time. Long enough for Bulma to use up the majority of her air supply. But then, just as the mug became stuffy and well, muggy, something happened. It was a loud bang, followed by another and another. It was the sound of raining ki blasts.

The giant ripped to life, raising from his sleeping quarters and rushing into the main hull of the cave, but something or someone began pushing him back. Blow after blow, it appeared as if something were punching the monster dead in the chest. The big blue creature fumbled and toppled over right in the doorway of the bedroom cavern, loosing a long and drawn out groan before it fell to its death. Its thick, colorful blood pooled like oil around its head. Giant after giant, they were steadily getting their guts blown out of their massive bodies. 

There was definitely someone flying around the massive creatures angry statures. A little glowing light was buzzing around their heads, darting with as much ease as a natural born acrobat. The beasts toppled over one another and pawed the air, roaring and swatting, trying to catch the little creature that was making a mess of their ‘house’. One by one they fell, some with their arms twisted backward, and others with jaws knocked out of place.

Their killer? A tall, brawny built man with flowing green hair that was pulled back into a silky braid. Hair that he flipped over his shoulder when he’d finally slain the last of the giants. The teal hue of his skin made him appear as a true fairy, a pixie, a prince, one right out of a fairy tale. Tossing a dashing smile over his shoulder, he pushed the loose strands of his hair back into place as the dust settled. Then he began scanning the area for any more monsters that wanted in on the action.

“Now just look at this mess...” The man placed his hands on his hips, turning his full lips up into a soft pout. “... _so much for negotiations_.” Not that he was planning on making any, but his tone of voice never revealed that fact.

* * *

Her POV

She began kicking at the crack in the mug. She kicked and punched it, trying desperately to try and get some air. It chipped away bit by bit, but the air got muggier. A great deal of time passed until she finally made a hole that got all the way through. Not big enough to push herself through, but big enough to get air through. She pressed her mouth to the hole to suck in the fresh air, and then began to work on making the hole bigger. If she kept up like this, by the end of the night she’d be able to escape.

But those thoughts were lost when the cave roared to life again. Some kind of attack was happening; she was well-tuned to the sound of a ki blast by now. She peeked into the hole out of curiosity, finding the giants being beat around by something. She couldn’t tell what was happening at first. But then she began to suspect Vegeta had found her again. Her heart sank. Just when she was on her way to getting free. But then the figure got closer, and she saw him at work, killing the leader.

He was handsome. Green, but handsome nonetheless. He had a beautiful aura to himself; glistening, and with such lovely, soft-looking hair. Maybe he was another form of life on this planet? He looked lout of a fairytale, and the life forms here all certainly appeared to be out of fairytales. He was so strong, too– he single-handedly saved her from all her captors, and then stopped at the bedside table to push his hair over his shoulder and sigh about it as if it were the easiest thing.

“H… hey!” She reached her arm through the hole, just barely being able to fit her forearm out to reach for him. “Please! Help me! I’m stuck! One of them trapped me in here! Help me, help me _please!_ ” Certainly if he looked like that, he wouldn’t be the monster the others were. He’d have to save her. He was a prince charming. A fairy prince charming.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the person that writes Bulma! I uploaded the chapter this time! I've been trying really hard to make sure these come out weekly. I hope you're enjoying it! It really boosts our confidence to see how many people are commenting, leaving kudos, bookmarking, and even occasionally leaving fanart! Our roleplaying has been a little slow lately, but I hope that we're able to finish this. We've got this planned out far into the future-- I'll try not to spoil you, though.
> 
> Here's a shoutout to BlueSwordAngel, who made fanart of our fanfic, both from Bulma and Vegeta's perspectives!  
> http://blueswordangel.deviantart.com/art/On-to-Otherworld-703254928  
> http://blueswordangel.deviantart.com/art/If-you-die-who-will-try-to-kill-me-703256840
> 
>   
> 


	13. Prince Charming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is this new character? And will he be friend or foe...

  


His POV

The small chime of a feminine voice caught the man's attention. “Hm?” He turned to ask, arching a curious brow in the mug’s direction. Then he saw it -a humanoid arm stretching itself as far as it could go, reaching for the flow of his long velvety violet cape.

“Hey now, what’s this? How in the world did you manage to get under there.” The question on Zarbon’s mind was: why were there other humanoids on this planet? There was no known record of intelligent life past the caveman-like-giants living on this world. It was a surprise to say the least. 

“Careful now.” His words dripped with charm. Crouching down, he tried to get a better peek between the cracks she’d made in the mug. It looked to be a female trapped under the giant’s beside cup. Well, a female was a female and very worth checking out, if not just good for questioning. He slipped his fingers under the mugs rim and flipped it off the table in one easy swoop, freeing her from her make shift prison.

And when he saw her, he was more than please. The male’s green face lit up with surprise. It wasn’t just any female, it was a beautiful one. “What a rare beauty,” he slipped from under his breath, then quickly collected himself. If there was one thing this male lived for, it was for the love of all things beautiful, and this girl was glistening with it.

Putting on his most dashing smile yet, the man placed a hand to his chest, bowing with elegance to introduce himself. “How rude of me, do excuse my manners. I am Prince Zarbon. How did a pretty little thing like you get all the way out here? You certainly can’t be from this planet, as pretty of a flower you are.” He stood tall, offering his hand out to Bulma, hoping to win her trust.

* * *

Her POV

He noticed her! He noticed! As soon as he spoke up in that honey-flavored voice, she retracted her arm and peeped at him through the track, grinning as he peeped back. He freed her from the heavy mug as if it were the easiest thing in the world, and she breathed in sharply when she got to witness so much easier just how princely he was. His voice, his hair, his eyes, his clothes, his everything! He was straight out of her dreams as a young girl. 

When he spoke up and explained he was indeed a prince, her eyes lit up like the night sky. He was–!! It really was a dream come true. He even bowed to her, and she found herself actually holding back tears from utter relief. But what would he think of her if she just started crying? He called her beautiful; crying was not beautiful. 

She held her hands together at her chest as he bowed, and when he stood up again and offered her his hand, she willingly took it. Her cheeks burned red as she stared up at the handsome man, thinking that maybe she’d fallen in love. He did remind her a bit of Yamcha back before they started dating. The way such a handsome, strong man had saved her from a giant ape… It was like she was reliving her old life.

“I… I’m Bulma! Bulma Briefs! You’re right, I’m not from here. I’m from a planet called Earth. These Saiyans, they’re horrible! They took me and destroyed my planet, and then they’ve been going to all these other planets and completely wrecking them, too. They keep me like a slave! I escaped right now, but I got captured by these guys, instead.” Her pout returned, and she stared up at Zarbon with big, worried eyes. “A Prince like you must be able to help someone like me, right?”

* * *

His POV

And there it was; she’d taken his hand, hook line and sinker. Being the charmer that he was, it wasn’t a surprise when the female so willingly stepped towards him like a pilgrim towards a tower of protection. She looked shaken, tired, and in need of a bath, but still he could see the graceful qualities of her fair nature. She just needed a little polishing up. The way her big starry eyes lit up when taking him in was perfect, too. It stroked the man’s ego and filled him with a sense of boastfulness. His head tilted to the side, sending her the softest of winks after her cheeks turned red. This is what he lived for, for moments like this. Having pretty girls fawn over him in all of his princely brilliance.

He was listening, too. She spoke of her planet and the nasty chain of events that’d let her to being trapped under that ugly cup. It really was an ugly piece of trash, it needed to be broken - but that was beside the point. The female had said something else ..something that made his finely plucked brow twitch with unease. She said she’d been slave to a pack of Saiyans.

“Saiyans, you say,” he only knew of three Saiyan men, and they weren’t exactly in the buddy buddy system. “You poor creature. That must have been simply awful. I can’t begin to imagine the horrors of surviving with a bunch of dirty apes.” With that, he took her into his chest and stroked his long nails through her hair, as if comforting her from her wicked trials. Though, in the quiet of his mind, Zarbon was debating. He’d come to this planet to see how its destruction was coming along. But if Saiyans were here then he’d certainly have to have a word or two with them about their purging tactics.

“Of course I’ll help you.” The man smiled down, tilting the girl’s chin up with one of his fingertips. “I’m not about to allow a bunch of monkeys to burn this planet. With all of its spectacular beauty? It needs to be taken care of properly.” Though, what exactly he meant by that was yet to be known. 

“Why don’t you tell me where these primitive apes are hiding, and I’ll straighten it all out right now.” The man’s face grew closer, quiet, softening his gaze into a state of true romance. “Then if you want, you’re welcome to run away with me to my homeland.” His long lashes batted, but then his face moved away with an underlined look of bashfulness. Picking the girl up and letting her sit in the crook of his arm, he allowed her to rest comfortably on him as she pleased, instead of shoving her into position. With that, he lifted elegantly into the air and off of the table, heading for the outside world that was just starting to beam with new morning light.

* * *

Her POV

Her heart soared as he watched her. He looked at her with empathy, and pulled her close to comfort her. It felt good to be so close to such a sweet man, and he smelled like flowers. Her eyes closed, and she let out a sigh of relief that after all this time, she’d finally caught a break. He was strong, too. Surely even if he met with the Saiyans, he’d be strong enough to beat them. Beautiful knights like him didn’t get beaten so easily by bad men.

She was smiling by the time he lifted her head with his finger, listening to him speak in that sweet voice of his. Truly a prince. He even agreed that this planet was far too beautiful to be destroyed. He saw the prettiness in things that the Saiyans clearly could not. And for that, she respected him even more. She smiled a little wider, and her hands reached up to rest on his shoulders as he leaned close to whisper to her about running away with him.

“That sounds like a dream come true,” she replied, her nose brushing against his before he looked away. Bulma found herself blushing as well, just watching how bashful he was. A long cry from the men she’d been around for so long already that had no problem pissing, fucking, and masturbating in front of anyone else.

He picked her up and gently lifted into the air, and Bulma spent no time leaning in and resting her body against his muscular figure. She was so exhausted, she would have taken a nap right there, if it weren’t for her reminding herself that she had a job to do: to show him where the Saiyans were.

“They set up a campsite on a cliff,” she explained, squinting slightly when they reached the entrance of the cave and traveled into the morning light. “Mn… I think it should be easy to see. It’s somewhere in that direction.” She pointed in the direction she recalled the giants having come from after they plucked her from the sky and dragged her to the cave. “There are three of them, I don’t know if they’re off fighting already. Last night they were hallucinating on raw mushrooms they’d been eating. That’s when I had escaped, but then the giants found me.”

* * *

His POV

Dark eyes squinted towards the coming of the new dawn sun. It was morning already. What the fuck had happened last night? The Saiyan prince couldn’t recall. Only that there had been rainbows, diamonds, and a lot dizziness. Then he remembered the girl, and how she glistened like a celestial being from another realm. It was an image that was to remain burned in his mind’s eye for a while to come. Yet, he pushed it aside, searching for what truly lied around him in reality.

He sat up in the grass, finding himself scratching his neck. It felt irritated. The side of his face did too, but the prince quickly shrugged it off, stretching his arms and back with a foul grunt as he stood to his feet. He’d had hang overs before, but this was a whole new way to start a morning. Raditz was just coming back to life, too, mumbling something in his sleep before waking up hazy eyed. Nappa, on the other hand, had cuddled up with the stump and stayed there the night through. Vegeta had to give him a swift kick in the rump before the bald man finally woke up by snorting and snoring his way back into consciousness.

“Where’s the girl?” That was the first thing out of Vegeta’s mouth. Already the prince was ready to knock someone’s block off. He was in the worst of moods. He’d been incapacitated for who knew how long, or why, or what had happened. He only knew that he felt groggy, and now his captive was missing. Could this day start out any worse?! It was everything the prince hated, and then some, and it just kept getting better…

A familiar figure was headed towards them against the rising sun. The two alpha males locked gazes the moment Zarbon came into range of the cliff side. And he was holding Bulma… Icy hot rage splintered through the prince’s spine faster than he could react. It forced his hair on end, flushing out his tail fur until it was up right, and tensed every muscle he had. He looked like an angry, arching feline about to throw a tantrum.

Thankfully, the prince tamed his aggression down by the time Zarbon landed on the cliffs edge …but he wasn’t letting Bulma out of his grasp. No, the green prince was keeping her safe and snug against his chest, much to the Saiyan’s dismay. And he was doing it on purpose. Vegeta may have been able to reclaim his stone cold mask, but his frustration of the situation was burning right through his eyes. Zarbon loved every moment of it. This little earthling must have really had her claws in the prince to have him looking so alive.

“Vegeta, I heard you had a pleasant night.” Zarbon made a dig at the Saiyan’s expense. Both Raditz and Nappa growled, stammering to their feet. Stepping closer to the intruder, their glares warned him not to insult their prince any further.

“What the hell are you doing here, frog face?” Vegeta bit out, not caring enough to acknowledge the man by his name. His arms were crossed and his unwelcoming scowl was in place. He never regarded Bulma, either. The last thing he was willing to do was to let his enemy see him care, about anything.

“A little birdy told me you were planning on destroying this planet, and I just can’t allow that. You see, it’s far too valuable to just throw away.” Zarbon hummed, petting Bulma’s hair.

“Like I give a shit. Now put the girl down Zarbon, she belongs to me.” Vegeta’s patience was reaching its limit. He wasn’t about to let this rival prince stop his warring, or handle what he deemed was his. Without another word, the Saiyan prince opened his hand, commanding Bulma to come to his side and leave Zarbons presence once and for all. He didn’t like seeing her so closely knit to what he knew to be… A monster.

* * *

Her POV

Zarbon was so sweet, caring. Even when they landed at the campsite, he was sure to make her feel safe. She snuggled up to his side while he held her close, and she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to look at the three men who’d been torturing her this whole time. She just wanted to lean against the man who’d become her prince charming and take a nap. She was so exhausted from spending that night trying to find her way out of the cup.

She smiled at the feeling of Zarbon’s fingers through her hair, and as they spoke, Bulma finally got the courage to open her eyes. She stared at Vegeta and the smile faded. Her brows furrowed and her expression tightened. That asshole was trying to get her back. Like the beautiful prince would give her up just like that. She held onto Zarbon and pressed tighter against his side.

The fact that Vegeta was not approaching them struck Bulma as odd, though. He usually mowed down anyone in his way with ease. Was Zarbon even stronger than Vegeta? She looked up at the man she held onto with her chin on his chest in curiosity. Was he truly that strong? Maybe she was luckier than she thought. Maybe she’d get to live a better life now than she ever even did back on Earth. He could protect her when Yamcha couldn’t.

She glanced over to see Vegeta trying to get her to come back, and Bulma’s expression twisted into a glare. She pressed half her face into Zarbon’s side, letting him know she had no interest in coming back to him. She didn’t even want to speak to him, much less go back under his “care,” if you could even call it that.

“Zarbon, can we leave now?”

* * *

His POV

At Bulma’s defiance, Vegeta’s stern expression tightened; grinding his teeth so terribly that his neck and jaw muscles visibly strained. He was biting back his anger. Remaining in control of this situation was everything. If he were to win this fight, he’d have to keep tactful.

“In just a moment, my sweet.” An instant of irritation shot through Zarbon’s body, quaking his core under his smooth smile when Bulma asked to leave. As if she was ordering him around. The green prince held his charming facade, though, soothing his voice into a musical chuckle once his attention returned to Vegeta. “I think not, Vegeta. You see, I’ve promised to take her away from here. As if you could ever appreciate such stunning beauty properly,” he mocked.

Vegeta didn’t like Zarbon’s tone. His eyes narrowed the more he spoke. The two princes never got along, but this was something different. There was more tension in the air than usual, and all four of the men could feel it. “I won’t tell you again,” his voice rumbled lowly, lower than before. “Hand her over so that I can finish burning this shit hole. You can even stick around and burn with it.”

“Oh, Vegeta, what’s it going to take? You stubborn monkey.” Zarbon sounded truly disappointed, which he was. This wasn’t the first time the two had butt heads, and it always ended the same. Whatever planet Zarbon was trying to harvest, fighting the Saiyan always saw to it that there was little to nothing left of value once they’d finished their brawl. The princely green man’s hand tightened on Bulma’s waist, not wanting her to leave the security of his grasp. Though, he was starting to get an idea. A dirty idea, due to how the Saiyan seemed so adamant about getting the girl back.

“If she returns to you, will you leave this planet alone?” Zarbons thick bottom lip pouted. Scrunching his brows up, he looked sorry for what he’d said. What else was he to do though? As much fun as it was holding the girl over Vegeta’s head, he had to make a wise decision. The life of the planet, or the stealing of the girl.

The Saiyan prince didn’t say a word. Never budged, never flinched. He only expected, expected the green alien to return what was rightfully his. But as the moments past, Vegeta knew they were coming to a standstill. He too had to make a decision. The girl, or the planet.

“Yes,” the monkey prince finally murmured behind his teeth, much to the shock of the men, including Zarbon. None were expecting that.

“Vegeta, I’m surprised. That’s so unlike you.” Zarbon couldn’t help but taunt. “How do I know you’ll keep your word?”

“I’m a Prince, arnt I?!” The Saiyan snapped, taking a heated step forward.

Zarbon eyed the monkey. It was one prince’s word to another’s, and that was something rarely broken, even in this twisted universe. Zarbons gaze fell to Bulma’s face, his own eyes full of pity and remorse.

“I’m sorry my dear, but I must think of the planet.” His mouth turned up into a frown. His fingers slipped away, but not before whispering down into her ear so softly that even a Saiyan would have trouble catching it. “ _I’m sure we’ll meet again._ ” Before Zarbon let her completely fall away, the elegant man gave her a subtle wink. A promise that yes, he’d be back for her again.

* * *

Her POV

What? They couldn’t just leave? She understood his need to keep this beautiful planet intact, but still. She didn’t want to even hear Vegeta’s voice any longer, after everything he had done to her. She pouted as she leaned up against Zarbon, waiting impatiently for them to finally go but not saying another word. That was, until he offered her up as a trade. Her eyes widened. 

“Wh… What?!” Her head snapped in his direction, to see him pouting. He didn’t seem happy about it, but she was far more unhappy than him. Was he just going to let her go like that?! She no longer gave a shit about this planet. If it were between her and a pretty planet, she’d rather the planet die than she get stuck with these idiots any longer! She didn’t want it anymore! Didn’t he understand the kind of things they did to her?!

She looked back at Vegeta with a distressed expression when he agreed to the terms of the deal, and Bulma couldn’t help but cling a little tighter to Zarbon. No! Couldn’t he just beat them up!? He was strong, and Vegeta was clearly uncertain about fighting with him! That’s what princes do! They fight the bad guys, and defeat them! Surely her prince charming could defeat these little goblins!

Her bottom lip was jutting out when Zarbon spoke softly to her. She looked back at him and wrapped her arms around his neck as he leaned down, feeling her heart sink as he apologized for his actions. So she was just going to be left to be violated over and over again? 

His whisper helped sooth her, though. He promised that he’d return for her in that honey-filled voice of his. The pout lessened and she let out an audible sigh. It wasn’t the outcome she would have liked, but at least he was still saving her. She relished in his closeness, but as soon as he backed away, she took a few steps forward. She held onto his shoulders and pulled him down again, specifically to press her lips against his. A way to seal his promise. She grabbed his hands immediately after, and looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

“Princes don’t lie, right? Don’t make it too long…”

* * *

His POV

The closer the woman poured herself against Zarbon’s armor, the more Vegeta felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. And then.. she kissed him. His little earthling pressed her full mouth on that slimy bastard. It was all Vegeta could do to keep from thinking ‘just fuck it’ and give into his anger, and call the man out. But he couldn’t, it’d be showing he cared what the hell that green monster did. Even if the way the man had taken the liberty to dip his tongue into the earthling’s mouth had set Vegeta’s gaze on fire. The woman had never pressed her lips against him like that. He’d seen her do it once, he’d craved it ever since. To put it simply, he felt his stomach plummet.

Edgy didn’t begin to describe the horrors he was containing in that little muscular body of his. The prince wanted to rip the green smirk right off of his rival’s face. Right then. Right there. He knew the man was toying with him. The sly look that Zarbon sent him the moment his mouth broke away from Bulma’s was ripe with sly intent, but the Saiyan wasn’t about to let him win. He could steal his kiss - because by the end of the day the prince would have one over on the toad. He’d make sure of it.

“Until next time.” Zarbon taunted, blowing one last farewell smooch towards the crowd, then fluttered off into the distance. All three of the warriors stared up at the sky. Vegeta watched him disappear, doing his best to refuse the need to catch Bulma from the corner of his eye. He hadn’t moved since the fiasco had begun. His arms were bound tightly across his chest and his feet planted so firmly in the dirt, that they may as well been cemented in place. He was an unphasable alpha male until the intruder had gone. He was furious, but he was waiting. Waiting for the man to fade out of sight. It was then and only then, that he made his move. 

His eyes finally filtered towards the female, but he still didn’t mutter the irritation that was clearly buzzing through his brain. The small hummiliation of surendering the planet to his enemy for the girls return had been worth it, in the long run. Seeing her pressed to the creeps chest had been driving him to the edge of reason. He didn’t know why, and he didn’t care. She was his, and she’d remain his. Some so called royal brat wasn’t about to steal from him.

Raditz and Nappa had taken to whispering to one another. Vegeta stepped back towards the camp site, picking up one of the discarded scouters. He was waiting Zarbon out, waiting for his energy signature to leave the planet for good. And once he was sure the teal prince was out of range, he finally muttered his cold, dead orders to his men. He commanded them, “Burn it.”

* * *

Her POV

He kissed her back. It lasted, and even had a bit of tongue to it. Certainly enough to hold her over until he came back to save her. She smiled as she watched him leave, thinking about the similarities to all those pretty fairytales she loved so much. Or even just romance novels! It’s like Romeo and Juliet. What was that line? Parting is such sweet sorrow or something? It took her some time before she finally turned around and looked at the others. Her smile faded, and instead she just glared at her captors. It wouldn’t be long now.

“Hnf.” She watched Raditz and Nappa whisper to each other, and then her eyes focused in on Vegeta. He looked curious. He was clearly watching Zarbon slowly leave by watching his dot in the scouter. What, was he just going to wait so he could attack her? It was obvious how furious he was about her being all over Zarbon. He wasn’t the monster Vegeta was, though, what did he expect?

Then, he made the order. Burn it all?! She wasn’t going to be back in her captors’ hands only for the planet to get destroyed! She ran at Vegeta and pushed him roughly, even though it was the equivalent to pushing a brick wall.

“NO! Why are you so evil?! Why are you such a monster?! I hate you! I hate you so much, you asshole!” She shoved him again, and began pounding on his chest angrily. “I hope he comes back and kills you! All of you!”

* * *

His POV

The woman’s tantrum did little to phase the prince. He refused to look at her. She called him a monster and pounded on his chest, but it wasn’t until Raditz and Nappa took off in opposite directions (one to the east and one to the west) to carry out Vegeta’s orders, did the prince finally drag his hardened gaze over the woman trying so helplessly to stop him.

“I will not let that lunatic have what he wants!” Vegeta snapped, catching the woman’s wrist in his hand. She wanted his attention and she had it now, in spades. The way he was looking at her, scowling his gaze down into her furious big blue eyes; the Saiyan was trying to decipher the situation. Had the slime ball touched her? He’d obviously gotten to her. Leave it to Zarbon to try to charm the idiot woman, he thought.

But that’s when his gaze softened into something different and almost new. Something inside of him felt bold, possessive. And in a moment of serious, the prince’s voice lowered, trying to convey a message, trying to grab the woman’s rebellious attention, if just for once in her stubborn life. The prince was trying to warn her.

“Woman, if for just once you listen to me in your god forsaken life, do not go anywhere near that psychopath again. _Have I made myself clear?_ ” He was malevolent, more so then usual. Vegeta wasn’t backing down on this one, though there was little he could do if the woman refused his words. After locking eyes with his captive, burrowing his message down into her face, he slung her wrist, letting her go. Then, he headed back towards the smoldering ash and scattered remains of their campsite. It was time to pack up and leave.

The horizon in either direction was already burning brightly.

* * *

Her POV

“Let go of me!” She tried to free her wrists, struggling in his grasp. How dare that asshole! She was going to elope with a real prince, he had no right to touch her anymore! “You’re going to be sorry if you dare touch me again, you know! He’s no lunatic! You don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re just jealous that he’s more of a prince than you can ever hope to be!”

Finally, he let her go. She rubbed her wrists and glared at him, her brows furrowing. She could see how furious he was with her just by his expression. And when he lowered his voice… Bulma really wished that she could physically harm him. She still tried– giving him a solid slap across the face.

“He is no psychopath, and you have no right to tell me what to do! He’s going to come back for me, and he’ll beat your asses while he’s at it! Just wait! You’re going to regret everything you’ve ever done to me!” She slapped him again, feeling particularly bloodthirsty. When he walked away, she sat down on the ground and sniffed, looking around at the disaster around her. 

This was horrible. All that beauty, wasted. And on top of that, he had no reason to have given her up, because they were just destroying the planet that they’d promised not to! He was no prince. He couldn’t even keep his word.

Tears began to fall, and she covered her face as she began to start crying.

* * *

His POV

She just didn’t understand. The prince knew ..he knew the horrors that that individual could inflict, and as annoying as the woman could be, he wasn’t about to see her go flying into the hands of what he considered a mad man. But the prince never muttered a word of it. He shouldn’t have to explain himself to anyone. Especially not to a slave. The girl was to obey his word. He refused to be questioned! This female had gained so much of his attention over the rolling weeks, but his pride wasn’t about to lose his tongue. She’d have to trust him.

“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere near that bastard. He’s no prince, he’s a nothing more than a disgraceful maggot!” He barked back. Allowing his rival to get away with snapping up his slave? He’d never have it. He was so confident, growing so cocky and arrogant the more that her mouth bit and barked at him, that the prince never suspected the slap to follow. ..and then another one. It must have been like smacking a steal beam because he never budged. His anger was too high; steeling him in place ...he was done with this conversation.

But then she began to cry, and the prince felt static electricity crawl up the length of his spine. Could she grow any more irritating?! His teeth clenched, picking up the last of the medical supplies and folding them into the small crate. He hated that sound, but somewhere in his dark heart, the mellow tone of her weeping simmered his heated blood. It brought him back down to reality. That’s right, he had a mission to complete, and he wasn’t going to allow some female to detour him.

Smoke lifted over the tree line. The once beautiful glow of the planet, it’s prism like dream state, was crumbling into a pile of embers and soot. It was all gone. He’d killed it all, and now it was time to go. With the crate under one arm, Vegeta knelt and scooped up the woman into the basin of his other arm. She must of known where this was going by now. They were going to head back to the pods. And while she could refuse, fight it; there’d be no staying on the planet’s surface without burning to a crisp. It was now or never.

By the time they’d arrived at the crash site of the three round ships, Nappa and Raditz were already preparing to launch. Burning a planet was always so much easier then acting as its exterminator. With the planet’s heavy foliage caught into a blaze of wildfire, within a day or two there’d be nothing to remember it by.

* * *

Her POV

She wanted to slap Vegeta again. He was acting like her father, trying to disallow her from ever getting near Zarbon again. As if. He was trying to make him sound like a monster, even though that couldn’t be further from the truth. He just wanted her to stay with him! That’s all! She cried out her problems as everything burned around her, and she prayed at Zarbon would finally come back. It didn’t happen, and instead, Vegeta came up to her and picked her up.

“LET ME GO!” She yelled and struggled, trying her damnedest to get free as if she’d be able to escape. She kicked her legs and tried hitting him over and over when all she was hurting and exhausting was herself. She didn’t want to spend another night with him! How the hell would Zarbon be able to find her, if he brought her to another planet?!

She sobbed and cried loudly, even just thinking about what it’d be like staying with them. As soon as she saw the pods come into sight, she screamed and wailed louder. No! No, no, no! She didn’t want to get violated again! She didn’t want to be raped again! She didn’t want to be a slave anymore!

“STOP!” She screamed loud enough for her throat to ache from overuse. “LET ME GOOOO!” She’d reached her limit. She didn’t want to be part of this anymore, she didn’t want to be a slave anymore! She was sick of it! She’d reached her absolute limit with this. If she was raped one more time, she’d– She’d do something. Even if he tried to stop her, she’d do it! Kill them, hurt them, kill herself, something!

* * *

His POV

She smelt terrible. The whole way towards the pod that’s all Vegeta could distinguish. That she smelt terrible. By the time he’d shoved their bodies back into the small round container, he’d had his fill of her lavished fighting. The kicking he could handle, but it was her screaming that finally brought him into action. He cupped his hand over her mouth to keep her from damaging one of his overly sensitive ear drums. Seriously, did she know how high her voice was on his frequency? Sometimes the Saiyan wondered if she knew and was shrieking on purpose.

“Will you shut the hell up, woman?!” The prince’s shoulders went slamming back into the comfort of his pod, bringing the girl with him. “Honestly, I should have let you go with that bastard. Then you could torment my enemies instead!” Vegeta was beginning to question his own reasoning. Was this girl really worth it? Was showing a moment of compromise in the face of his enemy really worth this? He blew his irritation out by a huff through his nose.

“You reek.. Did he touch you?” Vegeta finally leaned back, far enough to peer at the woman’s tear streaked cheeks. He didn’t look all too happy, in fact his nose curled due to the unwelcome stench that now hung in his space pod. And he’d just had it cleaned, too, after the female had soiled it with splatters of his own blood. He wasn’t asking if she was safe, or if she was unharmed. The prince was merely assessing what had happened to his property. She was his property and that was the last he’d hear of it, his stubbornness demanded. It was written into the deep ridges of his chiseled face.

Their journey was set to land them on a nearby planet that was buzzing with city life and high towers. Only, it was dirty, very dirty. That was hardly the thing on his mind, though. The prince could tell this wasn’t going to be the easiest space ride. As if any with the woman had been up until now. But for once, he wasn’t expecting the difficulties to lie in her trying to slash a shard of glass into this throat, to drug him, or to try and high jack the pod. No, he would have gladly of welcomed that. He knew how to handle that. The difficulty lied in the tension bubbled up in their cramped situation. Caught between the way she looked at him, and the steam that bellowed between his ears. What was he supposed to do with her now? Maybe he would force himself on her just to remind her whom held her life in his hand. 

* * *

Her POV

She was dragged into the pod, kicking and screaming. Her hands grabbed onto the opening and she attempted to pull herself free, but Vegeta pulled her in and shut the door. She slapped and kicked and yelled all the way until Vegeta cupped a hand over her mouth and demanded she shut up. When she got the chance, she glared at him with a stare worse than ever before. The life she’d had was back, and she was struggling more than ever. 

She even slapped him again when he dared to ask if Zarbon had touched her. When her mouth was freed, she stood up in the pod and pressed the back of her body up against the pod’s walls so she didn’t have to sit in Vegeta’s lap again, and promptly spit on him for the upteenth time before she again began yelling.

“He would NEVER touch me, not unless I asked! He’s a gentleman! A real prince, unlike you!” She stomped on his foot a few times in a temper tantrum-like fashion, and only kept yelling. “If I smell, it’s because of you, and those horrible giants! It’s because of those two assholes with tails that– That–” Her jaw tightened and she shut up for a second, though she was clearly upset just thinking about it. Her nostrils flared and eyes went wide with anger and frustration. It took her a moment before she finally continued.

“I finally escaped, and I was set because you idiots were high on mushrooms! But then those giants did things to me, until my Prince swooped in and saved me from those monsters! That’s why I smell! Zarbon smells sweet, I wish I smelled like him right now! Don’t you dare talk badly about him! He’s more of a man than you’ll ever be! He doesn’t force himself on a girl! He doesn’t take girls as slaves! He’s a gentleman! He’s sweet, and kind, and nice! Go to hell!”

* * *

His POV

There was only so much foot stomping and insult hurling the prince could take. Sliding his foot across the woman’s foot hold, he tripped her right there in the pod. All it took was a little swift foot work, and the prince had her back in his lap. Catching an arm around her waist, he looked down into her oh so close face. She could kick could scream, but he’d had enough of her antics. As lovely as they were. The nonsense she spewed was almost laughable. And as soon as she’d finished her tirade, that’s exactly what the bastard prince did. He began to snicker hearty chuckles from between his clenched canines.

“You really believe that shit? You’re more delusional then I thought.” His foolhardy grin was back in place. It had been the way her anger had completely attained the rights to her body, flaring out her nostrils and turning her face the best shade of pink, which had tampered down the prince’s fury. How could he not enjoy the show she was putting on? After all he loved her spirits, and this is what he’d been waiting for. What he’d longed to see since she’d tried to end herself in that fateful bathtub. It was about time she’d spat at him once again.

“The only thing you’re getting is a bath. I will not have my female stinking of that male whore.” He insisted whilst pressing in the landing system. It’d only taken a few hours to get to their destination. Thankfully it had only been a solar system away. He debated even giving her the privilege of security during landing this time. She seemed so defiant of his presence. Just to prod her, he arched a brow, making room for her to snuggle into the safe area under his arm and chin. If she wanted a safe landing, she’d have to be the one to bite her lip this time, and do as he said. The chaotic bastard was giving her an ultimatum. He was playing with her terrible temper, and he was enjoying it.

The prince knew he was right about Zarbon, and it was inflating his ego. Especially with knowing that the more distance he put between them and the burned planet of giants, the more the situation swayed in his favor. Some part of him wanted to prove himself right, too, to let the green monster have her and let her experience the true terrors of the universe.

* * *

Her POV

He tripped her and forced her to land on top of him, holding her by the waist despite her struggling. And on top of that, he had the nerve to try and tell her that she was delusional. She knew what she saw! This was all because he was jealous! She clawed at his face and tried to pull from his grip, and began shouting about it, as well.

“You’re jealous! You said the same kind of stupid things about Yamcha! You said he couldn’t control me, and you teased me about him, like the monster you are! You’re just upset because Zarbon is strong enough to defeat you, and you don’t want me taken away from you! But you know what, you ape!? I was never yours! I’ll never be yours! Never, ever, ever!” She pressed both her hands to his face to try and get leverage to pull away, especially when he brought up a bath.

She knew his ideas of a bath, and she didn’t want it. She wasn’t about to get licked clean by him! Eugh, that was disgusting! She struggled harder and yelled and whined, all the way until Vegeta pressed the button for landing. She knew exactly what that meant, and that was when Bulma stopped struggling to glance down at the control panel. They were there already?

Her eyes glanced back at Vegeta, to see him so casually tempting her to sit in a position where she wouldn’t be harmed. Her bottom lip jutted out and her brows tightened. As if! She wouldn’t willingly go into his arms like this, especially when he had an expression like that! Instead, she planted her knees as firmly as she could against the chair with each on either side of one of Vegeta’s legs, and pressed her hands tightly against the top of the pod.

It was no surprise that when they hit the ground, she smacked her head on the padded ceiling of the pod, and lurched backward so her legs ended up in the air.

* * *

His POV

He had to hand it to her, she was a stubborn one. A stubborn fool, he kept saying to himself. Her threats were thrown against a callused heart. The prince had shut himself off from receiving any more damage to his pride from the woman. No, he was too interested in watching her features twist into a heated state of rage. She gave him a look that he was certain could pierce the hearts of ice cold men, but Vegeta retaliated with a gentle roll of his eyes and the temptation to grin. Something of which he refused to allow to surface by licking the inner lining of his lip like a nervous feline.

Thankfully turning his face away from her ruffled feathers was just what he needed to keep his hard mask from cracking, but it was the perfect window for her to reject his offer of a safe landing. Seriously? She couldn’t bow down even once in order to ensure her own safety? Alright, he was a little impressed.

Watching her brace herself pathetically in the spherical pod, he muttered, “That’s not going to work.” And soon the orb began free falling towards the planet’s surface.

He just watched, locking his cocky stare with the willful earthling’s perfectly pouty face the whole way. With arms crossed, he didn’t offer any help, allowing the female’s feet to go flying right over her head. Granted, he did have to lean away to keep from being socked in the jaw by her foot. The pod door hissed to life, letting the girl topple right out. The prince stepped right over her, breathing in the new air of the planet. The smell of grime, garbage and dirt was more pleasant then the stench of that toad. 

That’s right; he hadn’t forgotten his promise to see to it that the female was properly bathed. Before Raditz and Nappa could fully exit their docked pods, Vegeta was reaching for the earthling, aiming to toss her over his shoulder like he had already so many times. A regular caveman claiming its woman. Walking the streets, they began searching for the nearest hotel. Old street lights buzzed and steam bellowed from the grates lining the roads. It was worse than New York, it was New York 2.0.

* * *

Her POV

She went rolling out of the pod when it opened up, with a headache worse than anything she’d ever recalled getting before. She lay on the ground as she tried to regain her composure, and just as Bulma finally planted her palms on the ground and tried to lift herself up, Vegeta grabbed her and tossed her straight over his shoulder. She wanted to be angry about it, but she wasn’t going anywhere fast without the help. It was a necessary evil.

“Gn…” She rubbed her head and opened her eyes to watch the other two Saiyans, and her senses started to come to. …Eugh. The planet smelled worse than she did. It smelled like feces, sweat, cum, and general body odor. She was forced to pinch her nose. Why couldn’t this be the planet that these idiots destroyed? Why did they have to destroy beautiful things?

She watched the scenery as it passed with still a headache from how badly she hit the insides of the padded pod, grumbling under her breath about how terrible this planet was. How terrible the Saiyans were. They finally found their way to what seemed to be a hotel, though nowhere near the nice one that they’d gone to on the other planet. She wouldn’t be all that surprised to see cockroaches on every inch of every room in there. It smelled barely any better than the outside, and still bad enough she could taste it when she tried to breathe through her mouth. Completely, completely revolting. 

“I want to go home! I want to go back to my planet. I’m sick of this place already! Just give me up! Go find Zarbon and give me to him, I don’t want to be here anymore! Especially not with all of you!” She began kicking as her headache slowly lessened, deciding she was all too tired of being hung over Vegeta’s shoulder like she was.

* * *

His POV

The host behind the counter of the hotel only confirmed Bulma’s suspicions that yes, cockroaches had touched everything in that ‘baits’ motel. There was a giant roach manning the check in desk. Radtiz and Nappa stood behind their leader, watching with dulled expressions as the woman squirmed and threw a hissy fit. This woman, she never gave them a break, did she? Raditz shook his head and then followed his prince towards the rickety contraption the building was trying to pull off as an ‘elevator’, once they’d properly checked in and gotten their hotel key.

The woman’s ranting and raving didn’t go unheard by Vegeta. He’d stayed quiet up until this point, as he often did when accompanied by his men. In control, calm, dominant. But her little comment about Zarbon wasn’t about to go unpunished. She should know what was coming by now - the prince’s preference when it came to how he corrected her bad behavior. Slightly leaning his head towards her near backside, the prince slowly sunk the plump flesh of her back cheek between his canine and bottom jaw, pinching it firmly. He gave her a little bite on the ass, clothing and all.

The room was just as bad as they expected, and even worse when Nappa tried to sit on a bed. It collapsed right under him. The springs had given way, landing him over a hefty puff of dust from years of abuse and lack of upkeep. Well, it looked like that’d be his bed for the duration of their stay on this miserable hell hole. Vegeta didn’t seem to notice, he walked right past his unpacking men. His pace brisk, he refused to listen to anything more the woman had to say to him. He was holding true to his word. He was headed right for the dingy tiled bathroom door, and right towards the standing shower.

The door slammed shut behind him and the shower curtain ripped open. Then and only then, did Vegeta’s grip loosen on the girl. Placing her feet right over the shower drain, his hands planted firmly on the shower wall behind her. He was boxing her in before she could get any funny ideas, like running off.

“Bath time,” was the only thing he said, the only eye contact he made. Then, his hands dipped down, reaching for her shorts. Tugging the left side down, and then the right, trying to walk them off the swell of her curvaceous hips.

* * *

Her POV

“GAH!” She kicked and yelled out when Vegeta bit her, the punishment only making her thrashing worse. How dare he! That HURT! He wasn’t allowed to hurt her anymore! Zarbon would get him for it! He was a prince, he’d defend her honor! She struggled all the way to the elevator, and even when they got up to their room, somehow finding bountiful strength despite the wave of bad smells and the dirt that hit her in the face when the hotel door was closed behind her. She didn’t see Nappa’s mishap with the bed. She only heard a loud thump that caused her to try and turn around. 

“Let me go, let me go, let me go!” She knew she was in for trouble when Vegeta did not put her down right away. He dragged her into the bathroom, shut the door, and opened up the shower curtains. Clearly the bite wasn’t the only kind of punishment she got. She flinched when she felt his hands on her hips, and readied herself while he pulled her down onto her feet.

Bath time. That was right. He told her she needed a bath. She stared at him with big eyes and that signature pout, but then her eyes began looking around the room as quickly as possible. Trying to figure out a plan for how to get out of the situation she was in. She debated trying to hit him over the head with the shower curtain, but that idea was quickly lost when Vegeta grabbed Bulma’s shorts and slowly began walking them down her hips.

“Stop! Hey! I can wash myself, get out!” She tried at first to grab her shorts and pull them up, but he had too tight of a grip on them for it to matter much. So she grabbed her underwear instead and jerked it back up from its partially-lowered position from getting caught on her shorts. She dropped any attempt at keeping the shorts then, instead pulling her legs out of it, the shoes falling from her feet with them, and all but climbed over Vegeta to try and get out of the shower.

* * *

His POV

He didn’t expect her body to go flying over his shoulder. She was like a frantic cat trying to escape a bath tub. The prince caught her easily enough - hugging her thighs against his shoulder securely, seeing to it that she couldn’t claw her way down his back. Her shorts were left in his hands too, the prince glancing down at the pair. It was amazing she could jump right out of them like that. The shorts went flying overhead, tossed towards the middle of the bathroom floor. However, now that her backside was free of all that cloth, it made biting her ass so much easier the second time around.

His teeth slowly sunk into the plump flesh of her ass cheek. Taking a large bite, but without breaking the skin. Only enough to leave flushed teeth marks; purring a growl against her muscle. It felt so much better with her shorts missing, so much nicer to get a taste of her warm flesh rather than a cotton mouth full of fabric. The only fabric left - her thin slave ware. That’d have to go soon enough, too, but for now his fingers were tracing the line of the lavender fabric, back and forth, following the crease of her round rump.

She was sure to hate it, but despite any flailing or fighting, the prince kept his firm grip around her thighs, trying to keep her in place. He’d put her down, but not before ripping off her panties with his teeth. Exchanging her skin for the hem of her underwear, he growled and pulled his head back, giving it a firm tug until the fabric finally snapped its last. That was better. Now that she was completely bottomless, he could figure out how to get the rest of her clothing off. He knew it wouldn’t be easy. Not with the way she usually fought him, but that was exactly why his tail began to swish with suspense.

“With your track record? Not a chance.” He finally murmured his answer. She wanted him to leave her alone in the bathroom? It wasn’t exactly like that went well in his favor last time. No, the prince was definitely going to see this through. He finally slid her from his padded shoulder, and was able to see her eye to eye once he’d pinned her back up against the dingy shower tiles. Had she been wearing that top the whole time? Some part of him was trying to tell himself something, a dream or maybe a memory. He shook it off, far too focused on getting the woman’s top off next. It was all he could really think about. All of the earthling’s fighting had made him horny, and it was beginning to show through the tight material of his blue suit.

* * *

Her POV

“Hey!” She yelled when he grabbed her thighs, and again when he bit her ass. Her legs kicked violently, and she desperately tried to get free. It wasn’t working. So she resorted to just getting her anger out by yelling as much as she could. “STOP. STOP! LET ME GO!” She could feel his mouth on her underwear, and her heart raced. Bulma held onto them, but it only made it easier for him to rip them off completely. No!

“STOP!” She yelled some more, wishing Zarbon was here to save her. Why did he have to trade her for a planet? Why couldn’t he have just killed them all?! He was surely capable enough! He was so strong! She was almost ready to curse his name, but her anger became more focused on Vegeta himself when he set her back down in front of him. 

She covered her genitals with her hands, her face bright red and looking at him with pure hatred. “You’re a monster! You’re horrible! I’m a grown woman, I can wash myself! I won’t even kill myself! Why would I, when Zarbon’s going to come back for me?! You’ll be really sorry then!”

She slapped him across the face while still covering herself with her left hand, and it was then when she glanced down and saw his tent. Her brows furrowed. How dare he! She gave him another firm slap, and then tried to knee him in the balls. 

“I hate you! I hate, hate, hate you! You’re horrible! Go to hell!”

* * *

His POV

She ranted, but his devil-may-care smile only hooked deeper into place. The prince wasn’t letting her go. He had plans, and the more she fought him, the dirtier they got. But if there was one thing Bulma was good at, it was slapping that look right off of his royal face.

“You really think I’m going to let anyone else have you?” His voice purred like dark velvet, leaning his forehead against her own and propping his left arm up over her head. He’d been anticipating her attempt at kneeing him, he was wising up to her by now, and he used it to catch her thigh up beside his hip. Spreading her legs just a little more for him, he made it easier to rub the thick length trapped inside of his suit against her hand, trying to nudge against the bare skin that crowned her clit. He’d trapped her between the slow movement of his rocking hips and the cold tile wall.

He stared at her all too angry expression. The hateful glare that he’d come to look forward to. It was making him frisky... That pout of hers was absolutely bite-able. He just couldn’t resist. The pink tip of his tongue darted out and licked up the fullness of her lips. Just long enough to distract her, he hoped. Just long enough for the hand above her head to come down and yank her tube top right over her blue head. The exhilaration of doing something so sneaky heated the bastard prince’s blood like electricity. His hips pressed against her own in excitement, until they met hip bone to bone. The woman really did know how to turn him on, even if she didn’t know it.

* * *

Her POV

“You never had me in the first place! I can have however I want to have! Go die!” She turned her head when Vegeta leaned in to press their foreheads together, refusing to willingly be that close to him. It didn’t matter; he got closer to her by grabbed her thigh and began rubbing his tent against her in an effort to rub over her clit. The hand that had slapped him pressed against his pelvis and tried to force him to get back, but his slow-rocking hips moved regardless.

“Stop…” Her yelling was turning into whines, and she turned her head just slightly to glance at him. It gave him the opportunity to lick and bite her lip, and her heart rose into her throat. It did distract her from the movement of either of his hands, and before she knew it, her tube top went over her head and her arms were suddenly forced up above her head.

“Agh–!!” He pressed his hips against hers when he had the chance, and she was sickened at the feeling of his bulging pants against her bare skin. Her arms planted on his shoulders and she tried to shove him backward, even if she knew it would do nothing by now.

* * *

His POV

The last bit of her clothing went flying, joining the heap the prince had made of her belongings by now. He was getting restless. He didn’t usually paw and play with a meal this long before he dove in, but there was something about taunting the earthling that was ...arousing. It stiffened the growing erection trapped in his pants until it began to ache, panging to be released of its prison. He needed inside of her; the increasingly rough movements of his hips demanded it. Having trapped her in a shower, clothing just wouldn’t do. The prince longed for the brush of her skin, so ample below his sights. Wanted to touch it, press it against the tone of his torso. He’d have to get naked with her.

There was something off, though. The way she was pushing against his frame. Her heart wasn’t fully into it. As if her strength was diminishing. A fleeting thought of concern may have passed by his mind, if he hadn’t planned on taking it as a rare window of opportunity. While the girl seemed to be lacking in luster, he took the chance to strip his armor right over his head. Pressing the ‘V’ of his stomach against hers more than ever before, pinning her in place, he revealed his bronzed stature in full to her the higher he lifted his arms above his head, removing his blue top. The top and armor joined with her pile of clothes.

“You can only have what I say you can have.” His wile grin taunted. Vegeta was trying to stoke the coals he knew laid hidden behind her subtle pout. The pressure of his hips left her body. The prince was slipping out of his pants now. Watching her like a hawk. He knew full well that he was giving her chance to make a move, to run for it. Or as it seemed, perhaps pull a weapon out of her ass and shoot him with it. He still wasn’t over that one… What was she going to do, run naked in front of Raditz and Nappa? He could only hope so. It’d be better than her attacking his royal jewels before his boots could join the pile forming in the floor.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma was panting. Partially from her body’s excitement from Vegeta rubbing against her clit, partially from yelling and kicking so much that she lost her strength. She still tried to push him away as best she could, but it wasn’t working. Thankfully, though, the rocking stopped so that he could pull his shirt over his head. It wasn’t as if she was given the opportunity to escape, however. He made sure of that by pressing his pelvis against hers. Her cheeks flared at the feeling of his bulge pressing between her lips as he held her still.

“Let me go already. Let me go! Please. Let me go.” She never got too loud, but she still spoke. All but begging him to finally let go of her. It was embarrassing. Revolting. She just wanted to be… Be gone. Anywhere but here. Her lip quivered and her eyes ran over Vegeta’s body, sickened at the fact that she could feel her body react to the sight. His dark skin, strong muscles– She’d seen him shirtless or near-shirtless before, but she hadn’t really been able to get a good look like now.

Her eyes shut. His sentence went ignored, and instead, Bulma tried her best to use her imagination. …It was Yamcha. Pressing against her, getting back at her for blue-balling him so many times. Forcibly rubbing himself on her in revenge, knowing she loved it. Her stomach knotted in arousal, but her imagination was put to an end when the pressure against her hips lifted. Her leg was lowered, and she opened her eyes again to see Vegeta staring at her as he took off his boots and pants. 

…Oh, god. It was happening. Bulma felt sick all over again. Her head turned to stare at the tile and her arms wrapped tightly around her breasts, with her legs pressed together firmly. Her pout was coupled with pink cheeks as she came to terms with it. It was happening again. He was taking his clothes off, and then he’d rape her. There wasn’t anything she could do about it but close her eyes and imagine it was someone else when he finally started.

* * *

His POV

He watched, and waited; stunned still in his crouched position from where he’d pulled the last of his pant leg from his bare foot. She wasn’t moving, was she finally giving in? No, the woman never gave in. Even if she let him fuck her, he knew she’d resist it the whole way through. His tail flicked in concentration where he stood, fully erect and throbbing for relief. But he wasn’t quite sure what to do with her. It was like a cat that’d cornered a mouse and didn’t know what to do with it once the mouse stopped running. Was he supposed to eat her? She did look stunning, even when trying to hide herself from his roaming view. He felt ravenous.

“Is my little slave actually begging?” Her begging had him back on her in a matter of seconds. One of his large rough palms pressed the back of her hand against the tile above her head, allowing their fingers to mesh. His other hand traveled down, down the line of her panting belly. Two large finger tips were heading way towards the peak of her lower lips. He had been getting dirty ideas, and there was something that the prince wanted to try on his little captive. Something that was putting a nasty glint in his eye.

“Beg a little more and I might let you enjoy it this time,” his voice hushed, watching, searching her blue hues for any reaction. This was a first for the prince. He’d never cared enough to gauge the reactions of another. To pleasure others, but something about watching the little earthling squirm sent him over the edge. The upright length of his cock smoothed its velvety skin against the top of her thigh. The prospect of making the earthing twitch, promising. That’s when the finger tips at her clit began to buzz. It was the soft vibration of ki leaving his hand. Not enough to be visible, but enough to cause a tingling sensation. He was trying to stimulate her. He hadn’t forgotten how she’d reacted to his tongue the last time. He’d been indulging in the thought ever since.

* * *

Her POV

He stood up and grabbed one of her hands, forcing it against the tile. She still kept a firm hold on her breasts with her other hand, keeping at least her nipples covered. He intertwined their fingers, and she tried to just imagine Yamcha. She avoided looking at him, refused to listen to his voice. She just imagined Yamcha. Pressing his fingers to her belly, slowly letting two of them drift downward. She mouthed his name as she delved deeper into the fantasy, of all the times they’d gotten frisky in the shower. Yamcha. Yamcha…

“Ahhn–!” Her eyes opened and her body jolted at the sudden vibration against her clit. How was he doing that?! She jerked her head down and saw nothing against his fingers. He was completely bare. So how?! It was embarrassing enough that it made her moan, but it was worse that it got a continued reaction out of her as she began to struggle again. The little movements of her hips made her clit beg for more, and maybe some part of her was moving her hips purposely. Either way, it was giving her new life.

“Let me go, Vegeta! Let me go. Come on! Let me go, stop!” She grabbed onto his hand, forgetting about covering her breasts, and tried to pull them away from her clit. “Don’t touch me anymore! I don’t want you. I’ll never want you. Let me go already! This isn’t how you bathe, anyway. Leave me alone and I’ll shower by myself! M… Maybe I’ll even finger myself to the idea of Zarbon and Yamcha doing things to me instead!”

* * *

His POV

She was muttering that name again. The prince’s teeth grit together, the threat of a growl trying to claw its way out of his mouth, bubbling up in his throat. He was just about to nip that treacherous mouth of hers, when she’d jolted on his fingers. Ah, that was the reaction he was searching for, and it was better then he’d even hoped. It brightened her eyes and flushed her cheeks. He watched her mouth gape open and release its soft voice. The prince wanted to drink her up, yearning for another reaction like that. He was collecting the static electricity in his fingertips needed to give her another little buzz. Then she said it, and he stopped short in astonishment. She said his name.

Everything else after that was blotted out. Sure, he understood she was going off again about rubbing one out by herself, and some other male and that blasted toad prince, but he didn’t give it much remorse past a grunt of his breath. She’d said his name, he was sure of it. It was the first time he’d heard it roll out of her lips. Somewhere in his gut he felt a twist. 

It’d given him new life, joining the rolling motions of her hips with his own. Oh yes, he’d noticed her body reacting to the call of his near stature. He felt it, like a viral male answering a bitch in heat. The thick member at her thigh churned, moving against her warm flesh, only then to hold still. He was building a taught tension between them before he allowed their hips to roll together again. Repeating the steady deny and bestow of movement, again and again.

“Say it. Say my name again,” he commanded through his bitten teeth, staring dead center into her big blue eyes (as much as she’d allow), his tail swishing frantically behind him. The fingers that wove between her own dug deeper, squeezing her palm above her head. The hand cupping her pubic area finally allowed another hot buzz of ki to spread across her soft folds of skin. One finger in particular went wiggling deeper, pressing against the nub of her clit, adding a circular motion before he hit her again with another jolt. All this stimulating was driving him to the edge. His member craved the haven nestled between her legs. The large tip wedged close, trying to pry between her thighs. The hot mass followed the trail of his fingers until it reached its destination, and began finding its way inside.

* * *

Her POV

She realized what she said the moment his eyes went wide. He ignored her mentioning Zarbon and Yamcha–though the idea of them both touching her was tucked away in the back of her head; maybe she’d think about it the next time Raditz and Nappa pinned her, if they managed to do it again before Zarbon beat them–, and instead focused on what she said beforehand. His name. He looked like how she must have when he first said ‘Bulma’ rather than ‘little slave.’ Her nose wrinkled in disgust. She didn’t want him to be pleased with her like that.

She didn’t say his name again, even when he commanded it of her. Even when he started rocking his hips against hers, with his warm cock rubbing up against her thigh. Even when the vibrations heightened and passed all the way through her labia, even into her stomach. One finger began making circles, and she felt almost unable to control herself. Little moans left her lips even while she tried halfheartedly to pull his hand away, and it was only when Vegeta started pushing his cock between her legs did she finally take action.

She bent over. Slightly, just enough to press anywhere he could penetrate against the tile and away from him. She was panting lightly when she stared at him with the hateful glare, her bottom lip jutting out again. 

“Go to hell. Pleasure me all you want, I’m never going to want you. Mn… Ah…” Her eyes fluttered, but she regained her composure. “Ahn… The next man I’m going to let inside me is going to be that beautiful prince. _Zarbon._ ”

* * *

His POV

He saw the way she looked at him the moment she’d realized what she’d done. The look of regret and defiance boiling in her liquid hues. The prince was caught between loving it and hating it. Hot and cold. But all in all, it made him feel passionately overwhelmed. The more she rattled on her rejection of his approach on her, the stronger that burning will of his tingled up his spine, crackling his anger like wildfire throughout every fiber of muscle his dense posture. 

She could say anything she wanted by now. His focus was enamored by the sound slipping between her words. Hushed mewls slipping through the cracks. He’d longed for that sound to the point that it’d caused him to snap. Who would have known a little ki stimulation between her legs would have the beautiful sound drooling from her mouth. The cold bastard wasn’t listening to what she had to say, instead, he only heard the sound of her voice.

“I’m sorry,” he mocked. “All I heard was, ‘ _pleasure me_ ’.” He gave her a scandalous glare. He knew better. The prince knew her body craved another spark by the way her hips wiggled against his own, and the way her tummy clenched whenever he gave her another slip of ki. Oh, he was definitely going to be pleasuring her, until she couldn’t remember any other name than his own. His ego demanded it. He couldn’t let her go for muttering that disgrace of a prince’s name, though. That was punishable by far, especially when he had her dancing on his fingertips. His incisors nipped at the tip of her nose, gurgling a lowly warning sound over his tongue. The only name she’d be muttering tonight was his.

The hand above her head slowly unbound itself from her fingers. The prince had other uses for that hand, like catching up her thigh and bringing her hips back into position. Her pulling away had left his erection out in the cold, something he wasn’t going to let her get away with. In an instant, as soon as his firm hip clasped the curve of her thigh, he rammed the thick head back between her legs. Rutting a heavy thrust up between her swollen lower lips, he felt himself slip inside. It wasn’t difficult, she was more than ready for him, which only made it all the more sensational. He hissed a long inhale through his teeth from the stretching of her insides around the hefty girth. Filling her was easy; the prince was big where it counted, making the churning of pumping her full of his cock all the more satisfying.

* * *

Her POV

She squeezed her eyes closed when he bit her nose, and after he pulled back, she actually bared her teeth at him. She was sick of it! She wasn’t his plaything! Even if his buzzing fingers felt good, he wasn’t allowed to just touch her and tease her and command her what to do, who to be with! He wasn’t her owner, no matter how much he insisted he was! As soon as her hand was freed, she went right to trying to cover her privates and wiggle from Vegeta’s grasp. But it wasn’t any use, and Vegeta just grabbed her hips and forced them forward so he could buck his way inside her. 

At the very least, it was a difficult position to keep up. He couldn’t get too far inside her when he bucked, and had to shove her hips outward enough to even get the right angle. He got enough inside her to cause her to gasp at him violating her, but certainly not to the hilt. And it gave her the perfect opportunity to try and escape her situation: she grabbed a hold of his shoulders and lifted herself up. She wasn’t strong enough to climb over him, but she was strong enough to get away from his cock and away from his fingers, even if her breasts landed in his face.

“Get away from me! I told you, the only one I’m going to willingly fuck me is Zarbon! Maybe I’ll even run away with him where you can never find me, and maybe I’ll have his kids! Get off me! I’m not yours!” Her arms wobbled, and she pressed a foot to Vegeta’s stomach to get extra traction. She made an effort to literally climb over him, with her fingers finding their way to his back; she immediately digging her nails in to the flesh.

* * *

His POV

He was just beginning to get a good rhythm, just start to man handle the woman into fitting into the proper position to allow him full access between her damp thighs, when she started to climb right over him …again.

“God damn it, woman!” He yelled, but it was muffled out by the incoming of the wall of flesh that was her torso. His aristocratic nose found itself nestled between the inviting warmth her full chest. Instantly, the prince’s eyes closed, accepting the new sensations of darkness and sweet scents by burying his features further. Lifting his hands from her hips, he pressed his rough palms into the width of her shoulder blades. His anger momentarily subsided, until he realized what exactly she was trying to do. _She was trying to deny him_.

His eyes snapped open and his anger bellowed again (though all he could see was flesh). This time in the form of a heavy growl right between her breasts. The irritated noise must of felt somewhere between an angry raspberry and hot thunder. He was just about to pull her off of him, too. Just about to let his aggression run rampant on her and pin her violently against the shower wall with all of his fury and might - but then she raked her nails into his back, and the prince felt a visible shiver that started from his toes and radiated up to the nape of his thick neck. It caused the fur of his tail to stand on end… Her aggressive clawing, he hadn’t been expecting that, he liked that one a lot.

“You’re not going anywhere.” His voice rolled out ominously. The prince was back to his dark sense; wwild and alive, more than ever before. His tail swished in excitement and his hand grabbed her ankle, the one that had been digging its way into the pit of his abdomen. He was just about to pull her down from her high place, so to speak, but not before he smacked her round backside, hard. He’d spanked her, leaving a nice red hand print. Maybe that’d get her attention.

The prince’s molten glare bore down at her the moment he ripped her from his hard body. Thudding her spine back against the wall, he shot her a heated look before he’d deal with her again. This time he wasn’t playing around. The prince was recklessly aroused, and he was going to use her to his heart’s content. He didn’t try for between her legs this time. No, his grip took hold of her arm, and quickly turned her about face towards the wall. He could see the bright hand print he’d left the moment he had her backside in sight. With one hand grasping her upper arm, the prince used the wall to trap her against his incoming torso, using his weight to seize her again. Positioning himself between her thighs, he sunk the thick tip of his erection back into her folds of flesh. This time he was controlled, domineering, and insatiably hungry.

* * *

Her POV

His growling against her breasts was uncomfortably sweet-feeling, and she only tried harder to claw down his back while he seemed to be distracted by her chest. It didn’t last long, however, and she didn’t make it very far before Vegeta roughly smacked her on the ass and jerked her back down to her feet. The spank was not gentle, either– it must have been bad enough to leave a mark. She yelped when she got it, and her first instinct afterward was to grab the cheek that got the injury as the stinging ran through her body.

The look in his eyes meant he really wasn’t fooling around. Bulma gulped at the expression, and not a moment later she was spun around. A grunt left her lips when she was forced up against the tile wall, and not a moment later he shoved himself inside her from behind. She had made an effort to reach back and protect herself from penetration, but it didn’t do much. It was rougher this time, as well, like he was giving her some sick form of punishment she didn’t deserve in the first place.

“Gnn– Ahnn–” She gasped and whined with every thrust, her cheek pressed against the wall and her hips smacking it hard every time he pushed in again. His bruising grip still held her upper arm, and eventually her hands made it to the wall just to somewhat steady herself. It was disgusting– in this angle, she was able to see the dirt caked to the wall across from the shower, the dust lining the sink, the single cockroach crawling on the counter. She could swear a bit of the tiles were crumbling off every time he forced her hips forward into the wall again. Even if it did feel good, the scene became overwhelming enough that she began to sob. 

Her eyes closed as she cried freely, and she began trying to focus on something else. Imagining it was Yamcha again. Being rough, but only for fun and because he knew she liked it. But he wouldn’t let her cry like this. He wouldn’t leave prints on her like this. Her sobbing only got louder and uglier the more she despaired the situation. Snot dripping from her nose and her voice increasing in volume and whine. Why did it have to be like this? Why? Even Zarbon had seemingly abandoned her. Why couldn’t she just wake up from this nightmare?

* * *

His POV

At first it felt sensational. It was everything he’d been longing for, and more. The prince himself began to pant, breathing so heavily against the top of her head that he was beginning to lose touch with reality. The only thing he could focus on, the only thing in his mind’s eye, was the squeeze and pull of her taut insides running across the thick girth of his member. She was hot, too, her sweltering heat blanketed his hips whenever he drove into her yet again. His skin was beading with sweat, the room heavy and damp, and they hadn’t even turned on the shower head yet.

He’d been too pent up. The last romp with the female had turned out to be a chat rather than a fuck. He needed to fuck something, badly, and he was taking out his repressed lusty nature out on the girl. He drove into her again and again until the thin walls of the hotel shook with his rage. The relentless banging knocked a picture frame off of the opposite side of the wall, grabbing both Nappa and Raditz attention from whatever they were doing.

The hand that wasn’t keeping her arm pinned in place roamed its way across her chest. Pressing fervently into the curve of her waist, it met her hip. Her hip felt perfect under his palm, and soon he was kneading handful after handful of her. His gaze was haunted with aggression, the prince was so focused on ramming his need between her legs, that he hadn’t noticed she’d began to cry.

But then the noise pierced his ear, and his senses honed into the sniffling sound. Sniffling became gasping, and gasping into broken hearted wails. He quickly snapped back from his fall into selfish vanity. His acknowledgment came to life on a soft groan. His pace gradually slowed and the loud booming of their bodies against the tiled wall diminished down. God damn, had he hurt her? Granted, he’d never cared in his life if he maimed or killed a slave while fucking them, but this was different, somehow. This was his earthling.

His chin hooked over the crook of her neck, rumbling a gentle sound that was meant to say ‘ _quiet down_ ’. If there was one thing Vegeta hated, it was the sound of that woman’s sniveling. His vision traveled to her captured arm. He’d bruised it, he hadn’t meant to squeeze her that hard… She was a delicate thing. He let go, and as soon as he did, his touch began to move much more subtle, controlled, gentle - apologetic. The hand that once squeezed her arm roamed her chest. Worshiping her curves. The fingers that once dug into her hip unhinged, slipping quietly between her legs with the softest vibration of ki. His ravaging of her body stopped. He’d even quieted down his avid roaring. The prince was still moving inside of her, most definitely. Filling her to the hilt, but at a much more pleasure inducing pace.

* * *

Her POV

The more she wailed, the lighter the thrusting became. It was noticed by her, even if that wasn’t truly why she was crying. And even when he rumbled against her skin and tried to quiet her, giving her sweeter touches and no longer holding that bruising grip on her arm, she still cried. Quieter, but she cried. Her head turned to face the wall, and her hands crept up the tile and slid between it and her face, hiding her eyes. Even despite his attempts, pain still existed– in the stinging hand mark on her ass, in the ache of her vagina from being shoved into so violently, in the knot of her stomach and the bruise left over from his grip on her arm and the most pathetic of all- in her dignity.

Her loud sobs became more of pathetic weeps, made worse by his attempts to pleasure her. Her gut twisted in disgust when he began buzzing his fingers against her clit again, and her hips shifted half-heartedly in a foolish attempt to get away from the feeling. He could touch her all he wanted, he could try to stimulate her all he wanted, but she couldn’t truly enjoy it. Not like this. In this dingy hotel room’s disgusting bathroom, by a man she hated with every fiber of her being.

What did she do to deserve this kind of life? She’d tried to be strong, but it only made things become harder. She’d tried to struggle and fight back, bite and kick and yell, but every time it only excited them more. She didn’t want to live like this anymore. Where was her prince? Why did he have to shove her back into the arms of this monster for a planet that was destroyed anyway? Even if she was crying less aggressively, a greater amount of tears fell from her face, soaked up by the skin on the back of her hands. 

She just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. For all the sickening pleasure he was giving her to go away, and her eyes to open and find herself in her room yet again. With all her stuffed animals, and her stupid boyfriend snoring with Pu’ar warming his feet, and the morning sun creeping in through her windows. She spent too much time complaining. Taking all of it for granted. Was this why she had to go through it? Why she had to sicken herself with the moans that left her lips between the sniffles and whines? She understood how ungrateful she was now. She wanted it back. God, just– Just give it back.

She didn’t even bother fighting back anymore. Her body was too exhausted, and only exhausted further by her cries from what her life had become. Her legs began to wobble slightly, only secured by her leaning against the tile as well as Vegeta’s fingers at her clit. The more it went on, her whole body was shaking, a symptom of her weeping. 

* * *

His POV

At least she’d quieted down, to some extent. He could still hear the moans slipping their way past her painful sobs. There was still a pleasant tightening and jolt of her muscles around his invading member whenever he pressed deeper in. Her body was reacting, but he could tell both her mind and her physical states were growing exhausted. The prince pushed it out of his mind, continuing his raping of the girl’s insides. Plunging himself in and out, steadier, quicker, he could feel himself about to fall over that sweet edge and into climax. He’d thrust into her enough. He’d almost hit his peek before he’d noticed her unyielding tears.

The drumming sound of his heavy moan bellowed against her thin back. He’d melded them together, holding her upright by the waist. The hand that once explored her body now supporting her quaking frame. He wasn’t about to stop until he’d finished, but he did it with much more attention then he’d ever given another soul. His body stirred and his muscles tensed into place, releasing his heavy seed deep within the warmth of her center. He pumped himself empty until he was left hovering, soaking up the low light. She may have hated it, she may have been crying, but he couldn’t deny - it felt good. The prince felt an underlined dirtiness in that, an evil he hadn’t experienced before.

His head lifted from where he’d buried it against her neck line. Pulling out of her, finally, but he didn’t let her fall. The arm at her waist caught her up, joined by his other arm under the bend of her knees. He was carrying her to the tub where he sat her down in it more gently then not. He never made eye contact. No, instead, the prince whisked into the next room - well, he almost did. He took a quick back step and snatched the appliances off the tub side before he disappeared. That back step was the first time he’d glanced in her direction since pulling her off of his shoulders.

He’d only been gone a second or two, not enough to count, but long enough to grab a jar of medical cream from the crate outside the door. Refusing to create eye contact, the prince unscrewed the jar. He just couldn’t look at her. Not his pretty blue earthling. It’d mean admitting that he was doing something for someone else. That he, dare he even think it, was sorry for harming her. 

He couldn’t admit it to himself, but his actions spoke loud and clear. He crouched beside the tub, his scowl in place, and as soon as the top popped off of the small jar, the scent of chocolate mint filled the room, blotting out the stench of the dank hotel. His fingers dipped in, then applied the cool cream to her bruised hip first. It should have felt tingly but numbing, cool but warm. Healing. Much like healing waters.

* * *

Her POV

Her moans became a little more frequent, replacing some of the sobs, but certainly not all. The more he vibrated his fingers and pushed into her, the better she felt, physically. It sickened her to her absolute core, but her body loved it. Enough that as he began going faster, her toes started tingling and her legs became wobbly for a whole different reason and she likely would have fell, if it weren’t for Vegeta’s arm around her waist.

Her sobs were stuck in her throat as her toes curled and she hit her orgasm, powerful enough to make her shiver and flutter her eyes. Powerful enough to make her forget that pain, where she was, who was giving her the pleasure, and what had happened to her. After it subsided, her sobs rushed from her throat in a fit of coughs. Her fingertips pressed angrily into the tile as she felt him cum inside her, enough that it spilled out even before he pulled out.

“Gn…” She made a weak attempt to push away from him when he picked her up, and her weeping turned into just a series of pathetic pants with tears to match them. She could think ‘at least he’s being gentle,’ but it didn’t excuse the situation she was in, and it barely helped her feel any better. Bulma’s eyes glanced to Vegeta when he set her down in the tub, mostly exhausted but with a hint of hatred. It was lucky that he remembered to take away any appliances, as she did debate killing herself as soon as he stepped out of the room.

She didn’t get the chance, and instead she turned her body away from the door. Her eyes ached and she likely didn’t have any more tears she could shed, and damn, did she feel like she needed a glass of water. It hurt to even put slight pressure on the asscheek he’d spanked, and so she rested her body on her good hip. Her arms rested on the edge of the bath and she paid no attention when he walked into the bathroom again, only hoping it wasn’t to rape her again. He didn’t, and instead opened something that smelled chocolaty– a fact that only made her sniffle again when she thought about how long it’d been since she’d last eaten her favorite kind of chocolate bar.

Whatever the substance was, he began lathering her bruises with it. At first she thought it was something to make her pass out, with the strange tingle that came from it. But it didn’t spread, and instead began to feel more like aloe-vera. Cool and warm, and overall a pleasant feeling to take away the sting of injuries. She finally glanced at her hip to watch him rub it in, but didn’t do anything. She was too tired to fight or yell anymore, and even when she spoke, her mouth had a stickiness to it from dehydration and buildup of mucus.

“…I hate you, you know.”

* * *

His POV

The girl wasn’t resisting his aid this time. Good, he thought inwardly. It only spurred on his decision to help her. He felt her eyes on him, but he kept focus on the welts and bruises lining her body instead. Once the purple blooms began to fade from her one hip, he began to lather the other. Rubbing in the sweet cream over any other speckle, mark, or bruise that the now cracked wall may of caused, and then finally, he attended to hand print on her upper arm.

For a warrior who’d killed so many, destroyed countless lives, he could be surprisingly gentle when he put his mind to it. But that was the thing; he never cared to put his mind to it. None the less, he continued to sooth away the mark that darkened her skin until it’d nearly faded completely. It was about then he noticed her raspy voice. The prince should have been irate the moment she muttered those words again to him, but instead his tightly pressed lips loosened into a hooked grin. She still had it in her to hate him, he was proud of that fact. The girl had taken his intense fucking well. She may have been the first.

“I know,” he hushed, flicking his gaze towards her just as he went to stand. Her eyes looked red and puffy, but still burned bright. That was something he couldn’t ignore. Her voice sounded terrible though. If they were to continue their verbal battering, she’d need hydrating. The prince plucked one of the disposable cups at the sink side, filled it, and handed it to the girl as soon as he began to crouch back down.

He didn’t stop there, though. Next, the tub drain was plugged, followed quickly by the turning on of hot and cold water, until it ran warm over his dark fingers. The prince gave her a sly look, expecting the woman to try to get out of what was about to happen. He was ready to grab her and put her back into place if he so needed. He may have doctored her wounds, but he wasn’t finished with her yet. No, the completely naked (and downright dirty by this point) male proceeded to agilely slide himself into the rising bathwater with her. Feet first, right beside her, reaching for what looked like a bottle of shampoo. He had promised her a bath, after all. It was long overdue.

* * *

Her POV

He slowly rubbed the cream into all her wounds, leaving them feeling tingly before the pain disappeared completely. It must be from the same properties as the healing water she’d become acquainted with– when she looked down, the bruises were all completely gone. Even the sting on her ass disappeared when he rubbed the cream on it. She was less thankful for his actions, and more just mesmerized by the cream itself. How did it do that…?

She sat straight when he got up again, and nervously and tiredly watched him get water from the tap. He handed it off to her and she actually took it because of just how thirsty she was, but when she took a glance down at it, she decided otherwise. It was slightly murky, and smelled of chlorine. There was no way she was drinking it. She wrinkled her nose and spilled the water into the tub, before crumbling the paper cup and tossing it aside. 

The bath water began filling the tub, and that was when she looked at Vegeta. Bath time, that’s what he’d said. It took her a moment to gain her energy, but there was no way in hell she’d let him bathe her. She wasn’t a doll. He might have raped her, but if she wanted to take a bath or shower, she could do it herself. She grabbed the opposite edge of the bath and pulled herself up just as Vegeta sat in the tub, immediately taking a step out.

  



	14. Whisked Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma is still struggling under the control of the three Saiyan menaces. But maybe things will go her way for once.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

He knew that look in her eye by now. She was going to bolt for it. Oh no, not on his watch! The earthling wasn’t getting out of it that easily.

“Oh no, I meant what I said,” he barked, catching the woman around her slender waist with both of his thick arms, disallowing her to completely retreat from the tub. Splashing her back into his waiting lap, he caught her atop his folded legs. Thankfully she hadn’t landed on his junk - that would have been a whole new set of problems.

The length of his wet tail uncurled from behind him, curling around the woman’s waist, keeping her snugly in place against his warm torso. He didn’t need her squirming about while he did this. God, he could barely believe he was doing this, but if there was one thing the prince didn’t do, it was go back on his word. He was not a quitter. No fleeing woman could stop him once he’d put his mind to something. Even if he assumed it’d be like bathing a wet cat.

After a quick spritz of her hair with the extendable spray attachment next to the baths nobs, the smell of shampoo filled the air. His large hands rubbed together, then pressed against the back of her head. He expected her to resist, but he persisted. Spreading his rough fingertips, they glided under her damp hair with just enough pressure before raking through her scalp again. Lathering it up, until her blue head was more bubble then anything. Then, his fingers started to trail down, edging up and down the back of her skull until they started to rub down the lines of her neck. Down to the nape and spread of her shoulders, then back again. He was rubbing out any kinks.

He was thinking and watching, which was distracting himself from just how far he was tending to her. He hadn’t gotten a good look at her from this angle before, not like this. So close up and without sexual need fogging him over. Her skin was indeed delicate. Her shoulder bones, the lack of muscle definition (compared to a Saiyan at least), and the divots of her spine were beginning to show. Had it always been that way? Come to think of it, her breasts and backside did feel a little lesser then he’d remembered. It was then he spoke up, curiosity coating his deep voice. “You look thin, woman.”

* * *

Her POV

“Agh!” In a moment, she was down on Vegeta’s lap. Damn, he couldn’t just leave her alone, could he?! After raping her, he just had to add a whole new level to the torment. It was awful. She grabbed the tail that wrapped around her waist and tried to free herself, but it was a losing battle. He didn’t even seem to notice, and instead just began wetting her hair. Bulma’s scalp soaked up the water like a plant’s roots, hungry for hydration after going so long without it.

Even better was when Vegeta began massaging the shampoo into her scalp. She hated being bathed like a pampered pet, but it felt good. When she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself in a salon, getting her hair treated. A short, relaxed gust of air came from her nose as he rubbed every bit of the skin, and slowly circled his fingers downward. Mmn… So much stress was built up in her shoulders. It felt so nice to have someone push out the knots. She was too tired to fight back, anyway- why bother?

“Mn…?” It took her a moment to realize he had spoken. Her eyes opened a crack and she deciphered the words in her head after having not really been listening. Ah. _She was thin._

“That’s what happens when you only get to eat a few scraps a day for… Weeks?” How long had it been, even? It felt like an eternity. She’d already seen so much. Been through so much. Had it been a month yet? She hadn’t hit her period yet, but as far as she knew that was only because of the stress.

“I used to have a really strict diet,” she told him, rambling as she rubbed her throat. “I ate six times a day but very small meals. A banana for breakfast, a kale salad and protein shake for lunch, protein bars or yogurt as a snack a few times a day, and any kind of thing for dinner. Sometimes salmon and some vegetables, sometimes low-calorie stir-fry, sometimes a BLT but with whole-grain bread and avocados instead of bacon… Hm.” Her stomach rumbled as she thought about it. It didn’t hit her till now, how badly she missed her old diet. Her favorite foods were a thing of the past. She could hear her stomach churning and rumbling, wishing for things she’d never get to eat again.

* * *

His POV

She was enjoying it, clearly she was enjoying it. He could tell by the way her slender muscle structure relaxed under his roving palms, or the way her body gave way under the gentle push and glide of his hands across her back. The prince had lost track of just how well his fingers were rotating along the lines of the female’s frame. His mind had grown distance the further he examined the glow of her alien skin. A freckle here, a tiny scar there. His fingers trailed behind his gaze, further and further down her spine, until she reeled him back with that soft sigh of hers. That’s when he noticed he was enjoying this. Why was he enjoying this…?

His train of thought was interrupted. The female was trying to answer him, apparently. She was doing a good job of confusing the Saiyan, that was for sure. What the hell was a -“ _B-L-T?_ ” His nose scrunched, whispering his confusion. No wonder she was so damn thin; he huffed under his breath. Where was the mention of meat? Why the hell was she talking so much about food, anyhow! That’s when he realized - she was hungry.

“God damn, woman. How many times a day does your species require nourishment?” He ground out, but his actions remained the same. He’d rubbed down her arms and then to her legs, rubbing one calf, down to her ankle and toes. Grunting a stern ‘ _gruff’_ that meant ‘ _give me your other leg_ ’ once he’d finished with the first, letting her position herself as needed so he could reach properly. He naturally knew body tendons and structure well, and hers were a mess. It’d gotten to OCD levels with how focused he worked. Saiyans were all about body upkeep. The man was sure he’d heard her toe pop once he’d started on the other foot.

He’d skipped the hair conditioner (who the hell needed that? Pointless) and went right for the cleansing cream - it’s what he’d been rubbing along the curves of her body. His hands soon left her legs, though, and a firm hand found her forehead instead. Cautiously, he guided her back against the slope of his hard chest, resting her head onto his shoulder. He was about to rinse her hair. Though, after a couple of seconds of running the water over her head, he quickly realized the suds to dripping down her forehead. Well shit. What the hell was he supposed to do about that? After a moment of angry contemplation, his free hand cupped over her eyes and brow, shielding her from the spray.

* * *

Her POV

She was complaining about only eating scraps, and that was his response to her? Whining about how often she had food? She hadn’t eaten at all that day, and the day prior she only had a few bits of grilled mushrooms! She turned her head and gave him a dirty glare at his comment, knowing full well by now how much he and his lackeys ate.

She turned her head forward again and crossed her arms tightly when he reached over and began massaging her legs, ignoring how nice it felt just to prove an angry point about how much of an ass he was.

“You’re far more of a pig than I could ever hope to be. Asshole…” She breathed out in a rough little huff of air, refusing to move even when he tried to get her to move her other leg. No, he’d have to reach that himself.

She also didn’t fight him when he pulled her closer and rested her head on his shoulder. She hated it so much, but she didn’t bother fighting it. Instead, she just looked toward the wall. Until he blocked her view by cupping his hand over her to prevent the running water from getting in her eyes, that was. What an odd touch. Why would he bother? He could be so rough sometimes, but then moments later he’d be gentle like this. What was up with that?

* * *

His POV

She just had to be so stubborn, didn’t she? Well, actually, it was only increasing the Saiyan’s liking of the so called ‘bath time’. She refused to let him handle her until he pushed and shoved his way into grabbing range. He let his half-hearted annoyance at her known with a little huff of his own. But before long, he was rinsing down her hair; washing away the suds that trailed down the length of her torso, until he was left looking down at her in a stolen moment of silence. He really wasn’t quite sure what he was doing. It was starting to make him uncomfortable that he’d grown so, well, _comfortable_ with the female in his care.

“At least I eat properly,” he barked, un-cupping his hand from her brow. “All of that sounded like complete crap. No wonder you’re so damn thin.” With that, he stood from behind her. The girl may as well have toppled back into the soapy water and he wouldn’t have cared. His dripping physique stepped right over her and out of the tub, grabbing the nearest towel - a dingy thing that’d been ratted with holes over the years. The prince was headed right for their joined pile of clothes. He was just about to grab his own heap of blue, too, but then something caught his eye.

Something had fallen out of the woman’s short pocket. Obvious by the way it was hanging half way out of her clothing, but visible enough for him to pick up without disturbing the fabric. It was small, cylinder, and looked like a large pill. Was it a pill? Holy shit, was this bitch thinking of drugging him again? A deep growl radiated from his voice-box in instantaneous anger. Hell no, no way she was going to be drugging him again. He’d had enough of that!

But wait…

He inspected it closer, right in his line sight, then tossed one incriminating glance towards the woman. There felt to be a small round disk on its end. His thumb rounded the disk gently, and then pressed it in.

* * *

Her POV

“I said I’m thin because I don’t get to eat now!” She was more aggressive about it this time, sitting up straight and glaring at him as he got out of the tub. "I haven’t even gotten to eat anything today!” Seriously! No wonder she was starving all the time! Hell, if it wasn’t for all the events the three put her through killing her appetite, she’d probably have a lot more of a problem with her stomach. That didn’t mean she wasn’t still hungry as hell, though! And it certainly didn’t help that whenever she tried to steal food from them, they got angry!

She drained the bath and got out, and took a glance at the towels. Disgusting and ratty. She’d rather air dry, or put on clothes while still sopping wet. Her eyes went to the combs up for grabs, and she could swear she saw lice on them. Another no-go. She’d be combing her hair with her fingers tonight, it seemed. She began doing exactly that, and that’s when she noticed Vegeta had found something in her shorts. Her eyes widened.

“Ah–!” She opened her mouth to talk, but before he could, he pressed the button. A giant cloud of smoke and a ‘boom!’ later, and there was a dresser directly in front of Vegeta. Shit, shit, shit! Ignoring her wet hair, Bulma ran for the dresser and immediately ripped open the drawers and pulled out some clothes. Even if he started destroying everything, she could at least get a new pair!

“It’s my clothes! Don’t touch them, alright?! I bought them myself back when you were getting chewed to death by that gang of dog-men! They’re mine, mind your own business!” She scrambled to grab the capsule off the ground from where it had rolled, and shoved her dirty clothes into a dresser drawer with the other dirty pair for future washing– but not before grabbing the other capsule still in her pocket. “Why are you poking around in my pockets?!”

* * *

His POV

What the- What the god damn hell just happened?! Oh, he was figuring it out quicker than she could try and stop him. So, this was it, was it. This was that blasted ‘poof’ trick she’d used on him twice before. Now it was beginning to make sense. She hadn’t needed to hide anything like a weapon on her, not when she could put it in her pocket - conveniently pill sized!

The prince had gotten a nice smack on the nose from the toppling dresser’s corner. Rubbing his face, he watched the woman frantically try and claim what she thought was hers. As if! She was going to be explaining herself, and that was the end of it. He’d never seen this form of technology before. Where the hell had she gotten it from? Then it struck him… No, she couldn’t be that clever, could she? The prince shook the idea off; stomping one heavy bare foot beside where she sat shoving dirty clothing into the drawers.

“I’ve got a better question!” He roared, eyes blazing with fury. “Why the hell is something like that in your pocket in the first place?!” As if he had to answer for his searching of her clothes. He was a prince; he could do damn well as he pleased! He could very well kill her for hiding things of this magnitude from him, and she was most concerned over the ownership of clothing? He’d never seen someone so protective of a few scraps of fabric. He shook his head, coming down from his spike of angry attitude. Baffled by her spurt of anger, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Seriously, the earthling confused the hell out of him sometimes.

“So this is your clever little trick, is it?” He’d calmed down enough to smooth a palm over the dresser top, inspecting it for any more surprises. Then, his attention burned onto the girl. He wasn’t so interested in what she was doing with her clothes, as he was getting the information out of her. He grew closer, and closer, like a steel wall trying to back her into a corner. “Have any more I should know about?” His voice dipped, “…where did you get it.”

* * *

Her POV

Her breath was stuck in her throat when he yelled at her, and she instinctively took a step back. He was that furious? Eugh! She gulped and stared at him in what she attempted to make look like anger, but was mainly nervousness. She dressed herself in the t-shirt and shorts quickly before she shoved the second capsule as deep down into her pocket as she could manage. She wasn’t about to reveal to him that she had a second one. She wasn’t going to have all her tools and parts taken away from her.

She gulped again and took the empty capsule, using it to capsule the drawer again, making a mental note that the money she had earned from the other planet was still in her dirty shorts pocket. She wasn’t able to put a capsule in another capsule, but she could at least have that going for her. She just had to hope to God that he’d let her keep the capsule. That he wouldn’t confiscate it.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She stuck her tongue out at Vegeta, finding it easier to stand up to him once he asked her again without the fury behind his voice. She stood her ground, flaring her nose a bit and jutting out her bottom lip after her tongue was retracted. What, he thought she stole it, huh? He knew she could do things with a scouter, what was stopping her from making a capsule? 

“I have nothing at all to say to you! It’s stupid of you to think I had to have gotten it from somewhere, anyway! Do you think I can’t make things by myself?” Any more information than that would probably be dangerous. He didn’t have to know how she made them, or where she got the parts, but she had some kind of pride in being able to yell at him that she was perfectly capable of making this kind of stuff herself. 

* * *

His POV

She was brave to try and dress herself instead of explaining where she’d gotten the device. The prince’s approach grew closer, up until she forced the dresser back into its capsule. It was even more compelling to watch it smother things out of thin air then it was to watch them birth them out of nothingness. Whatever this was, this thing from her pocket, it was brilliant.

He’d been momentarily captivated, but his temper quickly shot back on the main attraction - the girl. She was now dressed in new clothes, and sticking her tongue out at him. A wave of irritation washed down his nude back, she was just a… A brat sometimes! The prince was about to demand she hand it over, but then that bottom lip jutted out, and he found himself coming to a standstill instead. Tucking his fierce arms across his scarred chest, he rolled his eyes and twitched the end of his furry tail from under his ratty towel.

“...You made this...?” His voice lowered with surprise. He’d seen the flash of pride in her eyes, the way her tongue bit out defiantly towards the idea of her stealing the technology. The prince knew she was clever, smart, but genius? Only a genius could have produced something of this caliber. To say the least - he was impressed, and it showed. His thick brow winged up and he took a step closer. She wouldn’t have anywhere to go, other than towards the wall behind her. That was exactly where he’d pin her; search her. 

The prince’s large hands roughed up her shorts, searching the pockets, padding her down, fighting her, going as far as slipping his palms under the fabric of her t-shirt to search her torso and chest. It looked like her shorts were the capsules only hide out, however. Her body felt clean. He got away with the second capsule. He pressed it, knowing better than to hold it this time; he threw it towards the bathroom floor. There was no knowing what lied inside. He’d have to check. He felt a little smug under the shrewd look on his face. Not only for finding one on her, but intrigued by her abilities.

* * *

Her POV

Feh! He was actually surprised that she made it?! Really?! What an asshole, he didn’t think she could do this stuff? How many times had she said she was the smartest woman on her planet? Did he not believe her or something? She slowly walked backward as he walked forward, but not without looking completely and entirely offended that he didn’t have any kind of belief in her. She opened her mouth to give him a bigger piece of her mind, only for her lips to seal when her back touched the wall. …Shit.

“Ah!” He began fondling her and groping her, clearly looking for something. His hands went up her shirt even when she didn’t have a bra on and didn’t have anything to hide. She grabbed his wrists and fruitlessly tried to stop him from touching her any more, and it was only until he’d violated her with his hands that he actually bothered to check her pockets. And there it was. The second capsule. She glared at him as he pressed the button and tossed it, not bothering to look when it opened up.

It wasn’t organized like her clothes were. The parts and pieces and tool sets came out in a big jumbled pile, and only after a moment did her eyes glance over at the sight. …Well, they were all still in one piece, at least. Nothing looked broken, as far as she could tell.

“It’s nothing that you should bother with. They’re all mine, and only mine.” She was lucky that she didn’t put her money in her pocket. That was one thing she was sure Vegeta would have confiscated. It was a great deal of money, too– something she had to hide and keep for when she finally was able to escape. 

* * *

His POV

The loud bang rattled the room, and the sound of falling metal and heavy tools was sure to be heard far outside the bathroom door. Raditz and Nappa never bothered to check on them, though. Whenever that female and their prince got alone time, weird shit always happened. The two Saiyans on the outside of the door (eavesdropping) both shared a look. Nope, neither of them would dare pop their heads past the closed door. They weren’t getting into this mess.

Vegeta was staring the female down, locked in a battle of death glares rather than looking over his shoulder at the mess of parts. To him it was a battle for dominance, like staring down an equal, until she finally broke away. It was her strong heart that was going to win her favors. The burning determination in her eyes awoke that part of him that held respect for her, and for that, he’d let her keep her hunks of junk. Besides, if he took them from her, she could surely make more. 

It didn’t look as if she had any weapons to speak of. He deducted that as soon as he turned towards the pile, prodding a tool with his bare foot. Tools, parts and clothes. What strange things for a woman to carry. It only raised more questions about her past in the back of his head. She’d been clever enough to keep them hidden from him, and if they were aiding her in survival, he wasn’t about to strip them from her possession. His stern expression turned from the pile and back towards the fiery girl. He’d made his decision.

“Pack it up and finish getting dressed,” he commanded in a way similar to when he’d address his men. It was Vegeta’s way of saying, yes, she could keep them. He was quick, swift to move into action. Putting on his own clothes, he never bothered to look at the woman once he’d given her an order. To look would be to expect her to question his authority. Instead, he slipped on his trade mark white boot and glove combination and muttered, “We’re going to get food. Then you can tell me how this tech of yours works.” And by ‘ _we_ ’ he meant she was coming with them, and by ‘ _yours’_ he meant he believed her - that she’d made it herself.

* * *

Her POV

She really thought that he would take it all. Or destroy it. She watched him silently but angrily as he stepped closer to the pile and nudged it with his foot. Her eyes narrowed, and her hands sat on her hips. Come on. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do… Wait. Pack it up? Bulma blinked a couple times. Was he serious? He wasn’t taking it away from her? He wasn’t scared that she’d make some weapon with it or something? …O… Okay.

She quickly capsuled the pile and put it back in her pocket, and again began brushing her hair with her fingers until all the knots were out. She followed him out the bathroom, though she was clearly very wet still. But there was just no way in hell that she was using one of those disgusting towels. The clothes would be enough. She’d dry off by walking around. 

Raditz and Nappa were looking at them strange again when they emerged from the bathroom, and she couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose. Chances are, they were listening in. So what? They heard him raping her? Or maybe the threats. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been jacking off to it. What pathetic monsters.

…Though she had to admit she was glad they were getting food. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be getting a full meal from this planet of all places, but who knew, maybe they had something decent. She was just so hungry. And maybe they’d have water that didn’t smell like chlorine.

* * *

His POV

He didn’t watch her pack it up, he didn’t watch her follow him out the door, but he was aware of her actions every step of the way. He always was. The actions of his men, too. Vegeta had known Raditz and Nappa had been listening for some time, but he didn’t give a shit. Their lives were disposable in the long run, so what did their thoughts matter? The prince barked the same orders to his men, “We’re heading out.” With a stern motion of his arm, he left for the creaky hotel door.

The two soldiers were indeed sending Bulma odd looks. Bewilderment, curiosity, but mostly the two men were ogling how her wet clothing stuck to her body, and the lack of a bra made her nipples painfully apparent. Raditz was the first to follow their leader out the door, snuffing a hard look from under his brow at the girl before he disappeared into the hall. Nappa, on the other hand, took her by the arm and saw to walking her out, following the pack. 

“Time to go, girlie.” He had been listening after all, if he knew Vegeta wanted the girl to come along.

The streets were smoggy and the life on the planet reeked of body odor and bad judgement. Eatery after eatery, Vegeta passed up hole in the wall after the next. Their horrible mix of smells burned his nose. Saiyans were hardly picky when it came to food, but the smell of rot and motor oil was not something he’d want to cram in his mouth. No, nothing seemed to do until they came across a well-lit alleyway. One of the open doors wafted with the most wonderful scent of spices and meats. This would do, even if it was going to cost a pretty penny.

Past curtains of pearled beads, the restaurant came into view. It was separated on either side by male or female, and all were sitting on the floor around round tables laden with lanterns and bowls of foods. Incense burned, masking the smell that must have been all over the dirty pillows that were used as seats. It was the culture-induced customs of whatever species ran the place. Vegeta curled his lip at the thought - separation from the girl could prove tricky; she did have a record for trying to escape. However, the place was heavily guarded. Large naked men with spears guarded every arch way. She’d be doomed if she tried to sly by this time. 

* * *

Her POV

She was dragged out the door by Nappa, and she wasn’t exactly excited to be on her feet again. It seemed she hardly had a break to relax her soles nowadays, but at the same time, she wasn’t about to ask Nappa to pick her up. She could see the way he kept peeping down at her chest. She wasn’t going to let him touch her any more than she absolutely had to. So she tolerated the trip unhappily, her nose wrinkling every time they passed by another disgusting restaurant. Why did they even land on this terrible planet? 

It was a relief when they finally reached a restaurant that seemed expensive for the pathetic, dirty planet, and didn’t smell completely terrible. She took a few steps in and glanced around, unsure of what to focus on. The horrible naked men that were armed and stood watch at the doors, or the fact that there was woman-only seating behind a curtain in the back of the restaurant. One could barely make out their figures behind the curtain, but she managed to understand the alien words labeling it as woman-only. Enough exposure to the words all over the universe had her learning rather fast.

She jerked her arm free from Nappa and managed to succeed, if only because she wouldn’t be sitting next to those assholes for once. She even happily made her way to the reserved seating for women. They all looked tired and defeated, but at least they weren’t the Saiyans. However, after taking a look at the disgusting pillow that they had in front of the empty table she was gestured toward, when she sat at the table, she opted for sitting on the ground.

The women did stare at her oddly. It wasn’t hard to figure out why; they were dressed very conservatively, with very few of them showing their hair. But then there was she, with short shorts and a tight t-shirt that hugged her body and showed her nipples. Even after drying off, one could still see the gentle little bumps from the cold air. …Whatever, at least she wasn’t being ogled at. At this point, she’d rather be looked at like a slut than a slave.

* * *

His POV

“What the hell are you looking at?” The prince snapped towards his men, taking his place at the head of the round table - the biggest, cleanest, pillow against the wall. At least at that angle he could watch the scene play out. It gave him a little more peace of mind, enough that he could flick his cold sights up at the servant that was so graciously trying to take their order. 

The poor servant looked terrified. Bulma wasn’t the only one sticking out like a sore thumb. The Saiyans were in armor, appearing dangerous and other worldly. The owner wasn’t about to kick a paying customer out, especially one that appeared to have a temper, but that didn’t mean the servant wasn’t shaking in his boots. That’s when the prince was informed that he’d have to be ordering for the female in his possession.

“Bottled water. And not that crap you’re trying to pull off as drinkable shit.” That was one of the many things Vegeta ordered from the servant. The other two Saiyans ordered the menu twice over, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. The three men were famished. They hadn’t eaten since the mushroom incident, and they’d burned planets since then. Their energy levels were diminished. Between the three of them, they could probably eat the restaurant out of supplies, if they deemed it so.

On the other side of the restaurant, behind the veil that separated genders, a dainty female was sent to tend to Bulma’s table. The clothes that hung from the servant’s arms proved how underfed she was. Her pastel green face sunken beneath the hood that cloaked her head, but she smiled none the less. The girl was followed by a large tray of food. All for Bulma, sent from her master, the servant explained. And of course, it was almost exclusively meat. Different kinds in different sauces, granted, but meat none the less. It had to be from Vegeta. 

The only thing that didn’t look like it came from an animal was a bowl of something green, a bowl of mushy orange (but smelled sweet), and bottle of water. A very clean, sparkly, large bottle of off-world water. The servant presented it to Bulma upright in her hands, as if it were a fine wine to be poured. Expensive.

The green servant explaining that, _“I was instructed to make sure you got this._ ”

* * *

Her POV

As soon as she sat down, she had waved a servant woman over and demanded food. To her surprise, the servant just blinked at her and told her not to be silly– She wouldn’t be ordering, that was the job of men. …What? It explained the segregation based on gender and the women looking tired and covered up, but to go that far? There were countries somewhat like this back on Earth, with the one place with that stupid group of criminals–what were they? The Bunny Gang? –being the first that came to mind. But they never did this kind of stuff.

She tried to pressure her further, but she was just giggled at before the servant finally walked away. Gn… She swore, if that man shirked her out of a good dinner, she’d kill him with her bare hands, somehow. It wasn’t really possible for her, but she’d still find a way. Somehow. She sat and pouted with her arms crossed over her chest, all the way until the servant came to her table with food.

A lot of food.

It was almost completely meat. Meatballs, meat pie, meat skewers, meatloaf, kebab, beef noodles, lamb patties, gyro, and so on. The only non-meats on the plates were seasonings, sauces, tiny sides to go with the meat, and two bowls of something that she deduced were both types of dip. And lastly, she was given water. Not tap water– bottled water, looking like the water back on Earth. Clear and tasty-looking, and in a massive bottle.

She drank a third of the bottle before digging in on the food, looking more like a Saiyan than she’d care to admit. She hadn’t had a proper meal in so long, and she didn’t care if it broke her diet to eat like she was. She needed this. It all tasted so good, somehow. A surprise for such a disgusting planet. But it was good enough that she could focus on nothing else. Not the women staring at her, not the servant wondering if she’d get a tip for having to put up with a girl making such a big mess, not the silhouette of the Saiyans, nothing.

* * *

His POV

Plates after plates of bountiful meats were delivered to the Saiyans table. So much so that there wasn’t enough room on the table and the servants had to keep a line ready. As soon as they’d cleared one plate, it was replaced by another.

“Keep em comin’!” Nappa shouted, chunks of his meal falling from his overstuffed maw. The men were starving, indulging in their meals as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks. Raditz, too, had his jaws full of gyro, but it didn’t stop him from lifting a bowl and slurping down a tasty red sauce to wash it down. Well, at least the restaurant was going to make bank tonight, most definitely.

The only Saiyan at the table that wasn’t shoving food into its mouth like his life depended on it, was the prince. His mind was distracted. His attention lingered away from the food on his plate. Sure, he was still gnawing aggressively at a leg of meat, but his vision kept trailing over the scene and towards the veil that hid the women’s division. Bone in one hand, cheek in the other, he watched the bellow of the curtain as the servants walked in and out of it. Was the female still there, had she tried to make a break for it? Had she gotten her food… It was about time she ate damn better than that shit she’d prattled on about. Had she gotten the water? She damn better have gotten the water, or else he’d burn the place to _ash_ and **soot** and-!

“Prince Vegeta?” Nappa’s voice stumbled Vegeta’s increasingly violent thoughts like a train crash. Shooting the wickedest of looks at the bigger male, he crunched the bone in his grip.

“What the hell do you want, Nappa?” The prince stewed.

“Just… Makin’ sure you were feeling alright.” Nappa nervously backed off from the subject, returning to his meal. The bald warrior had noticed the prince’s lack of appetite. At first he’d suspected Vegeta had come down with something since the planet was so filthy (maybe it was possible). But no, it had to be something different.

The many onlookers throughout the building weren’t he only ones watching the show that was the Saiyans destroying meal after meal. A pair of gold eyes were watching too. Nappa had created the perfect window for Zarbon to slip into the women’s eating area. A servant tried to usher him out, but it was pointless. He was slick, and paid them off well. It was easy locating Bulma. All of her exposed skin and blue hair… and shoving her face full of food. Did she have meat sauce on her cheeks? The green prince snarled, but then reminded himself that this was worth it. He was going to steal the girl for himself.

“Enjoying the water?” His silky voice smoothed out, finding a place to rest his elbow right next to where Bulma sat on the floor. He was smooth, sliding in without a warning, and dripping with charm. He looked pleased to see her, eager to get her out of there.

* * *

Her POV

Agh, it tasted so good. All of it. What kind of animals even were they? All this stuff had to be from outside of the planet, with how delicious it all tasted. She wasn’t paying attention to all the sauce that had gotten onto her face. The meatballs in particular she found that she loved tremendously. Maybe with enough convincing, she could get Vegeta to get more just so she could have them the next time she was hungry. She deserved it after everything she’d been through recently, right?

It wasn’t until she heard a voice that she was brought from her thoughts of the food. She turned her head to the source of the voice, and that’s when her eyes widened like a deer in headlights. Z… Zarbon! Zarbon! It was Zarbon! She grabbed the napkin she was given and rigorously wiped her hands and face so she was clean of all that sauce so she looked more proper.

She practically leapt into his arms. The on-looking women didn’t seem too pleased about the PDA, but she couldn’t contain herself. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, and Bulma gave him a solid kiss on his cheek. When she moved away, his words finally registered in her head. “W… Water… You were the one! You gave me the special order? Thank you! You don’t know how nasty the water is here. It’s awful! It’s murky and it smells like chemicals!”

She let out a relieved sigh and forgot all about her food–less because she was full and more because she didn’t want to look or act like a starving stray dog in front of the handsome, charming prince. “I’m so glad to see you, you don’t even know. Did you see Vegeta and the others over there? Is there a way you think we can get out? There’s guards. But I can’t be around them for another second, Zarbon. I swear, I can’t. I just can’t. They’re so awful to me.”

* * *

His POV

Manners, manners, was the only thing repeating in the green man’s head. He was pleased to see the girl reach for her napkin when she did, because he wasn’t about to have her flying at him and soiling his nice clothes. He caught her though, and looked equally as excited to see her, excepting her planting a kiss to his cheek. A wide stretched smile brightened his handsome face, his pearl teeth straight and perfect; the image of beauty. Seriously, he may have gotten away with sitting on the female’s side if not for his manly physique. 

“Special... Order...?” He blinked in confusion, murmuring her words, trying to understand what she was talking about. Then it hit him. “Of course my darling, I’m not about to let you drink anything less.” His finger tapped her delicately on the nose. Zarbon had meant his comment to be sly and underhanded - meaning that she’d been focusing too much on her food and less on the lower calorie option on the table. His snarky attitude had almost gotten him caught, but luckily it’d turned out favorably for the man. Quick to take the credit and win the girl’s heart.

“I saw them,” he frowned, as if truly heartbroken over the appearance of the Saiyans in the building. “They looked simply terrible. My dear, I just couldn’t bear to allow you another moment with those _monsters_. It’s been driving me crazy. I hope you can forgive me.” His fingers found her chin, and despite the glares they were getting from the owner, the prince nuzzled a soft kiss to her lips. “I had to take you back as soon as possible. Come, I know of a way out the back. We’ll be gone before they ever finish stuffing their ugly faces.”

Zarbon didn’t bother letting Bulma find her feet. With her so snugly captured against his chest already, the man simply lifted her into his arms bridal style, and whisked her past the tables of females, and towards the back wall of the woman’s area. There was a door, an old door that looked to hardly been used, but it’d work perfectly for a sneaky get away. It lead them out right under the Saiyan’s nose - well, almost. Vegeta felt something inside stir. Like a dog that sensed something invading its territory. He wanted to scout it out, but with the crowd so dense and the table so full, he didn’t leave his place. No, his eyes fixed harder than ever on the curtains hiding the women’s area, but the earthling never appeared. False alarm, perhaps? He tried to settle back into his seat, biting into another chunk of roasted meat.

In no time, Zarbon darted them out of the restaurant and into the busy streets of smog and grime, then towards his lavished ship. Not a pod, but a ship fit for a prince. It was the only way to travel.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I don't have much to say this time, though it feels wrong not to have notes this time around. How are you guys liking Zarbon so far?  
> I want to let you all know that the idea behind this AU is the Saiyans not being under the control of Frieza. They are their own people, and thus Zarbon isn't under Frieza's control, either. Just in case you were wondering.
> 
>   
> 


	15. Heart Breaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, I have to give a little warning before this chapter. It's intense and has a few trigger warnings like gang rape, torture, and mental abuse. I debated editing it down but it really does play a big role in our Hero's and Heroin's progress later on. So if ever it gets too much, feel free to skip down to the end -I'll put a summary there! And don't worry, the next chapter gets much better!
> 
> I'm gonna dub this chapter a 'Halloween Horror Special', since its October when I post it.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

Was she dreaming? Did she finally catch such a lucky break that she was finally getting free? Zarbon’s sweet smile was so relaxing, and when he kissed her lips, all of her fears disappeared. That was it, then. Her prince charming finally came to take her away. She nuzzled her nose against his and accepted his words, accepted his pleading for forgiveness. Of course she’d forgive him. She’d take him over the Saiyans any day. She might have had to deal with being violated one last time, but it was all over from here on out.

“Mn… Thank you… I’m so glad that you’re here. I’m so glad.” She breathed in sharp when she was grabbed and pulled up bridal style, and nuzzled up against him. God, she was so lucky. After all this time, she finally caught her lucky break. He even knew a secret way out to avoid confrontation. She grinned when he brought her out the back and took her away, nuzzling into his neck the entire time. Finally. 

He took her to his ship, which was far better than the pods she kept getting crammed in for hours on end. A proper ship, with plenty of room for her to stretch her legs and arms. Her grip on him tightened just out of excitement, and a relieved sigh louder than the last left her lips. Maybe Zarbon would even let her go back to her home planet and wish everyone back. Then she could live life with him as his princess and not have another care in the world ever again.

“I’m so glad you came and got me, my prince,” she told him, kicking her legs gently out of pure giddiness. “You can’t even imagine how glad I am.”

* * *

His POV

The ship was beyond lavished. Every luxury the earthling could imagine was stuffed away inside the confines of the disk like aircraft. Guards were posted at the aircraft’s main doors, which went swishing open as soon as Zarbon marched up the sloping steps. The guards and pilots roaming the ships halls were obviously the same fae-like species as Zarbon himself. Some green, some blue, some somewhere in between, but all colorful and in pristine uniforms.

It was a ship designed for royalty. A regular titanic rather than a war ship. Its walls were lined with fine tapestries - the best the universe had to offer, and its floors were glistening with pearl and gold. The smug prince had even had a fountain installed in the center of the main deck. The place reeked of beauty and dripped with gems. There was nothing too outlandish for this prince. Zarbon loved the spoils of the universe, in every elegant way.

“And I’m so glad I found you,” his silky voice cooed through a sly smile. “I can’t even imagine the look on those monkeys faces when they realize you’re gone. We’ll be galaxies away.” A musical chuckle rang from his lips. Zarbon had carried the girl all the way through the main deck, letting her feet touch down at fountain side. After a quick glance back he smiled pleasantly, as if expecting her to follow. He was heading to the passenger quarters. He could keep her in a room while they made their journey back to his homeland. Honestly, how much trouble could she be? This was going to be like stealing candy from a baby.

“Though…” He paused just before closing the double doors. “There aren’t any spare passenger rooms. I’m afraid my men are already bunked up together. I hope it wouldn’t be too much to ask you to stay with me until we arrive back at my planet.” Rhe prince seemed bashful enough, pressing his hand to the control panel and whisking the double doors open to the most extravagant bedroom money had to offer. It was Zarbon’s quarters, of course.

* * *

Her POV

Wow. There was no other way to describe the ship but beautiful. It seemed to describe everything linked to Zarbon– beautiful. Her eyes soaked in the sights, every little vase of flowers and embroidered finishing. The man even had a fountain in the middle of the main deck! That’s where he set her down, and she was actually so focused on observing the fountain and wondering how expensive this ship must have been, that she almost didn’t hear what he was saying.

“Ah?” She turned her head around to look at him, her brows raised inquisitively. So the only place she had to sleep was with him? She had a bad feeling about this, but his bashful look made her think otherwise. How could someone like him treat her badly? He was nice enough to steal her away from Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa. He might not have been quick enough to prevent one last humiliating action Vegeta did to enforce his power over her, but she could try to forget about it. She was safe now, with a gentleman.

“Of… Of course!” She finally nodded her head, a slight blush of her own forming. Nothing would happen, so it’d be fine. She’d sleep with him in the most innocent way possible. She’d gotten too tired out by everything to even think about having sex again for a while. And to think, she used to enjoy it so much. When she found her brows furrowing at the thought, her head turned away from Zarbon at least so as not to worry him. But something was bugging her, and she spoke up.

“…You know they still destroyed that planet?” She looked back at him again, a frown on her face and her eyes now serious. “The planet that you made the deal with them about. The pretty one, with the giants that we met on. They destroyed it as soon as you left. Did you know that?”

* * *

His POV

It was tricky business trying to win over the girl’s heart. For a moment, Zarbon felt a pang of nervousness rattle down his spine. She wasn’t growing suspicious, was she? She shouldn’t, there was no other place more beautiful than his. If anything, she should be swooning to just be allowed in his presence. His nervous thought pattern cut short when the girl finally agreed to room with him for the duration of their journey. He seemed genuine enough. Zarbon wasn’t exactly the type to come onto someone strongly, no, he’d want the girl to accept his affections first.

“Excellent! Make yourself at right at home, then.” The cheery prince showed her in; ladies first. The bed was massive and there was a sitting area to the left. The bathroom had to be equally as luxurious, what else was there to expect? Sweets and fruits were laid out for the prince before he’d ever arrived back on his ship by his servants, and there was the sweet smell of flowers. Floral arrangements dawned every surface of the bachelor pad; no wonder he always had such a sweet scent.

“Is that so,” his voice turned dark for the first time, turning his gaze over his shoulder. Zarbon made his way to his closet, stripping his cape from his shoulders and removing the heavy armor that’d been protecting his chest. The knowledge that the Saiyans had burned the planet, despite Vegeta’s promise, was not welcome news, but for reasons Bulma wouldn’t of known about. That planet’s vegetation had been valuable. He’d of made a killing on the drug market. Damn those Saiyans.

“Leave it to a pack of brainless monkeys to break their word. I should of known Vegeta was incapable of anything other than destruction… What a loss.” His voice hissed, disappearing further into his closet the more he vented his anger towards the loss. The sound of clothing rustled, and finally he reemerged draped in fine silk and jewelry. Of course he wouldn’t sleep in rings and chains of gold, but it looked good until then. He was getting ready for bed, apparently.

* * *

Her POV

She was quiet as she watched the man’s reaction to the news, slowly following him. The bedroom was as beautiful as the rest of the ship, if not more so. It even had its own sitting area! It almost felt like home again, though it missed her stuffed animals and tools for tinkering. But the giant, cozy-looking bed, the comfy seats, the massive television on the wall… She felt so relieved to finally be somewhere that felt familiar. She’d be so excited about it, if it weren’t for Zarbon’s serious demeanor. Now was not the time for her to be ooh-ing and aah-ing and getting riled up.

“It really was a beautiful planet,” she agreed as she watched him walk into the closet that was nearly as big as her own closet back home. While he was busy, she sat down on one of the seats in the little sitting area, and plucked what seemed to be a grape from the bowl of fruits. She ate quietly, given that she still had not had her fill when he interrupted her meal earlier in the day. It was likely from being near-starved, but she felt perpetually hungry. She could never escape it.

He emerged looking even more beautiful than before, with his figure more evident after having taken off the bulky armor. He was attractive; definitely her type. She sat straight and put her hands in her lap, giving him an innocent blink as if she hadn’t been eating food she might not have been allowed to. Something was nagging at her, though. He was still a stranger. How comfortable with him and his property was she allowed to be? Could she ask for a shower, to rub off all the grime from that disgusting planet? She couldn’t recall when she’d last brushed her teeth, either. Would it be bad to ask for pajamas…?

“You’re getting ready to go to sleep, right?” She watched him with a hint of nervousness, though she could say she wasn’t totally sure considering all that jewelry. It looked as if it’d be uncomfortable to sleep in. “…Would it be too much to ask for some pajamas and a tooth brush?”

* * *

His POV

Finding her on the couch was a bit of a disappointment since he’d expected her to take to the bed. Was she not ready to jump into his arms the moment she’d seen him again? Where was her flirtatious attitude now? The man’s teal features scrunched. That was the deal after all, that he’d allow her to sleep in his quarters. It looked like the little female would be playing hard to get. No matter, if there was one thing Zarbon was good at, it was taking his time and playing his cards right.

“I was getting ready to relax, yes,” he casually answered. He strolled past the sofa where she sat just in time for her to pipe up with another question. She was getting liberal with that - but if a toothbrush and pajamas got her comfortable around him, then it was worth his time. Besides, he wanted her looking her best if she was going to be in his view. As clean and as dainty as possible. Come to think of it, the rags she had on were complete trash in his opinion. Who dressed her, a garbage man?

“Help yourself to the bathroom, you’ll find a dental pack in the sink drawer. I’ll have something rounded up for you to wear by the time you’re done.” The man leaned over the sofa where she sat. That debonair smile of his looming a little closer into her space then it had dared to before. Looking over her features, his long lashes dropped once he felt he’d been caught staring. Before it could become awkward, the man whisked away, back towards his closet. He hoped pink suited her tastes, because a pink robe was all she’d be getting to sleep in tonight.

* * *

Her POV

Great! She’d been denied so many things recently that she hadn’t expected him to agree, at least not so easily. But he even seemed to have things set up for her. He was so kind. So loving. So gentle. When he leaned in, she thought he’d kiss her. But he merely admired her features before blushing and turning away. That was what she liked the most– he was clearly attracted to her (why wouldn’t he be? Bulma may have taken shots to her dignity, but she still knew she was totally hot), but he never forced himself on her. He waited for her to make the move.

“Thank you!” She stood up from her seat after he headed back into the closet and hurried off into the bathroom. It was certainly bigger than the closet, and nearly as big as the bedroom itself. Its bathtub could fit at least eight Nappa-sized men in it, and everything was pure white with golden accents. She even spotted the shower, which was high-tech and lacked a showerhead, with the spout for water coming straight from the ceiling. It took her a moment to find the drawer with the dental kit, but there it was, and she made damn sure to clean her mouth squeaky clean. When she was done, she took the time to stare at herself in the wall-sized mirror.

She washed her face and fixed her fly-aways, fluffed up her breasts and turned around to make sure every bit of herself looked good. She didn’t have any access to makeup or anything, but apparently he still thought she looked beautiful. She wasn’t entirely sure how, but he did. And she wanted to look good for him, given how handsome he was. When she was as satisfied as she could get, she walked out the door to find a pink robe waiting for her. A pretty one, too. It was made of silk and had golden and silver leaves embroidered on it, though she thought it seemed a little short. …Oh well. She’d skipped the panties when getting dressed earlier because of how fast she had tried to do it, but she still had some in her dresser.

“You’re so nice, Zarbon! And everything you own looks so… Elegant. Give me five more seconds.” She came up to him and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek before going off into the closet. She set off her capsule for the dresser and stripped down– shoving the dirty clothing in her dirty drawer and picking up one of the lacy pairs of undies and pulling them on. She wrapped herself in the beautiful robe and capsuled the dresser yet again, and held the two capsules in her hand as she walked out. There weren’t any pockets on the robe, and it wasn’t like she had anything to be scared of with him. He was a gentleman.

“Do I look good?”

* * *

His POV

The girl was a regular little charmer herself. Her complements were well welcomed. Zarbon loved a good complement; it was the quickest way to his vain heart. By the time she emerged from the bathroom, he was a little peeved that she hadn’t come out fully undressed. He’d wanted to get a good look at her figure since they had met. He’d seen glimpses here and there, but the only real way to price a good piece of work was to view it in full. Oh well, it looked like his curiosity would have to wait a little longer.

It never showed, however, the man was as charming as ever. His pleasant smile was waiting for her. Zarbon was sat on the soft cushions of the sofa, lounging like a cat in the sun. His cheek propped up on one fist, his legs stretched out along the sofa’s bed. He was giving her full range of his possessions. To move about his royal room as she pleased. What more could a young girl ask for?

“My dear, you look like a work of art. A true masterpiece.” He sounded much more pleased the second time around, after she’d returned from the depths of his closet to change clothes. The pink silk fit perfectly around her curves, showing him much more of her figure then he’d gotten to see before. It was enticing. The man had to hold back the urge to try and tempt her into bed so soon. Not yet, not yet, he kept telling himself. It’d make it all the much sweeter when she asked him herself.

He noticed something grasped in her hand, but he didn’t address it right away. What, had she taken something from the bathroom? Or a piece of jewelry perhaps? That last thought burned in his brain, he did not like his things touched. He always had his jewelry set just how he liked it. It was the only reason he stood from the sofa, but with a smooth, calm, welcoming demeanor that any grandmother would deem worthy of their granddaughter to date.

“Did you find something you liked, my pet?” His smooth smile grew closer, sliding his silky, well lotioned palm over her clutched hand. “Don’t be shy. You can have anything you like. You’re my guest, after all.”

* * *

Her POV

His compliments always felt so sweet, and were always made sweeter by his honey-sounding voice. He was so charming, and she couldn’t help but blush and try to pose for him while he watched her on the sofa. For once in a long while, she felt like she was a work of art. She’d give herself a proper bath later (maybe with Zarbon, even), but even without it, she felt beautiful again. She wasn’t a mess, she wasn’t dressed in dirty rags, and the man in front of her loved her for more than her holes.

“Hm?” She cocked her head to the side when he came forward and gently ran his fingers over her hand and spoke about ‘finding something she liked.’ Ah! She gave him a smile and opened up her hand to show him the capsules. She’d hid them for so long from the three Saiyans, but she didn’t mind showing Zarbon. There was no harm done there.

“These are capsules. My father invented them! You hold objects in here. See the big button? You press it, toss the capsule, and out pops whatever you originally put in there. I’ve got clothes and some supplies in these. They were in my pocket before, but since there’s no pocket on my robe, I figure you wouldn’t mind me just putting it on one of the tables or something.” She reached her free arm up and ran her hand sweetly over his neck, enjoying their closeness. She was so glad to have found him. Her prince charming.

“They’re nothing special, forget about them. Instead, can I have a little bit of a kiss? You kissed me before, and you’re so good at it…” It wasn’t like she was having sex with him. She only wanted a kiss. She’d been deprived of that kind of intimacy for so long. She just wanted to be kissed, hugged… Held.

* * *

His POV

The capsule was interesting, that was for sure. Zarbon’s big golden hues blinked, the long lashes of his almond shaped eyes fluttering to life. Her description of it was a little more on the fascinating side, and did sound like it could come in use for a number of things, but the man hardly seemed impressed. In fact, he thought she was rambling. He flashed her an approving smile and offered her a hand when she came to greet him. Having her attention on his beautiful self rather than some ratty piece of tiny metal was much more up his ally.

“A kiss?” A gentle flush of pink tinted his teal face. That sounded more like it. “Anything for my sweet little dove,” he cooed, closing the gap between their noses. He pressed in, roving his blue mouth over her plump pink lips. He’d caught her up into his arm, guiding her with a gentle touch into his lap. The fingers at his neck had been soothing and soon his own hand was doing the same. Trailing the line of silk that hid her spine with one hand, cupping the girl’s cheek like a delicate rose petal in the other.

He had to be careful, he couldn’t move too fast in fear of frightening the timid little doe off. She had been man handled by Saiyans. Those damn monkeys were causing him too much trouble, even when they weren’t around. He’d have to win her over slowly if he was to meet his end goal. So instead of sliding his hand up the trim of her robe, he broke the kiss. Gazing softly into her eyes, as if truly in awe of her stunning beauty - as if he was admiring something above himself, he pressed in for a second kiss. This time, he took liberties. Pressing the tip of his tongue between her lips, begging for access before dipping in. Giving her a kiss that was meant for fireworks and star filled nights.

* * *

Her POV

His kiss was as sweet as his personality. It gave her a little shiver with how he held her, made her forget about all her woes. How lucky of a girl was she to be found by him? He was perfect in every way. It was like something out of a fairy tale, and she was finally getting her Happily Ever After. The Saiyans and even her own deceased boyfriend were all long gone from her mind. All that mattered was her and Zarbon. That’s all existed in that moment.

She followed when he led her to sit in his lap, though a fluttering sense of danger alerted her in the back of her head. She ignored it for how nice it felt to be kissed and held like this once again. Her hands drifted to lay on his chest, slowly moving up and down across the silk robe he wore, and for a moment she thought he’d lift up her robe to reveal her panties. But he didn’t. He kept it innocent, and even broke the kiss to stare at her with eyes that made her suck her breath in from awe.

It lasted long enough to allow her to truly take in just how beautiful he was, especially when taking in her own features. He looked as starstruck as she did, and that fact only made it easier for her to accept him when his next kiss was more forceful. Was forceful even truly the right word? Compared to the Saiyans, it was as gentle and sweet as a kitten kneading her mother’s belly.

She opened her mouth willingly for him and met his tongue with her own. Her fingers pressed into his build, and she’d be lying if she tried to say she wasn’t growing aroused. She could already feel herself beginning to get wet, and her breasts ached with need. But… No. No, she was sick of sex. At least for the time being. She wasn’t going to give that up to Zarbon already. So she parted the kiss hesitantly, looking deep into his eyes and giving a hefty sigh after.

“You really are a good kisser. But… I’m getting really tired.” 

* * *

His POV

The kiss was good, and she tasted even better than before, now that her mouth was nice and clean. Zarbon was just falling into the motion, taking the girl’s mouth with his tongue and exploring past the soft flesh of her own, when she broke the indulgence. Damn, what did she want now? He wasn’t use to being denied something, but he kept reminding himself, this is how it always started. This is how he tasted the sweetest things later in his pursuits...

“Oh, how un-thoughtful of me,” he scolded himself. “It must have been a trying journey for you before I found you. You must be exhausted.” Well, it was true enough, not that he thought it held much value. He’d been sure he was about to get into her panties. The girl was moments away from crawling onto his dick, from squirming into his lap like a needy adolescent. It’d been moments away. The suspense was only making him want it more. But to that fact, he could appreciate it all the more when she finally gave it to him.

“You can take my bed.” The man rose form their place on the sofa, taking the girl right along with him in his arms. “You can take the sheets,” he added, just to give her that much more security in privacy. He sat her down on the bed’s edge and placed one last soft kiss to her lips, before rounding to the other side. It was plenty big for several people, his weight sitting down on the other side of the beds edge surely couldn’t be felt, due to the stretch of mattress between them. “I’ll stay up for a while, you can rest safely now.” Away from Saiyans, he meant. The look in his eye said it. She’d be watched over.

* * *

Her POV

He was sweet even when being denied. She was grateful to be picked up, and swung her legs lightly as he brought her to the edge of the bed and spoke to her. She felt safer than she’d felt in what felt like forever. He’d keep her safe, she knew he would. But there was something bugging her, even as he gently kissed her goodnight and made it around the bed. It wasn’t about him, no. It was about the Saiyans. 

As she crawled under the sheets and snuggled up to the unimaginably soft pillows, she couldn’t help but keep her eyes open and on Zarbon. He was ensuring she’d be watched over, but… Something still felt wrong. She believed his every word, but how could she feel safe after all she’d been through? Every time she thought she was finally away from them, they came back.

“…Are we off the planet by now? …I’m just… Not comfortable about being on the same planet as them. I had one time where I managed to get away, but he could smell me or something. He tracked me down and brought me all the way back. Vegeta, I mean. The tiny one.” A few times, actually. But the one time that he wasn’t just destroying the whole village… It worried her. He had a means of finding her. How could she rest easy when he could come knocking on the ship at any moment? Even if Zarbon could surely defeat him, she still hated the idea of him showing up at all.

* * *

His POV

He watched her tuck herself in. Making herself perfectly comfortable in the sheets he called his own. She was tiny compared to him, and the bed made that even more apparent. He was expecting her to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but then she piped up again - and this time she took Zarbon a little by surprise. She was worried about the Saiyans tracking her back down.

“He went that far?” His voice was quiet, contemplative, his face puzzled. Zarbon didn’t expect to run into the Saiyans past stealing the girl back at the restaurant. He hadn’t even bothered covering his trail due to their usual lack of caring. It just wasn’t like the monkey’s breed to go gallivanting over something as common placed and worthless as a slave. To imagine her words were true, that Vegeta had once tracked her down was, well, a little surprising. 

Maybe she was just paranoid? His fist found his mouth, thinking. Vegeta had been willing to give up an entire planet for the girl, maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe she was a really good fuck after all, to have the prince after her; how wonderful. Zarbon had been in it for the thrill of theft from his rival, but more so for collecting her rare and exotic beauty, but if it doubly burned the Saiyan prince, then she was only making things better for the teal man.

“We left the planet some time ago, don’t worry. My ship is cloaked, there’s no way they could have possibly suspected us.” He reassured with a beaming smile, opening his arms for show. He’d definitely be telling his men to check for anyone trailing them, though. He could see the turmoil in the girl’s face. He really couldn’t blame her. Zarbon himself would have nightmares if he had to bunk with a bunch of smelly apes. He rounded the bed again, this time sitting on the edge beside her. His long fingers brushed back her hair, petting her, comforting her from her troubles. “I won’t let them near you again.”

* * *

Her POV

Even Zarbon seemed to dislike the idea of how far Vegeta had gone to keep her in his grasp. It was unusual behavior, huh? It only made her all the more nervous about it. What if he really could find her? She’d be in big trouble. He’d track her down and do horrible, horrible things. He already raped her for even smelling like Zarbon. If she ran away with him like this, who knew what he’d do to her if he got his hands on her again. She shivered at even just the thought. Maybe it’d be like the first time they found her. All gang up on her at once, pin her arms back and…

Zarbon’s words at least made her feel better. He insisted that they wouldn’t be able to find them, and for good reason. The ship was lavish enough that she wouldn’t be surprised if it had things like cloaking to prevent them from being seen. …Maybe she really would be alright. She let out a small breath and blinked slowly as the new knowledge was absorbed. Good. She would be safe. Safe, for once in so long.

He made his way across the bed and began playing with her hair and cooing to calm her nerves. The gentle touches made it all the easier to fall asleep as she snuggled up into the pillows again, and even better- it helped her dream something other than nightmares. Without those touches, maybe she would have only dreamt about the Saiyans coming after her and raping her over and over. But Zarbon’s sweetness prevented that. She dreamed only good things, and specifically about the two of them.

* * *

His POV

Finally after a little coddling, the girl was asleep. It was about time, there was only so much of her voice that the man could take before he thought he’d need to leave the room. There was only one voice Zarbon enjoyed the ring to, and that was his own musical pipes. 

Now, as she lay slumbering in the safety of his own bed, he could get a better look at her. Indeed she had beauty to be sung of throughout the ages. The color blue was so rare in nature, it instantly made her something expensive, but it wasn’t the peak of her beauty. Her perfect bone structure, her unusually soft skin, the curves and shapes of her torso and legs. Even under his rich blankets he could see the swell and shrink of her waist to hips. She was indeed perfect, well worth the trouble of bringing her back to his homeland. She would make a fine piece, something show-able.

There was the temptation of stripping the blankets back and roaming his hand over the soft flesh that hid just beneath her pink robe. He couldn’t risk it though. He needed her full trust by the time they arrived on his planet. Besides, he had orders to give his men. Orders to make sure they weren’t being followed. The way she’d described the Saiyan prince’s relentlessness at tracking her down, it didn’t bode well within him. He’d be making sure to send those Saiyans on a wild goose chase if worst came to worst.

Hours passed and soon the elegant man was sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed. Away from the girl, the distance between them as vast as the ocean of blankets. He was sleeping soundly, too. His jewelry had disappeared and his long robe was all that was left to hide his muscular physique. Zarbon looked like a sleeping beauty himself while he snoozed, more than the fairy tale itself. He truly was a story book figure come to life.

* * *

Her POV

She slept long, and slept well. Her dreaming, though, while certainly not nightmares, had gotten her antsy in bed. Dreaming of green-colored hands drifting over her body, with gentle lips touching her neck. After everything he’d done, maybe it was only natural that Bulma would have a wet dream about him that ended in her waking up with morning dew. She rubbed her eyes and found that, despite all that, she felt the best she could ever remember feeling upon first waking up. 

She sat up in the bed and turned her head to see Zarbon lying on the far end of the bed, away from her. It made her relieved. Maybe some part of her thought that she’d wake up to Zarbon holding her by the throat and raping her until she felt numb. But of course he wouldn’t do that. He cared about her. He was sweet. He was loving.

She moved closer to him, careful to be as gentle as possible with her movements so not to disturb him despite how the mattress never seemed to shake. She moved close to him and got a good look, taking a few minutes to soak up his appearance. Golden eyelashes, the softest dark hair she’d ever seen with a length that made her feel nostalgic for Yamcha, and a figure of some kind of Greek God. He was… Beautiful.

“…Zarbon.” It was a stupid idea on her part, but she couldn’t contain herself. She moved close enough to open his robe up to better see his figure, and gently rustled his body to get his attention. She whispered his name again, softly but stern enough to try to wake him from his slumber. “Zarbon, wake up.” That’s when she laid beside him, with her lips against his ear. “Zarbon, do you want to know what my lips can do other than kiss?”

* * *

His POV

He’d been sleeping for some time. It’d been a few hours since he’d laid down to rest, and wouldn’t you know it, the alien was having wet dreams of his own. Not as quaint and sweet as the girl’s, but to give him a half hard on by the time Bulma found his side. Her pressing her frame to his side didn’t help, and soon the large man was groaning softly in his sleep. Just a hushed sound, allowing her to know that her presence was felt. The gentle strain of his back moved him across the expensive sheets, stirring him to life. Fluttering his eyes, they opened as delicately as butterfly wings laced with gold.

“Is that my pretty dove beside me?” He shushed back, turning his face towards her own, nearly brushing nose to nose now that he was facing her. His gold hues flickered with life. Oh yes, he’d heard what she’d said while he was surfacing back to consciousness. She was finally doing it, she was coming to him. That didn’t take long after all. Maybe the little girl was a regular whore. He had suspected she’d be good if the Saiyan so fervently kept her by his side.

“What’s that?” He egged her on, aware of how his dick was coming to life just at the mere mention of her dirty suggestion. He’d been waiting for this, and he was already half way there before the girl ever began tempting him. His hand stroked her hair, and before she could say much more, he brushed the most delicate of kisses across her lips. Romantic, sensual, inviting.

* * *

Her POV

Any bad feelings about her planned actions faded when Zarbon replied like he did. No smarmy smile, no stroking himself disgustingly, and a kiss that was romantic rather than forceful. She kissed him back with passion behind it, and found herself excited for what was next. She figured that she might end up getting carried away with the blowjob and might end up straddling his hips instead, but at this point, she didn’t care. Her heart was racing. It had been too long since she’d done anything sexual on her own terms.

Her lips left his and began travelling down his jaw and neck. She shifted her body to hover over him and gently open his robe. She kissed down his body from his collarbone, slowly and teasingly. One hand drifted to his cock, to find it as smooth and soft as the rest of him. She wasn’t the only one excited, obviously- he was already mostly erect. She pumped him gently as her lips slowly moved downward, and flicked her eyes up to focus on him and gauge his reaction.

Her mouth finally met the back of his cock, and she gave the skin a solid and wet kiss. She kissed around to the side, and finally let go of him to run her tongue all the way to the tip. She took him into her mouth and sucked on the tip, while her hands began to massage and knead Zarbon’s inner thighs. It’d been so long since she’d done this. Or maybe not; maybe it only felt long because so much had happened. But she certainly was enjoying herself. It was one of her favorite things to do with Yamcha- watch him slowly get driven insane by her mouth alone.

* * *

His POV

He was hard and only growing harder with her affections. How long had it been since he had a good blow job, a couple of days? He’d have to gauge her abilities compared to his other slaves, then he’d really know the value of the stunning girl. It was no wonder why the Saiyan kept her around if she kept this up for long. She was ready to please him before he ever fully woke up. He liked where this was going - a lot. Maybe she’d even take to his other sexual needs without the need of force, too. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful change for once?

His member reacted to her gentle kisses and touches, and before long he was fully standing before her. There was the temptation to shove her head down fully onto his cock, but he resisted. Winning her trust, letting her touch him as she pleased, was everything now. As if, though, he’d be the one having her beg for more before too long. His hips moved gently and soft sounds began to slip from his honey laced breath. She even knew to attend to his thighs; he didn’t even need to teach her that. Maybe if she kept this up he’d let his men have a round or two with her, they did deserve something wonderful after the hard work and long hours they’d spent tracking the girl down.

She was clearly enjoying herself, too. Who was he to stop her? In fact, maybe it was the perfect time to ask for a little more. “Take me in?” He mused softly, begging, pleading only for her mouth. The green man only wanted to feel her. Not forcing her head down, not bucking his hips too ravenously, though his hand had traveled to the top of her head. Guiding her movements to just the right places, his favorite spots along his cock, while his long nails ran through her hair.

* * *

Her POV

To hear someone else’s begging for once was music to her ears. He was enjoying himself, and so was she. He was so cute when in this kind of position, too. The way he moaned and seemed to wriggle in an attempt not to buck up into her mouth… And it was such a nice change to not be shoved down on a cock with a forceful grip on her hair. No, Zarbon’s hand only smoothly ran through the hair on her scalp as a sign of appreciation.

“Mn.” She hummed against his cock in response to his begging for her to do more. She pushed back his foreskin with her tongue and circled around his tip once before she slowly began moving downward. Her head raised every few centimeters– two steps forward, one step back, just to add a whole new layer of tease. She wanted to please him, after everything he’d done for her; she wanted to drive him to the point of ecstasy.

Her hands slowly moved up his thighs, and soon her fingers were ghosting his cock and balls. Slowly drifting along the perimeter, making gentle circles in his shaven skin. Of course he’d be shaven. Everything about him was perfect, and it was wonderful- she’d been so damn tired of the disgusting, unhygienic men that had kept taking her since she was kidnapped. Zarbon was just so different, and it pleased her so much that she found herself curious about more of him. Did his sweat only make him smell sweeter? Did his cum taste like honey? Maybe it was the color gold.

* * *

His POV

She was perfect - not only was her beauty beyond anything he’d seen before, the woman obviously had skills. This wasn’t her first rodeo, that was for sure, and while Zarbon knew she’d been made to do explicit acts during her time with the Saiyans, he couldn’t imagine a pack of monkeys had given her these kinds of soft and precise skills. No, this was far more valuable. Maybe she’d be worth more than just a beautiful girl to have _hanging around_ ; maybe he could have her at his beacon call, to pleasure him like this whenever he got bored of the others.

He was indeed enjoying it, fully erect by now and larger than life. His hips began to buck eagerly, the obvious self-control he was holding in place for the girls sake visible. His spine was arching too, helping the girl attain that much more of his length between her lips - she was being a tease, another skill he noticed. His hips raised a little higher, like a gentle beg, a sly influence, a nudge to go one step further. His cock matured his statue, and it would have been a choking hazard had the woman put it fully in her mouth. However, the temptation to have her swallow him whole was starting to grow. It was fogging over his brain from rationality and slow pace of his manipulative skill. Maybe just for a moment, he could guide himself a little deeper into her jaw.

Her hand circling his sensitive sack was just the icing on the cake. It ripped a flushed moan from the man’s mouth. A melody of groans to follow. The hand at her head pushed a little further still, and his hips began to buck in time - but he always allowed her to stay in the lead. Always backed off whenever he felt he was pushing her a little too far. Though, it was becoming obvious, if Bulma kept this up the man was going to blow in her mouth fairly soon.

* * *

Her POV

It was genuinely fun, to watch him squirm. He couldn’t contain himself, that much was obvious. He was clearly trying to have some restraint, but he was slowly beginning to buck up into her mouth as well as lead her mouth downward. It was scary considering how big he was, but… She could take him. Yeah. She could definitely take him. She’d had enough experience by now.

“Mn… Gn…” She kept vocal if only for the way the vibrations would feel for him, and kept going. Slightly faster than before, and with less of a backtrack. Her hands got closer to his balls and tugged on and tickled them as she did her work, all the way to the hilt. He was so big, but she was determined. It was sort of like proving herself, although she also wanted to make sure she completely thanked him for what he did for her.

She got all the way down, a slight furrow in her brows as she concentrated. Her head bobbed but she never went far enough to take another breath, instead waiting for her lungs to demand air. She came all the way up if only for a second, and long enough to notice his precum. It wasn’t totally gold, but it seemed to have sparkles of it in there. How odd.

“Wait, don’t… Don’t get too excited just yet,” she told him, reaching for the tie around her robe. She loosened it and shrugged the pink robe off her shoulders, letting him see her breasts in full view. “I want to do more than just suck on you.”

* * *

His POV

Would you look at that, she took his cock without needing a second wind of air, well not for too long, at least. Zarbon’s lips turned up into a sly grin, just out of sight of girl’s eyes as she took him down to the hilt. That’s what he liked to see, a well working, well trained slave. Yes, slave. It was the word burning in his mind. He’d only seen the girl as a piece of art up until now, but now her skills were drawing his wicked attention. Maybe he could take her for more than she was originally deemed worth.

His soft flow of moans never ceased, the sweet sound of his voice only as sweet as the pre-come that was beginning to lace the girl’s mouth. Sticky and flecked with gold, tasting of delectable sweets, ready to burst and fill her cheeks with the delicious flavor… And then she stopped, and the man felt a ping of irritation ring through his spine. He didn’t like to be withheld from pleasure; he was the one that preferred to keep others on the edge. Though, edging was one of his favorite pastimes (when it came to others) and he let the girl do as she pleased. He was not disappointed.

Finally, he got to see her for all of her stunning beauty. Perfect breasts, perfect hips, and supple skin that was as blank as a canvas, just waiting for an artist’s brush. It’d been well worth the wait. The teal prince let her do as she pleased, for as long as she please, until the look of complete control and pleasure over took her. Until she felt as comfortable riding him as she would be touching herself.

That’s what it was all about, after all, his allowing her to play with his body. To win her undying trust. He was her prince charming, and he’d come for her as many times as she demanded. Beg for her, look up to her as if he was witnessing the face of god, caress her soft curves until she whimpered, and return the favor in full until she was too dehydrated to find ecstasy again. In the end, nothing less than a full blown fantasy, all the way back to his home planet. He’d taken his time with the girl, in full.

* * *

Her POV

She had been beginning to dislike sex after the past few… Days, weeks, however long it was, that she was with the Saiyans. She had forgotten just how good it could be, especially when she was in control and was never forced out of her comfort zone. Being with Zarbon reminded her of it. He never forced her into anything she didn’t want, other than a bit of poking and prodding to become more aggressive the times where he was getting closer to orgasm. It was fun. Truly fun. 

She hadn’t even been this wet in a while. She rode him and had fun with him for hours, kissing and touching and rocking her hips until all she could find in herself to do was to moan. It felt so good. And every time they both orgasmed, they would rest next to each other and simply hold and caress each other until they felt they could get into another round of toe-curling, sweat-evaporating sex.

It must have gone on for hours, until there was a knock on Zarbon’s door. The door didn’t open, but a voice came from behind it, alerting Zarbon to the fact that they had reached their destination. That was when Bulma pulled her panties and robe back on, eyeing Zarbon.

“What’s your planet like? You’re a prince, I know that much. Should I be wearing something special if we’re going to end up being greeted? You said you were a prince, so that’s probably the case, right?”

* * *

His POV

They were home already? Zarbon had to admit, he’d been enjoying his time between the sheets with the blue humanoid. He’d slightly lost track of time, but what better way to lose it then with fucking something beautiful until he lost touch with reality? However, reality was biting back and the he’d been over and under for the last few hours, was begging for answers. It was time to show her what real beauty looked like. How could he not expound?

“Of course. My planet is quite humid, but it makes for the most beautiful scenery in this, or any galaxy.” He was sure she’d be impressed, he knew he loved it. Why else would someone as glamorous as himself call it home? The man was getting himself prepared for landing already.

“I’ll have something sent up for you, feel free to meet me on the bridge.” The man gave her a soft wink. She was right, they’d be meeting his subjects royalty at any moment. There was little time to give the servant at the door a few orders, before he disappeared into the bathroom. Zarbon never went anywhere without freshening up first, and they’d gotten themselves into a mess from their hours of romping. Ew, it was disgusting when it dried, he needed a full body wash, ASAP.

The servant at the door didn’t leave Bulma unattended for long. The sky blue creature was given orders to fetch something proper for her to wear and to clean her up as much as possible. Not long after Zarbon had gone, there was a second knock at the door. This time for Bulma; it was a delivery. A dress. Not too short, not too long, and fit for a queen. Followed by the smell of various perfumes, make ups, a servant specifically to towel her down, a second holding a fresh dental kit, and lastly a maid carrying several pairs of shoes for her to pick from.

* * *

Her POV

It was nice to be treated like royalty for once. She was okay with everything she’d gone through recently, considering it all lead back to such a wonderful time now. She was treated like a princess–of course! He was a prince, and now they were lovers–and even had a few servants waiting on her. She was cleaned from head to toe, and didn’t even get the chance to brush her own teeth. All of it was done for her by servants who seemed eager to please. They lacked the dead look in their eyes that so many slaves she’d seen recently had. It was pleasant.

The dress was beautiful. White and knee-length with a see-through back, and with embroidered roses and vines with golden and sky blue accents along their edges. The fabric was soft, and coupled with it was jewelry and gems around her forehead similar to Zarbon’s mark of royalty. She truly felt like a princess while they did her hair and her makeup, covering up every little blemish and building her hair into a flowing, spiraling up-do. They’d even given her a little trim to get rid of the split ends that she’d acquired in the last weeks.

Lastly she was given her pick of shoes– she was a little unwilling to give up the shoes she typically wore, the ones Vegeta had fixed up for her, but… She’d be able to go and save her planet any day now, she was certain. It was okay to set them (and her capsules) to the side for now, and instead picked something she may have not otherwise worn. She was always one for comfortable and practical shoes, but she wanted to woo Zarbon, so she picked the plain white heels with the golden underside. Simple, but elegant.

She met Zarbon on the bridge like he told her, looking positively giddy. The planet was indeed beautiful. Sure, it was muggy and swampy, but it had charm. The architecture reminded her of a Middle Eastern palace, sitting comfortably beside a river with swamps that buzzed with life. She’d never seen a swamp look so pretty before.

* * *

His POV

She looked as pretty as a picture. That was the first thought to Zarbon’s mind, that she looked like she deserved to be hung in a frame - a nice chunky one with gold trim. He’d suspected she’d clean up nice, but this was beyond his wildest expectations. The perfect hair, the freshly powdered cheeks and glossy lips, the dress that showcased her. It took a double glance to make sure it was the correct humanoid he was staring at. His thumb and finger were to lip, roaming his gaze over her. He was checking her out, and making it a little more obvious then he had the few times prior.

“Is that the same girl? I hardly recognize you. I can’t wait to show you off to my kingdom.” Zarbon gushed, welcoming her with open arms. He’d dressed up for the occasion, too. Surely no one dressed that fantastical on a daily basis, right? There was a string of gems hung like dew drops from his forehead, a bellowing cape that shimmered different hues of purple whenever he walked. He were flowing silks for pants and shirt that were tied with rap after rap of jewel laden fabric around his thin waist, accompanied by boots of the softest leather. He was indeed a prince, comparable to an East Indian prince back on Earth. And he was ready to greet her with a well-placed kiss, stealing the moment.

The bridge of the ship was housed with large windows that allowed all of the splendor and fantastic views of his planet to be viewed like landscaped works of art. As soon as the ships doors opened, it was obvious why he smelled so sweet, so floral, all the time. The planet smelled like a green house, one that was in full bloom. Probably because it always was. The planet had two seasons, mildly humid and chilly humid. 

Zarbon took the girl by her hand as carefully as if he were holding spider’s webs, walking her out of the long ramp of the ship. Rows of soldiers were there to greet them, bowing, sounding trumpets, alerting to the kingdom that their prince had returned, all the way up the velvety carpet to his home, his palace. And of course, it was right out of a story book setting. However, the most unusual thing was how much art was involved. Paintings, vases, statues, fountains of gods blowing on conch shells, tapestries of pure gold telling stories of heroic battles. Some of the art was so realistic, it was hard to believe it wasn’t alive - it looked as if it could walk right off of its pedestal. The decor went on for miles, or at least it felt it, the place was so grand.

* * *

Her POV

He was impressed! It made her grin to see him checking her out and hear him complimenting her like that, and it made it all the greater when he took her by the hand and led her down to meet the people welcoming their prince. Maybe in a little while, they’d be treating her with warm welcomes like that. ‘Princess Bulma’ always sounded like it had a nice ring to it. Oolong would make fun of her for it, but seriously– what else did she deserve but to be a princess?

And a princess of such a beautiful kingdom as well. There were pieces of art everywhere, with her favorites being the statues that lined the carpet and decorated every room. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and they were all so realistic that they felt like they may actually be real. She thought for a moment that she saw one of them glance at her for a split second, but she wrote it off as her overactive imagination.

“Zarbon, is it rude to ask when we’re going to eat?” She whispered it quietly so at least not to embarrass him if it were. “Neither of us ate breakfast, and after all the… Exercise… I’m starving.”

* * *

His POV

Now she wanted dinner? But what about watching that perfect figure of hers? Alright, the man thought to himself. Zarbon had to admit, he was a little on the famished side. Even he had to eat sometimes. Dinner was had, and it couldn’t have been more picturesque. The table was set with bowls that sang when they were touched and the food was bountiful. Anything the girl required was quickly fetched for her from the palace kitchen. Servants waited on hand and foot. They all looked happy, very happy to be there, especially whenever Zarbon glanced in their general direction.

Dinner was followed by a walk through the palace halls. The yellow start the planet orbited was beginning to descend, bringing about a whole new coo of animal and bird sounds beyond the castle walls. The marsh lands made for colorful scenery. But that’s when Zarbon asked, as politely as he possibly could, if she’d be interested in seeing hers, or rather his, quarters.

They may have had amazing sex, but they hadn’t said anything official between them yet. Was the girl expecting a room of her own? Zarbon wasn’t exactly giving her the option, but he wasn’t telling her she couldn’t have her own space, either. It was more, pressure, pressure to stay as close to him in his quarters as possible. She’d enjoyed it the night before, why not a few more nights to come?

* * *

Her POV

The whole afternoon was wonderful. They had a large dinner that made her feel full for once in a long time, and then he toured her around the palace. They had a nice walk, arm-in-arm, and Bulma’s heart fluttered with just how pleasant and romantic it had all been. She was just so happy. Everything was finally turning up. And even though Zarbon was technically still a stranger, she felt no problem with being close to him. Nuzzling into his side, kissing his cheek when she could, until he suddenly brought up the prospect of going to their chambers.

“Of course,” she replied; she was excited to find pleasure with him again like they had that morning. Maybe she’d let him take control this time. It’d be fun to see what he could do rather than it all being her. She sealed the question with a kiss on the lips and was happily taken to quarters that were at least five times the size of his bedroom in the ship.

Always the best, that’s what Zarbon’s motto seemed to be. A fountain, a large seating area, a place for eating, his bed, a door to a bathroom she imagined was massive, and plenty of decorations all over. All in all, beautiful.

“You know, all day I’ve been really excited to get alone with you again. I was thinking of all the things we could do. I want you to kiss me all over,” she told him almost as soon as the door closed and they were left alone. Her heels came off (thank god; her feet ached) and she reached up her dress to pull down her panties little by little. “It’s been unbearable to wait to say that.”

* * *

His POV

It was all too perfect. The girl was warming up to him nicely. Given one more day, and she may have been asking to bare his children. He shuttered at the thought, but it was amusing none the less. Zarbon was glad to hear she had no problem staying in his quarters. There was something about the first night’s stay that was always a little tricky. Maybe it was because he had a few things in mind, himself.

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been thinking the same about you, all day.” His voice turned husky, flashing her a debonair smile before the door to his chamber ever clicked shut. He was more than ready to join her. His hands rushed to her sides, helping the woman out of the dress she’d wiggled herself into. Unbuttoning the line of buttons down her back, he pushed the pure fabric from her shoulders, all while dipping her into a full-fledged kiss.

He was taking more control this time - albeit gradually. A firmer shove, a stronger kiss, a step back towards the bed - until the foot of the bed-frame was trying to knee Bulma into lying back onto the large mattress. He only brought their greedy touches long enough to round to his favorite side of the bed, where a lavished night stand sat. His hand reached to open the drawer, but then paused, turning his puppy like pout on her. He was about to beg for something.

“There’s something I’d like to try with you, and only you, if you’d indulge me. You see, I’d be shy with anyone else, but you make me feel quite brave,” he pleaded softly. “Have you ever considered role-play? Just silk ties, to make it fun. Then I can kiss you to your hearts content.”

* * *

Her POV

It was nice to be able to feel his hands and lips on her after such a long day. She welcomed his touches with little mewls and sighs, and willingly let him take control. She felt safe in his arms, not like when the Saiyans had violated her the times. She didn’t feel like she was being forced, and instead it gave her more of a feeling of protection.

“Mn… Ahn…” She kissed him back willingly and sat back when the bed hit the backs of her knees, only to be disappointed by him moving away. What was he doing? She watched him walk to the bedside table and pout at her, before… Propositioning her for a kink. It caused her to blink in surprise, having not expected something like that. 

“Rope play?” Well, she did like experimenting. She’d done basically everything one could possibly do with Yamcha at this point, but if he was comfortable with it, then she’d be, too. Besides, it made her smile to know that she made him feel brave. He made her feel brave, too. 

“Alright, I’m up for it. It’s always good to spice things up.” She turned around on the bed and leaned against it on her stomach, with her feet on the floor– bending over for him for when he was finally ready to get started. “You’re going to tie me up, right? I’ve done some stuff like that before.”

* * *

His POV

“Oh, you have?” His face lit up. Well, this was going to be a cinch then, no pun intended. Her answer gave him new confidence, opening the draw that he’d once been too nervous to reveal to the pretty girl on his bed. But with her lounging so carelessly at the thought of being tied up, the green male wasted no time in pulling a long, silky, black ribbon from the drawer’s interior.

“I hope you don’t mind being blind folded. I’ve always thought it’d be fun to try. I can’t think of a prettier face to put it on.” He flirted. Stretching the flat side of the ribbon between his hands, he placed it across the bridge of her nose. As gentle as a butterfly’s kiss.

“Don’t be afraid to tell me when it’s too much. I want to know if you’ re uncomfortable.” He said in earnest, though what he meant by it was on the deceiving end of things. Of course he wanted to know when she’d stop enjoying it, when it became more terrifying then fun. As soon as the ribbon was secure around her head, tied in a tight knot at the back of her skull, he fetched more. Only, this time, it wasn’t ribbon. At least, it shouldn’t have felt like it.

It must have felt like rope, because that’s exactly what it was. He was as gentle as always, making sure he wasn’t tying it too tightly around her wrists. Telling her sweet things like “you’re so special for letting me try this” and “I must repay you somehow,” every time the rope made another round around her wrists, until it was climbing up her arms. At least it wasn’t tied to anything, right? Well, wrong. The man had looped the loose end around the massive bed pole that stood at the head of his bed. Just a little tug and it’d keep her in place. But she didn’t need to know that yet.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t really agree to the blindfold, but she accepted it nicely enough. Whatever, it couldn’t hurt. Whatever he liked, she’d try. Even when he began tying her up with rope. He was gentle about it, and it was the same Zarbon she’d grown to know. Everything was fine; she had nothing to worry about. But she couldn’t help but shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Something wasn’t right.

“You’re really good at tying knots,” she mused, shifting around in her new binds. The rope held her bent forearms together behind her back, and traveled all the way up her arms. It circled her body and lined her breasts, and she found herself a little glad that he hadn’t bound up her legs. Some kind of freedom made her feel more comfortable.

“Are you going to start kissing me now, Zarbon? It might be a little hard with all the rope. I didn’t think you’d use so much. When I did it before it was just around the wrists. Not that I mind! I’m just saying.” It was clear she was nervous by now, considering how much she was rambling.

* * *

His POV

“In just a minute, my dear.” His voice soothed her worries. A hand brushed through her blue hair, ruffling it past the long laces of excess ribbon. A soft reassuring kiss found her lips, and then her neck, collar bone, the tight bound flesh of her breasts, and then trailed off down her mid-drift. It was a warm mouth, eager to lap up her supple skin, all the way down to the crown of her clit. There he stopped, pressing his warm lips against the beginning of her more sensitive areas.

“Comfortable?” His nearby voice asked, stroking once past her cheek bone. She did look beautiful all tied up, and the flush that the rope was beginning to rub into her skin was even better. All it’d take is a little pull on the ropes slack, and it’d grow tighter still. And that’s exactly what he did. The sound of rope cinching around a wooden bed pole zipped by, forcing the woman into a more stable position. Then, the lips were back, eating up kisses along the girl’s thighs.

“Just relax, you have no idea how happy this is making me.” And to prove it, he’d let him feel just how hard he’d grown. A large bulge of exposed flesh pressed against her knee. It was hot and thick, and beginning to rub its velvety texture along the length of her calf. The kissing had stopped, but now a pair of fingers were trailing between her thighs, dipping between her swollen lips, exploring her with care, but then pulled away. The rope cinched again, and her legs were forced further apart by a pair of strong hands. An audible gasp came from the man, as if it’d excited him. She was right, he was good at knots, it was almost as if he’d had practice.

* * *

Her POV

He made sure to calm her nerves, telling her how happy she was making him and that she should simply relax. It was easy to relax, somehow, when he spoke to her so softly like he was. She nodded her head and did her best to relax herself and let him take control, though her heart still beat fast as he moved her around to lay on her back. But maybe that was less from nervousness and more from him exciting her with his lips slowly traveling down her body, all the way to her clit.

“Ahn…” She let out a little sigh, though she visibly stiffened when suddenly she was forced by the rope into a position closer to the bed pole. He’d tied her to something? It scared her a little to know she wouldn’t be able to run away, but he kept trying to calm her with his voice, and she reminded herself that she was okay. She was okay. She was okay.

Her cheeks flushed when he rubbed his cock up against her leg, and she had no problem with it when he forced her legs open. She moaned and sighed as he felt her up and fingered her, already beginning to relax in her position. It did bring a new exhilaration when she couldn’t see his movements or move against them very well, maybe this was a good idea after all. 

“Zarbon, are you going to make me beg for more? I want more, I want more.”

* * *

His POV

“Oh yes. If you want my cock, you’re going to have to ask for it.” And he was going to tease her with it too. The hard tip of a giant member pressed between her warm lower lips, edging and circling the massive head against the small entrance of her pussy, but never pushed in. He could taunt, too. There was a tongue trailing across her neck now, he must have been hovering over her.

“Beg more!” He demanded, and the slightest, tiniest slap of her butt followed. Just enough to make a statement, not enough to sting. However, he did it a second time, fairly quickly when she didn’t beg instantaneously. 

The bed was beginning to move, he must have been rocking his hips because the mattress was starting to move unevenly. Weight pressed down onto her torso, pinning her to the soft blankets. His hips shadowed her own, moving the giant erection between the crease of her legs. He still hadn’t entered her, but he was moving steadily now. The ropes around her arms grew tighter, the more he pulled the slack that wove around the pole of the bed. He wanted her to beg, to truly beg, until she sobbed. 

* * *

Her POV

Ah, so that’s what he was into. Her toes curled as he teased her with his cock rubbing up against her opening, and she was about to beg, when she got smacked on the butt. It was a bit of a surprise, and her taking a moment to register it caused him to slap her on the butt again, harder this time. That was enough to get a quick ‘please!’ out of her, though the feeling of distrust was growing. 

“D… Don’t you think you’re going a little too rough? You said to say when I stopped being comfortable.” Something about the movement of the bed made her heart beat nervously. Would Zarbon be causing that much movement? He didn’t seem to be moving too much, and he was standing between her legs.

“Agh–” She winced when the ropes were tightened, and one of her legs came up so her foot could press against Zarbon’s abdomen. “Stop, don’t be so rough with me. Can’t we go back to doing it vanilla? I don’t want to use the ropes anymore, but I’ll suck you off good enough that you’ll forget about them, I promise.”

* * *

His POV

“Yes, I like to know precisely when you feel uncomfortable.” His voice held more malice than ever before. Slowly, the charming mask that was her prince Zarbon was peeling away and the psychotic monster beneath was beginning to show itself. Her pleads to remove the ropes went unheard. If anything, it only made him grow rougher. But not rougher in the sense that it excited him, like it did the Saiyans, whenever she tried to fight back. No, he was enjoying her distaste of it. He found it… Beautiful. A rare and delicate beauty that had to be harvested, plucked, just at the right time. When the fear began budding.

“Tell me how much you love being bound up. Tell me that the ropes excite you. DO IT.” He demanded, and as expected, whenever she didn’t reply with what he wanted right away, she earned another smack to her bottom. Again, and again, harder, and harder still. She couldn’t speak fast enough to answer between his smacking, his riding of her. That’s right; he’d begun to press in between her legs. A large mass was pumping her in and out, forcing her thighs apart wider than ever before.

He was humping her viciously now. His breathy voice filling the expensive room. Then, something hard and wet began pressing at the girls bottom lip. Again, it tried to aim between her gasps, until the long thick mass crammed itself into her mouth, filling her jaw. That wasn’t all, though. Someone was holding her ankle and the other still. She was being held in place, roped down, and fucked orally and vaginally, and her once prince charming was orchestrating it all.

* * *

Her POV

What… What had happened? Was she dreaming? This was a nightmare! What happened to her cute, innocent, loving Zarbon?! This wasn’t him! The way he was commanding her and taunting her reminded her of the Saiyans, and she found herself on the verge of a panic attack as he spanked her ass hard enough for it to sting. 

“No! Stop! It doesn’t! Let me go! Take me out of these stupid things! Undo these stupid, shitty knots! Stop! Stop, ow! It hurts! Stop it!” She yelled and whined, arching her back as she struggled. No! No, no, no! She didn’t want to go through this all over again! She didn’t want to do anything she didn’t want to! Why was he forcing her like this? What happened to her man? 

She didn’t even get a chance to start saying she was excited by the ropes, despite that being an utter lie, before he began pounding inside her. It wasn’t gentle, but rather rough and unapologetic. She struggled harder, but he seemed to have grabbed her ankles. But he was smacking her still. And… Were those both right hands? She could feel the thumb on the same side. Wh… Where there multiple people? When had that happened?

“Zarbon! Stop, agh– Sto–” Despite the blindfold making it unable to show it, her eyes went wide at the feeling of something pushing at her lip. It wasn’t a tongue. It wasn’t wet enough, and it was far too thick. It pushed closer to her mouth and inside, until she felt a pair of wrinkled balls rest on her chin. 

Her mind went into overload, and all she could think to do was struggle like an animal. It had never helped with the three Saiyans, but maybe here. Her legs thrashed as much as she could manage, hoping to get at least one free from the grip of the mysterious person or people holding her, in order to try and clock Zarbon in the jaw. As for the man that had shoved his cock inside her mouth, she didn’t hesitate. She bit down.

* * *

His POV

Every time the girl fought back, she earned yet another smack. Harder, and harder still, until the welts flushed out both of her ass cheeks. She’d learn, the man was determined, she’d learn to beg from him if it was the last thing he made her do. He kept whipping her, long past having a cock in her mouth and cutting off any ability to beg. She was being punished for her defiance, and he was getting a high off of it.

And then there was blood… A lot of blood.

A male screeched in bloody horror. Whomever had their dick in her mouth, yanked free as soon as possible. Blood splashed across her face and splattered over the clean bedding. Zarbon’s fucking of her body stopped. He was furious. Not the Vegeta type where he growled and roared, no, he slapped her in the mouth, then finally pulled out, flipping her onto her stomach, allowing her head to hang off of the side of the bed.

“You filthy creature! Look what you did to my bed!” His hands wound around her neck, fucking her violently. It went on like that for a while, until a new pair of hands found their way to her jaw. Prying it open. 

“If I say open your mouth, open it. Now beg me to put a cock in your mouth.” He spanked her again, but not with his hand this time. It was a switch, a thin piece of metal wrapped in leather with a leather hoop on the end. Like a horses whip. Lines welted down the back of her thighs. Until she begged for cock, he wasn’t going to stop.

* * *

Her POV

It was still so hard to understand what was happening. She felt blood seep from the man’s cock (it easy enough to tell it was blood from the smell and the man screaming in agony), and thankfully he stopped, but it seemed to anger the man that she had thought was Zarbon. He yelled at her, and the next thing she knew, he had her over the side of the bed on her stomach, and was choking her as he fucked her.

She was gagging and coughing by the time he finally let go, but the pain wasn’t over. She jolted in pain when he spanked her with the switch, and then the pain came again. Again. Again. Harder and harder, causing her to yell out and kick her legs. Her thighs and rear end begged for mercy, and the only reason Bulma wasn’t sobbing was because of pure shock alone.

Worse yet, someone shoved their hands into her mouth again, trying to pry it open. She tried her damnedest to keep her mouth shut, but she whined and yelled every time he hit her, which only seemed to be getting worse as he demanded she start begging. She hated herself for it, but what else was she going to do?”

“Gn–! Please! Please give me cock! Put it in my mouth! Please!” What happened to her Prince Charming? For once, she was hoping to god that Vegeta would find her.

* * *

His POV

The pain didn’t stop until she was begging for it. The new servant assigned to fill her mouth with his dick was teasing her, rubbing the large tip across her lips until she begged for more. Zarbon maked it blatant that he wanted a little more begging when he started spanking her again. Eventually, the cock filled her mouth and began pumping her through with the fleshy erection. Another pair of hands squeezed her jaw, prying it open. Another on her ankles, someone was also pressing into her shoulders - Zarbon perhaps. They were all over her.

He was getting off, though, and the way he was moaning so freely was a sign that he’d orgasm at any given moment. He’d let her see where she was now, before he came into her. Her realization of the terrors she was being put through would be the cherry on top that’d lead him to climax.

The ribbon slid off of her cheeks, and the room came back into view. There were more servants then just the ones holding her down. A pair were fucking in the corner, and there was dick in dangerous proximity to her face, ready to release all over her cheek in a matter of seconds by the looks of it. The large green man in her mouth was watching down at her, admiring her. That’s when they all began to orgasm like one giant orgie. Including Zarbon, who was pounding into her from behind.

* * *

Her POV

How many men were on top of her? She felt pressure everywhere, like she was being crushed. On top of that, someone had successfully shoved his cock in her mouth again, and this time she knew better than to bite down. Her ass still stung from the beatings, and she wouldn’t be surprised if she was bleeding. Her cheek and breasts as well ached from when he’d slapped her around, so while she kept struggling, it wasn’t to where she was at before. She didn’t want to get hurt.

Really, what had happened to her prince…? She tried getting her hands free, but the ropes were too tight– he’d clearly done this to women before. Lured them in, tied them up, and then raped them. He clearly got off to it, like some fucked up pervert. She could hear him moaning loudly, unable to contain himself. He was going to cum soon.

That’s when he dropped her blindfold. It was more people than she thought, and her stomach dropped. On top of the man who was shoving himself inside her mouth, there was another man’s cock in her face, being jerked quickly. She closed her eyes just quickly enough for him to cum on her face, and when she opened them again, she could see all the other people. Women and the occasional girlish man tied up like she was, though many seemed to look to be enjoying it, while what looked to be royalty and soldiers fucked them. A disgusting bondage orgy. 

Her face contorted in disgust, and she found herself gagging on the man’s cock for reasons other than him going too far. How could they do something like this? It was disgusting. Disturbing. Was everyone in space like this? He’d taken her trust and ripped it into a million pieces just for some horrible, horrible rape fetish. She’d had sex with him willingly, and he still did this? Christ. 

* * *

His POV

The moment Bulma’s face contorted in disgust, the servant with his dick in her mouth took the liberty of smacking that look right off of her face just as he came down her throat - it probably induced it, to be honest. She wasn’t allowed to fight, not here, it would only get her in more hot water then she was already in. And it was only going to get worse.

Zarbon was finished with her. By the time he’d pumped his last full swing of hips inside of the bound woman, he’d nearly collapsed on her. No second round like a Saiyan, he needed re-hydration. Beyond that, the stench and stain of blood on his nice clean sheets was enough to make him gag. 

“Uh, she looks disgusting! It’s so gross! She needs to be punished for that. Someone clean this mess up! I can’t look at it.” Zarbon shielded his eyes with his forearm the moment he crawled off of the bed. The orgie was still in full swing, though, the bed was just out of the question. And as for Bulma, well, her punishment would be his soldiers reward. He had promised them a round with the girl if they could find her; she was being passed off to them now.

“And make sure you clean her up before you hang her properly, I won’t have a disgusting display like that in my palace.” The man’s voice trailed away, and more hands found Bulma’s body. She was being passed around wildly. A dick here, someone trying to push in her from behind, then from the front. As soon as one seemed to pry open her jaw with their cock, she was stolen away and shoved onto another man. All of them royal guards, all of them laughing, moaning, watching her.

* * *

Her POV

If she thought that she was in hell before, she had no clue what to call this. She wanted to die. Not only had Zarbon brutalized her and raped her and taken advantage of her trust, but then he gave her to his men to have fun with. She struggled in their grasp, but every time she did, she was slapped or smacked. Not just on the ass– the face, the arm, anywhere they could reach. They seemed to have a particular enjoyment for slapping her breasts to watch them jiggle.

The orgy felt like it went on for forever. By its end, she made it through by disassociating. She pretended to be anywhere but there. Anywhere. Her eyes were lifeless, and she was only broken from her concentration on imagining being somewhere outside what was happening to her when they fucked her hard enough to warrant an uncomfortable orgasm. Something that they seemed to enjoy plenty, making them whoop and laugh to each other about her ‘secretly enjoying it.’ As if any girl could enjoy this kind of abuse.

When the last man had his turn, she ached all over. How many men had raped her? She couldn’t keep track, but it was enough that she hated herself for not being able to pass out. That was when she began to cry. Quietly, but cry nonetheless. Why? He was so nice to her before. Why did it have to happen? What if Vegeta never found her? What if she stayed here until she was killed? She’d be slowly tortured to death. Oh, god. It wasn’t fair. Why did it all have to happen to her? Why couldn’t she just finally be killed?

* * *

His POV

By the time the last man was done with her, the woman was left on the floor of Zarbon’s grand bedroom. It’d need to be cleaned, desperately, but that was hardly going to be Bulma’s worry. The only time she’d spend in the bedroom was when orgies of this magnitude were taking place, or when Zarbon wanted a footrest while reading the daily stock markets. 

She was never to see her clothing again. Her capsules and shoes had been given to the servants to divide among themselves (without Zarbon’s knowing, though, there was no way he’d let his servants be seen in her clothes). The girl was taken to have ‘bath time’ as they called it, but there was no tub to speak of. Just a big hose with cold water, a brick wall, and rough hands pushing her around until she was soaped up, rinsed down, and shoved off to another servant that would have her bound and tied in no time. She always seemed to have ropes around her wrists now. It made hanging her on the wall much easier.

And that’s where she was made to stay, until one of the guards got her down from her beautiful frame of gold that hung just behind Zarbon’s royal throne. They’d call it ‘break time’. There were occasions where Zarbon called for her for another session of bondage - some of which would have her hanging upside down. Whatever the case, one thing always remained constant; she’d be punished whenever she didn’t look pleased to see the royal green monster.

It started to explain all the lifelike art. The statues weren’t statues, they were sentient beings, and now Bulma was made to be one of them. To stand still and look pretty, like a doll, or risk being beaten and passed around again. Though, in passing, there was talk of a party coming up. A royal banquet where Zarbon planned on showcasing all of his finest art from around the universe. Naturally, Bulma would be part of the exhibit.

* * *

Her POV

After they all raped her, they took her somewhere to hose her down of all the sweat, blood, and cum that she’d become covered with. They weren’t gentle, and treated her like an animal or just an object to be washed off and put up for display. But she didn’t think they’d actually do that– put her up for display. Yet that was exactly what they did.

They hung her up on the wall, and every time she made much movement or noise, she was beaten. Told to shut up. She was a piece of art, not a human. And suddenly, all those lifelike statues made absolute sense. They had gone through what she had, just for longer. That’s how it was for the next however many days. Maybe even weeks. Whenever there was an event, she was put up in special was for everyone to see. Sometimes hung from the ceiling like a chandelier, even.

There was one time in particular that he hung her from the ceiling, and when she jolted at the touch of a guest’s fingers between her legs, Zarbon punished her by spanking her with her over his lap for what must have been hours, as soon as the party was over.

Little by little the fiery personality that Vegeta enjoyed was beginning to fade. How could she stay fiery, when every time she said something out of turn, she was beaten until she couldn’t feel her ass or face? By the time the big party rolled around, she was a good little girl. For the most part. Her butt still blossomed with red marks from constant spankings–one of Zarbon’s many kinks, she’d figured out by then–and standing without speaking or moving in the position she’d been forced to stay in.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary- Bulma is whisked away to Zarbon's ship where he entices her into bed of her own will. After gaining her trust, he invites her into a kink of his, bondage. To Bulma's horror she finds that Zarbon doesn't want her for anything other than a collected piece of art and occasional sex toy. He breaks her mentally, physically, and attempts to kill her fiery spirit, leaving her a lifeless doll to be put on display as one of his works of art. That's where we leave off, at one of Zarbon's grand showcasing parties. Where is Vegeta when you need him?
> 
> Next time- A fight to remember.
> 
> Poor Bulma, am I right? D; This chapter seriously broke my heart. My partner and I wanted Zarbon to be the worst scum of the universe. Honestly, he was so terrible and difficult to write, at one point I think I threw up a little in my mouth. I prefer my Princes vulgar, broody, and covered in blood...
> 
> I'm debating giving you guys a bonus chapter this week since this one was so rough. Anyone into that, or maybe you prefer the suspense?
> 
> EDIT: Bonus chapter has been posted!
> 
>   
> 


	16. Retaliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last we left off our Heroin was in the clutches of a true mad man. Will Vegeta find her? And even if he can, will he be able to save her from this nightmare?
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

It always started with a boom. A crash. A crater sized explosion.

Vegeta had given up looking for his escapee since she’d vanished from the garbage planet - a place that no longer held any place on intergalactic space maps, seeing as it was now nothing more than a ball of flaming trash. He’d burnt the planet looking for the girl. Days had turned to weeks, and by the end of the second week -following a lead that she’d been captured and sent to the slave markets, the prince’s fury mutated into passionate hate. Let her die, let her find her new life in the hands of devils that would love nothing more than to strip her of anything she called dignity.

He was done with her. At least, that’s what he told himself, convinced himself of. Raditz and especially Nappa both noticed the continuing changes in their prince. To put it lightly, Vegeta had been hell to live with. Explosive anger. His edginess was to the point that they dared not speak to him. He stewed rather than spoke. His men suspected he was just ‘pent up’, sending him woman after woman on whatever planet they’d ended up on. He used them all, but it only frustrated him behind closed doors. The prince couldn’t get her out his brain. Whatever he fucked, her angelic face just had to pop up. Visions of her haunted him to the point that he’d wished he’d never met the damnable girl. The prince had to face the facts that she was gone. Nappa was beginning to think her leaving hurt more than just his pride.

He craved normalcy, and normalcy finally began to roll around by the closing week. They’d pillaged, purged, killed, and fucked. The prince had fallen back into the motion of his prior life. But that’s when it happened. Wind of a rumor was overheard from one of the brothel’s high classed visitors. They’d mentioned that ‘they’d just come from a good fuck where he’d gotten to touch the prettiest little blue humanoid he’d ever seen’. It’d been on Zarbon’s planet.

That conniving fuck.

He never said a word, he just left. Left the brothel. Left the planet he’d been staying on. Nappa and Raditz were never granted an explanation, no, they were lucky to tuck tail and follow as fast as they could or risk being left behind. That’s what lead up to the events that were burning rampant on Zarbons home planet. Something had crashed into the side of his estates land. The palace shook and guests had to catch themselves for fear of falling over.

Then it happened. The ceiling came crashing through. Dust kicked up and guests screamed. Chandeliers shook furiously and lights flickered. And in the midst of it all, a ball of blue ki burned in the middle of the room like a blowtorch. The heat generated from the invader blew tables and chairs off of their legs, and sent flying across the grand banquet hall. Saiyans, they always did make an entrance.

“Prince Vegeta, what brings you to my humble home?” Zarbon held his charm, despite his twitchy brow at the mess the monkey had made of his home.

“I came to take what is mine,” the prince thundered, darker then usual. His aggression was seething from his tight knit face.

“You mean the girl? Sorry, she’s all tied up.” Zarbon prodded.

“No,” Vegeta interrupted, pointing a threatening finger towards his rival. “Your head.”

There was about to be a show down.

* * *

Her POV

She wasn’t herself anymore. It was hard enough keeping her old personality with the Saiyans, but this was a whole different level of torture. She was completely inhuman to Zarbon and his servants and soldiers. She didn’t get a chance to speak besides what she was told to say, which was typically begging someone for more during another horrible sex session. The sessions went on for hours and were typically orgies, and then she was left battered and bruised and hosed off before being tied up somewhere. She barely got any sleep, and any food she had was scraps. If Vegeta thought she’d been getting skinny before, it was even worse now. Her ribs were beginning to show by the end of the second week.

She wanted to die, more than ever before. She tried to bite her tongue once, and Zarbon solved that problem by keeping a ball-gag in her mouth at all times. It added to the humiliation. What the hell did she ever do to deserve this? That’s what she thought about a lot. Rather than focus on what was happening to her directly, when she was put up during his parties, she just spaced out and wondered that question. It always only got worse for her. Why?

She was shaken out of these thoughts when this party took an unusual turn. Even in her position–ball-gagged, blindfolded, and tied up in hog ties that made her feel like only a piece of meat, and attached to the ceiling, entirely supported by an uncomfortably arousing rope–she knew something was wrong. That wasn’t the kind of screaming they usually did. Something was wrong. She was shaking with the movement of the building, swinging. But for fear of being punished, she stayed silent and tried not to move.

Then, she heard Vegeta’s voice. At first she wasn’t sure it was him; she only knew him for so long, and she’d been away from him for… What? Two weeks? It was hard to figure out how long it’d been. But then he and Zarbon began discussing ‘the girl’ and Bulma was sure it was him. She wasn’t sure whether to be upset or relieved– He always came back for her so he could rape her some more, but at the same time, that kind of hell was preferable to this kind of hell.

* * *

His POV

The first blast was followed by a second, then third. All three Siayans stood in the midst of the grand hall that was Zarbon’s palace. The apes had no remorse for destroying his things. No, they enjoyed it, more so then their usual bauds of destruction. Vegeta had a vindictive against Zarbon. One that’d seeped over from years before. However, the two were usually evenly matched, if Zarbon wasn’t just a few levels stronger now and again. It wasn’t uncommon for their battles to end with Zarbon leaving the monkey prince to wallow in his defeat, only to be out matched by him again when they next met. They hated each other, but this, this was different. This time Vegeta was determined to take the man’s head.

He knew she was nearby, he could smell her. He could sense her since he’d landed in the god forsaken castle. Then, his eyes carefully traveled up, and he saw her. God, what had they done to her? It was enough to piss his fury off into full blown rage, and Zarbon was on the receiving end of all of that pent up energy.

Vegeta was a man of few words, but the fury in his stare spoke volumes. Zarbon didn’t have time to taunt the monkey past ‘she’s great in bed, especially when she’s gagged’ or ‘my guards really seemed to taken a shine to her’. No, before the green whore could mutter one more crude slur, Vegeta’s balled fist pulled back, careening his knuckles into the frog’s pretty face mid-sentence. The pair went hurling through the palace wall. Vegeta had thrown his fist into his teal face the moment he’d realized what’d happened, sending them out into the open sky above. If they fought indoors, there was little chance she’d survive, if she was still among the living and not a dead ornament left to hang, that is.

Ki rained down from above, destroying the once glorious palace, blast by blast. The place was falling apart, but luckily one of the Saiyan soldiers had spotted Bulma hanging from above. 

“Holy shit” Raditz had explained, tapping Nappa’s shoulder and gathering the large man’s attention from the battle in the sky. When Nappa looked he had to take a double glance. She was all tied up, but it was definitely her. Damn, if she came crashing down with the building Vegeta was sure to have their asses. Nappa’s big hands ripped her down from her prison, but didn’t have time to untie her before another round of ki blasts came bouncing into the palace hall. Shit, they really needed to make a break for it.

The winding gardens of the palace estate was where the two Saiyan men had landed, and with Bulma in tow. They didn’t bother untying her, but they had managed to rip the ball gag and blind fold off of her head before their attention was captured by the fight above. They couldn’t help it, it was a good fight, and it was getting heated quickly. Vegeta might actually win this. The prince was roaring, his blue ki scorching the sky line, about to claim his victory. ..but Zarbon had one more trick up his sleeve. The green man transformed right before their eyes. Now he really looked the part. He was a monster.

* * *

Her POV

She could hear ki blasts and punches being thrown, as well as aggressive roars and growls. They were fighting. She couldn’t register much more than that, and then all at once she was grabbed and pulled down from her hanging prison. She thought she’d be hurt or that it was just soldiers keeping her safe so they could hang her up for another day, but the dragged her away and then ripped the blindfold and gag off her face. It was Raditz and Nappa.

She blinked up at them, but was too terrified to talk or fight. Not that she could fight much in the first place; she was still bound. But she could at least look up and see the two men fighting up in the sky. It was strange to watch- she’d never seen Vegeta fight someone that could actually keep up with him before. The man was angry, but the fact he didn’t obliterate him right away scared her. What if Zarbon won? She’d definitely be tortured for attracting the Saiyans, even if it wasn’t her fault.

As she worried about this, she watched Zarbon stop fighting. He instead began concentrating, and… His body was changing. Changing into something horrible. Massive, scaly… An alligator? Bulma knew by now not to show negative emotions, but her stomach flopped in complete and utter disgust. Ugh. It was fitting, too. A Prince Charming at first glance, but as soon as you saw his real side, you’d find he’s anything but.

* * *

His POV

All at once, Vegeta’s victory slipped right out of his grasp. He’d allowed Zarbon to change. He’d wanted to see it, to fight him at his fullest so that ripping off his green head would be that much sweeter. It was a mistake, because the moment Zarbon completed his horrific transformation, the Saiyan prince went hurling towards the ground. The monster had hit him over the head, sending him into the dirt like a meteor finding its crater.

The prince staggered to his feet, not too far from where his men and Bulma sat, before jettisoning right back into the fray. His armor had been cracked; blood seeped over one eye and out of his mouth. It looked like he suffered a busted rib by now, too, but the prince never flinched. The moment his eyes flickered towards his two men, untied the girl from her bonds. That was all they were good for at this point, they weren’t about to disappoint Vegeta when he was at his worst.

They yelled, lighting up the sky like humanoid torches. The two power houses just kept meeting fist for fist, blast for blast, until it seemed like one of them were going to have to run out of steam. Vegeta knew he’d need to end this, and quick. That’s when he found it, his one opening shot. He took it - pummeling a deadly upper cut into Zarbon’s gut. The big monster’s shiny armor cracked, and his guts began to spill down the Saiyan’s once pure white gloves. It was over.

Zarbon’s painful cries spread across the horizon, howling like a dying animal as the two fell to the ground. They hit with a bang, then, the prince finished the monster off by means of ripping his head clean off of his shoulders with a loud ‘ _rrrrrippppp’_. The garden grounds fell silent. The prince turned to look where his men stood in disbelief of the magnitude of the battle they’d just witnessed; where Bulma was brought to watch the life and death battle. A massive roar ripped from the Saiyans maw, clenching his fists and lighting up the grounds with his ki - Vegeta was claiming his victory. But then, he picked up the decapitated prince by his green scalp, staggered towards the earthling that had brought him here in the first place, and dropped the heavy prize with a thud at her feet.

* * *

Her POV

When the battle seemed to be winning in Zarbon’s favor, Bulma’s whimpers of dismay were audible. She was terrified of being punished, but she couldn’t help but shake at the very idea of Zarbon being the one to win. She hated the Saiyans, but if they didn’t beat him, then what would happen to her? The best case scenario would be that he killed her, but he never just killed the people he kidnapped. He may let them die, but that was as far as it went.

But the battle suddenly turned. Her ropes were loosened and she was freed, but she ended up holding the ropes close and hoping that if Zarbon won, he wouldn’t hurt her too badly if she was good and kept the ropes. She shivered in fright as the watched them beat each other up, until it was all over. Vegeta… Vegeta… Killed him. He let his guts fall all over the ground and ripped his head clean off.

Bulma stared at the trophy that Vegeta had dropped at her feet with a seemingly lifeless stare. She wanted to be happy, and somewhere inside she was. But she just… Didn’t know how to respond. She’d been beaten so badly over the past weeks that she had no clue how to even properly show emotion anymore, considering she was beaten for it over and over again. And yet here she was, looking at the bodyless head of her captor, its eyes bloodshot and gawking in two different directions. 

Her head turned up to look at Vegeta. Again, she was emotionless. She didn’t move, didn’t even drop the ropes that she was holding tightly to herself. But then something glistened in the back of her eyes. A little semblance of emotion, coupled then with her brows furrowing. That’s when she began to cry. Wail, more like. Not because she was mourning Zarbon’s death, or that she was just that relieved Vegeta had saved her. It was the shock finally fading and the stress hitting her like a sack of bricks. 

* * *

His POV

There had been a moment of worry, a fleeting sensation that maybe, just maybe he’d arrived too late. It over lapped his overwhelming sense of victory and pride, the rush from winning his long overdue battle with Zarbon. The way the girl hugged herself was hardly a surprise. She had been through a shit ton of obstacles over the last few weeks, he could only imagine. But when she looked up at him with that lifeless, blank stare that he’d seen too many times from victim after victim, he’d felt a pang of worry hit his gut. This wasn’t the same girl he’d found so attractive, was it? This wasn’t the same fiery blue earthling that he’d fought their enemies for. That he’d presented her captor’s head to.

He was ready to call it a loss, to debate blasting her into ash and ending her misery right then and there, but then her eyes flickered to life. If just for a brief, hidden moment he’d witnessed her staring through to him, past that dead look she’d been giving him, and then she began to cry. She was there, somewhere, in the depths behind her glossy hues. It was enough to call Vegeta into action. Ripping what remained of her ropes away, kicking aside the bloody and beaten head of her tormentor, he caught the sobbing female up into his own blood stained arms.

Nappa and Raditz had tried to congratulate their leader. Praising him for his victory with hardy smiles and insults towards Zarbon, but Vegeta wasn’t listening. When he dropped that head at Bulma’s feet, the pair of soldiers went silent. That wasn’t normal. Saiyans didn’t give the heads of their enemies to just anyone, especially to a slave. Raditz and Nappa both looked baffled. Raditz shooting puzzled looks while Nappa contemplated what it meant for his prince.

“Burn everything,” he commanded of his men. The planet’s punishment was to burn. His men wasted no time, and the planet began to catch fire while the prince walked the female back towards the familiar shape of his round pod, tucked away in its crash site.

The girl was a mess, well, they both were. Vegeta was coated in both his and Zarbon’s blood. Half of his face was stained dark red, and he’d gotten plenty of hand prints on the girl’s skin just from handling her (though more gently then usual). But before long they were tucked away into the safety of his cabin, waiting for Nappa and Raditz to finish the job, while he looked the female over in his arms.

* * *

Her POV

He picked her up in his arms, and she forgot all about the things he’d done to her. She clung to him and pressed her face into his neck while she cried, loudly and pathetically. She ached all over, especially any places they’d penetrated her over and over. She must have been completely torn up inside. It was now that she was crying did she really register all the pain, to the point where she was shaking terribly. Everything was hitting her all at once, making sure that the crying never ceased.

It was only when Vegeta finally brought her to the pod did something occur to her. As a little bit of her started to come back. She pulled herself away from him to look him in the face, snot dripping down her nose and drool coming from her mouth. She tried to talk steadily, but she mostly just spoke between animal-like sobs and gasps.

“Haa- Hn– I… My- My– My capsules,” she tried to explain, holding onto him a little tighter. “Cl… Clothes– Snff! I wa– want my clothes! And– and– and my money! And tools, and–” She broke out into tears again, giving up trying to control her voice. The two Saiyans were off trying to burn everything. But her things! They were taken away some time ago, but she wanted it. How was she supposed to get away from the Saiyans when she was back to being naked and penniless? 

She leaned back in and rested her head on Vegeta’s shoulder again, her tears never ceasing. 

* * *

His POV

He was just getting ready to shut the pod door. Craving time to relax and reflect on his latest battle, his latest victory, and soak up the prize that was now in his lap. He wanted that -and then the girl had to start sniveling into the crook of his neck. All the hopes he had of basking in his quiet glory went flying out of the pod door. She wanted her things, and as much as Vegeta didn’t care to go and get them for her, he hated that sound bubbling off of her lips more than anything else in the universe. 

“I’ll buy you new clothes!” He snapped, but halfheartedly. It was hard to be angry when the pretty girl (yes, he still found her pretty) was nuzzling into his shoulder and looking up at him for relief. Damn those big watery eyes of her. Damn them!

Well, she was definitely still herself. The prince was sort of glad to hear those demands of hers. It’d been far too long. His eyes rolled, still refusing to do as she said… But then his gaze roamed down her shaking, naked form and noticed something. Her shoes were missing. Those god damned shoes that he’d risked limps for. 

“You better hope they’re around, woman. I am not going down another garbage shoot for you!” It was his way of saying he’d look for her things. He tightened his grip around her withered form, whisking them into the sky. The servant’s quarters were a good place to start. The building wasn’t as damaged as the main palace, and there were still a few left alive. After catching one of the half dead slaves and demanding them to tell him where her things where, they were pointed to a servant’s bedroom.

The place was deserted; just a little cot and a trunk in the dingy room. Vegeta sat the woman on the bed and flipped open the trunk. Yep, there were her things, all accounted for. Her clothing was tossed onto the bed. Including her shoes. Left shoe and then the right, the prince knelt down and slid them onto her feet. She wasn’t exactly in the best of shape to be doing it herself, and he wanted out of there as soon as possible.

“You can be so difficult, you know that?” He questioned but never looked up, more so grumbling to himself.

* * *

Her POV

His yelling only made her cry more. Not that she liked the idea of him buying her clothes– she didn’t want to be dressed up like a piece of meat again. She wanted clothes she picked out and enjoyed. Thankfully her crying seemed to convince him, and he stopped what he was doing in order to take her into the sky and lead them to the servant’s quarters.

She knew the quarters well enough. That’s where she got hosed down. And when she was particularly smart with her words, she was dropped here for even the servants to ‘have fun’ with her. It made her shake harder, though her crying became nothing more of a whimper. That wasn’t because she was feeling better– it was because she was terrified. It must have been obvious, with how she held onto Vegeta.

She didn’t like it when he set her down to look through the trunk. She didn’t like it because he was no longer in arm’s reach, and she didn’t like it because it physically hurt to sit. She held herself up just a few inches above the bed by her arms, just so her bruised and red rear end didn’t have any painful pressure put on it. And by the time he put her beloved shoes on her feet, she was crying only lightly.

“The… The capsule?” She had a dresser she originally kept the clothes in, in a capsule. Where had the capsule gone? And where was her other capsule? The one with the tools and supplies? And besides that, where was that great deal of money she had stored in the pocket of one of her pants?

* * *

His POV

Her capsules, he hadn’t seen them amongst searching the trunk for her shoes. Her shoes had been his first priority. There was no way in hell he was leaving the planet without them. But then she muttered about her capsules again, and instead of biting his voice at her for bringing it back up, the prince merely shot her a dirty look then returned to rummaging into the bottom of the dirty trunk until he found what she was sniffling over.

One capsule, and then the next, he sat them beside her on the thin mattress of the cot. He’d noticed how she’d refused from sitting on it properly. She’d been acting strange since they’d landed in the servant’s quarters. Her sobbing had quieted to a murmur; her shaking had increased into fear stricken jolts. They’d tortured her here, he knew it. This was the place that brought terror into her eyes. He’d have to remember to burn this building in particular before they headed out again.

His hands searched the tattered shorts and shirt that she’d been wearing when first brought to the palace. There was no money to speak of, but that wasn’t what he was looking for. He was just being thorough. The woman still looked in no shape or fashion to be dressing herself. Just. Excellent. Mustering a tight knit brow and pressing his lips into a thin line, the prince began rolling her shirt up in his hands in order to put it over her head. He’d just have to dress her himself.

Next were her shorts, and that’s when he noticed her -her pink welted bottom. Both cheeks, perfectly rosy. The prince stopped what he was doing long enough to stare. He’d turned the woman onto her belly, onto the cot, in order to pull her shorts up her legs. But the sight of her pink and swollen skin flushed color into his own face. ‘ _…c-cute._..’ was all he could think, turning his once bronze face a deeper shade. He had to look away to get better control of himself once again, then continued to pull the shorts up her long thin legs ..but not without a quick pinch, just to inspect the damage to her ass.

* * *

Her POV

He gave her a dirty look and she was, for once, sure to shut up. She looked down and kept quiet until he put her shirt on, and she was at least grateful for that, even if she had to shift onto her hip to try and avoid sitting on her butt when he had to force her arms up to lead them through the sleeves of the shirt. She sniffled. 

Next, he flipped her over so he could put her pants on. She didn’t fight, even if it was embarrassing to be exposed like that to him. He even seemed to stop what he was doing to stare at her butt. But she was used to that by now. She was quiet when he pulled on her pants, though it felt uncomfortable to have fabric on her butt. Then he pinched her on the butt, and it caused a jolt just from how raw and painful it was.

“Gn–!” She pulled herself up onto her feet again, though she was still shaky. She held onto him almost immediately again, though her eyes focused in on the capsules and the trunk. She was hesitant about moving without being told to move, but she let go of him to take one of the capsules and put the clothing inside it. She put the capsules in her pocket and stood up to her feet again, raising her brows lightly.

“Mn… They took my money. …Are we leaving now?” It wasn’t like before, where she spoke loudly and seemed demanding. Everything she’d dealt with led to her having a mousy voice, quiet and uncertain.

* * *

His POV

He’d expected her to put up a little fight when he tried dressing her. The woman had always been able to pull something out of her ass, sometimes literally, if it meant pushing him away from her. When she’d been at her weakest before, starved and lacking sleep, she could still find it in her to refuse him. To deny him. Once, to the point that she’d rather fumble around in a space pod during crash landing rather than be anywhere near him for safety purposes. She wasn’t fighting him, and he noticed. The earthling may have been alive but something felt off.

Then she spoke up and Vegeta hardly recognized her voice. He knew it was hers, but the tone of it; it just didn’t match up with his memories. It was soft and timid, begging not to be harmed under the words that she said. She was afraid. Was she afraid of him? His gaze turned on her, trying to scope out how she felt about him. The girl had never been afraid of him before. At times when he could have snapped her neck, she had always been bold, in control. Now here she was, clinging to him. The prince didn’t know if he welcomed it or not. Though, at the moment, he certainly wasn’t pushing her clinginess away.

“You won’t need money where we’re going.” He answered sternly, picking the girl up into one of his arms once again. It was time to go, but not without seeing to it that the building was turned to a pile of ash. The Saiyan hung high above in the air. The earthling tucked in one arm, raining down ki from his other hand. The building was gone, he was watching it burn. The whole planet was on fire.

Back at the pods, Raditz and Nappa were crawling into their cramped cabins. They’d done their duty. Vegeta placed Bulma down on her feet outside of his pod, but he didn’t step inside. No, he removed his busted armor and soiled gloves before picking her back up and tucking them into the round cabin. His gloves and armor were useless, and he wanted as little stench of the green man as possible on their long journey back through space. The next place they were destined was on the far reaches of the galaxy. A planet not often visited, but would work well after the mess they’d all been through the last few weeks.

* * *

Her POV

She let him pick her up again, though she couldn’t help but being disappointed when he told her that she wouldn’t be needing money where they’re going. Where were they going, anyway? But she stayed silent, even as he lifted her up. It was… Nice… to watch the whole place burn, the whole place she’d been tortured in for two weeks. But she couldn’t shrug off that heavy feeling she had. She still felt like she shouldn’t be showing much emotion. She still felt like Zarbon would come back to life and beat her.

The most she did against Vegeta was try to grab onto him to pull herself up when he set her down in the grass. It was still uncomfortable to sit down. She rubbed her eyes and actually began crawling into the pod by herself- she didn’t want to be alone in the planet anymore. Or in this planet at all. It was a terrible, terrible planet. She didn’t care if it meant going with another man who raped her. 

“Ah… Where are we going?” She asked it quietly again, standing in the pod and making room for him to come in as well. She didn’t really expect an answer, but she was still curious. She’d seen so many places already. …Were they going to go to this next planet to destroy it as well? Was it just going to be business like usual again?

* * *

His POV

He didn’t answer her this time, the prince too busy trying to figure out the girl’s sheepish nature. She was far too quick to please him, he’d noticed that too. She hadn’t made herself at home in the pod like he’d expected her to. She hadn’t sprawled out and left him little to no room to sit. No, she did as a good slave would, and prepared a spot for her master. As if she’d been trained. As if she’d been beaten into submission. Vegeta expected that behavior from a lot of captives, but not from her. It surprised him.

He took it none the less. The prince had wanted her to act like this since the get go, hadn’t he? Since he ripped her from her burning world months ago. She was finally his good earthling, tending to his needs. The prince was making himself comfortable without having to fight off the female’s flailing limbs for once. Or trying to hold her into position while the pod door hissed closed, just to keep her from trying to escape. Instead, he sat down, took her into his lap, and pressed in the co-ordinance for their next destination. The ship roared to life, leaving the smoldering planet once and for all.

He wanted this, he kept telling himself, but something felt wrong about it. Maybe it was just due to not having witnessed her submissive nature come into place for himself. He quickly shrugged it off, and instead focused on enjoying having the female back in his lap. It’d been a while since they’d shared the cramped space of his pod. He could get a better look at her from here, too. The earthling was thin - thinner than usual. The prince could hardly notice her weight setting on his thighs. It almost looked as if she was afraid to move at times. Had they tortured her so badly? There were a lot of welts on her flesh… She was in need of medical attention.

His brows furrowed. Calmness washed over him, a sense that had escaped him the last few weeks. For the first time, he didn’t feel like ripping something into shreds for the mere act of it. Instead of acting out aggressive behavior, his fingers carefully spread against her bare thigh, stroking her soft skin under the back of his fingers, exploring her gently. Absorbing having her back in his presence. Then, after a moment, he muttered sarcastically, “What, not going to pull a weapon on me this time?”

* * *

Her POV

She had no complaints when he pulled her down on his lap. She only shifted so that she could sit on him without putting too much pressure on her butt. She could tell he was staring at her odd, and she was a bit scared that he’d beat her for moving at all. That wasn’t how she remembered him being, but she was just so used to it by now that she was so scared. She didn’t want it happening all over again.

When he gently reached down and touched her, she jolted, expecting a hit. She was clearly uncomfortable, even when he was clearly only feeling her gently rather than planning on beating her. It’s just how things had been over the past couple weeks– she had been personality beaten into submission.

Bulma glanced up at him at his question, her brows furrowing upward slightly, pathetically. She shook her head slowly, not even saying another word. What was there to say? She still wanted to escape, but she no longer wanted to risk it. She just… Didn’t want anymore. Even if Vegeta never beat her other than that one slap to the face, he still did horrible things when she fought him. Pinned her down and raped her. She wouldn’t put it past him to choke her or spank her like Zarbon did, either.

And even though things had calmed down, she was still shaking like a leaf. She was scared, hungry, and sleep-deprived, and yet she didn’t say a word. She turned her eyes down to her lap and only stared there, not wanting to make Vegeta angry. Not even knowing what to do with herself besides sit like a nice little slave. 

* * *

His POV

Despite her thorough attempts at staying still and sitting pretty, Vegeta could tell that the woman in his lap was trying to stay off of her sore butt. He knew it had to sting raw. It’d looked to of been lashed multiple times, and not just upon him finding her. She shifted, again and again. When he moved, she flinched, and when he looked down at her, there was no angry gaze to meet him back. Her head was tucked away meekly, and Vegeta felt his mouth tug down into a disappointed frown.

He’d expected a wicked tongue lashing at being taken away. Not that she’d want to stay with Zarbon - Vegeta knew what the man was capable of, but he’d expected her not to want to go with him. To venture out on her own terms after the green tyrants death. To lash out at him. She hadn’t tried to strike him once since he’d found her. Not even with that quick tongue of hers. The prince found a part of himself waiting, anticipating, inwardly whining for just a taste of her fiery disposition yet again, but to no avail.

The rest of the trip was quiet. Vegeta was too contemplative over how to handle this new situation to mutter many more taunts at the woman. Not that he’d get the reaction he’d want anyhow. His face crumpled at that reality. He didn’t like it. Though, at one point during the journey he did say “You should rest, woman,” trying for her attention, searching for that pout he loved. They still had a ways to go. The warmth of his palm found her back, and instead of shoving her into a new position, Vegeta tucked her under the safety of his chin, egging her on to move into a position that didn’t demand she rest her weight on her backside. If he was going to hold her, he didn’t want her shifting and shaking the whole way through.

The planet they were headed towards was as green as they came. Vegetation sprouted from anything it could get its roots into, and the land was often blanketed with a cool mist. Large shoots, reminiscent of bamboo, forested most of the land aside from the wide spread fields. What life lived there was tucked away in quaint villages. Thatched roofs and wooden homes. Red paper lanterns and charms of gold. Everyone was dressed in silken robes, much like kimonos, and family owned shops were the only way to go when buying anything. It was quiet, it was serene, and it was much needed after the terrors the last two weeks had been.

The loudest thing that ever happened to the planet was the three pods crash landings.

* * *

Her POV

She could feel his disappointment, but he never stopped being gentle. He didn’t yell at her for having changed so much, or try to push her away. Rather, he held her closer and helped her move into a position where she laid against him on her hip rather than her butt. It was more comfortable, but it was hard to feel completely at home after having gone through the kinds of things she did. On top of that, she was hurt just about everywhere. When he told her to rest, she found herself unable even if she tried. She was too far in pain, too hungry, too terrified.

He held her close to make sure she didn’t move when they finally crash-landed on a planet after a long, quiet trip. Her nerves were beginning to settle, but she couldn’t help but still be scared. She looked up at him when the pod settled in its crater, before she went ahead and opened the pod door for him. She climbed out and stood to the side so he could get out, before glancing around.

It was a beautiful planet, though she wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of beauty anymore. Zarbon brought it up constantly; it was why he did everything he did. He was just that obsessed with the idea of beauty. It almost sickened her now, but she could at least respect the serene aura that arose from the planet’s very soil, like it was naturally this calming. …They were going to destroy this planet, weren’t they? It was such a shame.

* * *

His POV

There was something different about the girl, and Vegeta wasn’t sure if he liked it. His brows arched and his mouth contorted, shifting in his seat. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this new earthling. Some part of him told him he should reject her, that it was pointless to keep a lifeless female, but another part of him wanted to curl her into the confines of his lap and growl at anything that dared to be an onlooker. Almost protective. The prince was caught between worlds, but one thing was for certain. He’d traveled the galaxy looking for her. He wasn’t about to give her up just yet.

Her mannerisms when the pod landed only confirmed what he’d suspected. She’d been trained, and trained thoroughly. Opening doors, standing to the side, waiting to be told when to move. The prince lip snarled, arching a questioning brow. Though, part of him still wanted to try this new female out. He wasn’t rejecting her servitude... But when she’d stood up, he’d noticed something. Blood. And a lot of it. It was all over his lap. At some point in the journey, her insides must of finally decided to rip open from their over abundant abuse and spilt all down his legs. God damn it, just how many times, and how hard had she been fucked?! The red stained her thighs too, right between them, until it dripped where she stood. Wasn’t she in pain, didn’t she realize?

Raditz and Nappa noticed it too, sniffing the air. The moment their noses began to twitch, however, Vegeta shot them a look that said ‘ _don’t you dare sniff my female’_. It was instinct talking, all Vegeta had meant by the growl was, ‘she’s not for fucking right now’. He wasn’t sure why, but the scent sent a wave of need up his back. His eyes had dilated, though he wasn’t aware of it.

“Woman, you’re bleeding. Didn’t you notice?” The prince questioned, placing his hand on the pod behind her. Normally, Nappa would have been the first to pick up the girl and take her into town. Not this time. Vegeta took her up himself, dripping in blood and all. Frustrated at the situation, he headed into the quiet village none the less. She needed medical attention. As far as the prince knew her insides were shredded beyond repair. Their first stop would be the medical bath house. Where cat people and fox humanoids waited to serve their customers, dressed in kimonos and straw hats.

* * *

Her POV

“…Ah?” She turned to look at Vegeta with the comment he made. She felt something warm between her legs, but she hadn’t really paid attention to it. She was becoming numb, and some part of her was just hoping it was sweat. She glanced down, and there it was. Lots of blood. She’d bled similarly in the past, after rounds of being raped by tens of men, but this was different. Thick, mucus-y. Her period. Had it really only been a month? …When she thought about it, it seemed like the days added up differently. It felt like it’d been forever, but with math it seemed like it was more like weeks. Maybe it was all the stress that had forced it to come.

She was picked up by Vegeta, who seemed even more worried than before. Why did he care so much about her, anyway? He had an obsession, and it seemed that obsession persisted despite the fact that she wasn’t really herself anymore. But even with how disappointed he had been that she wasn’t what he wished she was, he still brought her to what, from what she could tell with the signs, a medical center.

The bath house was reminiscent of home. Not her city, but the outskirts. Animals rather than deformed humans, and with architecture similar to old villages and shrines. It made her slightly more comfortable despite the pain, and despite how uncomfortable she was in her bled-through shorts. She turned her head to look at Vegeta rather than try speaking to any of the servants herself. She wanted to ask why he brought her here, why he cared, but she knew better than to disturb a master when they were talking to someone else. It would warrant a lot of punishment if she bothered speaking.

* * *

His POV

That scent was driving him crazy. Every time he took closer to the village bath house, another thought wiggled into his head. Maybe he should just take her right there. Pin her right there on the ground. She was his female; he could do with her as he pleased. Just a quick fuck, just to explore that smell. It was something different, not just the rich scent of her sweet blood (which was his favorite), but the smell of something else. It was clawing at his brain.

He’d slowly picked up pace, his heart fluttering the more he thought about it, and then the ginger fat cat behind the bathhouse counter broke his concentration. They’d made it to the institution before Vegeta’s animal instincts had time to kick in and he pinned her in the middle of the village. He snapped out of it, and began ordering the orange feline to take the woman and have her cleaned up, but first given medical attention. There was one catch. He’d be joining them. He’d have to be an idiot to let her out of his sights this time.

Nappa and Raditz were having a conversation behind them. They were feeling particularly horny all of the sudden, and were going on about finding a brothel. If this planet even had one. There were few servants, if any. In fact, the pretty black with white paws that showed Vegeta and Bulma to their bathing area was probably the owner’s daughter.

“She’s been overly fucked.” Vegeta spat, explaining to the black cat. Setting Bulma down on a little table that’d been covered with a blanket that acted as a medical bed, while the robed feline fetched a thermometer and stethoscope to check her over.

“Fix it.” He demanded.

“Oh my,” the feline’s nerves flared up. “I’ll… I’ll do my best… Our medical baths should heal anything ..as long as it’s not too… Permanently damaged.” She really hated revealing that, but wasn’t going to disappoint the scary man later. With good reason too. Vegeta started growling from where he stood against the wall. His arms tucked over his chest, curling his lip dominantly over his canine. It really was like watching a cat and dog converse.

* * *

Her POV

She was taken in and looked over by a black cat who appeared to be a doctor. She examined her just like any other doctor would do, while Vegeta spat and growled seemingly protectively. Bulma stayed silent, but something he said made her raise a brow, though she quickly hid the emotion and looked away. He thought she was bleeding from being raped too many times. It’d happened to her before, but this was different. Did he not know what a period was?

She looked back at him again, and without talking for fear of punishment, she shook her head. Trying to explain to him that no, that wasn’t it. She was afraid to open her mouth and personally explain it to him, however, especially with the doctor in front of them. She wasn’t going to be beaten because she spoke out of turn. It was enough that she was still trying to avoid putting pressure on her butt while resting on the examination table.

She did, however, continue to keep her eyes on him when the doctor began prodding her for all the bruises and welts she had across her body. Nothing seemed to break the skin, until she gave her an examination between her legs. Aside from the blood from her period, she could find with some bit of examination that caused her to wince and shift, she was torn inside. It wasn’t a surprise to her, but the cat did click her tongue on the roof of her mouth and look at Vegeta with a concerned expression. ‘Poor girl’ must have been what she was thinking.

She was brought off the table and led to the bath after getting a quick wash-down with a rag and strip of her clothes. It didn’t matter if she was dirty; she was bleeding enough that the water would need to be changed anyway. And the moment Bulma took even the slightest step into the bath, she visibly relaxed. It was the healing water. She took quick steps in and settled down into the water, her eyes closing when the wounds all at once began healing. She’d made the effort to even cover everything but the slightest bit of her face, so even the wounds on her scalp from her hair being pulled could heal.

* * *

His POV

The prince hadn’t moved since the doctor had begun her examination of the girl’s battered and welted body. He watched in muted silence. His eyes never leaving her, his gaze honed in on the doctor’s movements, like a predator waiting for a given signal for him to jump in. Bulma may have noticed his new show over protectiveness, but Vegeta certainly hadn’t. He was making sure she wasn’t going to escape again. That some unforeseen circumstance, be it from the doctor or from a servant, was going to cause her to vanish again. To harm her. To over fuck her to the point that she was this unfuckable mess.

He wasn’t protective, but his body language sure was. When the doctor moved to check between the girl’s thighs, Vegeta’s stance shifted, burning his black eyes into the cat’s shoulders like an ominous, watchful force. That’s when he noticed Bulma trying to get his attention. She was completely silent, but her body was speaking out. Body language seemed to be the lingo in the room. The prince’s head tilted, knitting his brows; as if asking her what the fuck she was trying to say. Arching a brow and slightly parting his mouth, he tried to coax her into telling him what he could clearly see burning in her mind.

She was afraid to talk. That was it. He’d seen her try to question him at the front desk, but had blown it off. The woman always spoke out of turn. Not today, not now.

“What the hell do you want, woman? Speak up!” Vegeta’s frustrations finally ground out, sparking right behind the girl as she began to sink into her medical tub. He’d followed her into the bath room. The tub was big enough for several Saiyan soldiers, and he was planning on using the healing waters for himself. He’d left his armor back on Zarbon’s planet, but his suit was still in place. Dried to his body from all of the blood and gut splatter. His back was turned to her this time while he undressed. The prince wasn’t exactly expecting her to pull a knife on him in her current state. 

He pulled his stained shirt off of his head without much care, and then went for his soiled pants. However, once his back was exposed it was apparent just how much damage Zarbon’s monstrous form had inflicted. His entire left side was beaten black and blue. He had a few broken ribs. The prince didn’t seem to notice, however, and sat himself in the bath on a long, heavy sigh. He’d sunk right into her bath, her bloody discharge and all, rather than taking one of his own.

* * *

Her POV

He yelled at her to talk, and she gulped nervously. So… She was allowed to? He wouldn’t be angry at her for speaking? Still, she stayed quiet. This time, because she was gathering the courage to speak. Her eyes watched Vegeta as he stripped his clothes, and it was then that she found out just how horribly battered he was. Black and blue everywhere, with obvious breaks in his ribs– his chest looked slightly malformed, that’s how bad it was. He’d beaten Zarbon for her. It was an odd feeling, knowing that. Her gaze pierced him when he settled down beside her in the bath.

“…It’s not from anything anyone else did,” she finally spoke up, though her voice was still low, like a whisper. She was scared of speaking. “It’s just something that happens every month. To all human women on Earth. I know it’s really only mammals that have it, instead of the other animals on our planet, so is it that rare in space, too?” Her eyes turned away. Maybe it wasn’t her place to be asking questions.

“…It’s just part of the reproductive cycle. If a woman doesn’t get pregnant, then she sheds her uterus lining. It’s a gross process.” Her nose wrinkled at the thought, a little bit of her old personality coming back to her with her statement. Maybe it was because it was easier to pretend she was herself again when speaking about something that was so intrinsically part of her like as an Earthling.

“…It’s odd, though. It came… Early. It’s supposed to happen consistently enough, but it came a week early.” She closed her eyes again, instead trying to focus on the feeling of her body healing itself. Her rear end no longer hurt like it did before, and the welts along her body, the handprints on her neck, and the rawness of her scalp was slowly fading. That’s when she said something odd, that she didn’t think she’d ever say. “…Thank you, Vegeta.”

* * *

His POV

The healing waters felt good across his tanned and scarred skin. The prince had been ignoring that pain the whole way through, but once the properties of the bath began mending his bones, popping them back into place, he let out an audible groan of relief. He sank deeper into the murky bath, propping his weight onto his elbows along the wooden baths rim, until his collar bone was at the water line.

The prince hadn’t looked at her since he’d joined her. Becoming a recluse, as animals do when they find a safe haven to lick their wounds. But he was listening to every word; side eyeing her through his narrowed glare now and again. She was speaking meekly again, he’d noticed it through her explanation, but he didn’t pay it any mind. But as her explanation grew, so did the prince’s attention. He looked at her, cocking a brow, as if she’d said something outrageous.

“Are you trying to tell me…” He spoke lowly. “…that the female of your species bleed out every month, if not properly impregnated...” He was staring at her now. A dead panned expression of disbelief. That... That was the most brutal thing he’d ever heard, and he was sure he’d witnessed it all. A hot grunt of air blew out of his nose, shaking his head and returning to cleansing his wounds. Then she murmured something he thought he’d imagined rather than heard, and Vegeta felt his eyes slowly blink, softly rolling back under his lids. He couldn’t fight it, despite how he resisted the urge. It was a wonderful feeling, and it was coming without his consent. She’d praised him, thanked him, and said his name to top it off.

He was not a creature to be given thanks. He raped, maimed, and destroyed. He knew it. He loved it. He’d never been praised, ever. It felt warm… But he shook it off as quickly as it came, giving her nothing more than a ‘ _gruff_ ’ in response. His attention went back to his bruises. Cupping the water and rinsing it over his bloody face. His jaw and cheek bone had been cracked, but the water quickly washed that away.

“What is that supposed to mean, that it came early,” he grunted, running his fingers through his upright hair. “And how long is it supposed to last. I can’t have you bleeding all over my ship.” He was changing the subject, skipping right over her praise to gather information, to make himself more comfortable.

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t respond to her word of thanks, but a bit of movement here and there seemed to confirm to her that he was glad to be thanked. She sat up when her scalp was no longer throbbing, and pulled herself a little closer to him. The doctor had since left, figuring it would be best to leave the Saiyan alone with what appeared to be a favorite slave or concubine. A wise decision; Bulma had found that those who were in his presence for too long rarely survived, beyond a ‘lucky’ few.

“It means I wasn’t supposed to have it yet. My last one ended a couple days before you showed up. On Earth, I mean… It’s a week early for some reason.” She watched him slowly mend himself back together, and finally reached out, helping him get sufficiently wet. Being a good slave. That’s all she really was, after all. She knew that by now. She learned her lesson.

“It usually ends for me in about four or five days,” she explained, lathering up a particularly bruised part of his neck to try and get it to heal. “Sorry if it causes a mess. It’s my biology.” She was half-expecting to be beaten, in all honesty. Zarbon would beat her for the mere idea of having something as ugly as a period, much less actually having it and proceeding to bleed everywhere. She knew he wasn’t a fan of blood. Knew it from the moment she was whipped and spanked senseless after biting a man’s dick hard enough it broke the skin.

“…Are you feeling better? I hope so.” An odd statement, coming from her. But again something adopted from her time with Zarbon, even if she was partially interested in his well-being this time. “…By the way, Vegeta… Prince Vegeta, maybe I should start saying…” After all, she did get hit for not using Zarbon’s title when addressing him. “After we’re healed… Can I… Can we go get something to eat? My stomach hurts. I tried to sleep in the pod, but I’m so hungry…”

* * *

His POV

It wasn’t just her mannerisms that’d taken a turn; it was her whole speech pattern too. His gaze darted at her when she apologized for her biology. As if it was something to be sorry for. The prince had been growing steadily impressed by the amount of blood the female of her species could loose and live. It was no wonder she was so stubborn, so full of life. He knew so much loss couldn’t come without pain. Her threshold of pain must have been higher then he’d expected. It explained the shock collar’s defect.

“That is hardly something to be sorry for. You should be proud that your race is capable of such a feat.” He’d expounded, staring a whole through her as she lathered the wounds at his neck. Un-moving, expecting her to do her job, only shifting when he felt a rush of need from the brush of their bodies. The closeness of her frame and the scent of her body were toying with his fantasies. He was getting excited and thus coaxed the woman to straddle his lap while she bathed him.

Then, she’d called him by his proper title. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It was the timid-ness of her voice that made the sound of his title sour, but he let it slide. After all, she was right. It was exactly how she should have been addressing him this whole time. The girl pressed closer to him of her own accord, and the prince relaxed into her rubbing the healing waters into his damaged muscle. Kneading his palms up and down the length of her submerged thighs, he was enjoying being bathed for once. Just how far would this new version of the earthling let him touch her without a fight? The prince’s eyes darted towards her; he was getting that sly look in his features again. 

“We’ll eat later,” he finally groaned. His fingers trailed along the sides of her waist with one hand, tracing the line of her spine with the other. She was thin, he could have played her rib-cage like a xylophone. He opened one eye to look at her malnourished bones, her breasts, much thinner than before. She needed food, but first, the selfish bastard wanted to take what he’d been waiting for. It was all he could think about for the past weeks; her taking the stiffening length between his legs and watching her moan on top of him. His palms squeezed handfuls of her backside, slowly sliding her to nearer to his torso. Recalling her pretty pink cheeks, the memory arched his back and ripped a soft groan from his maw. He was testing her resolve, her will to fight back. Then, his heated gaze turned on her and he demanded, “ _Ride me._ ”

* * *

Her POV

She knew this wasn’t turning out well for her. Suddenly he was coaxing her to sit on his lap, which she obliged to. He was touching her sensually, and she didn’t have to look down into the water to know he was getting hard. Even if she was relieved to hear him tell her she should be proud of her race rather than hurt her for what she couldn’t help, she was quickly being forced into an uncomfortable situation again.

He agreed to bring her somewhere to eat, but he kept giving her that look. Shifting his body and groaning. She wished she had the willpower to stop doing what was seen as her job, but she lacked it now. Her lips pursed for a moment, but she tried to pass it off as just a pacing expression that meant nothing. That was, until he commanded her to ride him. It was obvious how she felt about it. Disappointment clouded her features as she stared at him, wishing she wasn’t being forced through this again.

She looked backward to make sure the black cat was still out of sight, probably tending to other guests and just hoping Vegeta would leave on his own, before she looked back at Vegeta and actually listened to him. She pulled her hips up and reached down to pump his growing erection so it was sufficiently hard, and when it was, she sat on him.

She guessed this was still better than what she’d otherwise have to deal with. She didn’t want to fuck him, but she wasn’t being gagged, beaten, and tied up. So she tolerated it, slowly rocking her body as she stared at him with a blank expression. She’d do it, but there wasn’t any way she’d be doing it with a smile. That was one thing that Zarbon hadn’t quite managed to beat out of her in the two weeks she’d stayed. Even when he yelled at her to smile, they weren’t very convincing when she did. Maybe in another week or two it would have happened. She was thankful to be able to leave when she did.

* * *

His POV

He’d really expected a slap for that demand. The prince had gone as far as braced himself for it. How many times in the last few weeks had she struck his royal face? For the first time in his destructive life, someone was brave enough to put him in his place. He’d wanted it, anticipated the blood boiling sting of her fingers, and the angry bile that’d flicker in her blue eyes whenever he’d demand she pleasure him sexually. He was ready for it, but it never came.

The earthling had really been beaten that far down the food chain. It was somewhat disappointing, but the cold bastard was selfishly taking advantage of the moment. The prince was settling back, getting comfortable for the long fuck ahead of them; running his rough hands along the length of her back; shifting under her, giving her full access to his standing member. Ready to treat her like the dozens of whores before, as the whore she was so vividly acting as now. But then he witnessed her bottom lip prod out, her brows furrow at the thought of him taking her, and the prince felt his heart beat wildly again. 

She still hated him, for a brief moment he saw it written all over her disrespectful face, and the prince wanted to lick it up. But it wasn’t meant to last, and soon the glazed over look of a mindless drone set in. It was hardly a turn on, and it showed through his posture. Vegeta’s brow knit, retaliating with a grunt. That was not a look he liked on her delicate features. Though, it was hard to focus on anything once she took him in. The slick slide of her hot insides contracting around him snapped his jaw shut and rumbled thunder from his chest. It felt good, damn good, especially with her being in heat, lubricating his thick mass between her flesh.

“Not going to say no?” He mocked, shooting her a taunting smile. Gripping her hips in his palms, he crammed her firmly against his lap. His hips had been softly bucking under her butt, but now begged to beat into the woman until the bath water churned over the edge. Her tight pussy felt better then he remembered, and he groaned at that fact. The harder he lapped his thick length between her thighs, the more excited he was able to become. The prince was staring up at her, watching her body jolt and ride him in, but it wasn’t as good as it could be. Not with that look on her face. He yearned to prod her fiery ego.

“Say my name,” he hissed, piercing his black gaze into her blues. Then rolling his tongue over her near nipple, “Say it,” he demanded sternly, before biting in.

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t look happy about her lack of interest in the sex. That suited her just fine; she didn’t care if he was happy or not. She might have been beaten down, but she still was not going to act like she enjoyed being treated like a whore. Even if she did not necessarily act like she did not like being treated like a whore, either.

He didn’t look upset for long, however. He began growling in pleasure, the same way she’d remembered him doing before. He seemed to be resisting bucking up into her, but he grabbed her hips and began taking control of the movement of her body nonetheless. He asked if she was going to say no, and she turned her head as a refusal to make eye contact.

“Ah… Mph…” It was hard to contain at least small mumbles as he moved inside her, mostly just because of the forceful feeling of him pushing her down onto his cock over and over rather than being pleasured moans. That was another thing Zarbon had taken away from her– she’d tried her best to distance herself from the pleasures of sex. It sickened her to think about the long, exhausting sessions they had before he tied her down, where she genuinely enjoyed it. Where she came to him, rather than the other way around.

Her eyes flicked to Vegeta when he gave her a command. They quickly looked away. A refusal. Or, at least, she wanted to refuse. But he persisted, and like a beaten puppy, she obliged. She spoke his name in a sigh: _“Vegeta… Prince Vegeta…”_ Her brows twitched when he licked one of her nipples, but she let him do as he pleased, murmuring his name again. _“Prince Vegeta…”_

* * *

His POV

The prince had had many women before her, but he couldn’t recall the pent up rage that burned through him like every time he fucked the earthling. His flesh ran hot and his muscles quivered, jerking the beads of bathwater down his physique. Maybe it’d been all that stewing and hungering to find her up until this point. Day after day of having her slip from his grasp, to escape him, each and every day she’d been in Zarbon’s hold. His need to claim her had been building up, and now it was all throwing itself into the girl, buck after buck, reclaiming her every time he churned his thick cock up between her wet thighs.

Then, she began to say his name, and the prince’s brow twitched unhappily with the odd way she’d said his it. It was becoming increasingly difficult to reminisce his victory or explore her curves, but his stubbornness persisted. It didn’t matter if she wasn’t enjoying it - he was. That was all that matter to the selfish prince, or so he thought. Though, he’d seen the rejection in her eyes when he told her to fuck him, to say his name, however she did it none the less. She was fucking him for once, and he was going to savor it. 

His growling mouth roamed from one breast to the next. Digging the hard ridge of his nose and jaw into the soft skin, relishing being able to handle her so closely without being pushed away, kneading and rolling her hips and ass cheeks back and forth in his hands. Yet, there was something dissatisfying in the luxury. It was a bit like fucking a lifeless doll. She wasn’t just resisting him this time, she wasn’t moving at all. Not enough to please him, at least. The prince loved their raw, feisty, heated battles over sex. He’d always told himself he’d want her to accept him, but now that he had her riding his dick, he could sense the lack of her spirit in the moment.

His eyes darted up to find her own. That’s when he’d thought of something. He’d get her riled up. He knew she hated him. The girl may do as he says now, but behind her glossy eyes he knew hate burned bright. He just had to remind her how fiery she could be.

“ _Ride me,_ ” he groaned between heavy breaths, “..r _ide me like you’d ride your big bad wolf._ ” His eyes were full of playful cruelty; lifting his chin and growling at the base of her neck. He still remembered the vexed hatred she’d dug into him the first time he’d said that. If he was going to remind her how much she hated him, rather than act like a corpse, this was the best way he knew how to do it.

* * *

Her POV

He was clearly enjoying himself. She said nothing, and barely moved much at all as he forced her up and down his cock, kissed and licked her breasts, growled and grunted. In the back of her mind, she was wondering if this was for all the times she had flirted with guys while still dating Yamcha. Being violated over and over… Was it her fault? She refused to show her emotion, instead biting her lip. She didn’t want to get hit for fighting back.

It was uncomfortable to keep bouncing on him like she was, and she couldn’t derive any pleasure out of it. Even beyond the fact she’d detached herself, the tears had healed but she couldn’t get herself into it. It only felt uncomfortable, like having something jammed down your ear. It hurt, almost, but not quite– probably because he was at least attempting to stimulate her by licking her breasts, and because of the lubrication her blood provided. That was disgusting in and of itself.

“…” It was hard to tell what emotion was on her face when Vegeta mentioned Yamcha’s sexual nickname again. Big bad wolf. Every fiber of her being burned with anger, but she stayed still other than her brows lowering. She wanted to kill him, the same as before. But she was so badly battered that she didn’t want to risk fighting him like before. What good did that ever bring her, anyway? Even with him rather than Zarbon. The one time she nearly shot his dick off, she almost had her hand crushed in revenge, but settled on the most painful slap to the face she’d ever endured.

She turned her head to stare at Vegeta with that expression, trying to mask the anger burning behind her eyes. It was even more of a sore spot now, knowing that Yamcha seemed to be the only man that had been with her sexually without wronging her in some way. Without forcing his way in without her consent. Without beating her. Her grip on his shoulders tightened just slightly, and she finally began to move. Up, down. Up, down. It wasn’t what she did for Yamcha, no. But he couldn’t rightfully complain now that she was actually moving her hips properly, could he?

* * *

His POV

Small slips of breath may have been passing from his lips, but he was listening, waiting, anticipating. Vegeta was not expecting her to do as he’d demanded. Not one bit. He’d known what he’d said had been awful, that it’d burn her to the quick, and he hadn’t cared. He’d only wanted to watch that flicker of life light her back up like an angry little candle. But then her fingers gripped his shoulders, her hips slowly began rocking, and he realized she was doing as he’d said instead.

It taken him a moment to register it, that the most unexpected reaction he could get from the girl was what had played out. Maybe she really was gone. Maybe her warrior’s spirit had faded out. Maybe he really should just enjoy fucking her like a piece of meat until he came. The dullness of disappointment must have been visibly sunken into his features before he ever looked up at her. It wasn’t his usual expression of greedy cockiness or foul delight. It was the cold, callused, glazed-over look of superiority that he gave any whore he encountered.

He was planning on turning inwardly, becoming as selfish as he could possibly get in order to drown out his disappointment, and to ride her out into ecstasy… But then she surprised him again. It was just a flicker, a faint look in her eye that she was very obviously trying to hide, but it was there. It was raging fire, it was passionate hate. It was her, and he stared right back into it. His own face lit up with new lustiness. His earthling was doing very well at trying to hide it, but he’d noticed it - he’d gotten a reaction out of her after all. That’s all he’d wanted.

He was growing faster, thicker. The heat seeping through his muscles and tendons were threatening to strain him into climax, but he was lingering, staggering it off. What little movement she gave him with her hips, he met them, grinding his pelvis against the flesh hiding her clit; leaning his head over the baths rim and pressing his thick shoulders against the edge for needed support. The prince held the woman in place while he fucked up into her.

His brow furrowing and his neck strained, flushing down his flexed chest. He was edging on climax, giving his hands time to roam their way down her body until they moved at her inner thighs. The pads of his thumbs rubbed at the top of her lower lips, enjoying watching them kiss at the tanned skin above his cock, until they finally gushed with his thick seed. The only part of the act he could really enjoy.

* * *

Her POV

It became more painful, the more he acted. He was getting closer to orgasm, and as such, he began beating into her hard enough she didn’t have an opportunity to move. It was uncomfortable and it hurt, though little bits of pleasure–unwanted pleasure–came each time he’d grind up against her clit. When he started thumbing the lips that hid her clit it was all the worse. She wasn’t even close to orgasm, but it still made her sensitive bits twitch. She didn’t like it.

While he was busy pushing his head back into the wooden ground and bucking up into her, Bulma took the opportunity to give a sour expression. One of hated and disgust, much like what she’d usually show him before. Only while he wasn’t looking; she knew she couldn’t risk it otherwise. It wasn’t like anyone was around to tell on her like during the orgies that Zarbon hosted.

Finally, he came inside her, groaning and pleasing himself with her body. It didn’t come soon enough, and as soon as he was finished, she climbed off him. She didn’t yell at him or whine or complain, but she wished she could. Every fiber of her being demanded she slap him, but the fear that had been instilled in her persisted, causing her to keep her mouth shut.

Instead, she only thought about how horrible he was, while she shifted and wished she could at least convince him to wear a condom so she wouldn’t have to put up with the feeling of cum inside her. That was one of the worst parts– it may have ended, but she could still feel it. When she stood up out of the bath, she could feel it leaking down with her blood. No amount of scrubbing her body clean ever made it feel alright.

She gathered her emotions and closed her eyes, taking a breath. When she felt calm, she turned her head down to stare at him. “…Can we have food now?”

* * *

His POV

It was the first time he’d really heard her voice since they’d started, other than him forcing her to say his name. He was drifting. The slow lap and tug of the still moving waters around his torso was the only sensation his numbing, buzzing body was aware of. He was barely aware of her pulling herself off of him. Not wanting to move, now that he was finished with her. He was just about to grab her and tuck her under him, thinking about getting himself off properly, when the girl piped up about food. Well, she was quick to get what she wanted, that was for sure.

One of his closed eyes half opened, dazing up at the girl whom had so thoroughly collected herself. It was a little impressive. If he didn’t know any better, he’d expect her to pout at any moment, given she was _almost_ giving demands. His eye closed again and the prince rolled over, crossing his arms carelessly over the baths rim. Seemingly ignoring her, showing her his wide muscular back. But he wasn’t ignoring her, not completely. The prince was just seeing to it that he stayed in control.

He waved down a servant that’d been waiting at the door frame. The servant quickly kneeled to the prince’s demands, and after a whisper or two, the servant hurried back out the door. Vegeta always preferred to conduct business in private, however that was gained. He’d ordered their clothes to be cleaned and given something to wear in the meantime. And that’s exactly what the servant went to fetch. New clothes - traditional clothing from the planet, seeing as it was the only thing the bath house sold.

The moment the servant scurried away, Vegeta stepped out of the tub dripping wet, reaching for the nearby table that held a stack of fluffy towels. He hadn’t looked at the girl since she’d asked for a meal, but he knew she was there. In no time two servants had returned, both holding folded fabrics. The prince, now dry and clean, stretched out his arms. Expecting to be dressed. One of the servants quickly took the hint and dressed him fully in a black kimono with a wrap around the waist, and wooden sandals (the sandals he found a bit odd, giving the pair a look). Blue thread wove down the back of his kimono in the form of a dragon, other than that, it lacked pattern. Once dressed, he halted at the door. Never looking, only expecting Bulma to follow, after her assigned servant dressed her down, too.

* * *

Her POV

She was irritated when it first seemed he wasn’t listening to her. He even dared to roll around so not to look at her. But then he called over a servant and she took their clothes, and Bulma was afraid she was going to have to deal with a second round. …Then he began drying himself off with a towel. She did the same, and she was pleased to see the servant return with clothing.

She was dressed into a dark blue floral yukata that looked a bit cheap, but then again, she didn’t expect much. They tried to give her sandals, but she insisted on wearing the shoes she loved so much. Afterward, Bulma looked over herself in the mirror, mostly eyeing how tired and hungry she was with her messy hair and bags under her eyes and thin arms, before she noticed Vegeta leaving. She did debate for a split second trying to escape, but… Why would she? She was getting food.

She followed him and set her hands properly in front of her as the two of them walked out of the bathhouse, and Bulma made the mental note that it seemed that both Nappa and Raditz had disappeared. Not a surprise. They were impatient men. Especially Nappa. They probably got bored.

“…Thanks for all the food you gave me before,” she spoke up, glancing at him for a split second. “At the other planet, I mean. It was all really good. …I thought about it a lot when I was withheld from getting food.” If there was anything to say about her time with Zarbon, it’s that it was torture. They raped her, beat her, starved her, humiliated her… Geeze. She wished she could go home. She wished she could wake up and it’d all be over. But she knew by now that that wasn’t going to happen.

“…I want to eat steak.” 

* * *

His POV

He noticed her clinginess to her footwear. It didn’t surprise him, if anything, it let him know she was still lurking there somewhere under all that slave talk. Though he had to admit, she looked good in a yukata. His gaze may have lingered when he first set eyes on her. She was getting demanding again, too. By the time the two had taken to the dirt streets, she was already demanding what kind of food he’d be giving her. As if she had a choice in the matter. When it came down to it, she was lucky the prince was willing to feed her at all. But she wasn’t just any slave was she, and besides, hearing her demand meat had twitched a grin into the corner of his lip.

“What, no kale salad?” His deep voice prodded, tilting his head just enough to side eye her. She’d thanked him again, and she was following him without a collar or chain. It was becoming confusing. He was having a hard time deciphering whether she meant it, or if manners had just been beaten into her. A puzzled look took his face when she’d mentioned the food he’d given her, slowing his pace. He’d wanted to know if she’d gotten the water along with it, but he wasn’t willing to admit how much he’d spent on her. The prince looked as if he’d wanted to ask something. Parting his lips, but his brow hardened and he swallowed it down, pressing on.

He was following his nose, as Saiyans so often seemed to do. Past the trails of paper lanterns lighting the dimming path of the village street, until a small shop stand came into view along the side of the road. Its glow was welcoming, it smelled fantastic, and hung heavy with the flavor of meat in the air. It would definitely do. The place only had a few places to sit, which Vegeta took predominantly. The shop owned by an older fox and his younger son, but both were ready to serve. Even if their new, off-worldly guests were terrifying upon first glance. Well, at least one of them was.

“Two bowls. And a lot of it,” his threatening voice ground out, as it often did when the prince demanded food; causing the smaller fox to tremble and hide behind the stand. The older fox fumbled to fill up bowls with broth, meat, noodle, vegetable, and more meat, as quickly as possible. Setting a place for two, complete with tea and chop sticks.

* * *

Her POV

He mocked her again. It didn’t go unnoticed, and she turned her head to glance at him while trying to contain herself from making an irritated expression. Why did these people that did this stuff to her always feel the need to mock? They were never above ridicule themselves. Vegeta ate like a pig, and yet she still recalled him trying to say she was a bottomless pit for wanting more than table scraps.

He took her to eat nonetheless, so maybe she shouldn’t be too irritated. It was at least pleasant to be able to sit down and have a bowl in front of her, though she had asked for steak rather than soup. Ramen, by the looks of it. She’d eat it either way; too tired to be picky.

In fact, the moment it was put in front of her, she dug in. Eating it as fast as she could, clearly a symptom of being malnourished for so long. She wouldn’t have been able to survive much longer than she did, that much was obvious. She was eating fast enough to give herself a stomachache from too much food, but she didn’t care. 

Technically, she wasn’t supposed to be eating this much. Not just for her diet. She knew that people who were starving should not be eating large quantities of food. But how could she help herself, when a big bowl was sitting in front of her asking to be devoured? She felt more like a Saiyan than a human when she dug in, and she must have looked nearly the part, too, eating like she was.

* * *

His POV

It was probably no surprise as to why the large fox behind the counter had mistaken them for a couple from the same species. They sat the same, they stuffed their faces like ravenous animals the same, and aside from one having a tail (that the fox couldn’t see anyhow) they looked the same. It was rare to get off worlders, and the fox just couldn’t help but comment, “It’s so nice to have off-worlders, we rarely get visitors to our village. You and your young mate are welcome to stop by any time.”

Vegeta nearly choked on the broth he’d been busy gulping down. Slamming the empty bowl down, he shot cold daggers at the store owner. 

“I’m sorry… Wife..?” The fox was met with a growl. He trembled, trying again. “...concubine?”

“Slave.” Vegeta corrected. “And if you don’t watch your mouth, you’ll be on the market next.” Thunder rumbled from his presence in warning. His bowl slid across the wooden counter hard enough for it to crash off the side. The fox caught it, quickly filling it back up with more noodle and bits of meat. The shop owner had saved his own skin by thinking quickly and fetching the Saiyan more food. Disrespect could land him in the grave, but food was always a good deterrent.

In the time it took to land his hands on a new ceramic bowl of stew, Vegeta had glanced in the girl’s direction. He’d noticed how fast she’d been stuffing her face from the corner of his eye, but he’d left her to her own devices. If she was stupid enough to get herself sick, he wasn’t going to stop her. A hard survival lesson - and he wasn’t planning on buying her more food if she puked it all up. Though it was nice to see her acting out what he considered to be a healthy appetite for once.

What he was staring at were the sticks between her fingers, and how she was using them to shovel food into her mouth. His brows twitched. A skill, a skill he didn’t possess. He’d tossed his sticks over his shoulder the moment he’d sat down, getting a noodle on his cheek from the slurping of the stew instead. Then he noticed a small box of chop-sticks on the shops counter, and he picked a pair up. Doing his best to maneuver them between his finger and thumb, he attempted to pick out whatever mushroom he saw floating in the dark broth. He wasn’t making much progress. No, he was only growing frustrated, crumpling his brows, baring his fangs; and after a moment, the twigs snapped under the pressure of his thumb.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma glanced up from eating–though she never stopped–when the fox incorrectly called her his mate. The idea disturbed her, even worse when he tried to ask if she was his wife. As if. She wouldn’t even marry Yamcha; there was no way in hell she’d be marrying this monster. But the one that stung most of all was Vegeta calling her his slave. It’s not like he hadn’t called her it many times before, but it was so dehumanizing. She was a slave. That’s all she was to him. To anyone. Not human, not a woman deserving of respect. Especially not anymore, after being beaten into submission.

She closed her eyes and continued eating, and dropped the bowl down when she finished it. She shook her head when the fox went to fill it up again; she knew she didn’t need it. Her belly didn’t feel full yet, but she knew if she ate too much, she’d puke it all up or give herself a heart attack. Besides, that giant quantity of soup was just about putting her to sleep after feeling exhausted for so long. 

Her head leaned on the counter and she closed her eyes. Ah…. It really did feel good, to close her eyes again. Even if this was hardly the place to do it. She couldn’t help herself, after being deprived of basic needs so long. She started nodding off, and while Vegeta was busy scarfing his food down like crazy, Bulma began to snore. 

She began to dream, too, and not anything pleasant. It was about Zarbon, beating her. Killing Vegeta, and whipping her and beating her worse than she’d ever been beaten before for attracting him. For bleeding naturally. He went a step further and sewed her mouth shut, and whenever he wanted to hear her begging during sex, he’d just rip the threads out and sew them back in when he was finished.

* * *

His POV

The shop owner was wise to leave the pair alone after the incident of calling them by the wrong title. Thankfully, by the sixth bowl of stew, Vegeta was finally finding his limit. A large pile of mushrooms had grown next to Bulma’s sleeping head. Vegeta had picked them out to the best of his abilities, but not with the chopsticks. He’d had enough of those stupid excuses of utensils and had gone to using his fingers instead. 

He was digesting, letting his stomach and his mind settle before seeing to it that they found a room for the night. Vegeta was a big fan of solitude and quiet time. His men’s disappearance was well welcome for the time being. The girl seemed to of gone quiet too. His eyes flicked over her, finding her sleeping face, cheek down against the counter. His face twisted, wondering how she could sleep in such an open area, but then he noticed -she was sleeping soundly. Very soundly.

The prince debated waking her from her slumber. It’s what he would have done to any other slave, hell, to Raditz or Nappa. He’d probably of pushed them right off of their chair and walked away, expecting them to catch up. He took a closer look at the sleeping female. She looked completely knocked out. Her pale completion and dark circles warranted that it’d been a while since she’d had any sleep at all. His lip curled, pulling back in his chair, debating what to do with her.

After paying for the meal, Vegeta picked her up in his arms. Not over the shoulder like so many times before, but across his chest. He never looked down, though, never cared to see if she was comfortable or not. He was looking for the nearest boarding house, brothel, or hotel that was good enough to find rest in. One in particular caught his attention. Warmly lit, large enough to call itself a worthy institute, and decorated with murals and statures of mountain monkeys. It was a brothel, and it had to be where Raditz and Nappa had run off to (especially since it was the only brothel in town). He could hear the two loud Saiyans in the background of the paper walls. Before too long, he and Bulma were being shown to their room.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That sums up chapter 16! I hope you all liked it. It's about time we had a softer scene, isn't it? But how long can that last. It seems Bulma has taken a turn. What will Vegeta do with her now, and can her spirit ever be recovered? Coming up, choices will be made.
> 
>   
> 


	17. Reconnection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After everything Bulma has been through, she finds some comfort in memories of her old life.

  


Her POV

She was exhausted, clearly. Even when he picked her up and carried her across town, she didn’t stir. It wasn’t until about when he got to the brothel that she began fussing. Not because she was waking up– But because her dream, or rather, nightmare, was getting to her. It was horrible, having that dead alligator of a man live on in her dreams. But it was happening, and no matter how much Bulma tried, she couldn’t get free of him.

He beat her, and it felt real. He raped her, and it felt real. She wanted to scream and cry and tell him how awful he was, but her mouth was sewn shut and she couldn’t do more than hum. She couldn’t even struggle, because he’d tied her down worse than he ever had before. Every bit of her body was covered with rope, and he kept tightening it, and tightening it, and tightening it.

Her eyes shot open, and she found herself in Vegeta’s arms. Confused and horrified. She blinked a few times as she adjusted to her surroundings, but she was still shook up from the traumatizing dream. How long had she slept for? One, two hours max? She still felt so exhausted, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw him. 

Was it really her fault, then, when she began to cry?

* * *

His POV

The woman had been relatively unnoticed by Vegeta while carrying her across town. She wasn’t only a feather weight, she was quiet, and dreaming apparently. Though, if she was dreaming it didn’t matter to the prince’s mind. He didn’t care about anything but finding the nearest bed. Hopefully Raditz and Nappa would show up too drunk to make too much noise.

It’d been a while since he’d slept, too. He’d been on another planet when he’d caught wind of where the girl had been taken. The battle with Zarbon had worn him out, too. The prince needed rest, and he thought he was going to get a sound sleep for once, if he could manage to find a bed before his fumbling pair of idiots stumbled into the room. But then the girl in his arms began to stir.

She looked terrified. He’d stolen a quick glance down or two when she’d fidgeted, assuming that she was uncomfortable in the vice of his arms. But then her eyes glossed over, and he watched the first few signs of tears start rolling down her cheeks. What the hell was she crying over this time?

“What is it, woman?” He huffed, narrowing his vision down into her face, trying to figure her out. Vegeta dropped her on a stack of pillows the moment the paper door to their room slid open, and then strolled quietly away. He was already stripping away the first layer of his kimono. There was no way he could rest with that much material on his person. The room itself was beautiful in its own way: very old China-style-décor, painted walls, low lit lanterns, pillows and thin mattresses lining the distant wall, and in the corner -a stone shrine.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t respond to him. What did he care, anyway? That was just it– he didn’t. That’s why he dropped her down on a pile of pillows and walked away to strip himself down while she sobbed. It was a terrifying dream. It just… It felt so real. That was the most horrifying part to her. How real it felt. She honestly thought she was back with Zarbon, that he’d torture her some more just because he found it entertaining to do so.

Her body turned into the pillows so she could cry into them, hiding her face rather than look at Vegeta anymore. She was exhausted, and that made the crying even worse. She was shaking pathetically, her throat was hoarse, and there were only weak movements she could make to couple with her crying– she couldn’t throw a real tantrum or scream loudly when she was so tired.

It wasn’t until a few minutes went by that she pushed herself up on weak, trembling arms, and took a long look at her surroundings. She tried to let out steady breaths in an effort to calm herself, but she clearly wasn’t feeling like herself. She hadn’t felt like herself in a while. The serene aesthetic of the room helped, but still, she couldn’t help but think of what had plagued her the past two weeks. What she’d gone through.

She looked back at Vegeta again, her cheeks tear-stained and her body still shaking. Was he disappointed in what she’d become? Would he finally kill her? Or maybe he’d just drop her off for someone else to kidnap and rape over and over. 

* * *

His POV

The woman needed to get a hold of herself -that’s what the prince kept thinking. He’d figured her twitchy problem by now. It’d been nightmares. He couldn’t say he hadn’t had one or two within his life time, especially as a child, but they were things to conqueror, like all other terrors in life. That’s why he dropped her, that’s why he turned away.

But she persisted in sobbing, even while she was so obviously safe and awake. Just as he was untying the drawstrings of his pants, he made his annoyance with her whimpering clear by groaning unpleasantly from under his breath. The dulled expression on his face loomed over his voice. His tail was twitching, too. The prince could be just as stubborn as the woman could. She was in need of comforting, and he was trying to go about his business as usual.

“I asked you a question, woman.” His vision finally turned on her now that his pants had dropped and he was reaching for the bed robe provided by the brothel. The silky dark blue material cascaded down his back, thin and clingy, reminiscent of his blue suit. Her tear stained cheeks had gotten his attention. He was staring from over his shoulder, quiet, but watching.

“You shouldn’t let terrors plague you so much. It’s just another enemy to conquer,” he said whilst flipping down the collar of his robe then tying the material that bound it at the waist. Then, and only then, did he turn around, giving her his full, cocky attention. Stepping over the beds lining the floor, he picked the closest one to her pile of pillows as his personal area. He’d know if she moved, if she opened a door, if she tried to make a run for it at this close range, his senses would wake him up, and he’d be on her again. That was Vegeta’s only worry for now. How was he supposed to know what troubles were on the girls mind? What streaked her face with such stains? Tears that brought his stomach to knots and painted a frown on his face. Not that he was self-aware, not that he realized he was looking at her with some form of harsh concern.

* * *

Her POV

He persisted in knowing what the matter was. She thought for a moment he was just being sarcastic, or maybe that he was planning on having sex with her–he was taking his clothes off–and got annoyed that she was souring his mood. But… He persisted. And that look on his face seemed to be the look of someone that was concerned. It was an odd sight to see, but… 

“I was dreaming about him. Doing horrible things,” she replied, rubbing her face as she tried to force herself to calm down. Now that she was out of that situation, it seemed so much easier to cry over it. Was that natural? Maybe it was because the shock of being in such a situation was wearing off, now that she wasn’t in it anymore.

“…I… dreamt that he sewed my lips shut. He killed you, and beat me bad enough I couldn’t move at all. I thought he’d chop my limbs up and feed them to his servants.” She drew her legs into her chest as she spoke, a shiver running down her spine just thinking about it. He was a horrible man. It was all the worse knowing that she had trusted him. That she had wanted him. 

“…He gave me a lot of nightmares like that, when I was still there. I’d get kicked awake for tossing around so much. But in them, he’d do stuff like brand me, or completely destroy Earth so I couldn’t even–” Ah. He didn’t know about the dragon balls, did he? She glanced at him for a moment before closing her eyes. Best not to mention it. “…I was stupid for thinking he was a prince charming. But he was so nice…”

* * *

His POV

The moment she spoke up his eyes rolled. Of course she’d be having nightmares about that worthless toad. At first he didn’t understand where this was coming from. The man was dead, what more could she want? But he listened, and though he must have looked less than amused, the prince found himself attentively taking in her story; the things she went through, the terrors that kept her up at night.

“No one could beat me,” he boasted, half trying to reassure her of her safety. He was sitting casually beside her stack of pillows by now, listening to the many visions of torture she’d gone through. Resting one elbow on his bent knee, watching her with a half sarcastic, half caring look. Maybe he did care, on some level, even if it was just the part of him that knew she could do better. That she was strong enough to get over something as simple as a nightmare.

“You were pretty stupid,” he hushed, but he didn’t mean it in a harsh way. There was the sound of a smile in his voice -he was attempting to lighten the mood with his dark humor. “No one is going to harm you like that, woman.” He sounded certain, as if he’d make sure of it. ”..I gave you his head, what more could you want? He’s dead, woman, you shouldn’t allow him to torment you beyond the grave.” He almost sounded fatherly, caring to give stern advice. Leaning in, he stared her in the face, as if suspicious of what she was telling him. He’d caught the odd look she’d given him when she’d mentioned her home planet, but he didn’t catch what about.

“There is no such thing as _nice_ in this universe,” he said in lax, resting back onto the bedding that he’d been sitting on. His hands folded neatly behind his head as he spoke, watching her tear stained face glisten in the dim light above. “Everyone is out for something. You’d do good to learn that,” he said matter-of-factually. “Now, you should choose a bed before Raditz and Nappa get back …unless you’d prefer to sleep with them instead.”

* * *

Her POV

He was reassuring her, trying to tell her she was safe and that everything would be okay. In his own way, at least- plagued with boasting about himself and acting sarcastic. But the general idea was not lost on her. She pursed her lips, trying to internalize it. He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead. But he was alive in her dreams. And who knew what other men that came to his parties and raped her were still alive? She’d endured so much. There were times where she had to have been raped by at least ten men, one after the other.

“Gnn…” She was clearly having trouble coping, but when Vegeta told her the last bit, that’s when she couldn’t take it anymore. He told her to go to sleep before the other two came and fucked her. It sickened her to her stomach, and rather than listen to him, she let out a pathetic noise as her sobbing began again. She got up and went straight for the bathroom, hidden behind a wooden sliding door, and slammed it shut behind her.

She slid down the door and covered her face with her hands, letting out pathetic wails of dismay. It was the realization that while she was no longer in the hands of her torturer, she was still in the hands of men nearly as ravenous. She was nowhere safe, no matter how much Vegeta tried saying she was. She was still with men who would humiliate her. Beat her. Rape her. Vegeta had already demanded she ride him, and while she did what he asked, she knew that if she did anything but, she’d just end up pinned against the side of the bath and forced into violently.

She hated it. Again, she wanted to die. But there was no way to electrocute herself this time. Why couldn’t she just die? Why couldn’t she be weak enough that they grew bored of her and snapped her neck so they could replace her with someone else? She was so tired of all of this. All she wanted to do was be back in the truly safe arms of her loved ones again. But Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa were the ones that took that away from her.

* * *

His POV

He was going to let her walk away; he was really going to do it. Vegeta had made his decision to let the woman cry herself sick until she passed out, then he wouldn’t have to worry about her trying to escape until day break. He could hear her pathetic sobs, he twitched whenever she sniffled past the door, and rolled over onto his belly when she began whimpering again. God, the woman could cry, couldn’t she?

In all respects, the girl probably had her fair share of crying out to do. She’d been through hell and back, and any sane person would have given her space until she’d cleared her soul of the dismal need to sob. But not Vegeta; he needed rest before the dawn. And he was getting irritable. His muscles quaked and his teeth grit. The prince really was trying to shut out the woman behind the bathroom door, but it was that sound. The wail of her pain seeping over his shoulders and into his ears. For some reason he hated it, to the point that he couldn’t take it anymore.

“God damn it, woman!” The bathroom door swooshed open, and there he stood baring his glare down at her, looking like a wolf that was ready to pounce a cornered animal. He was sleep deprived, and she was the source of his restless night. Not so much because of the loudness of the sound, but due to how much the idea of her whimpering by herself was causing him unease in his chest.

There was only one thing to do. One way to insure she’d shut up and stay safe without her running off while he was sufficiently passed out the rest of the night. The man stormed over to where she’d put herself, gathered her up (despite any rejection, if she gave it to him this time), and marched right out of the bathroom with the woman in tow right over his shoulder.

He’d flung her onto the bed. Looking down at her, his tail was swishing so frantically that it was tugging at the lower layers of his robe. Pace, pace, pace. He took a step back and forth before coming to the realization that, yes, this really was his only option. Without another word, the man reclaimed his place on the thin mattress next to the paper wall, and then tucked the woman under one of his solid arms. He was holding her in a sense, and pinning her in another sense. Either way, he wasn’t looking at her …though the end of his tail had curled around her ankle. It wasn’t until he’d had her properly pinned against his chest that he finally murmured, “...Will you just go to sleep?”

* * *

Her POV

She’d been crying for some time, and every time she began to sniff and slowly calm down, she’d be reminded of her situation and start to cry all over again. She wanted to die so badly. She even tried to hold her breath, but it only made her light-headed. With every bout of crying for her horrible situation, she grew closer not to falling asleep, but to passing out. She shook more violently, and her eyes were having trouble staying open. At some point she lied down on her side to cry some more.

But in the middle of it, Vegeta swung open the door and looked at her with the furiosity of a hungry, angry tiger. Her stomach dropped and for a moment she thought she would puke. She held it down, but quaked nonetheless. He was going to punish her for making so much noise. Even if he didn’t beat her, she’d end up being raped. She knew it. She absolutely goddamn knew it. The moment that he picked her up, she began to struggle. She cried and yelled and begged him to stop, that she’d be good. And when he dropped her on the bed, her heart raced.

She stared up at his intimidating figure for only a moment before curling in on herself and covering her face. No, no, no, not again! She didn’t want to be raped again! She had enough! Couldn’t she cry without being punished? She shook terribly, all while waiting for him to drop his robe and force her legs apart. But it never happened. He paced angrily, and then dropped down beside her– clothed.

She was still shaking when he put a strong arm over her and pulled her to his chest. It was warm, comforting, and she was so tired. But she was so sick of everything she’d been put through. She didn’t want to deal with it anymore. She wished she would just have a heart attack and die, but it looked like it wasn’t happening. Instead, what happened was that sleep finally overtook her thanks to how much she’d exhausted herself. She passed out in Vegeta’s arms, and this time, didn’t even have the chance to dream.

* * *

His POV

He waited her out. The prince had known she’d feared him from the start. The look of terror, so similar to the one that contorted her face when she writhed in nightmares, the nightmares she’d just finished explaining to him. She was afraid he was going to rape her again. He knew it ...but it wasn’t going to happen, not this time at least. It wasn’t Vegeta’s end game need. He needed sleep, and despite her curling up and sobbing against his pillows, he took the spot beside her and waited her out. Staying silently awake beside her until her last round of sniffles died down into unconscious slumber.

She was asleep. Finally. The prince felt himself begin to drift. Sleep almost took him when the sliding door to their room crept open. God damn it, it was Raditz and Nappa doing a damned poor job of trying to sneak in unnoticed. Seriously, this is why he never gave them important missions. The two were so noisy, even when trying to not wake their ‘sleeping’ prince, that he could hear them coming from down the hall. Vegeta’s eyes turned on the girl tucked against his chest in the dark bedding. Still asleep? He could only hope so. He didn’t want to have to go through coddling her into dream land again. Irritating.

Raditz sounded to have a girl with him, and doing a piss poor job at flirting by asking her ‘if she’d like to ride a real cock for once’. It sounded like the pair were getting frisky, a little too noisy. A soft growl came from the prince’s chest -enough to let his men know that he was aware of their actions, but didn’t give a damn what they did as long as they kept it down. He retorted by curling in around the girl in his own bed and getting comfortable, winding the length of his tail around her thigh, and finally drifting into sleep, despite the soft mewls and grunts coming from the two beds over. Both Nappa and Raditz sounded to be fucking a brothel whore.

The sun’s rays soon streamed through the intricate wooden panels of the rooms solo window. It was morning, and the slut from the night before had been strewn across both Nappa and Raditz passed out, massive bodies in what looked like the most uncomfortable position. At least the chilled morning was quiet aside from one sound. Not the soft hum of crickets still holding onto night or the awakening of song birds. It was a soft purring sound like that from a cat. The kind that was numb to the outside world and only noticeable if one placed their ear against the body. Like a heartbeat. Vegeta was sleeping soundly. The scent under his nose and soft body in his arms was relaxing him.

* * *

Her POV

She slept as long as she needed, thanks to being too exhausted even to dream. She finally awoke, but at first she didn’t want to open her eyes. She tried to pretend she was snuggled up with Yamcha, but that only lasted for so long before she came to and realized that the man that her head was pressed to the chest of, was… Purring. Slowly, gently. Comfortingly. This man was someone she hated, but at least for a little while, it felt nice to listen to the purrs. 

She pulled herself up and looked around at her surroundings. Beyond the naked woman strewn across Raditz and Nappa, things were calm and lovely. She breathed out slowly, enjoying the early morning feeling. It sounded nice, smelled nice. When was the last time she was allowed some serenity like this? Though she was still exhausted, and she had clearly cried enough that her eyes were hideously puffy– she didn’t need a mirror to tell that, she could feel it.

She moved away from Vegeta and pulled herself up onto her feet, making sure to disturb him as little as possible and hoping she didn’t wake him up. It was nice, to be alone like this for once. For once… She breathed out again and made her way into the bathroom, where she turned on the faucet of the bamboo bath. For once, she wasn’t going to try and kill herself, though the bath was deep enough to try. She just wanted to clean herself and have some nice alone time. While she waited for the water to fill up, she took a long drink out of the sink until her stomach sloshed with water and she didn’t feel so dehydrated from how much she had cried.

She sat in the bath and began washing herself off as the water filled the tub, and eventually the puffy eyes bugged her enough that she took one of the complimentary towels and wet it with the warm water before placing it over her face. That was something she hadn’t gotten to do in a while; a beauty treatment. She knew all the tricks, like how a night of crying could be fixed by alternating between letting it soak with warm and cold water on a towel every few minutes.

* * *

His POV

He’d known the moment the girl began to stir. The Saiyan could feel it. The soft female breaths sighing with new life against his chest, the gentle stretch and awakening of her body to a new day, her slowly rolling up to sit next to his seemingly sleeping form. She was awake, but he never pulled her back down. He never looked anything past dreaming. Peaceful, enjoying the slumber he’d been getting that night. ...but he was aware of every movement she’d make that morning.

It’d been a pleasant sleep, better than he could remember in a while. Not the cramped upright quarters of a pod, not the noisy, smelly room of a garbage brothel. Not even a sleepless night from turmoil of his own accord. No, he’d enjoyed having the press of the female against his skin. She was warm against his body, and the moment she left him he’d noticed the absence of her heat. Honestly, how could he not wake up with a sore case of morning wood after holding a beautiful girl in his arms all night?

The sound of bathwater being filled rang through the paper walls, and the prince listened. He had to trust her not to harm herself at some point. He couldn’t go running after her every time, and besides, he was comfortable. Well, aside from a throbbing need steadily growing between his legs. Her scent coated the mattress. It was difficult not to rub on it like a cat in the sun, but he resisted. It was much easier to bottle those urges up when he wasn’t drugged out of coherency.

Sitting up, he took a calculated glance around, clearing his mind of dreamy fog. Raditz and Nappa were still passed out (probably suffering from hangovers), and there was a whore. A female, perfect to handle his morning stiffness. His hand reached out, aiming to drag the whore into his lap and sink into her whether she was passed out or not, but then something caught his sense of smell. It forced his eyes to dilate and all other thought to cease in his mind. It was the overwhelming sense of a female that was begging to be fucked, and it was coming from the bathroom. It was the earthlings scent, and it was tugging at him like the waves of an undertow.

The scent coming from between the earthlings legs swam through his head, kicking up his animal side more than his rational thought. He crept towards the bathroom. Stalking. Quiet. Ready to pounce. Creeping around the bathroom door-frame, fully prepared to pin the woman down… And then he saw her in the most unpredictable position possible and all instinct flew out of the window; replaced by thick, baffled curiosity, written all over his face.

She was sat in the bath with a towel hung over her face. It was the oddest thing the prince had ever witnessed. He stood fully, and the need under his robe somewhat tamed itself. He just couldn’t understand what the hell she was doing. He prowled silently, while her face was still covered, then slowly, ever so gently, he lifted the edge of the rag, asking, “What the hell are you doing?”

* * *

Her POV

She was enjoying herself, finding it easy to disassociate and pretend she was somewhere else. On vacation, maybe. Even away from Yamcha, with how irritating he could be sometimes. Just her and the morning birds chirping outside, relaxing. It was… Pleasant. She let out a little sigh, but it was all ruined when the door slid open. Someone was there, probably Vegeta. She didn’t move the towel, and just hoped he’d go away and leave her alone. But she could hear him stepping closer, till finally he was close enough to pull the towel off just enough to look her in the eyes.

She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows just slightly, though she tried to stop herself from doing it; she hadn’t really been allowed to show emotion during the last few weeks, especially negative ones toward Zarbon. Gn… It was irritating, though. Why couldn’t she just be left alone? Why was he here to bother her? Certainly to rape her again. She was sure of that much. But with the look on his face, maybe he was so confused by everything that he’d forgotten about doing so?

“…I’m trying to get rid of my puffy eyes. They got red and puffy from all the crying I did yesterday. All I need to do is let it soak, and drink water. They’re a little better now, but I’m still– in the middle of it.” She nearly said ‘busy,’ but that didn’t feel right. She shouldn’t be using aggressive words like that, or seemingly aggressive. She still remembered what Zarbon told her. Hell, that was the only reason why she wasn’t cussing him out and taking the towel back. Acting like a proper slave was something that was almost natural to her now.

She’d fallen so hard. She used to be so outgoing and loud and bossy. Hell, she liked that part of herself. She barely recognized herself anymore. She’d become quiet and mousy. Scared of her own shadow. She looked the part, too. When she really looked down at herself, she could see just how thin she’d become. Her ribs were showing, and she just looked so… frail. This wasn’t how she wanted to be, and it disappointed her to see herself in this state.

But what was it Vegeta had said before? Let go of the past? This was apparently how she was supposed to act. It’d save her more trouble, anyway. Fighting back always seemed to make these three more excited to pin her down and rape her. If she was quiet, maybe she’d be safer.

* * *

His POV

She was acting differently, he could tell that much. The prince had expected something to go hurling towards his head when he’d lifted the cloth. A scream, something, but no -she was as reserved as ever. Even if there was a hint of irritation burning in her features. He could respect that much. Though, it wasn’t what fully had his attention. Vegeta was paying attention to her explanation of just why she would be doing something as odd as putting a cloth over her face. It screwed her vision and probably hindered her oxygen intake. Seriously, to the predator, it at first hadn’t made sense. 

This was some sort of medical treatment, he deducted. The idea of beauty treatment went right over his royal head. 

“Wouldn’t medical cream be easier?” He finally questioned -it made more sense to him. The cream always worked within seconds and there were complementary bottles of it on the table next to the bath. That wasn’t all that was provided by the brothel, though. Soaps, scrubs, oils, creams, beauty products. It was all right there, but the prince didn’t seem to notice any of it. He only went for the most recognizable jar and picked it up without hesitation, unscrewing the lid.

Vegeta leaned in, giving her a skewed look; assessing the so called damage to her red rimmed lids. After a moment of awkwardness, he shoved the little bottle of cream into her palm then went back to examining the rest of the so called jars on the table side.

“They don’t look that bad to me. Though, I can’t say I’ve ever cried enough to find out,” he half mocked, half teased, but made sure to keep from eye contact.

He’d all but forgotten the need in his robe -almost. The prince was holding it off, for now. Waiting until the female had finished aiding her wounds before he made the choice to pin her down. Some part of the beast did still respect her, even with the meekness she was showing. To him, he was being considerate, even if it was more subconscious rather than a made decision. At least he wasn’t forcing her into the bath with him this time. No, instead he had another jar between his large fingers, sniffing his nose into the unfamiliar substance like a gorilla given something it’d never seen before. It was face cream, and he must have thought it smelt funny, judging by the way his nose scrunched and snorted, clearing it of the overwhelming smell of powder.

* * *

Her POV

Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? She was so sick of this. Bugging her, even if it was to point out she could use something else. She removed the towel rather than try to explain to him the idea of the towel feeling nice, and instead took the stupid jar from him. She turned her body to refuse to look at him, hoping he’d just go away. Just go away. Go away. She wasn’t trying to kill herself, so he had no reason to be there. Go away, go fuck the woman lying unconscious in the bedroom.

With her sure he wasn’t looking, she put on more of a scowl and put the cream around her eyes. Letting it sit, because the cold felt nice on her tired skin. Next, she turned her head to find him inspecting… Face cream. She’d need that too. Not for her eyes, just in general. She’d been through a lot. It’d be nice if he hurried up and put it down, but he seemed far more interested in sniffing it and acting like an animal when he realized he didn’t like the smell. What a caveman.

However, Bulma was beginning to feel a little… Rebellious and sure of herself. Nothing like she did before, but enough that she had the courage to reach for the jar and lightly take it out of his hand. She scooped the cream out with her hand and began lathering it all over her face, closing her eyes when she did so. Ah, when was the last time she had a facial? Even if she must have looked scary with the white paste all over her face, it felt relaxing to her. And when she was finished, she looked at the rest of the jars to see what other things she could do, picking them up one by one.

“…Can you go wait outside? I want… To be alone.” Her command came out as a request for once, but the fact she even gave a request at all was a step in the right direction. She turned her head to look at him, still holding a couple of the jars in her hand. “Please?”

* * *

His POV

The soft patter of his breath fell over the nape of her neck once she’d turned her back on him to lather the cream around her eyes, moving along the line of her shoulder. It wasn’t sexual, not completely. Vegeta was trying to conclude what exactly she was planning on doing to her face. He didn’t resist when she snatched the second jar of cream from him. Rather, it was the first thing that felt like normalcy between them; cocking a brow at her boldness. Then, she began lathering the cream to her cheeks and Vegeta’s expression fell. Going wide eyed and leaning back where he sat, he stared as if he was watching an anomaly unfold.

“What the hell are you doing now? What is that?” His brow furrowed, tilting his chin. It was fascinating and somewhat astonishing to watch the woman seemingly know what to do with the various creams. He watched her face change from something beautiful to something that looked like it stepped off of a mud planet. It was a good thing she didn’t have sliced cucumbers at her disposal, or else she really may have frightened the big brute. Did she mean to put it on in such vast amounts? He’d completely stopped moving, fixated on watching her primp and preen her skin.

He was curious enough to try and reach out, smearing a portion of the cream from her cheek. After bringing it to his tongue, he discovered it tasted worse than it smelt. That got a soft rumble from his chest, just in time for her to calmly ask him to leave. He had no plans of leaving at first. Why would he when things were getting so interesting? Especially with how mild her attitude was. Not her forceful, stern self, but a soft request. It was something the Saiyan didn’t normally respect, but after glancing over the woman, noticing the jar in her hands that longed for use, he gave her a hard pressed look …but then actually stood to leave.

Besides, it wasn’t exactly like she was fuckable with all that product caked to her features. Her new look was enough to stifle his original plan. Though, he still gave her a second glance from over his shoulder, huffing before he left. Then, the door slid shut. It was the first time he’d given her privacy. Not even at the lakeside, when he’d let her bathe, had he left her alone to clean. 

On the other side of the door Nappa was still snoring heavily, but Raditz had recently pinned the whore back under his big heaving body. By the sounds of it, the long haired soldier was getting into it, moaning and panting away. Vegeta watched for a moment before glancing over his shoulder towards the bathroom. He’d wanted to fuck the earthling, but the whore would do for now. Without another word, he kicked his soldier off the slut and proceeded to get himself hard again, taking the brothel whore’s mouth while Raditz continued from behind.

* * *

Her POV

She frowned when he swiped at the cream on her face, before quickly covering it up properly. She turned away so she could roll her eyes at the way he was acting, mumbling something about preventing wrinkles as a way to explain his question about she was doing. She didn’t focus too much on answering questions, and only fixated on how much she wished she was alone. She wished she could get naked and clean just once without having to deal with them following her around and harassing her. 

And… Actually, she got her wish.

He got up. She heard him start walking away and turned her head quickly to stare at him in surprise as he left, but it was a welcome gesture. She let out a breath of relief when the door slid shut, and went back to doing her business. Cleaning herself off and letting her face soak, using other oils and creams… It was back to a relaxing morning. When she finished and washed everything off, she felt good as new. She unplugged the drain and got up, and that’s when she glanced at the capsules in the corner of the bathroom. Probably dropped there on accident when she had cried last night. She opened up the one with her clothes and used the bath to clean the dirty ones in the pile, and when she finished cleaning, she left them hung up on some decorative lines across the ceiling to dry.

She got dressed into something other than the yukata, and glanced toward the door. She could hear grunting in there, and she didn’t want to get in the middle of it. Instead, her eyes found the window. … … … She knew she shouldn’t, she knew she’d get in trouble, but having that cry and getting some amount of freedom back was making her bolder. And she didn’t want to get raped again.

She pushed out the bathroom window so it was open, before climbing right out of it onto the cobblestone ground. She was hungry; surely he couldn’t blame her for going to find something to eat. She may not have money anymore, but she got it easily enough last time- she’d surely be able to find an honest way to get another bowl of that delicious soup.

* * *

His POV

The whore was hardly what he’d had in mind that morning. The prince was craving something with a little more fire, rather than something readily to be tossed between two men. It took a few rounds of pumping the slut from different angles before the prince felt satisfied, which gave Bulma plenty of time to make her break for it. Though, a few times of pinning the whore down, he admitted into closing his eyes shut and fantasizing about having a different female, a certain blue-haired earthling that he’d let off the hook earlier that morning under him instead.

Some part of him hated that he was fantasizing at all, and tried its best to push the memory of her voice out of his mind. It meant the girl had some kind of hook in his sexual urges. Fucking just any female had lost its flavor when compared to the rush he felt when forcing himself on the earthling. Then again, picturing Bulma’s flushed face made it much easier to climb to climax as long as he held the whores mouth shut so he didn’t have to listen to the sound of her pathetic voice.

Eventually a knock came to the door, just as Vegeta tossed the used up whore to his men like table scraps. He brushed himself off and tied his blue robe back around himself loosely. Giving the servant at the door a ‘what the fuck do you want’ look. It was his and the earthlings clothes being delivered from the bathhouse from the day before. Cleaned, pressed, and polished. Good, he was starting to get tired of dressing like a commoner and was ready to dawn his battle gear again (though he was still lacking armor). A clingy suit was so much easier to move in.

His form slid into his blue suit and boots in no time, but then his vision went to the bathroom door. Besides the sound of Nappa’s fucking, the room had grown quiet, too quiet. He’d imagined the girl was just waiting them out. She’d been relatively meek the last few days, but once he opened the bathroom door he realized -she was gone. She’d flown the coop, right out of the small bathroom window. He should have been furious, pissed beyond repair, but …he wasn’t. A sinister sneer spread across his lips. It felt like a hunt, like her old self was back. It’d been too long since he’d had something to track down. There was a thrill in it.

The village was much more alive by the light of day. Villagers were going about their business, trying to sell anything from vegetables, paper fans, to massive, live fish. Including the fox and his cart of delicious stews. The winding dirt roads lead in and out of the town, and into the distance where the local shrines that were tucked away in the foothills of the surrounding forests. It was good place to get lost, or robbed. Whichever came first.

* * *

Her POV

She was scared about asking for a job. She thought that if she asked someone for money, they’d certainly want a sexual favor. It seemed obvious enough to her. Besides, she couldn’t rightfully put them in danger of the wrath of Vegeta. Maybe she should have thought harder about it. But it was too late for that now. She pursed her lips as she walked, mostly keeping to herself and trying to ignore the many animal eyes staring at her. She stuck out like a sore thumb.

She eventually found the place that Vegeta had taken her to last time. She might not have had money, but she sat down at the stall all the same, and the sight of her terrified the young fox that was serving people. She watched him hand out the bowls of stew to the various guests, and felt her stomach growl. Why did the servants have to steal her money? It didn’t help that nothing here seemed to be anything like the garage from the other planet. Nothing was mechanical. …But that’s when it hit her.

Much to the surprise of the people around her, she popped out her second capsule and let it loose, creating a big pile of her tools and the like. She went to work, then: building something. She was out in her own little world with no attention paid to anyone else, even if they were all staring at her like she was a witch. Finally, she produced a bit crude of an invention– something to keep the stew warm. Essentially a large thermos. 

She put everything back in its capsule and put the thermos on the table, her eyes peering at the fox. This would be how she was getting her food today. Selling.

“I’ll sell this to you for…” Geeze. How much were the clothes she bought? Ah… She used a bit of memory and math, before coming up with a number: “350 credits.” That’s what she recalled them calling it. It appeared they were using the same kind of currency here, as well. “You can keep your soup warm with it. Put it in here, and it’ll never get cold. It’ll be good when you make extra and you’re between guests.”

* * *

His POV

Bulma was a sight to behold, and not just because of her furless skin. The villagers crowded around her as soon as her capsule opened and she began to work. They’d never seen such a thing. Not only her tools, but what she was making out of the odds and ends that seemed to of materialized out of nowhere. If she kept it up for much longer, there’d be a good chance passersby would start tossing her coins, thinking it was a side street show.

The fox tending the soup stand recognized her easily and found her show a little distracting from his serving of customers. Offworlders were rare, and even more rare was to witness their outside technology or flying ships. This planet was a traditional one and they wanted to keep it that way, though that didn’t mean they didn’t enjoy watching the odd ways of the offworlders from time to time. Especially when they had something so useful to offer. The fox took the earthling’s offer with gratitude, and even gave her more than the asking price. “500 credits”, he offered, and a bowl of soup, too.

“Will your friend be joining us today?” The owner too cheerfully asked, pouring a customer a random bowl of stew. “...he was one of my best customers. Ate a whole pot all to himself! This device will certainly come in useful if I get more customers like him.” The fox gave her a warm smile, his young son inquisitively watching the new product they’d purchased with fascination. “My young son seemed to enjoy your handy work too.” The fox continued, offering Bulma a lidded bowl of soup for the road. Perhaps for her master, perhaps because the fox had a suspicion she was journeying out on her own.

Not far away, Vegeta was hot on the human’s trail. He’d followed her directly out the window. Her feminine scent coated the air like a thick perfume. There was really no getting away from him, but it didn’t mean he didn’t allow her some distance between them. He was taking his time in tracking her down. This planet wasn’t exactly bustling with ships ready to depart. Where exactly was she planning on going? He had to ask himself.

By the time he arrived at the soup stand there seemed to be no sign of her. His lip curled, surveying the area rather than blowing it to kingdom come. He wasn’t angry this time, just tracking. Her invention stuck out; set on the foxes shop counter. She’d been there. He didn’t have to ask. And she’d been clever about it, again. The girl must have been planning on making some money. Money did seem to be something that often bothered her. Keeping keen out of sight and along roof top and tree line, he kept wind of her trail, rather than moving with travelers whom strolled along the village and shrine trails.

* * *

Her POV

Yes! This was even more than she expected! Perfect! And a soup on top of that, that she didn’t even have to pay for! She was, suffice to say, very pleased. She figured she’d have to go find Vegeta again eventually or else risk being beaten and raped, but for the time being it was nice to thank them, have a bit of a chat, and finally go on her way.

She took a walk along the streets again, admiring the sights and getting fresh air. It was hard to convince herself to go back, even if she knew she absolutely had to. It was just so nice here. The people stared, but when she was no longer tired, under great threat, and with a fully belly, she could enjoy the atmosphere. The smells, the sights, the general taste of the air. She took a walk and thought to herself that it was just to stretch her legs after not being able to properly do so for so long.

She didn’t have anywhere else in mind that she wanted to go, so when she had her fill of walking around, she found another route back to the brothel/hotel hybrid. She knew better than to just waltz in the front door, however, and instead she found the open window that she had climbed out of and sat right there. She opened up the soup and began to eat it right there, sitting on the cobblestone path. 

_“Bulma!”_ She blinked. Did she just hear a voice call her name? She looked around, but didn’t see anyone. Strange, but… It sounded like Yamcha. Was she really going crazy? But then it continued. _“Bulma, you’re still alive?! I thought you were somewhere in Otherworld and none of us found you yet! Or– …Goku thought you went to Hell, but that was him, not me! Look, how’d you even end up alive?”_

“Wh… Yamcha?! Am I going crazy?” She looked around still, starting to worry. The voice in her head explained it was him, that he was speaking through ‘the lord of the worlds.’ That he was dead, in Otherworld. She wasn’t sure how much she believed she wasn’t going crazy, but she began talking nonetheless. She’d needed to talk to Yamcha for so long. Someone she used to know. It helped her feel more like herself. It tugged at her heart while simultaneously mending it together again.

“Yamcha, I can’t believe… … I was kidnapped by the assholes that killed you! I’ve been with them! I’m in space, and whenever I try to escape, they find me again. I don’t think I’ll be able to find the dragon balls, if I’m even able to get the parts for a new dragon radar…”

* * *

His POV

It wasn’t difficult to catch up with the earthling. Vegeta trailed her for some time through the winding stone paths of the village. He watched her stroll care-free through the twists and turns. Watched her take in the fresh air, and just generally enjoy her walk around town. At first he’d debated swooping in and collecting her, but after watching her for quite some time, he found himself mesmerized by merely watching her go about her day of exploring the oddities of the village. She was a strange creature.

She’d even returned to brothel. The prince wasn’t sure if he was proud of that or not. Was she coming back to him of her own free will, or was it her fear winning her over again? Something about it didn’t feel right. He’d expected to trail the woman until nightfall, until she’d decided she’d had enough of nature and wanted food and a bed. He knew she was capable of surviving, but he’d seen her easily get lost in forests before. But no, here she was, seating herself under her escape route, aka the bathroom window. Eating her pot of earned stew, and … and… Holy shit, who the hell was she talking to? Had he been spotted?

 _Yamcha._ Where had he heard that name before? The ape crept closer from where he sat perched on a tree limb; hidden by the rustle of wind swept leaves and moving shadows. He was perfectly blended, perfectly silent, and perfectly invisible like the true predator he was. He listened, and began to wonder if she’d finally cracked.

She called him an asshole; he couldn’t help but smirk at that. She was speaking of her capture to absolutely no one. That’s when he remembered that name; it was the name she mumbled in her sleep. Maybe the stress of being torn from her homeland really had finally caused her to snap. It sounded like she was talking to her imaginations. Then she spoke of something that stopped him from jumping down from the tree all together -she spoke up about finding something, a dragon’s balls? Really? What an odd thing to want to find. Then again, this conversation wasn’t exactly by the book.

His figure sliced from the tree like a droplet of water, rolling himself up from his crouched position with grace. His dark gaze was fixed on her accusingly. But not due to her running off, it was because he’d caught her talking to herself. Even in space, hearing voices wasn’t a good sign.

“Who in hell are you speaking to, woman?” Maybe calling her out directly, or scaring the shit out of her, would snap her back into her senses and out of her delusional mess.

* * *

Her POV

She and Yamcha spoke for a little while about the dragon balls and how she might go about getting them, and just when she was about to begin reminiscing with him, Vegeta scared the living shit out of her. She just about screamed her head off when he dropped in front of her, and jumped enough even in her sitting position to almost spill the soup, if it weren’t for her managing to catch it. She stared at him with giant eyes, while Yamcha’s voice still sounded off in her head.

_“Warn me before you do that, Bulma! That hurt my ears! What the hell are you screaming for?”_

She ignored Yamcha for now, instead glancing away and back, away and back at Vegeta. What the hell was she supposed to say? That she was talking to her dead boyfriend about how she was going to get away from him and wish him back? She wasn’t about to get beaten to a bloody pulp and raped so hard she went paralyzed from the waist down.

“I was… Lonely. So I was talking to myself.” She nodded her head quickly and hoped he’d believe her obvious bullshit, sweating droplets. Jesus. Did that man ever leave her alone? Why did he have such an obsession with her? Worse yet, she could hear Yamcha still going on in her head about who she was talking to. She’d have to have a conversation with him later about the things she’d been through. When she was… Alone. If she could grab hold of him again, even. It was nice knowing they could communicate in some fashion on Otherworld, though. It made his death feel so much less permanent. 

* * *

His POV

He eyed her all the way through her ear piercing screams and fumbling of the soup bowl. His arms crossed, putting himself in a stance that only confirmed her suspicions about him not buying her story. He didn’t believe her, but he didn’t exactly have a different story to come up with either. So, she was lonely? That was her flimsy excuse? The harsh swish of his tail said that the prince found it hardly a convincing story, but he’d let it slide ...for now.

“It didn’t sound like you were talking to yourself,” he huffed, his brow as narrowed as he could muster. Then, the towering male sat down on the cobble stone ground before her. His arms still crossed, and soon sitting cross legged. Without asking, Vegeta swiped the left over bowl of stew. Disregarding any utensils and pouring a mouth full of it down his throat. Swallowing, eyeing her, swallowing again.

* * *

Her POV

He clearly didn’t believe her story, and for a little while she thought that he’d try to beat a real answer out of her. His tail was swishing like that was the case. But instead, he just sat next to her. How… How odd. Why did he bother sitting down with her like that? She eyed him and ate some more of the stew, wondering exactly what he was up to.

“Wh… Where did you come from, anyway? Did you follow me? I was just hungry. I was getting food.” If Yamcha was even still listening to her, he must have been surprised by her meek voice. She was usually so loud and bossy, after all. “I got food, and I came back. I didn’t do anything bad.” She shrugged and looked away, unsure if she should be happy or upset at the new silence in her head. Maybe she was just going crazy. Maybe it wasn’t really Yamcha she was speaking to. It felt like him, it felt so real, but maybe it was all just her imagination.

A small gasp came when Vegeta so suddenly swiped her stew from her, and her shoulders sagged. Damn. She was still hungry, and that soup was really damn good. Why did he have to take everything good away from her? She looked down at her lap and played with a loose rock on the path as he ate, a little frown on her face that she tried to suppress.

* * *

His POV

“I can see that.” He meant he realized she went to fetch food, seeing as she had brought back a meal, which he was now munching. “I never said you did anything bad.” That was an odd thing for her to say. Then he paused, his voice softening into a genuine question, his tone almost concerning. “...Why didn’t you try to get away?” He leaned closer, arching his brow at her shying antics. Her whole body language changed the moment he’d made himself known. The girl hadn’t completely lost her bold intuition. She’d been speaking regularly just moments before, but now here she sat, trying to wiggle herself meekly into an unnoticeable aura. It was strange, to say the least.

“...and what the hell is a dragon ball?” He quickly bit into another mouthful. The stew was good, and it was mostly gone within a few gulps. He hadn’t realized how hungry his growling stomach was until he had it in his hands. He’d skipped breakfast in order to follow her around town that day. To him, he was always owed whatever he wanted. He was the prince. He finished it off to nothing more than a bite or two of potato and meat, adding to his questioning between mouthfuls. “Hearing voices isn’t good, little earthling.” His eyes leapt up to meet her own, “I doubt it’s a good sign, even for your strange species.”

* * *

Her POV

“…Ah.” He heard about the dragon balls. Shit. She really should have been more careful. At least Yamcha’s voice seemed to be gone. He seemed to have gotten the hint, and she just had to hope that she could get into contact with him later, somehow. She’d find a way. For now, she had bigger fish to fry. Her eyes turned up to focus in on Vegeta as he warned her about talking to herself, and she resisting scowling. He tried to act caring, as if he really gave a shit about her. What crap. He didn’t understand anything. He only kept her around to pin down and rape.

“I didn’t run away because I knew you’d track me down again. I didn’t want to be punished for it,” she explained, looking back down on her lap. That was the truth. She didn’t want to taste freedom again only to be brought back to be raped and maybe even forced to wear a shock collar again. She was sick of it, and worse yet, she didn’t have the health to go running anymore. If she did what she had before with the shock collar, she’d probably end up dying at this point. She was too frail.

“And dragon balls are…. Nothing. Nothing important. They were just something from my old planet. They’re probably destroyed now, anyway.” Unlikely, but she didn’t say that. They’d lasted centuries without so much as a crack; it was obvious they’d be fine, as long as Piccolo was alive. And she had a feeling they wouldn’t have been able to kill him. “Hn… I’m… I’m still hungry,” she told him, playing with her shirt hem and avoiding the comment he made about talking to herself. “Can we get more food? I’m not full yet. I want something beyond soup. Something more solid this time. Please? I can pay for it myself now.” She had to hope that he didn’t try to take the money she earned away from her, but then again, by saying that it made her sound like a truthful little slave, didn’t it? 

* * *

His POV

The way she halfheartedly turned her attention down to the path on which they sat was peculiar to the man. Past his massive mouthfuls of food, he was paying attention to the details of her behavior. She almost looked …sad? Was that the right word? The prince never bothered to notice others enough to realize just what they were thinking, feeling. The only time he’d bothered taking note of anyone’s expressions, where the looks of terror in victims or the heat of rage on an opponent’s face. This was new to him, and it was causing his brow to furrow with the complexity.

He’d eaten the stew down to nothing more than a pathetic lump of mushroom (which he was clearly avoiding) and a portion of potato. He eyed the small morsel when she mentioned she was still hungry. If they could still get food. Giving her a dead stare, the prince did something unexpected. He shoved the bowl back into her hands, and then stood to his feet. He’d given her the last bite -not that it was anything he’d want to eat. Meat sounded much better. He was still feeling hungry, too. She was right, they needed to find something proper.

“I told you, you wouldn’t need credits where we were going,” he bit out. “Keep your credits. I am a Prince. I have plenty to feed us both.” He’d taken it the wrong way. The proud royal felt his ability to provide for those under his command as the alpha male was threatened. He’d skipped right over the talk of dragon balls, brushing off the topic as nothing more than something dead and gone from her planet. But had that been bothering her enough to force her to talk to herself? That she missed her planet? The thought calmed him, slowing his pace and looking back at the female whom he’d expected to follow him, if she wanted food that is.

“Why would you care to think of something dead and gone, anyhow?” He gruffed, still carrying a stoic attitude. Was that it, though? Would speaking to her about her homeland clear her mind of speaking like a mad woman? He questioned a little further, softer, “What else,” he frowned, he wasn’t very good at conversing, “…about your planet.” The prince wasn’t just given her a chance to vent, some part of him was finding him genuinely curious about her past. How odd.

* * *

Her POV

He shoved the bowl back into her hands, and she found a bit of potato and a slice of mushroom waiting for her. She ate them up and left the bowl sitting on the windowsill before she got up and followed Vegeta, who had decided that they would go get food. Even told her that he’d pay for it. He seemed irritated that she’d even offered to pay for herself, so it seemed her idea had backfired. …At least he didn’t hit her to get revenge about it.

She was silent as they walked, wondering when the next time she’d get a chance to be alone would be. Would she get to talk to Yamcha again? That’d be nice. She’d begun to forget his voice, and so hearing it again after so long was just a breath of fresh air. Her heart ached in longing, and she ended up zoning out in thought about the times they’d had together when Vegeta suddenly spoke up.

“…What? It’s my home planet. It’s all I’ve ever known.” Of course she wouldn’t be able to just let that go. It held so much meaning to her. Did he not understand, really? That and she still had the opportunity to bring her planet back, if she could just go back to it. It wasn’t truly dead. Though was it dead in the first place? What did the buyers do with it when Vegeta sold it to them?

“What else…? I don’t know what to say about it. It was… It was nice. I told you I was someone important there. And all my loved ones are there. It’s a pretty place, and I miss it. …I miss going shopping for clothes at my favorite clothing stores, I miss my giant collection of shoes, and my favorite foods that they don’t really seem to have here… I miss my mom barging into my room in the morning when I’m– I’m busy,” Ha. It was a stupid thing to miss, but it was entertaining to look back on her mom waking her and Yamcha up after a night together. “…Just to give me a giant pitcher of lemonade and a few cookies.”

She shrugged her shoulders, finding herself beginning to get emotional. She resisted crying, keeping strong if only so she didn’t get yelled at by Vegeta. “You said you were a kid when your planet was destroyed, and you were on another planet already. You knew more than that beforehand already. This is… Different. And you still get to be a prince. No one knows what the Capsule Corporation is around here. I’m just… A slave.”

* * *

His POV

It was intriguing to listen to her go on about her homeland as they walked. Vegeta remained silent, taking in whatever she had to say, trying to process the bits that didn’t make sense to him. He considered what she meant by ‘loved ones’, deducting that she must be speaking of her underlings -she did say she was important after all. He brushed off words that he had no idea as to what they meant - words like “lemonade” and “cookies”. He also noticed when her voice caught, as if she were about to cry yet again. She held it back, and some part of him warmed over her show of strength.

“Woman, you have not been _just_ a slave since the moment I met you,” he mentioned all too lowly, with emphasis on ‘just’. Watching her from the corner of his eye, his hands neatly crossed behind his back while his tail coiled around his waist. They’d made it to a restaurant, a real one this time. The only way they’d be finding a proper meal seemed to be to sit down and demand it. Being the unsocial sociopath that he was, Vegeta demanded a better table in the better seating area to take his meal. The prince and the earthling were shown to one of the higher classed tables near the back, next to a shaded window.

“I could have been a slave,” he interjected, finding his seat. “But I held onto my title. You’re only a slave if you act like one.” He pointed at her, as if trying to get a point across. As if pointing out her more recent behavior as something undesirable, even though he was supposed to be her master. The prince’s face crumpled, he was about to further scold her by the looks of it, but the conversation was interrupted when a big fat cat in a kimono came to their table side, expecting to take their order. Vegeta did not look pleased at being interrupted. In fact, he looked like he was downright insulted by the feline’s presence. Honestly, who the hell did he think he was, stepping in like that?

“Meat, and a lot of it.” The Saiyan furiously barked before the cat ever had time to ask. The feline scampered quickly back to the main dining hall. A second servant with a pot of tea and cups, looking absolutely terrified, approached their table. However, Vegeta didn’t seem to notice. Simmering down from his outburst of rage, he returned to his train of thought… He was still a little temperamental when he spoke.

“Capsule… Corporation...” He returned to the subject matter at hand, sitting back in his chair like a true blue blood. “...was that what they called your territory?”

* * *

Her POV

He was… Reprimanding her? Telling her how she wasn’t just a slave. It weirded her out, at first. Why would he be saying things like that? He was supposed to be her ‘master.’ He got angry whenever she barked at him or ran away or did anything otherwise un-slave-like. So…. Why? He didn’t want her to act like this? It felt cruel. He just got off to watching her struggle when he tried to rape her, that’s all. That’s the only reason he wanted any kind of different behavior.

Even so, she allowed herself to be led to the restaurant, and to the seat in the back they were given. She played with her fingers and stared down at the table as he scolded her about how she’s only a slave because she acts like one. Making it clear that he really does dislike the fact she’s acting like a slave.

…The waiter came just as he was going to scold her more sternly, and he lost his train of thought in the time it took for him to bark at him what he wanted. Meat. Always meat. She was lucky she got enough vegetables in that stew to not want more of it. It wouldn’t be good if she didn’t get enough nutrition. She continued fiddling with her fingers, wondering if at some point she could sneak away to go to the bathroom and talk to Yamcha some more, when Vegeta asked her about the Capsule Corporation.

“…It’s the corporation my dad made. He’s the famous ‘Dr. Briefs’. Inventor of capsules. We make all kinds of things and package them in capsules, and make it very easy to put them back into capsules with a button on the side of them. Houses, cars, airplanes, motorcycles, stuff like that. It made my dad the richest man in the world. I guess you could say… I’d be a princess. An heiress, more like, but I always liked the ring of ‘Princess Bulma.’” Despite her meek attitude, that did crack a smile.

“I was really well-known too, ever since I was a little girl. I inherited my dad’s smarts. I graduated college at a young age and just went to school for fun after that. I made all kinds of things, and people would say all the time that maybe I’m even smarter than my dad is. Like I said, I was a really important person.” She began playing with her hair, looking away as she remembered it. “My mom’s more of a creative person, though. She really liked gardening and cooking and stuff like that, so it’s not like she was inventing things. Same my sister. Tights was smart, too, but not like my dad and I. She flew the coop because she didn’t like being wealthy and wanted to see what it was like to be poor, and wanted to hit it big as a sci-fi writer without my dad’s name to give her a boost.”

How did she end up ranting about her family like this? She missed them all so much. “Hn… Don’t you have a family you miss? Your parents? Siblings?”

* * *

His POV

What, had he said something wrong? Vegeta was a little taken by the look the girl was giving him after his scolding. As if he’d said something dismal. He’d only told it how it was. Leave it to him to not know when he was coming on too harshly to someone who was in a situation he couldn’t understand. Though, he was trying to see it through her eyes, if just a little. If just to understand why her actions had changed in the recent days.

He’d thought her talking about her planet would fix the irritation of her speaking to herself, but it was steadily working against him. The more the girl spoke of her corporation, of her father and mother’s tenancies and abilities, the more peculiar it felt. It was a world he’d never been exposed to, and the speak of it was baffling to him. Instead of just being a means to let the woman right her mind, the prince was finding himself falling into intrigue; wanting to hear a little more information. She’d sparked his rare interest.

The food had come during Bulma’s explanation of her family. A large roast of meat, orange duck, bowls of something similar to rice, noodles, beef skewers, and much more came funneling onto the table. Including the pot of tea. Vegeta was busy listening, but not too busy to notice the way she played with her hair. He’d cocked a nasty smirk when she’d called herself princess. Mocking on the outside, but finding the title fitting on the inside as she did act like one most of the time. He’d remember that. For once in his life he felt like conversation. Especially when she spoke about her sister, that was something he could relate to.

“I have a younger brother, somewhere, if he’s not dead,” he spoke up past a mouthful of pork, rather uncaring, “Tarble …our father sent him away when I was little for being too weak.” Another bite, this time roast. “..My father was a well-respected leader, from what I remember. I only saw him at his request...” He paused, searching through his plate for another bite before continuing, “...I don’t recall my mother. Only the midwives and servants that took care of me before a mission, or training.”

Finally, his black eyes darted up to her. “I was away on a mission from my father when the asteroid hit. Nappa was my body guard and Raditz was a soldier in training. Lower 3rd-class… Ki fodder. It’s amazing he’s managed to live this long.” The prince’s mouth tugged into a reminiscent grin, but then quickly wiped it off by chugging down his tea.

Why the hell was he telling her this? Since when had the tables turned? This was meant to get information out of the earthling, not the other way around. As soon as Vegeta noticed his babbling, he shut his trap. Stuffing his mouth with more food in order to remain quiet and away from any further questions. Though, his sly stare was gauging her reaction from his spill of information. He’d never mentioned he’d missed them; he’d only answered her question. They were from two very different worlds, but one thing remained, the prince was still interested in how the earthling reacted.

* * *

Her POV

He was interested. She could see it in his eyes as well as his body language. After so long of not being allowed to talk unless she was commanded to say something like ‘I love your cock,’ it was an odd sensation. Being able to freely talk, especially to her captor. She stared him down when he spoke, all the way till they got food on their table. She dug into the duck but with more manners than last night, if only just barely. She was still starving, after all. It would take time to pack on the weight she’d lost as well as regain the missing nutrients and muscle and bone mass. At least she was no longer withering away.

“…So you never knew them enough to miss them,” she replied. In a way, she… Pitied him. How horrible it must be, to not know your own family members enough to care about them. She almost wanted to ask about lovers, but considering her predicament, she guessed that they didn’t care for monogamy. At the very least, he didn’t appear to understand the idea of lovers. He had called Yamcha her 'mate’ on many occasions despite her never really mating with him. Mating implied reproduction.

“That’s sad. What about Raditz and Nappa? Those are their names, right? Wouldn’t you miss them if something happened, since you were together for so long? They can’t just be underlings to you. They’re… Friends, right? Like my friends. I punched and hit Oolong and Master Roshi all the time for being perverted, but they were still my… My friends.” She kept eating, her brows furrowed as she thought about it. She really did miss them. So, so much… Things were so innocent back then. And maybe she could thank those two. Maybe that’s why she’d been so strong when fighting against the Saiyans.

“…It’s not just the people I miss. West City was such a great place. So full of life. And my home! My room especially. It was huge, and filled with anything I’d ever need. A nice fluffy bed with tons of stuffed animals, a walk-in closet big enough to be another room… Actually, we had given Puar a whole room in there, he just always preferred sleeping on Yamcha’s feet. He was a good foot warmer, and you know how cats make that cute noise when you wake them up? That 'prrp’ noise? He’d do that when you’d disturb him. It’s so cute…” She was becoming more talkative, thanks to the memories of her past. She went off on a tangent without even being asked a question, and her body posture was improving. A smile began to stay on her face. She felt… Like Bulma. Bulma Briefs. Not 'girlie,’ not 'woman,’ not 'slave.’ Bulma.

* * *

His POV

He sat in silence when it was her turn to talk. Busying himself with stuffing more meat into his mouth, chew after chew. He was listening though; giving the girl across the table from him occasional glances. Though, some of the things she said didn’t quite add up in his head. He’d repeated the term, “ _friends._..” when she’d asked him about Raditz and Nappa. The way he said it made it obvious he rarely used the word. Answering her by asking his own question, “.. _.you mean, comrades.._. _?”_ , between obscured bites. 

He skipped over her question beyond that, not quite sure how to answer her. The prince clearly didn’t fully understand. He was above them, there was a hierarchy. Before her asking, he’d never even stopped to consider if he’d miss their presence. It just, was. She’d given him something to think about; confusing him by the looks of it. He focused more on food and what else she had to say, rather than annoying questions about his relations with his men. She went on about her home life, more of her so called friends. He’d even found it interesting how openly she’d started speaking to him …and then that name came up again. _Yamcha._ The prince paused his eating long enough to give her a glance, then went back to his food. There was a hint of jealousy in the look he gave her.

“Wait…” Something she’d said had struck a chord within him, “…You said you were an heiress... Then why the hell would you call someone master?” He meant Master Roshi -it was another language barrier, he clearly didn’t understand it. The prince’s gaze narrowed from over the table, wondering if she was being truthful about being an heiress. He did actually believe her, but then the ‘master’ comment didn’t add up. He went on to add, “It sounds like you spent a hell of a lot of time in your quarters… Honestly, did you never want to get out? I couldn’t wait for my next mission as a cub.” his sounded a little harsher than he intended. It was just Vegeta’s way, there was always some level of passion to his tone.

He went chewing through a rack of ribs, bones and all, when the servant came to clear away empty platters and replace them with new bowls of various foods. Proteins, mostly. Though there was a bowl of something leafy and green, and something creamy and purple, along with sweet rolls. Vegeta turned his nose up at anything that wasn’t animal product. That’s when he noticed the discarded bones near Bulma’s plate.

“You should eat the bones,” he said casually, picking one up. His strong jaw chewed through it as easily as a Ritz cracker. “It’s good for you.” Full of rich marrow and calcium, he meant. Omnivore, meet Carnivore. Well, Vegeta probably should have been eating his leafy greens, but he considered himself carnivorous. …aside from the sweet bun, which he seemed to enjoy quite a bit.

* * *

Her POV

“Hm?” It took her a moment to realize what he was talking about. He was confused as to why she would call Master Roshi ‘master’ when she was in such a high position herself, that was it. She waved him off, and began to explain it to him: “I don’t mean ‘Master’ like he’s my owner or something. It’s his title. He’s a martial arts master, so that’s what we call him. He also trained Yamcha, so it’s a little like an obligation to also call him ‘Master.’”

She went back to eating and space out just thinking about her home and how much she missed it. When was the last time she got to see them all? Hm… It’d be nice if she could convince Yamcha to put others on the ‘phone’ so to speak so she could hear the voices of more than just him. It must be other people around him, right? She’d like to hear how Otherworld was. …Yamcha better not be cheating on her with any cute spirit girls.

Her lips had pursed at the last thought, and she must have looked annoyed when Vegeta finally spoke up and told her to eat the bones of her food. Her expression quickly changed to that of confusion. She glanced down at her plate. What? Saiyans actually ate bones? That was disgusting.

“Not unless I want my insides torn up by the edges,” she replied, continuing eating as she was. “You can eat bones?” He really was an odd one. She was naturally keeping her mouth shut about being rude thanks to some training she’d gone through that she’d internalized and didn’t need to be conscious of like the other stuff, but she couldn’t help but think about how completely odd Vegeta was. He had no friends, and he ate bones. He was just… Freaky. She really wasn’t wrong, all those times she called him ‘monster.’

* * *

His POV

He was going to comment something about her Earth’s training tactics. Wanting to make a snide comment like, ‘if that’s the case, anyone must be able to call themselves a martial arts master’, but the rude remark never made it out of his mouth. Instead, Vegeta found himself captivated by watching the girl stare at seemingly nothing. She was daydreaming again, he could tell. Maybe thinking of a world that he knew to be gone, left to nothing more than soot. Still, she was dreaming about it. He watched her lips press together in a soft purse, the thoughts rolling around in her head. The prince couldn’t help but stop and stare.

“Yes, bones,” he finally remarked, munching into the last salvageable bit of food on the table. There was nothing really left by then disregarded vegetables (though he picked at those too). There was some pleasantness in sitting in peace at the table with the girl, watching her eat the last of her meal. Answering any lingering questions she had and gnawing on the last of the bones.

He looked somewhat relaxed for being in public. He was …enjoying her company, if he didn’t know any better. But by the time he paid off the servant, Vegeta left the table without warning. He headed straight for the restaurant doors with or without her. Though he did stop once outside, waiting for her to catch up. He may have been treating her on the same level of his men, but he still kept a watchful eye on the escape artist.

He never said where he was going or what he was looking for. He just started marching with purpose. Passing shop after shop, eyeing the depths of each one, then shaking his head with annoyance and marching towards the next row of open doors. And then he found what he was searching for. It was an armory, and by the lack of weaponry shop’s they passed, it may have been the only one in town.

* * *

Her POV

She shook her head when he told her to eat the bones again, continuing to eat– normally. Eventually she had enough to fill her belly, and without even talking, Vegeta got up and left. She almost didn’t even see him pay the servant, that’s how quickly he was out the door. Bulma’s natural instinct from her recent slave days kicked into gear and she quickly followed him, but as she licked her lips and looked at the stores he was perusing, she began to wonder why she was bothering. He did tell her not to act like a slave, after all.

…So what did she want to do? That’s what she asked herself when she followed him to the armory. She was certain she didn’t want to be there– why the hell would she want to be? She had no interest in watching Vegeta put on armor. So when he took a turn into the building, she turned the other way and kept going down the cobblestone paths. She’d go find a remote place to try to talk to Yamcha again, that’s what she’d do.

It must have been weird to the passerbys when she began calling out for her deceased boyfriend while looking up to the clouds as if she’d find him there. It’s not like she had much else of an idea about how the hell she’d be able to contact him, she just had to hope that someone heard her.

“Yamcha, Yamcha? Where are you? Are you back now? Talk to me again, I’m not around him anymore. Where did you go? How do I talk to you again…?”

* * *

His POV

She was staggering. Vegeta was aware of the distance growing between them. His nose may have been determined to find a good set of armor, a suit, anything, but his senses were honed on the girl’s movements …he did that a lot lately without notice. When she finally broke away, he knew all too well, but he didn’t stop her. Instead, he marched into the tiny weapons shop as stoic as ever, though his hard mouth may have been suppressing the slightest of smiles.

She’d left him. His earthling was growing fond of her own opinions again, her own strengths and will power. Some part of the prince really expected her to wait on him hand and foot as soon as they left the brothel that day. After her return to his side after having a clean shot at trying to escape that morning, he’d begun to take into consideration her strength of will. To put it bluntly, he was impressed to see her bull-headedness returning. That’s why he let her go as if none the wiser.

The store was hung from ceiling to floor in every form of decorative spear, sword, knife, battle mace, bow and arrow, and armor imaginable. But would it hold up in battle -that was Vegeta’s only concern. The idea of having battle armor crumble under the hand of an opponent in the field curled his lip. The armor and weaponry looked so old school. What was it even made out of? Not his regular durable, stretchy space material, that was for sure. The sets of armor were bulky, metal, leather, and wood work. He missed his glossy white chest-piece.

Despite the terrible selection, it would have been anti-productive to give Bulma chase just yet. He wanted the girl to win back her fire. To him it was still a game of tactic. He’d only let it go so far, of course, and he’d take fascination in hunting her back down. But for now he longed for something new to wear across his chest. One after the next, the armor crumbled to dust in his hands. Nothing was good enough for his high standards of warring. After cracking several suits into worthless trash, the shop owner frantically tried to put an end to the Saiyan’s exploration of his shop. Naturally, it’d be the shop owners undoing.

It was never wise to tell a Saiyan, let alone Saiyan royalty, that they had no idea how to handle armor of all things. The poor shop owner never saw it coming. The meager old cat was sent flying out of the shop’s front window, broken wooden frame and all. Vegeta had let him off easy. Though, he did leave with the only piece of armor he deemed worthy of his body. It was the most simplistic, toughest material in the place. Shoulder pads like dragon heads and a black plated torso. It’d do for now.

But the real question was, where had the female gone to? His nose led him down her path. The streets parted like the red seas wherever he walked, thanks to his display at the armory shop, giving him a wide berth to track down his prey. Who would have thought he’d have been questioning her sanity when he finally found her? Vegeta had thought they’d moved past this. Perhaps the girl was more damaged then he’d originally thought. His expression was caught somewhere between vexed and perplexed.

* * *

Her POV

She wandered into the lush forest on the edge of town and sat on the base of a tree, when she finally heard an unfamiliar voice. He introduced himself as King Kai, and told her that Yamcha and the others were training. It irritated her, but she waited while plucking up grass from the ground with her fists. How long before Vegeta went and grabbed her again? Those jerks better hurry up. Eventually Yamcha’s voice rang out in her head, and Bulma was reminded of how relieved she was to be able to speak to him again.

_“Bulma! What happened last time? You started talking to someone else, the hell was that about?”_

She scowled as she picked at the grass, explaining it to him. She explained everything; how Vegeta had kidnapped her, the things they did–though she kept out the more gruesome details just to stop him from being too angry–, the recent encounter with a certain prince charming she’d met… By the end of it, Yamcha was silent. Though somehow she could feel his presence in her mind; he wasn’t gone. He was just too angry to speak. That was without talking about the worst of it all.

“…If we get the dragon balls, we can wish none of that ever happened,” she continued, breaking the silence between them. Though it left the question– would time just repeat itself, or would something else happen? Would she still retain her memories after making that wish? She hoped not. And the biggest question… How would she manage to get back to Earth? Maybe she could try to convince Vegeta, somehow.

_“Bulma, I–”_

Right as Yamcha spoke, Bulma found Vegeta in her presence again. Standing next to her and staring, wearing some new fancy armor. Her eyes went wide while Yamcha yabbered on in her head, telling her how he’d pummel the men that wronged her when given the chance. Telling her that he loved her, that he wished he could comfort her more than just by talking like this. That he had something else to say. But that was barely paid attention to when all her focus was on Vegeta, looking down at her with that angry, confused look.

“I… Hello, Prince Vegeta!” That got Yamcha to shut up, and she hoped it’d be enough for Vegeta to just shrug it all off. She got up to her feet and held her hands behind her back, trying to look as sweet as possible. Ahh… This wasn’t good. “You got some new armor, I see. It… It looks really nice on you. It makes you look handsome.”

* * *

His POV

He’d been watching her for some time. Not long enough to hear the first half of her conversation, but long enough to get the jest of what she was rambling. The prince wasn’t as interested in what she had to say, but more that she was speaking out to herself again. Isn’t that why he’d bothered to listen to her in the first place? Maybe that’d been a mistake; a waste of his valuable time.

“Cut the crap, woman.” The male reached for her wrist. Her sweet approach wasn’t working on him, not this time. This wasn’t just slave talk; the woman was trying to butter him up, so to speak. While it may have worked a million times before, he knew better. He’d heard her speaking to herself just moments ago. He was onto her game. The cheery way she changed her stance, her tone. When had she ever complemented him? It was a dead giveaway.

“Who the hell were you talking to just now?” The pattern of her conversation had been too choppy to be one sided. In some form or fashion, the girl was speaking to ...something, even if her own imaginations. The prince didn’t care who or what it was, he just wanted answers. His short fuse demanded it.

Once Vegeta had noticed his grip on the girl’s wrist, his fingers slowly unwound, darting his gaze away. The Saiyan had a temper about him, but once he got a hold of himself, he was somewhat able to judge the situation. She had been explaining what had happened to her since being taken from her planet. Was that really what this was about? She just needed to vent? At least there had been none other in ear shot to hear her. They stood alone under the rustle of the tree. The prince laced his arms over his newly plated chest. The last thing he needed was a rebellious slave with a mental problem. …How would he be able to explain away keeping her then?

* * *

Her POV

Her expression quickly turned serious with a hint of fear when he grabbed her wrist. He was rough, and his grip was bruising, painful; she was getting punished again. For seemingly talking to herself. But she couldn’t just spill the beans on everything– if she did, he’d probably beat her for real every time he heard her talking with Yamcha. He might not even let her be alone to talk with him. Or stick her in a loony bin or something… He may be thinking she was going insane, but she needed this. It couldn’t be ruined for her. It was keeping her sane, if anything.

“I– I wasn’t… I wasn’t talking t- to anyone!” She stayed true to that, and as soon as he let go of her wrist, she held it close and rubbed it sweetly to try and get rid of the sting from his grip. “It was… It was no one. I just wanted to talk to somebody, so I talked to myself. That’s all…” Her eyes turned to the ground, her heart feeling heavy. She wasn’t even really allowed to talk to Yamcha anymore, that’s how far she’d fallen.

“I didn’t want to… To bother you, so that’s why I didn’t talk to you instead.” It seemed like a reasonable enough explanation, and it worked far better than all the bad things that could come from her explaining that she was talking to her boyfriend from beyond the grave. She gulped her fears down her throat and took a little stumble back against the tree, her nervousness coming back; she didn’t want to be hurt. She’d been hurt enough. She wanted to try to be like herself again, but after two weeks of… that… she couldn’t just shrug it off. At the slightest sense of being punished for behaving wrongly, she was turning in on herself again, acting meek again.

“…I’m sorry if I was annoying. Like I said, I didn’t want to bother you. You do look nice in your armor, are you going to buy some for Raditz and Nappa, too? …Where are we going to be going next?” She rambled on, desperately trying to make him forget about what he’d just witnessed. Maybe if she distracted him with questions about unrelated topics, he’d calm down and not bother her about it.

* * *

His POV

He remained silent; but the look he was giving her spoke volumes. He didn’t believe her. At least he didn’t suspect that she was speaking with the dead, but he was beginning to question her sanity. She continued to plead her case, but the prince never retaliated. He’d seen the way she’d coddled her wrist, the look of timid-ness and expectancy of being harmed, instead of slapping him silly for invading her ‘private conversation’. This wasn’t the same female he’d captured weeks ago, and it was beginning to bug him. He really didn’t want to have to put her down for losing her mind. Perhaps even the strong could break -there was a cold sensation that came along with that realization.

“We’re leaving,” he ground out between his teeth, swooping down the side of the hill without another word. He was letting the subject go, hoping to brush it under the rug and allowing it to fade out with time. Vegeta was a man of force, of demanding order, and there was still work to be done. It’d been too long since their last mission. The female was correct in her assumptions; they’d be going somewhere new, very soon.

He wasn’t going anywhere without that female, though. He didn’t let her slip away this time, all the way back to the brothel room, where his men were readying themselves for a new day. Too bad they wouldn’t be getting their bellies filled any time soon. Vegeta was in a mood, and that always meant they were leaving abruptly. Raditz expression dropped as soon as he saw the pair returning from their day out. He’d really been looking forward to a good meal, damn.

“Do we even have a new mission?” Nappa piped up out of turn. Vegeta merely answered with a grunt. The prince didn’t feel like giving his men the time of day, though his attention had softly drifted towards the female once she’d entered the room, as if he were lost in a thought of his own. The three soldiers had been busy collecting their supplies. They knew to hurry and grab anything they planned on taking. Vegeta was never one for lingering, and before long they’d be headed back for their pods.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t mess around with him this time. When he finally let her off the hook and began walking, she followed, not wanting to risk further harm. She followed him all the way to the brothel, and the moment that she saw the two men already getting ready and packing things up, she recalled the clothes she had left drying in the bathroom. She wasn’t about to leave them.

She hurried into the bathroom and pulled the clothes down from where they hung, quickly getting out her capsule of clothes and sticking them in the pile. It was all done in a matter of a couple minutes, thankfully, and she was hopeful that Vegeta would be tolerant of the bit of time he had to wait before she came rushing from the bathroom and stood at his side again.

It wasn’t long before they went all the way back to the pods, left completely undisturbed likely out of the fear the locals had for the Saiyans. Not a surprise; everyone was scared of the Saiyans, no matter where they went. She was used to this kind of behavior by now. The only one who wasn’t scared was Zarbon, and… Well. It seemed that if someone wasn’t scared of the Saiyans, then it was someone she’d want to avoid. 

She stood next the pod that she and Vegeta came in, waiting patiently for him to open it but ultimately dreading having to spend another pod trip with him on his lap. She didn’t want to be played with like a little doll all over again. He almost always used these trips to start fingering her or to try to fuck her, and considering yesterday, his lust for her had not ceased. She was beginning to feel raw just thinking about it.

“…What planet are we going to go to?” It was best to forget about her fears by asking questions like that. She was curious, anyway. What place would they be seeing? Somewhere else to destroy, or was it a pit stop similar to this one?

* * *

His POV

The girl certainly was taking her sweet time. At least, that’s how it felt to the Saiyan. Vegeta could move, and quick, but for once he found himself lingering outside of the bathroom door. Gritting his teeth, wondering what could be taking her so long to gather a few things. Then he heard the familiar pop of something being capsuled. Ah, that’s what she was up to. His frustrations gently shifted into a tamed down curiosity. It was always strange to witness those contraptions of hers work.

It was enough to preoccupy the prince into giving her the much needed space and time to gather her few possessions. However, when she returned to his side so ready to leave, so ready to follow him to the pod and await his cue to open it. Waiting for him like a well behaved servant, bubbling with questions. The prince felt his gut twist again. It was like witnessing a new person all together. Where had his fiery little earthling gone?

He’d just have to deal with it, to push it down and to focus on the mission at hand. Kami knew he needed it. The vast majority of the universe may have found rest and renewal in times of peace, but not Vegeta. The prince was feeling restless, alive, and in need of an outlet. Preferably something he could sink his fists into. He needed a fight. His men could tell, too. The intense tension in his body language made it obvious.

“A place I’ve been putting off for damned too long,” he snapped once the two of them were alone in the confines of the pod. The door had long since shut, the prince gathered her into his awaiting lap, and the round ship rumbled to life, leaving the tranquil planet for good. They were headed to a planet of snow and ice. Of freezing winds and frozen oceans. It was a snowball in space, and the prince hated it.

He hadn’t touched her since their climbing into the small space vessel. The prince was staring out of the large window, lost in his own battle of thoughts. Vegeta hated the cold in general, and had been putting off the mission for some time. Readily grabbing a different planet when it came up on the radar, rather than taking the valuable snow swept rock for himself. But maybe that’s why he was so damned on going there this time. Roughing it and pushing his limits was sounding good right about now. Maybe it’d rid his mind of anything and all else, other than survival.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think from here on out the plot starts picking up more. The next planet is a favorite of ours, though it's a little different than previous stuff. I hope you guys like where the story is going! We've tried to stay away from common (and sometimes offensive) tropes.
> 
> In other news, THIS FANFIC HAS BEEN NOMINATED for an award! Voting began today! We were nominated under the 'most violent fanfiction' category. Fits pretty well, don't you think? Go to theprinceandtheheiress.tumblr.com and find their posts on where to go to vote! I'd link here, but you know how Ao3 is about linking things.
> 
>   
> 


	18. Chilled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've reached the next planet. Bulma finds herself alone for long periods of time in a dangerous place, and struggles with survival against the elements.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

They climbed into the pod and she sat on his lap like a good little slave, just like she was supposed to. But she was terrified. Terrified he’d enjoy being so close and do something like shove his hand down her pants. Thankfully though, he seemed to be thinking of other things, and not once did he make a move on her. Maybe she would have taken a little nap, if she knew that by the end of the trip he wouldn’t have touched her once. But without knowing that he wouldn’t touch her she kept awake, too scared and _far_ too uncomfortable. 

She could feel the gauze she’d stolen earlier in the day from their supplies (she was bleeding, after all) beginning to be too soaked to be of much use. She’d have to steal some more somehow when they landed, if she could make it that far. She also had to worry about the next time she could get in touch with Yamcha to try and plan how she could escape safely, and on top of that worry about her hunger. Maybe it was because of her physical state, but she felt constantly hungry. Despite having filled her stomach a few hours back, she felt like she was starving again; not just hungry, _starving._

Before she knew it, they reached the planet. She could see it getting larger in the distance– pure white, with large, icy blue clouds surrounding it. It seemed far from its sun; it must be a cold planet. Her nose wrinkled– she hated the cold, and she surely wasn’t dressed properly for it. He didn’t even buy her extra clothes, how did he expect this to work?

Still, she settled properly between his legs to ready herself for him to become a human seatbelt and stop her from rolling around when they crashed. She still remembered how badly she hit her head the time she refused to be close to him, and it wasn’t pleasant at all. Besides, she was… Less rebellious now. She could suck in her pride for a little bit. If she even had any more pride to begin with.

* * *

His POV

Vegeta had been trying to blot out the presence of the female in his lap throughout the journey. For once, he didn’t want to have to deal with her. Though, the smell of her fear beading on her neck, and the scent of her womanhood bleeding through between her thighs, was making that near impossible. It was one hell of a trip, that was for sure. Yet, he still couldn’t bring himself to snap her neck or let her go. It was an irritating tug of war within his own soul, and the prince was doing his damnedest to bury it. It’s what led them to this frozen wasteland: his need to freeze out anything that’d tried to fester in his mind, in his senses, regarding the girl. He hated and wanted her all the same. Until he decided which one he wanted more, he was heartlessly ignoring her.

The planet was cold. It was the first thing that’d any of them were forced to realize the moment the pod doors barely cracked a seam. The freezing temperatures rushed in and flooded the small crafts, all three of them. Space travel was cold, but it was nothing like this. It had to be well below freezing, and night could only be worse off. Luckily, it seemed the landed in the warmest part of the day -if you could call it that. The sun hung high in the clouded sky; it was midday on the planet of ice and snow.

Raditz and Nappa stumbled out into the trenches of snow. The wind was blowing, chilling their features, but at least it wasn’t snowing. The two soldiers quickly discovered that they’d be flying, or sinking. The snow was too deep to step in once they passed the round sheet of ice that the impact of their pods had made. It looked like Bulma would have to be carried, again, and this time it wasn’t going to be Vegeta. The prince had already left the pod by the time the door had hissed all the way open.

Raditz was the one to pick her up this time. Nappa’s pod had landed a little too far away, and Vegeta was already fogging out of sight. It was follow or freeze to death, and the long haired Saiyan wasn’t about to be sent back to pick up an earthling Popsicle. Raditz hated the cold just as much as anyone and the prospect of finding somewhere warm to bunk for the night out weighed anything, even the sound of his growling belly. …he still hadn’t eaten. Luckily he wouldn’t have to wait too long. Their prince had already scoped out a large rocky ridge, and under it: the hallow of a cave that’d act as shelter from the unforgiving weather just outside its deep caverns.

* * *

Her POV

She knew she wished she was anywhere else the moment they landed. Extremely cold air seeped through the cracks of the door, and she was just about to demand she get to stay inside the pod when she was all but kicked out anyway by Vegeta getting up and leaving, even with her still in his lap. The icy snow that mostly hardened around their pods went all the way to her knees and burned her bare legs, so she turned to hide back in the pod- only to be picked up by Raditz.

In a matter of seconds of being exposed to the cold, she was shivering like a madman. She had even decided to cling to Raditz for warmth, though his armor made it so the heat transfer was minimal. How did these men even continue on like this? They were clearly bothered by the cold, but not to the extent they should be; this was well beyond freezing, and Nappa and Raditz were wearing less than she was. But neither was shivering. Were they naturally resistant to the cold?

Raditz soon landed in the cave that Vegeta had scoped out, but Bulma didn’t let go of him. She held onto him with arms around his neck as if her life depended on it, which it certainly did in a sense. If she was left like this for more than a few minutes, she’d surely die. Her extremities already felt numb, even though she hadn’t even been out of the pod that long. It was as if they were in the North Pole or something. The parts of her extremities that weren’t entirely numb burned, and it caused her to go so far as to wrap her legs around Raditz in hopes that her thighs would stop feeling like they were on fire.

“C-c-c-c-can’t we le-le-leave? I-I-I wa-want… To… To be a-anywhere…. B-b-but he-here… So… So c-c-c-cold…” The life-or-death situation was making her more demanding now, though she was too freezing to put much anger behind her words, nor any form of violence. She didn’t want to die like this. No way, no way. 

* * *

His POV

The cave was quiet, cold, and seemingly empty aside from the stalactites and stalagmites that littered the distant depth of the cavern. Where the darker tunnels lead to, it was a mystery. However, the slow drip of fresh mineral water could be heard echoing past the dark. At least there was a water source, which was something. Survival was all the prince was thinking about. That is, until his two men came flying into the cave and out of the biting wind, carrying the shivering girl with them.

At first Raditz hadn’t noticed the sheer amount of desperation that’d been clinging to his neck from the freezing female. When he did notice, he was a little perplexed. Why was she wrapping herself so fiercely around him like that? Was she trying to mate with him, in this weather? Well, beggars couldn’t be choosers. The long haired male groped the female’s chilled backside in both hands, more curious then horny for once. Blinking down at her, he was barely aware of how much strength she was trying to put into holding onto him; it was hardly comparable to his own. Raditz wasn’t sure what to make of it. She was …stuck to him. That was it. Had she frozen solid against his armor?

“Hey... Nappa?” Raditz tried to gain a little aid, pointing down at the female snaked around his massive frame.

“Well, pull her off!” Nappa barked, and Raditz quickly followed.

“We can fuck later...” Raditz said with a little pout in his voice; throwing the female down onto the cold, stony floor. Vegeta hadn’t noticed. At least, that was the aura he was giving off. The girl would have to learn how to cope with the cold just like the rest of them. Saiyans weren’t exactly ones to normally jump into freezing temperatures. The trio wasn’t fully aware of just how damaging the dropping temperatures could be to human flesh.

The prince was staking out his new territory. Sniffing out any sign of life that’d used the cave before them, or may have been lingering in the depths of the distant darkness. It seemed deserted enough. Nappa was busy unpacking the supplies needed to survive in such harsh conditions. They wouldn’t be finding vegetation to burn on this planet, but luckily the survival kit they’d put together not too long ago was equip with fuel to burn. A little pouring the flammable liquid over a pile of rocks, setting it a flame with a ki burst, and viola, their camp site was born. Thankfully the cave ceiling was high enough to keep the rock from warming too much, keeping them from a dangerous cave in.

* * *

Her POV

The cold was painful, and it was only worse when Raditz pulled her off him. She stared up at him with bewilderment before desperately curling in on herself to keep warm, rocking lightly. This was horrible. It was like hell. She wanted to be somewhere nice and warm again. God, it was horrible. She’d rather be cooked alive! Oh–

–Just as she thought about it, Vegeta lit a giant fire in the cave. She scrambled toward it and got as close as possible just to keep herself warm, still shivering violently. She was nearly close enough to burn herself, but she needed the warmth to stop from being driven crazy. It took her a few minutes, but she finally felt… Alright. The cold was still terribly painful, but with the fire right next to her, she could almost tolerate it.

“Why are we on this awful planet?! I want to go home! I want to go– To any other planet! This is awful! Terrible! It’s freezing! I’m going to die if I stay here!” Just like that, she was back to her old self. It was the shock, as well as just the blood warming up to fiery degrees to bring her personality to equally as fiery of levels. Her eyes dug into Vegeta, her brows furrowing as she spat out all her complaints.

“You couldn’t have at least warned me!? I don’t have a jacket or anything! What am I supposed to do, huh? Just deal with it!? That’s not how you survive the cold, Vegeta! I need something warm! And not just a fire! Can’t you come back here alone some time?! I don’t want to be on this planet anymore, shove me back in the pod and send me somewhere else! Anywhere else!”

* * *

His POV

Was she actually …yelling at him? She… She was. Part of the Saiyan felt himself liven up. The more hot air she blew from her pursed lips, the more he wanted to reward her ‘bad behavior’. He wasn’t to that point yet, though. Vegeta was still doing his best to brush the female off. To retain his thoughts on the mission at hand. To ignore the fiery way she was looking at him with those big blue eyes …damn it, the corner of his lip dared to twitch. It was a good thing he had his back turned to the lot of them.

“And where exactly would you have me go, _woman_.” The prince crouched down just behind her, purring his mocking tone into her ear. His behavior hinted at the playfulness that once overtook him back when the two fought so dearly for dominance and superiority rights, but it wasn’t fully intact. He still felt sour and confused towards her due to her recent behavior pattern. But he couldn’t ignore that there she was, some part of her at least, bursting out demands as brightly as the fire she sat next to.

“Stay by the fireside and you should be fine.” But he didn’t tell her to stop whining, as he normally would have -the part of him that enjoyed her brash antics had stopped him. He craved more of her harshness, if anything. Besides, she’d need that fire inside of her if she was to survive this terrible place.

The prince had looked away, but he’d never left her side. Instead fishing for something attached to the armor that he’d purchased back at the tranquil planet. It was a knife wrapped in a belted sheath. A large well-crafted dagger with a silvery double edged blade. Its ornate handle was finished off with a bright red tassel. Perhaps his instincts were rewarding her for her ‘bad behavior’ after all. If she could stand up to him, she should be able to protect herself from something far less worse, like a wild animal.

His black eyes flicked up to find her own. His face painted with the light of the lively fireside. He never said anything, but the look he gave her was entrusting her to not do anything stupid. To look after herself. If they could find the cave when seeking shelter from the harsh cold, there was a good chance other creatures of the planet could just as easily. She’d have to prove her survival skills while they were gone.

* * *

Her POV

She was too cold to care if she got punished for her outbursts, and by the looks of it, Vegeta didn’t care either. So she scowled at him when he crouched behind her and spoke in her ear. Feh! Like she knew! It’s not like she had a map of space! She stuck her tongue out at him and grumbled some swears under her breath to insult him, before going right back to trying to warm up by the fire.

He told her she’d be fine if she was near the fire, but she was still very, very unhappy. Why did they have to be here, of all the planets? Couldn’t they be somewhere else? ANYWHERE else, really! She didn’t care if they did horrible things to her, or if they destroyed a beautiful planet, killed hundreds– she just wanted off this god-forsaken planet. She could feel the frostbite threatening and licking her skin even when she was this close to a heat source.

Her eyes moved to look at Vegeta when she heard the noise of him messing with his armor, watching him pull out a dagger of some kind. It freaked her out at first, but he… Gave her a look, one that clearly meant he was giving it to her. She was angry, but even so, she reached out and grabbed it without a second thought.

“So you’re not just forcing me to be on this planet, you’re leaving me here, huh? Nice. Thank you. Thanks for that.” Sarcasm leaked from her words, and her face contorted in anger, the pout that had been missing for so long coming back. She really couldn’t believe it. They were leaving her to freeze to death. They didn’t even have any proper clothes or food for her, and they were expecting her to just wait for them with nothing but a damn dagger?

He was lucky if she didn’t use the dagger on him as soon as he came back. If she was even alive when he got back. She gave him another vicious glare, spouting off some more words of anger. “You’re really a terrible person, you know that?! You don’t care about anyone but yourself, huh? At least you’re covered up! You have gloves and everything!”

* * *

His POV

“You may want to save that energy, _princess_ , you’re going to need it.” His words retaliated with just as much sarcasm as she’d spat at him. Reveling in the vicious glare she was giving him, eating it up with his own arrogant stare. The undertones of a cocky grin hid behind the hard line of his lips. It was nearly impossible to deny his attitude towards her actions this time. The small amount of banter she gave him ...he’d missed it.

Just as quickly as they’d exchanged glances, the prince and his men were headed out of the mouth of the cave and into the blustering wind of the frozen world. The snow was picking up; a storm was sure to blow across the vast spreads of frozen wasteland soon. There was a reason this planet was so valuable, yet so feared. Its rocky surface hid an abundance of mineral rich waters and ores of gold, just waiting to be plucked. However, the inhabitants were ruthless. Without proper extermination, if the cold didn’t kill, the beasts would. That’s what the Saiyans were here for; kill the locals so companies could profit off the planet.

The locals hid in the nearby sheets of ice and snow. Towering glaciers blocked out the unforgiving winds, easily identifiable by their steep peaks of pointed ice. It was a mine field of icy daggers. The Saiyans had their work cut out for them. It’d take a lot of energy to fight the cold and their moving targets at the same time. Vegeta had no plans on returning for quite a while. Hours, until the sun set on the horizon. They days on this planet were long, and its nights felt even longer. Things could only get worse.

And worse still. Bulma wasn’t the only one in the cave. After a while, something caught wind of the scent of intruders, and slowly started making its way towards the belly of the cavern from the depths of the miles of darkness behind her. It was big, and its dense coat of fur was as silver as snow and thick enough to fight away any bite of cold. Its mouth was wider than the girth of its shoulders and littered with needle-like teeth. Its many eyes fixated on the girl by the fire, stalking, circling just at the fires shadow cast edge. It was a massive cat, and it wanted earthling for dinner.

* * *

Her POV

She watched them leave and played with the dagger in silence. Really, they couldn’t have left her with something to entertain herself? …Oh, well. She supposed she could try talking to Yamcha. She leaned back a little, looking up to the rocky ceiling. It really did feel weird talking to herself, but… It was better than sitting alone for hours in the freezing cold.

“Yamcha! Yamcha, I’m free now! I don’t think they’ll be back for a while. King Kai? I want to talk to Yamcha about escaping.” It didn’t take too long, though King Kai was grumbling a bit about her interrupting his training for nonsense. He seemed to understand to some point, at least.

 _“Bulma! You’re safe? Why haven’t you run off yet?”_ Their conversation began, both about casual things and about how she may find an escape later down the line. Certainly not here. That’s likely why he left her alone– Vegeta knew that she wouldn’t be able to venture out without dying, or at least suffocating from how deep the snow was.

While they were talking, Bulma saw something in the corner of her eye. Something strange. Her eyes locked onto a monster creeping toward her, and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Keeping ahold of her dagger, she got up to her feet in mere seconds, all but having a panic attack at the sight.

“YAMCHA! Yamcha, ohh– Oh my god, Yamcha, there’s a…. A thing! It looks like a bear-bobcat-spider hybrid! It’s staring at me, I think it’s going to eat me!” The outburst surprised him, to say the least, but if there was anything the man was good at, it was survival. He had survived in a desert without any air conditioning or proper food or water sources for so long, after all. He definitely knew how to handle himself.

_“It came from deeper in the cave? It probably thinks you’re encroaching on its territory. Look, it’ll be fine. Just puff up and yell and throw a rock at it, it might just decide to leave you alone. If not, just listen to what I say.”_

* * *

His POV

Yeti. Yeti everywhere. In the cracks of splintered ice, in the crevasses of wall to wall glaciers. They were like soldier ants protecting their village, and the Saiyans were destroying them icy province by province. That wasn’t all, though. Bulma may have encountered one of the beasts on the planet, but the soldiers were tangling with their own heard of monsters.

Woolly elephants, by the looks of it. Well, it was the closest comparison. The towering tusked monsters had claws on their feet and tails like whips. They were ridden by the locals that called the icy planet home. The warriors were locked in a frozen battle, unaware that the girl they’d left behind was about to fight for her own life, too.

The big cat didn’t seem at all startled by her display of rock throwing. If anything, it looked angrier. Its wide mouth hissed and its paw swiped in her direction. They were separated by the fire, out of clawing range, but it was still just as threatening. All it’d take is one good lunge, and it’d all be over.

It circled, waiting the girl out for her next move. Bulma had done a good job at making herself a threat. The beast wasn’t just waltzing up to her like easy prey, like it had before she’d spotted it. It was wary of her, but on some level that made the silvery monster all the more dangerous.

It was never good to back a cat into a corner...

The fire seemed to be the only barrier between them. Its predatorial movements were far too reminiscent of the Saiyan prince himself. In fact, that could have been a dead giveaway to what the animal would do next. Its stance and fluid movements, the way it watched her, mimicking Vegeta’s aura just before each and every time he’d pinned her. It was a sign; the big cat was going to make a jump for her. It lunged! Claws spread and fangs bared. Its massive chest aimed to land right on top of the girl and pin her down. It was going to go for her jugular, or maybe snap her spine, judging by how it was going for her neck.

* * *

Her POV

“Yamcha, it’s not working! He still looks like he’s gonna eat me!” Bulma warned her boyfriend, slowly moving around the fire as the beast tried to circle it. As long as the fire was in their way, it’d stop it from running to her, right? She had to hope, anyway. She gulped, listening to Yamcha’s voice as he explained to her that it’s probably because it didn’t want to give up its territory. Maybe it had a litter deeper in the cave– now that was a prospect that terrified her even more.

“Yamcha, it’s getting– It’s moving. It’s going to pounce. I know that look. It’s going to pounce on me!” She knew that shift of the shoulders by then. Both from the cats her father had owned as pets, and the shoulder rolls Vegeta had done before pouncing on her. She knew it all too well, and it terrified her.

 _“Dagger! Dagger! Use the dagger, right in the eye!”_ That was exactly what she tried to do. The thing at least had bad range because its giant mouth blocked the movement of its arms, and she managed to get between those arms and stab the thing in the nose, landing the hit partially in one of its lower eyes, before it could finish its lunge and knock her back. The movement the demon monster had was enough to even drag the dagger forward and cause a large wound that dug through two other eyes that were higher up on its head, as well.

She was knocked against the rock wall from the force that did hit her, but she was lucky that the pain had made the monster’s lunge falter, so its latter half ended up in the fire. She had ended up with a deep gash on her arm from when it had tried circling its clawed paws around her, but was otherwise unscathed. 

It was a horrifying sight. The thing was in pain, and ran circles around the cave with its body on fire. She doubted it came across the element often from how it acted. As if it weren’t sure what to do with itself, and it appeared that, because of this, it had evolved very, very flammable fur– the fire spread quickly, and eventually it stumbled onto the campfire again and fell onto the rocks, smothering it.

_“Are you okay? Bulma? Are you safe? I didn’t hear screaming–”_

“I’m– I hurt it, and it fell in the fire. It’s screaming. I think… I think it’s dying, Yamcha. It’s horrifying. I’ve never heard something yell like that before.” It wasn’t just that she pitied it. It’s that it truly sounded like a demon.

* * *

His POV

The beast was dead. Burnt to a crisp right on top of the hot pile of stones that had once bathed the cavern in light and warmth. The fire had completely gone out, smothered by the demon feline. Bulma may have saved herself with luck and quick thinking, but now there was a new killer set loose in the cave. It was the cold.

The winds had drastically picked up since the Saiyan men had left to reap havoc across the wintry world. They’d been gone hours now, and there were no prospects of the cave getting any warmer the further the sun went down. In fact, it was growing unbearably cold. The soft drip of water fell from the blackness that filled the tunnels. That’s where the beast had come from. And just as Yamcha had suspected, that’s where the beasts litter of new born pups were nestled against a rock formation. Sure to die now that their only caretaker had been pieced through the brain with a dagger and left to cook over hot coals.

* * *

Her POV

She took the supplies and used it to clean and dress her wound, and while she was at it she traded out dirty gauze for a new pair to put in her underwear. At first, she stayed close to the carcass as it burned. It was better than nothing, after all. But within thirty minutes, the fur burned out and there was nothing left for the fire to feed on. The Saiyans were still gone, and Bulma wasn’t sure what the hell she could do. She questioned Yamcha, who told her to stay calm. Maybe it’d be warmer deeper in the cave.

She trekked further as she began shivering again, feeling far colder than even when Raditz held her. The temperature was clearly dropping substantially as the sun set, and even deeper in the cave, it was still freezing. She ventured further, and just as her limbs were becoming numb, she found a litter of kittens that were clearly the offspring of the beast she’d killed. She told him about it, and he replied that she should stay away. Who knew how many of these beasts roamed? She wasn’t Yamcha, however. They were so young, so pitiful! How could she just leave them? Besides, their nest was next to a body of water, and she was thirsty.

She picked one of them up. It didn’t bite or scratch, and it seemed as though it didn’t even have teeth yet because it was so young; likely to prevent the mother from being wounded while it nursed, if it were anything like life on Earth. It mewled at her and rubbed its head against her skin, clearly unaware that she could be a potential threat. She made the mental note to come back for them once she found warmth– these things were clearly not upset by the cold, after all. She set the one pup down and watched them huddle together and fall asleep.

However, it seemed the cave didn’t go too much deeper. Not that she could tell very easily, anyway; after that part of the cave, there were no more slight cracks that allowed light to come through. She couldn’t see a thing, even with her eyes adjusted to the dark. To prevent danger, she sat down and licked up the water from the pool rather than risk going deeper into the cave. The water was sweet and was just enough to soothe her dry tongue, but it also made her even colder inside. Some part of her wondered what was wrong with this planet that a body of water could stay unfrozen at a temperature like this, but she was too desperate for some water to question it.

Hours passed. Her body temperature dropped to the point where she couldn’t move much, but she was trapped. Where was she supposed to go? She couldn’t hear Yamcha anymore, to tell her what to do. She laid down and watched the pups sleep, and another hour passed. An another. She could feel less and less. Her vision didn’t seem as clear anymore. She heard Yamcha again, but his voice seemed off. Something nagged at her about it, the same as the biting cold on her fingertips would have nagged at her if she were in the right mind. She was hallucinating. He told her she’d be better off going to the pod, and she heartily agreed.

It took her a long while to even manage to get up, and by the time she did, she felt an overwhelming rush of heat. Her extremities felt like they were on fire, and demanded she take her clothes off. That she did, but with some strange logic to leave them curled up around the litter. She might be burning alive, but they’d be cold in these freezing temperatures!

She made her way back to the mouth of the cave, where the Saiyans still hadn’t returned. It took her a long time to even do that, because her muscles simply didn’t want to move. She hit the ground near the end of the cave, and was forced to crawl the rest of the way out– into the cold snow that nearly suffocated her as she wadded through it like water. She kept going, paying no attention to the damage she was doing to her body or the cuts her knees and hands had obtained, until she was some amount of feet out. That’s when her body just refused to move anymore, and her mind couldn’t even process that much. She just felt tired. Ah… It wouldn’t be bad to take a nap before going the rest of the way. She’d be fine. She’d be fine…. Her eyes drifted closed, and the snow fell over her for another hour or two until she was completely covered. 

* * *

His POV

If the Saiyan had witnessed the girl’s triumph over the beast they wouldn’t have been able to deny the girl her rights; impressed with her skills and the quick thinking of how to kill something so much bigger and stronger than herself. But there was enough evidence of it by the time they got back. The smell of burning flesh wafted out of the cave’s mouth before the three ever returned to the shelter. Vegeta was the first to notice it. The burning smell cut through the icy cold wind. It was so unusual compared to the frozen tundra - it instantly raced his mind with a million and one scenarios as to why there was the stench of burning hair and heated blood.

There was only one place that fire could exist in this waste land; it had to be coming from the direction of the cave. The prince raced towards the campsite, flanked by his two men. Arriving just as night flooded across the cloudy horizon. Had the girl caught something on fire? Was she on fire? God, she hadn’t thrown herself on to it, had she? No, there was evidence of a fight, a battle, a kill. The dead carcass of a beast, its forehead bleeding out all over the rock floor, explained exactly what happened. The girl had been attacked, and… She’d… She’d won. The prince felt his chest swell with pride, but it was quickly drowned out by a new thought.

Just where the hell was she now..?

Vegeta wasted no time - he began searching for her the minute he caught wind of her scent on the cool cave air, leaving his men behind in the mouth of the cave. Raditz got ready to start another fire, and Nappa dragged in the frozen body of a dead elephant that’d act as their dinner tonight. The only command Vegeta gave the two was to not touch the beast the female had killed until he returned.

The woman’s scent led him deep within the darkness of the cave. The towering pillars of stone grew the further it dragged him. Just how far had she gotten, and why? She must have been running from the bite of cold. It was the only explanation he could gather. The beast that’d attacked her had obviously drowned out her only heat source and had driven her to find some new means of survival. It was more than most men knew when it came to surviving such freezing temperatures. It was hard not to be impressed. However, the prince was managing to not think about what she’d done to save her skin, and more about where it was leading him.

Water, she’d found water. Good girl. He’d known he wasn’t wrong about her, even if she’d been acting off of late. The girl still had the drive to live. Now, if only he could find her before she died in here. He was moving fast, his pace quickened the further her aroma pulled him. He’d found the water source within minutes of leaving the mouth of the cave, and then …he found what had been dragging him to explore the cave in the first place. Her clothes, discarded on what looked to be a pile of huddled up kittens. The prince snarled at the tiny furry infants, but didn’t harm them. His mind was too busy trying to piece together why she’d stripped herself of her clothing, and where the hell she could have gotten to. Without her clothes, as thin as they were, she was sure to die soon. She may have been acting mad before, but this was different, he knew what this was.

She had hypothermia, it was the only explanation.

God damn it.

Once the prince realized there’d be no finding her, his body darted back from where he came like a blue lightning bolt. He was back at the caves entrance in mere seconds. Sniffing out any new trace of the girl, hovering over the camp sight, and then he found it …her scent. It fucking lead out of the mouth of the cave.

“ _Shit_ ,” he gnashed through his teeth, diving into the pelting snow and ice. It was coming down hard now, and there was no sign of the girl on the surface. She was buried alive. Well, maybe, if she wasn’t already frozen stiff. He’d found her though. Her once bright skin was as blue as her eyes. Her body was huddled and naked, more dead than alive. Vegeta could barely tell if she was breathing. He didn’t have time to check, he had to get her warm as soon as possible. He brought her back to the campfire without a second thought.

Before his men could ask him what he was doing, the prince began stripping off his clothing as quickly as possible. The girl lay next to the fire side, but was quickly swooped up into the Saiyan’s warm arms. His naturally warm core must of felt hot against her frozen body, but he had to transfer as much heat into her organs as possible, and this was the quickest way to do it. He’d worry about her hands and feet after, if they were still salvageable, if she was alive at all. 

“God damn it, woman.” He was speaking to her, though there was no guarantee that she could hear him. He could feel her heartbeat barely patter, but it didn’t mean a thing if she didn’t wake up. To sleep was to court death in her state.

He tried again, but hid it from his men by roughing his voice into her ear. “ _Bulma,_ ” he demanded her attention. Her hair was so cold that it’d all but frozen. Laced with ice and blending in with the tone of her blotchy, snow-kissed skin. Skin so cold that it even bit at the Saiyan’s hot chest, his naturally high metabolism feeling the give and take of body heat the further he curled her into the warmth of his legs and arms. He was sitting by the fire with her bound up in his naked lap. The hot press of his hands was against her shoulder blades and the coldness of her head tucked under his chin. His men, to put it bluntly, were speechless.

* * *

Her POV

She was unconscious for some time. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she finally heard noise. Some kind of muttering? Then all at once, she could hear everything. The fire, Raditz and Nappa speaking the background, the harsh snow blowing outside, and Vegeta calling her name. She had to gather up the strength, and with time she opened her eyes. 

She couldn’t move. She tried to, but it was mainly just twitches as her body refused to cooperate. She made a noise. An ‘ah.’ Or, she tried to. She felt warm again, or at least… Warmer. And with that, she was losing her numbness and instead felt how uncomfortable and painful things were. Everything ached from the exhaustion of hypothermia. The cold still stung her skin, but the fire and Vegeta’s body was enough to keep it at bay.

Speaking of… He was holding her. She was wrapped up in his arms, with the two of them naked. He wasn’t feeling her up, but just transferring heat. She understood that much, though she was still very out of it. She blinked a few times, her eyes focusing in on the two blobs she could figure out by noise were Raditz and Nappa, and watched them gawk at her. How strange, she couldn’t really make out the features of their faces.

“Hm… Ah…” She tried speaking again, but it was hoarse and strained. Clearly her body was so exhausted that even that was too big a feat for her at the moment. Why was he helping her? …She was tired. She wanted to sleep more. Her eyes closed and she passed out again, this time healing rather than on the verge of death. She was too exhausted to stay conscious for long.

His POV

At least there was movement from her body once again. Not a cold, dead corpse, but a girl coming back from the gates of death. She’d been knocking on the reapers door just moments before he’d found her. Given a moment or so and she’d have been frozen through. But she wasn’t, she was tucked away in the Saiyan’s lap, and he wasn’t giving up his hold any time soon. No matter how much his men ogled them.

At least she was awake -for the most part. The sound of her voice cut his calling of her name short. Using her name had worked so well before when trying for her attention, he could only hope it’d work a second time, and by the sounds of it, it did. She was conscious now; just sleeping. He’d let her rest, for now. The prince checked her vital signs. Her heart beat, the rate of her breath, and the steady warming of her core body temperature.

She was cold against his skin, but at least her body was warm enough to move her limbs without her joints freezing into place. The prince needed to warm her hands and feet now that her body was stabilizing. The length of his furry tail unwound from behind him and wrapped around her waist, keeping her steady in his lap so his hands could move about without her falling into the fire. Her hands were small compared to his, fitting snuggly in the palms of his hands, of which he blew into softly, pouring his hot breath over her fingers, slowly warming them until they were nice and pink again.

God, cold feet against his thighs was not something he was used to, nor was it something he ever wanted to feel again, but he was tolerating it. The prince wasn’t sure what had come over him. Why he was so determined to save her, but he’d acted before a thought could ever venture into his mind. His body had fled into action without a second option. His only goal had been to keep her from dying, to keep her safe -he was only now realizing it.

His eyes shifted over her body, and then towards his men, whom were busy arguing over who got the better cuts of the elephant, who had worked harder in battle and proven they deserved the tastier meats, but had still yet to touch the woman’s kill. Good; it was hers, she’d earned it. She’d need food once she properly came to. Vegeta took the girls chin, staring down into her chilled features. Was she awake? What had she been thinking, venturing out into the snow like that?

* * *

Her POV

When she awoke again, she felt much better than before. Not the best she’d ever felt in her life, but she was certainly warm, and she could certainly move her muscles. Her eyes kept shut just to retain her strength, and she basked in the warmth as he forced life into her limbs again. Ah… He was… Saving her. She had nearly died out in the snow, and he had saved her. Why was that? …It was an odd enough thing to think about that she’d nearly died, too.

Her chin was lifted, and she opened her eyes again to look at Vegeta. This time, she could recognize faces. Her brain seemed to be functioning better now, because her thoughts weren’t jumbled and confused. She stared at him and gave him a little bit of a smile, though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she was just happy to be alive. Happy to be revived.

She didn’t even mind that she was naked in his lap, or that he was naked as well. It didn’t cause discomfort, and it was the one thing making it so his body pumped heat into her where she had been losing it. She tried to vocalize, and she did a much better job this time than the last:

“Ve… Vegeta.” She simply said his name; that was enough for her. Speaking still felt difficult to do, and she didn’t want to strain herself too much. Also, she wanted to use some of her energy to work on moving her muscles. That worked rather well– she could wiggle her toes and move her fingers, move her head from side to side… She was definitely getting better, and with that, she realized just how hungry and thirsty she was– things that had been suppressed thanks to the cold taking center stage in her thoughts before apathy set in.

Her stomach rumbled gently, even the organ was physically exhausted from all she’d been through. Mn… When had been the last time she ate, anyway? A day? Half a day? Many hours, at the very least… 

* * *

His POV

She was coming to, and this time, by the looks of it, she wasn’t just staring dazed into space. There was life behind her eyes, he could see it the moment she glanced back up at him, but there was more to it than that. She smiled at him. Why the fuck would she do that? It was so odd and unexpected. The prince turned his gaze away as soon as she finished muttering his name. It was his turn to pout for once; staring anywhere but at her. She’d embarrassed him.

Eventually, his attention turned back towards the girl nestled snuggly into his lap. The wiggling of her fingers was one thing, but the wiggling of her toes against his muscle was another. A huff of air forced out of his mouth, followed by a zing up his back that straightened his spine whenever she dug into the warmth of his inner thighs. He looked away again, this time knitting his brows. Doing his damnedest to keep his calm, stoic composure, especially in front of Raditz and Nappa. He could feel the rumble of her belly against his hard torso.

The carcass she’d killed was over-cooked by the Saiyans standards, but it’d have to do. After all, it was her kill. It was what she’d earned to eat tonight. It was close enough to the fire side for the prince to reach if he stretched out his body far enough and dragged it closer by its charred foot. The thing was big and heavy. The long top coat of its fur was burned away, leaving the meat under it seared like a fine steak. Vegeta easily ripped off a sizable portion from the rib cage, offering it to the girl.

“Eat.” He stared down at her, finally able to make eye contact again now that he was barking orders - something he was well versed at. His free hand smoothed up her naked back, pushing the slab of meat into her hands. He was hungry, his own stomach roaring to life now that the scent of flesh was dangling under his nose, but he wasn’t eating. He was just …watching, waiting, his naturally unyielding expression demanding that she’d put the food into her mouth.

* * *

Her POV

“Mn…” What was with that expression? Was he embarrassed when she said his name? She let out a little sigh of contentedness, at least just at the fact she was alive, before suddenly Vegeta was shoving a giant chunk of meat in her hands. She blinked at it, and turned her head to see its source. Ah… That was right. She killed a monster. It wasn’t ripped to shreds by the other Saiyans by now; why? Maybe it was some honor thing. Or maybe they didn’t like cooked meat.

She bit into the deep side that wasn’t covered with the remaining undercoat. Stringy and gamy, as one would expect from a wild beast. But it was warm, and it filled her empty belly. It was welcomed and she ate it in large mouthfuls, despite it being something she might not have usually eaten. Though she had to say, it tasted somewhat like steak. Maybe it was all the fat the beast had on it.

As she was eating the large chunk of meat, she looked up at Vegeta again, who was rubbing her back soothingly and still hadn’t tossed her off. Why did he care so much, anyway? He hadn’t made a move since the other day, now that she thought of it. Why was that? He wasn’t touching her, even now that they were huddled together in the nude and she wasn’t on the verge of death.

“…Mn…” She finished chewing one mouthful and spoke up to talk to him, raising a little brow. “I… Found water deeper in the cave. …And… Ah…” …What was she thinking again? Her brain clearly wasn’t quite at capacity yet. Ah! Right! “When are we going to leave? I… Want to go somewhere else. Anywhere else. Cold…” She went back to eating as she waited for a response, her eyes staring up at him all the while as the liquid of the meat dripped from her chin. 

* * *

His POV

He was absolutely motionless whilst watching her eat. The rest of her kill remained untouched until he was satisfied that she’d gained a few good mouthfuls, then and only then, did the prince reach over and rip off a larger slab of meat for himself. Tearing into it as easily as butter with his large canines, he watched her try to mutter something about water. The woman was clearly still not in her right mind, obviously drifting in and out of thought by the way her body shifted in his hand. She must have been dehydrated as well.

The charred flavor wrinkled his nose and put a snarl to his lip, but ate the whole slab down before the girl had ever gotten to her last bite. Watching her finish off the remainder of her meal, the slow drip of cooked blood down her chin caught his attention. He leaned in and licked it. Lapping it from her chin and bottom lip in a few good swabs of his tongue; digging between the plump parting of her mouth. He didn’t consider it a kiss; the word wasn’t in his vocabulary. He was grooming her.

He wasn’t fazed by the act. It hadn’t been sexual, at least not to him. He was more interested in the fact that she had still been trying to make demands, even in her dreary state of mind. The prince rolled his eyes, then finally answer with a short _“I know you did,”_ meaning he’d found her trail to water and back. He wasn’t about to leave her; she was still far too chilled and dazed. He wasn’t about go back, even if it meant for a necessity like water. That’s what he had his men for.

The moment Vegeta’s dark gaze fixed on Raditz, the long haired Saiyan knew his meal time was over and done for. Hopefully there’d still be some elephant left by the time he got back. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going..” Raditz sulked. He didn’t have to be told by Vegeta to know where this was going. The two men had obviously been ease dropping on their leaders and the girl’s conversation - what little conversation there was.

“And her clothes.” Vegeta added, just before Raditz disappeared into the blackness of the cave, carrying the three containers they’d brought for water. That left Nappa, Vegeta, and the girl in his lap. Was she still hungry? The arch in Vegeta’s winged brow asked.

* * *

Her POV

It was always… Interesting… To see a Saiyan eat. Or react to eating with someone. To watch the way he devoured his food in seconds, long before she was gone with her slab. It was just as weird for him to lick the liquid from her chin in that grooming way he did, not lingering enough to be considered sexual, yet still intimate. Then he responded that he knew she found water, and for a moment she was confused, until he ordered Raditz to go get some– with her clothes, as well. …Ah. That was right. She’d stripped her clothes off, and…

“H… Hey! Bring the puppies here, too!” Or… Kittens, cubs or whatever the hell those things were. “Alive…!” She’d forgotten all about them. They were so young, she was sure they couldn’t be without their mother for too long. But what would they do, with no source of milk? Maybe she could see if there was anything that hadn’t evaporated or otherwise cooked away inside the mother, but… Who knew.

She finished her slab and found herself more full than she’d felt in a very, very long time, and actually feeling a little drowsy from the high amount of protein. It worked out well for her, at least. She was glad she wasn’t starving like she was before. She wouldn’t be surprised to find that she was gaining weight now that she seemed to constantly be filling her belly to the brim, especially with meat.

“W… Wait. You never… Answered me. I want to know… When we’re, you know… going to leave.” She pouted at him with a serious look, ignoring his questioning look that seemed to ask if she wanted more food. “Are… Are you done with your mission yet? I’m still cold, you know. I… Mn… I don’t want to stay here too long.”

* * *

His POV

And here came the demands, back at it once again. It seemed that if she wasn’t sucking up as a good little slave, she was ordering one of them around. Vegeta had to admit, if only to himself, that he had come to prefer the later. He knew that Raditz wasn’t about to give her the time of day, let alone do something she’d yelled at him from the distance when he’d already been giving his orders, unless Vegeta intervened. A hardy gruff groaned from the prince’s chest, his posture and head turned towards the darkness that Raditz disappeared in. It meant ‘do as she says’, Vegeta’s growl met with an echoing moan from Raditz that meant he understood.

What the hell she wanted with the beast’s pups, he couldn’t fathom. Was she planning on eating them too? She didn’t act hungry. She refused his offer for more food. If anything, she looked like she was about to pass out against him again. The prince stared down at her, tilting his head and narrowing his vision in quiet contemplation, trying to figure her motives out. But eventually he brushed it off. His large hand slid past her temple and cheek, rushing into her hair, giving it a rough run through as he pulled himself up and away from her body; letting her butt hit the cold, hard ground. Taking his naturally space heater-like body with him.

His belly craved something more than charred beast, and the two other Saiyans had saved their leader the best cuts of meat from the mammoth. The rich liver, kidney, breast and thigh were all untouched. They knew their hierarchy, even if the predicaments of the evening had disturbed their usual deviation of food.

Vegeta had put on his pants and was sinking his teeth into a large portion of raw liver when Raditz showed back up. The long haired Saiyan didn’t look to know what to do with the items he was sent to collect. Other than the water, which he sat down next to the supplies, as was the norm. As for the pups, they were wrapped in the female’s clothes. Vegeta was sat next to his stack of meat, nodding towards the female -that’s where Raditz was to set the animals and clothing.

“What the hell are you going to do with them?” Raditz questioned, setting the bundle next to the girl. “…Eat them? They can’t taste very good.” He’d never had kitten before. Normally he went for bigger kills, but he was curious about the taste all the same. He was watching the girl with new curiosity and fascination. She had Nappa and Vegeta’s attention too. It seemed she was center show; all were wondering what she had in mind. Saving the lives of the pups obviously never crossed their minds.

* * *

Her POV

He dropped her down on the cold ground, and she curled in on herself again. She hadn’t realized how good of a source of heat he was. Why did he have to move away? She debated getting up and following him, but her body still felt too sore to do something like that. She’d rather just sit. So she did, still warming up by the fire until Raditz came and set down pups, wrapped in her clothes, next to her.

The clothes smelled disgusting, but she at least managed to fish out her capsule from her pocket to make her giant pile of clothes pop from it. She leaned over just far enough to grab some of those clothes and put them on, or at least the top. That’s when she remembered the gauze. …She wasn’t about to put that dirty gauze back on her, so she finally struggled to her feet.

She was very stiff in her movements, but she ultimately made it to the supplies. She didn’t really care whether or not they wanted her stealing their supplies; it was important. She used some of the gauze in her panties before clothing herself the rest of the way, and some more to re-dress her shoulder that had the deep cut. It had stopped bleeding when her body dropped to such seriously low temperatures, but it was beginning to bleed again, and she had to stop it.

She sat back down with the pups, pulling their mom close. As well as she could, anyway, with her weak muscles and that giant amount of fat on the animal. It was sad, almost. But she had to kill the thing. It was eat or be eaten. Either way, she used her dagger to slice open the bags of flesh that she found under the stomach, with what she assumed to be nipples under them. Where milk would be. She didn’t expect much when she opened the animal, but it seemed that it didn’t cook properly, because the milk remained. 

“Hn…” She took a little look around for something to hold the milk in, before her eyes focused in on Raditz again. “Give me one of… Those.” Her finger pointed to the canisters, though she assumed there must be an empty one somewhere. She’d be filling it with milk, of course. She’d find a place for the little puppies if he was really going to make her stay on this terrible planet.

* * *

His POV

They watched with acute fascination. When the girl began moving about, the prince remained silent, bothering with nothing more than the dripping meal between his fingertips. Like a guard dog on duty, he watched, but allowed her to move freely around the campsite under his supervision. The girl was fishing for something in her clothing. They’d both done that before, once in the bathroom. Vegeta had a pretty good idea where this was going. However, both Raditz and Nappa had never witnessed the earthlings ‘capsule’ technology in action before. Needless to say, it caught them both by surprise. 

“What the hell was that?!” Nappa yelled in his big booming voice, sitting next to Vegeta. Raditz, being so close to the girl, had instantly jumped back into a defensive stance the moment the pile of clothing materialized. Vegeta rolled his eyes at the two men’s reactions. Honestly, had they forgotten her gun trick so soon?

“It’s capsule technology.” The prince smacked between bites nonchalantly, as if he’d known the information all along.

“Yeah but, where the fuck did she get it?” Raditz was toeing the new pile of dirty clothing with his boot, stalking around the girl as she moved between the supplies crate and the fabrics; more curious then threatening.

“She made it, you dim wit.” Vegeta bit out, slicing his teeth into a new hunk of meat. Mmmm, mammoth thigh. Vegeta and Nappa went on to discuss the many uses the new technology could provide during battle, or simple survival scenarios, between themselves. Raditz, however, was watching the girl closer than usual. It was the first time he’d really gotten a look at her without fucking her mouth or tossing her around.

The big male was staring, as if picking up a new skill. His eyes occasionally darting toward Vegeta, quietly searching for any command, then back to whatever the girl was doing. Especially when she began dressing her wounds and using the medical supplies. Raditz gaze darting to Vegeta, but the prince didn’t seem to mind, so the soldier let it go, too. They weren’t stopping her, but they certainly weren’t helping her open cuts, either. It was every man for themselves in their society.

When she picked up the knife, any conversation stopped and all eyes fell on Bulma. It was instinct. A weapon was handled, their attention immediately honed in on it. They were much more interested in watching her dress the female beast’s stomach cavity; she handled it well. Raditz even handed her an empty container of his own accord after she’d demanded it, curious to see what she was planning on doing with it. Then they figured it out: she was trying to save the pups lives. It was then that Vegeta felt the need to stand up and intervene.

“You’re not going to be able to save them,” Vegeta’s tone was cold and his down cast glare was just as dark and icy. “It’d be more merciful to kill them.” And by kill them, he meant do it herself, if she was so determined to help them. “Or leave them. If they’re strong they’ll survive on their own,” he said all too matter-of-factly. It was the way they handled things. It only made sense; survival of the fittest. It was times like this that the way their brain was wired showed itself.

* * *

Her POV

All while she worked, she tuned out the conversation the Saiyans were having. Now they were interested, huh? They seemed to have thought she was so incapable before. Ergh… She let it go, and took the canister with a mumble of a ‘thanks,’ before filling it up with milk. She poured it in through the hole she’d created with her dagger, and only then did Vegeta speak up. She turned her head to look at him with narrowed eyes.

“They’re too young to be strong enough to survive on their own. They don’t have teeth yet, one of them is still blind because it’s too young to open its eyes, see? I’m going to take care of them, and we’ll find something to do. You keep avoiding saying when we’re leaving anyway. We’re going to be here for a while, aren’t we?” It’ll keep her busy, she figured. She turned back to the canister and used the dagger again to cut off one of the nipples of the beast, if only just to use it as something to help the pups eat.

She held it over the cap and picked them up one by one, letting them feed and making sure to be gentle. It wasn’t exactly the best contraption for feeding the animals, but she figured that the canister would just contain the milk until she could invent something to properly feed them and make sure the milk didn’t rot. Either way, the kittens had all been clearly starving. They sucked up the milk and were grateful for it, mewing loudly all the while.

“…That thing was terrifying. Their mom, I mean. I’m sure there are rich people who would want things like this as a pet. Or maybe we could sell them to a zoo,” she continued, setting down the canister. She picked up the blind one and held it to her chest, rubbing the fur on the top of its head gently. “You can make some money on them, so stop complaining. It’s a win-win situation, right?”

* * *

His POV

He watched her try her best to feed the pups with her makeshift bottle, all the while thinking that this was never going to work. That the girl was only fooling herself. The prince’s lip snarled and his arms crossed firmly over his bare chest. Where exactly was she going with this conversation? At first he’d imagined she was just trying to convince herself that the animals were salvageable for a quick buck, but no, it sounded as if she really did want to go through with this. He shook his head in disbelief; she really was out of her mind.

“And how exactly do you expect to get them off planet?” Vegeta’s brow arched; he felt he had her backed into a corner with that question, posturing confidence. "This is not a cargo mission.” His voice went stern, shooting her a look. The conversation bubbled between them, but quickly gained outside attention. Raditz was listening in behind Bulma and Nappa had stepped up behind the prince. Nappa, however, apparently didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. It wasn’t unusual for a soldier to speak over a slave.

“Yeah, girlie. It’s probably just her motherly instincts kicking in. The hormones between her legs.” The big man pointed, oblivious to the dark look that’d overtaken Vegeta’s scowl. The prince’s eye twitched, darting his eyes towards the bald man.

“This is between me and the woman.” Vegeta snapped quite literally, his teeth gnashing together at Nappa. The bald man took a step back, appearing confused.

“You mean. _.. Slave._..” Nappa mumbled under his breath in questioning. His hands held up before him in defense, though his eyes shifted in suspicion. He honestly didn’t know where the female stood at this point. She sat at fireside, ate meat, and got medical attention. She’d even ordered Raditz around. Now his prince was speaking to her and telling a soldier to stand down. What were the two Saiyans, who were so obsessed with rank, supposed to think?

“ _Are you correcting me._..?” Vegeta ground out in dark rancor. He’d obviously taken Nappa’s question the wrong way. He’d taken it as a threat to his position. The prince turned, glaring down the taller male. Their posture—Nappa on the defense and Vegeta on the offence—made it obvious they were about to break out into a fight.

“ _Raraki-na, zen-mari raf-ki mar-leirie grol-re ra!_ ” It was Vegeta, his voice roaring in his native language. He’d lunged at Nappa, his brick-like fist pounding right into the large man’s face, sending him flying backwards. It only went on from there. Nappa pleaded in the same odd vocabulary, and Vegeta answered with more spite than ever, now that he was in his proper tongue. Growls, grunts, and the rolling of ‘r’s seemed to be just as important as words.

“ _Oh shit._.” Raditz winced from behind Bulma, quietly. He obviously understood what was being said.

“Ee ra doreth-re-re-ki…” One didn’t have to speak English to know what was going on. Nappa was flat on his back, the tone of his voice begging for his life. Vegeta was standing atop the big man’s chest, one heel planted on Nappa’s shoulder. Then .. _crack_. Vegeta pushed his foot into the man’s arm, dislodging it out of place. Nappa never yelled, he knew better then to whine for a second round of punishments.

“If I say she can keep them, she can keep them.” Vegeta growled from deep within once it was all over. He passed by the girl and Raditz without a second glance.

* * *

Her POV

She opened her mouth to argue with Vegeta, only to be interrupted by Nappa continuing on about it just being hormones. Feh. She turned her head away and focused instead on petting the little things, shaking from just how small they were. She wasn’t paying attention to the two of them until she heard the first strange yell and loud ‘crack’ of Vegeta’s fist hitting Nappa’s face. That’s when she turned her head quickly to see the commotion.

It was a horrifying but small fight, filled with yelling in a strange language. It wasn’t the seemingly universal language she’d seen around the planets they’d been on, or the common language she shared with the others. This was something different. Their native tongue, maybe? By Raditz’s mumbles, she could tell he understood it all, too.

It was over in a matter of moments, and it may be cruel, but Bulma took a bit of enjoyment out of Nappa having his arm dislocated. It reminded her of when he ripped her arm from its socket before raping her. She might have managed to get Vegeta to pummel him nearly to death as revenge–though Vegeta had thought it was over that stupid dress–but it was nice to see another round of karma.

And for Vegeta to indirectly say she could keep them, as well…

She was clearly smug about the decision, and after a few moments of silence where she picked up another pup and let it attempt to hold onto her shirt, she spoke:

“…Anyway, they’re so small. There’s only so many of them, too. I can wrap them up in my clothes and they can easily fit in the pod with us. I’ll make them a carrier, even.” She rested the little things on her thighs, where they mewed and shook from how fragile and small they were. “It means you get money. What do you have against it?”

* * *

His POV

He ignored her. Her comment about the pod, credits, everything. It was the Saiyan’s way of maintaining control after the roughhousing spat. Raditz didn’t seem to notice, taking the prince’s walking away from the situation as the norm. The long-haired male was too interested in what the female had to say, anyhow. For once he was listening. That, and he had his own curiosities about the kittens. Eyeing them like something from another world. Which technically they were.

“If their eyes are closed... why don’t you just open them?” Raditz nose wrinkled, picking up one of the kittens by the scruff. He had to pinch the tiny nip of the kitten’s neck skin between his fingers, his hands were so big. Bringing it to his nose, sniffing it for a better inspection of the strange thing the girl had convinced his leader to let her keep.

Nappa was just coming to. Once Vegeta had left the circle, the big man felt safe enough to sit up and pop his arm back into place. He tossed a sour scowl at the girl, inwardly blaming her strange hold over the prince for his own punishment, but didn’t voice it. Instead, the man sat back at the fire side and took up a piece of meat. Munching it in stewing silence, while Raditz watched the girl play with the tiny pups.

Vegeta had distanced himself from the scene. Landing atop a stone formation near the wall of the cave in one swift leap. He lay down on his side, his back towards them, twitching his tail in his silent reign over the cave. A regular lion on its rock. He was listening, though sleep was tugging at his senses. After a day of war, food, and now solitude, the calling waves of drowsiness was pulling him down. Rolling onto his back, his hands tucked under his head, and he closed his eyes; drifting away from the group below.

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta wasn’t listening, but Raditz seemed to. She was, for once, happy to oblige him. It was better to talk about little cubs than it was for him to pin her down or something. However, she did scowl when he held one of the pups like he did. It seemed fine, so she didn’t complain, but she still watched like a hawk. Maybe her maternal instincts _were_ kicking in. 

“You can’t. If they’re anything like baby animals back on my planet, their eyes haven’t developed all the way yet. They’re fine moving around with their other senses, but for the time being, they have to have their eyes sealed closed while they keep developing. I know for kittens it takes a couple weeks, though I don’t know about the lifespan of these animals. But if I had to guess, they’re probably a little over two weeks, just from what I know about other animals. That’s only if they’re like animals on Earth, though.”

The ones in her lap felt enough pleasant warmth from her thighs that they curled up to begin napping, and carefully she moved them down with their siblings. She fished out her second capsule and threw it to get all her supplies, and while she was still sluggish from the cold, she made her way over and began grabbing the right pieces for both a carrier and a thermos for the milk.

She worked a bit slowly, still watching both the kittens and Raditz all the while. She wasn’t too tired, surprisingly, and she doubted she’d be able to sleep on the hard, cold rock of the cave’s ground regardless. She’d be staying up the rest of the night. 

“Are there any other questions you have about them? It’s not like I can answer everything, but I can try. Like… They don’t have teeth yet, probably so they don’t puncture the mom’s stomach. Machinery is more of what I do, but my parents like pets so I’m pretty used to dealing with all kinds of animals by now.”

* * *

His POV

As she explained the ins and outs of kitten care, Raditz surprisingly took a seat next to the female near the fire. He clearly wasn’t as interested in her, or her invention making, as he was the cubs. Still squinting at the kitten between his meaty fingers, but without harming it. In fact, he was kind of intrigued by what she had to say about them. By the end of her explanation, Raditz was had put one kitten between his crossed legs and had picked up a second one. Giving it the same odd glare, he poked at its tummy with his finger, and then held it in his palm, watching down at it as it sat in his big hand.

Vegeta had heard the familiar pop and crash of the earthling’s supply capsule opening up and falling all over the solid ground. Causing a clatter. He looked over the edge of his high rock; not due to the noise but out of curiosity of what she was planning on putting together next. She always came up with something. Once the prince decided it was nothing too threatening, he laid back down, this time surrendering to sleep.

Nappa had given up the fight against fatigue, too. He’d finished his meal. Though, there was a moment where he’d eyed the girl across the campfire, as if he were determining if he was going to fuck her or not. The big man had that look in his eye, but after a quick glance up at Vegeta’s perch, he apparently decided against it and found his own place to rest for the night just at the edge of the fires glow.

“Explains why you know a thing or two, though I can’t imagine having pets that aren’t food sources.” Raditz commented about her parents pets. For the first time in his life, Raditz didn’t seem to be thinking about what he’d be fucking next. What do you know, he was an animal person. By the time Bulma had put together the thermos and carrier, he was covered in kittens. He’d moved them from their resting place one by one, inspecting each one of them. One tried to suckle his finger, of which he made the comment, “It’s too bad they don’t have teeth yet. They’re going to need them.” 

Before too long though, the men were asleep. Including Raditz, who hadn’t bothered moving the kittens from his wide-spread body. Hopefully they wouldn’t be crushed under his weight if he decided to roll over during the night. The cave was chilled, but it didn’t seem to bother them at all. Saiyans, they could sleep anywhere and on anything, apparently.

* * *

Her POV

She made quick work of the thermos and carrier, and when she was finished she put the pile of her clothes and the pile of her supplies back into their respective capsules. She put them in her pocket and took a look over at Raditz, who was falling asleep with all the kittens on him. What a weird guy. He seemed to like kittens a lot, for someone who wasn’t sure about the idea of pets.

She took them off him one by one and put them in the carrier instead, fearing a bit for their safety. Both fearing being crushed by Raditz, as well as fearing them walking into the fire because they’re small and don’t understand that it’s bad. They were safer locked away in the carrier, and afterward she transferred the milk to the thermos she made, which was complete with a top that worked a little like a straw for baby animals– in the absence of a proper nipple-like top that wouldn’t rot, it pushed the milk forward so all the animal had to do was suck. Took a little engineering, but it looked to be good. 

When she was done with that, she settled down on the ground. She wanted to sleep, but it didn’t work well. The ground was as cold as ice and she was scared she’d freeze to death if she fell asleep, and on top of that, it was rock. Far too uncomfortable to sleep on. She eyed the other men for a while, wondering if she should cuddle up to them. It was a matter of what was worse– waking up to being pinned down and violated, or waking up with an ache in every piece of her body, if she woke up at all.

Eventually she got to her feet and went to the one she currently trusted the most at the moment for whatever reason. She lay down on Raditz’s stomach, making herself comfortable there. Luckily he’d already removed his armor for the night. She prodded him for a moment out of curiosity; poked his cheek, pulled his hair. Nothing. How strange, but lucky for her. She stared at him for a minute before settling on him again, eventually managing to fall asleep.

* * *

His POV

The big strong Saiyan never stirred. Raditz was out like a light. It was considered one of his faults as a soldier, as a lower class. He was a damned heavy sleeper. The man could sleep through anything, and nearly had a few times over. He had no inclination that there was a woman on top of him. He was warm though, much like Vegeta, and unknowingly gave up his life giving heat throughout the long winter night.

It was early morning. Vegeta was the first to awake, just before the planet’s dim sun started to peek over the horizon. His men were still fast asleep, as was the girl, right on top of Raditz. The prince’s brow narrowed, starring down at the two. Vegeta wasn’t as light of a sleeper. He hadn’t heard them fucking throughout the night and she certainly didn’t smell of it… Not that he’d care, but the thought did cross his mind. Perhaps it was jealousy, due to how comfortably she’d curled herself up on top of his soldier. She must have gotten cold, he realized. The woman was good at survival; she seemed to do anything to meet her means, even if it meant crawling on top of a killer.

He walked right past them, the stone never making a sound under his booted feet. The prince slipped on his blue suit top then reached for the feline’s carcass. Its charged remains were too cold to let rot set in, so it was still useful for a thing or two. Besides, the fire’s damage hadn’t completely scorched its body; the short under coat still remained. The large beast was thrown over his shoulder, and the prince sauntered out into the blizzardy ice and snow, the mouth of the cave gobbling his physique up the moment he stepped out.

Raditz, however, was starting to stir. Not fully awake, but apparently having a …nice dream. As soon as he started mumbling in his sleep, the giant rolled over, taking Bulma with him. His heavy arm tossed aimlessly over her, his hips bumping and grinding against her soft backside. He was having a wet dream and it was giving him morning wood. Very hard, noticeable morning wood.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t wake up until Raditz knocked her onto her side. She let out a yelp as the pain crushed into her shoulder from landing (even if it weren’t much of a fall) into the cold rock, and she attempted to take in her surroundings only to be interrupted by Raditz grinding against her. Grunting. At first she thought he was awake and about to rape her, but upon glancing back she realized he was just passed out and dreaming. Dreaming very aggressively, at that.

“Ngh– Agh–” She squirmed out of his grasp with a bit of difficulty, but because he wasn’t awake, it was possible. She was free, and as soon as she was, she went right back to sitting by the kittens in their carrier. She looked around at everything– the fire was beginning to slowly wind down, Vegeta was gone and so was the kitten’s mother, and Nappa and Raditz were asleep still. …What if they were to wake up? Maybe Vegeta would distract them from doing anything, but with him not there, then…

She bit her lip in thought as she looked at the both of them, particularly Raditz, who was clearly having a wet dream. It was a long shot, but maybe if she pretended to be asleep, she’d be safe. Ah… Maybe if she pretended to be asleep on the rock Vegeta had picked out to lay on, she’d be even safer. They seemed to act like animals, so she attempted to use animal logic.

She went straight to the rock and laid down on it, curling up. Cold, definitely. It wasn’t comfortable, but she doubted they’d be asleep for much longer. So she closed her eyes and tried to focus on listening for them finally beginning to stir. When they got distracted, she’d ‘wake up’ and feed the kittens. That was her plan.

* * *

His POV

It was a good dream, and would have only been better in the Saiyan’s opinion if he’d woken up to find a girl resting a top him. A regular dream come true. But once the soldier opened his eyes the female was long gone. He was still hard, too. Restlessly, he tried to relieve himself in his hand now that he was awake. The cold didn’t put a damper on his boner, though he’d prefer something warm to fuck into. His eyes searched for the girl, but she appeared to be missing. The noisy grunts and groans he was making quickly woke his comrade.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Nappa spoke up to Raditz. He’d noticed the long haired Saiyan eyeing the rock that Bulma was seemingly sleeping on. It was Vegeta’s rock, his territory, his place to fuck. It wasn’t for his men to go snooping around. That included the female that they’d assumed he’d put there.

“Wha- why not..?” Raditz moaned. Breathy, now that he was steadily jerking himself, lying on his side. “He’s ...not …using her.”

“Haven’t you noticed something unusual goin’ on?” Nappa’s brows shifted, resting his hands on his knees.

Raditz didn’t answer, not for a long while. He was busy wincing against the stone, bringing himself to climax until he shot all over cave floor. Only then did he roll himself up right, taking his time in righting himself before giving Nappa any further attention.

“What’d you mean?” Raditz rubbed his head, still coming to. “You mean about the girl?”

“I mean about Prince Vegeta.” Nappa roughed out, “I’m not say’n anything for sure, but I bet if you touch that girl right now, he’d pummel ya. I’ve seen it before. ..I say he’s trying to court her.”

“You’re off your rocker, old man.” Raditz spat. “You’ve got no proof.”

“Did’n your father court your mother?” Nappa questioned.

“Yeah, but I didn’t see it!” Raditz ‘sheeshed’, wishing they’d drop the awkward subject. “Besides, nobody courts anymore. That tail holding and grooming stuff, trophies, that’s Stone Age shit.”

“Mushy stuff,” Nappa agreed, “It’s damn wrong… Supposed to be bred out. No one cares if it pops up in a 3rd class like you, but it ain’t supposed to show in a royal. It’ll get us all killed. How’re you supposed to focus on battle when you’re thinking of somethin’ else? I say we get rid of her, for the prince’s own good.”

“…Are you crazy?” Raditz choked. “…if Vegeta found out, he’d kill us both.”

“I don’t trust it.” Nappa eyed his comrade.

“...I don’t know,” Raditz eyed the stone formation where Bulma laid resting. If she was awake, they certainly didn’t know it. They’d thought their voices had been far too hushed to be overheard.

Their conversation was cut short, however, when Vegeta returned from the outside world. He was no longer carrying a carcass, but a fur. Treated leather smoothed out into soft suede. The glossy silver fur had had the burnt hair brushed away. He hadn’t heard the conversation, but eyed his men just as well. Then, his vision fell to the rock above. The female had moved? To where he’d rested for the night. How peculiar. He leapt atop the high stone. Eyeing her without a word, as he so often did, he unrolled the fur that the beast she’d killed once wore. It was now her trophy, something to keep her warm while they were gone.

* * *

Her POV

She heard absolutely everything. She’d tried her best to forget hearing Raditz beat himself off, but there was something more important in their conversation. They thought Vegeta was courting her. Pampering her and primping her up until they dated. Or, she guessed for them, became ‘mates.’ It disgusted her, just thinking about everything that had happened. He’d done all he had, and now he wanted to court her? However… It made sense. He got furious whenever she went missing, he followed her everywhere, he’d given her Zarbon’s head, fed her without demanding she pay for it, and… Listened to her. It was an odd realization.

“…” The men fell silent, and she debated pretending to wake up. But just before she acted on it, Vegeta dropped what felt like a leathery blanket on top of her. Her eyes opened, and she looked down at it. That’s essentially what it was. A pelt. He’d stripped the skin off the beast, that’s why it was missing. That’s what he was doing before. She sat up and wrapped her arms thankfully around the pelt, which was far softer than she figured it’d be. Ahh…

“…Thanks,” she replied, glancing up at him. She stood up, then wrapped the pelt around her shoulders. It seemed safe now. Vegeta was here, and like they said, he’d probably pummel them for trying to touch her. Or at least, she hoped that he would. So she went straight to the kittens and opened up their carrier, letting them all out.

“If you guys are going to be leaving again… Can you at least make sure I have stuff to make my own fire? Even with this pelt…” Well, to sum it up, she didn’t think she’d feel secure. Her eyes flicked to Vegeta again, as she grabbed the thermos. She began feeding the kittens gently one-by-one, making note of how hungry they seemed to be of a night trapped in there with no mother’s milk. They seemed to eat a lot. She supposed it was necessary for being able to survive this kind of cold.

* * *

His POV

“How about trying to _not_ freeze to death this time.” Vegeta answered her sarcastically, as if he didn’t care. Well, as far as he was concerned with himself, he didn’t. The prince was just making sure she’d be less of a pain than last time. He really didn’t feel like getting naked again without getting some. He was just about to turn, to leave her for another day of killing the masses, when she asked about being left with supplies. The prince turned back to her, a little perplexed by her needs. Saiyans didn’t exactly need fire starters. What did she want, him to materialize a match?

“There’s fuel and rocks, figure it out for yourself,” he spat. He was obviously annoyed by her request. It was something he couldn’t take care of before he left her to defend herself. Something he couldn’t produce. As an alpha male, it irritated him. He’d given her a blade, a pelt, there was even meat left on the mammoth. What more could she want?! To Vegeta, it felt like a never ending circle of trying to fulfill the girl’s needs, and he hated that he’d even given into any of them. So instead of helping, he stormed out the cave. Tuning in to what he knew best: war.

“See... Told you.” Nappa whispered to Raditz, nodding towards the pelt that hung around the girl’s shoulders.

“That ain’t proof...” Raditz whispered back, “I still say you’re off your rocker.” His voice grew, but still held a lowly tone. He’d had enough of the old man’s banter and wanted to see what the girl was doing with the kittens. Kneeling down, he prodded one with his big fingers.

“These guys are going to grow up to be big and strong. I bet they eat lots of warriors before they’re fully grown. Maybe they’ll be sent to a ring.” Raditz was going off about the prospects of the kittens futures. Not noticing that he was being left behind.

* * *

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this slightly earlier than we usually do! In the afternoon instead of at basically 3am! Reminder- We've been nominated for a fanfic award at theprinceandtheheiress.tumblr.com ! Please go to their Tumblr to vote! There's one week left! Voting ends the 28th, and we were nominated under 'Most Violent'!
> 
>   
> 


	19. The Sapphire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little early update for ya! Great, right?  
> One of our Saiyans have been left alone with Bulma in the cave of ice and snow. Will Raditz heed Nappa's warning, or was Nappa wrong all along?
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

She scowled at Vegeta’s sarcasm and scowled further when he stormed out. Damn, what was she supposed to do, then? The fire wouldn’t last forever, and she wasn’t as adept at creating new fire like Yamcha was. She’d seen the process. It was blister-creating and irritating! But at the same time, she didn’t want to freeze to death. Or nearly to death again. Eugh… Maybe she’d be able to figure out something. She breathed out slowly and went back to feeding the pups, till she noticed Raditz had sat down next to her.

“Don’t poke them like that! They’re fragile,” she huffed, clearly in an irritated mood following the whole… Issue. She tried to shoo him away, but then she got an idea. He seemed to be being nice right now. Maybe she could get him to do some extra for her, at least by treating it as if it were something necessary for the pups.

“Look, the fire’s dying out. They’re not going to be able to survive if it’s too cold, the same as me.” A blatant lie, but what did he know? “Can you at least blast it so it goes back to being full-force again? Just that one thing, and then you can go off and follow Vegeta with… Whatever it is he’s doing.” She glanced over in the direction of the cave’s mouth. They’d left, and Raditz had been left behind. Was he even aware of it? As far as she knew, he might get in trouble later. And she did not want to be left alone with this man. She didn’t want to get violated again. 

* * *

His POV

At first he didn’t believe her. Raditz was watching the earthling like she’d spat in his face. She was talking to him like that, still? As if she was one of his fellow soldiers. As if! That’s when he noticed it... After a quick glance around in all directions, Raditz realized they were alone. Suddenly the soldier didn’t feel so low ranked. He was the highest authority in the cavern. The rarity of it kind of felt… Nice. It gave him a new wave of smugness.

“You’re so sure about that, are you?” The male’s brow quirked. Standing to his feet, the dying flickers of the campfire cracked before him. Then, he blasted it -lighting up the cave brighter than before. The fire was massive, but the soldier didn’t stop there. His large hands rummaged through the supply crate, opening a canister of fuel and giving the licking flames a second good douse, creating a small bonfire.

There, they’d be good for a while. It was the cubs that he was thinking about, not so much the girl. Well, not until he was finished… He began looking at her with that coy glint in his eye. That’s right; he’d promised them they’d fuck later back when they’d first landed on the planet. The prospects of being alone with her were starting to look good, for him at least.

“I can think of better ways to keep you warm, though.” Thoughts of battle and kittens had definitely flown out of Raditz’ thick head. He was looking the girl’s body over now, unbuckling his bottom layer of armor; leaving him in nothing more than his black suit. He stepped closer and closer still. Vegeta and the others wouldn’t notice if he just made it a quick fuck. Besides, it’d been a while since he’d pinned down the female, and for some reason he’d been plagued with her scent since he’d woken up. Needless to say, the only thing on the soldier’s mind was sex, and Bulma was his prime target.

* * *

Her POV

He did as she was told with some slight irritation, but what came next scared her. He had a look in his eyes. She knew that look well by now; he was planning on having sex with her. She gulped. She was sick of being raped, violated; she didn’t want that anymore. Couldn’t he go run off to join Vegeta and Nappa? Surely they’d need his help! Why stay here with her?!

She heard him speak and watched him unbuckle his armor and slowly, slowly close in on her. Gn… It’s okay. It’d be alright. She could get out of this. She had nowhere to run and didn’t want to hurt him for fear of ending up being hurt badly herself, but maybe she could lessen what she had to go through. She held her pelt tighter around herself, letting the pups down to huddle together on the ground.

“N… No, if we get naked like that, it’ll make it worse. It’s too cold. We can do other stuff, but not that. I’ll… I’ll…” Shit. The Saiyans were impatient; telling him to wait later would mean she had to risk him not listening, and even if he did listen, she’d probably end up being impatiently tossed to the ground the next opportunity he got. So, then, what…?

“I’ll… I’ll suck you dry. I can use my mouth, but I’m not getting naked, we’re not doing anything more than that.” That’d be enough to keep him content, right? A handjob hadn’t been enough for Nappa the one time. And Raditz wasn’t quite as dirty and smelly as Nappa was. That was her option. If he tried to push for more, well… She had a dagger, she had fire. She could fight back.

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t buying it. Well, at least not completely. There was some skepticism in the way Raditz was looking down his nose at her. The long haired man wasn’t as nearly as gullible as Nappa, but he certainly didn’t retain the confidence of Vegeta, either. He was meant to be a follower, not a leader, and his history of being told what to do had taken its abuses out on his psyche over the years. It’d shown when she’d convinced him to get the lubricants the time before, and now it looked like he was debating taking her offer on merely being sucked off. The female had some ties to his commander, and that fact bled into his judgement. He’d be lead astray if given the right kind of motivations.

No, no! This was his time to get what he wanted! There was no way he was about to believe anything that Nappa said about her, let alone be ordered around by a slave! Yes, Raditz still held her in the regards of a regular street slut. She may have helped with the cubs, but to him, any female could serve to be motherly now and again. The girl’s main purpose was to satisfy the soldiers. To give him what he wanted and it was obvious Raditz was coming to a firm decision to stand up for himself for once. Well, now that there was no one around to tell him what to do anyway.

“Nice try,” he spat, knitting his brows. “I saw you work that trick on Nappa. It’s not going to work on me, now take off your clothes.” He was much sterner this time. Taking control felt good, there was a bad chance it’d go to the Saiyan’s head if left unchecked. Though, he had been meaning to get the girl back for vomiting all over his junk that one time. He was stalling; making his own plans of what to do with her.

“I’ll let you suck me off… And we’ll see where it goes form there. I did promise you we’d fuck later,” his voice was almost a dreadful purr. It was odd to see her trying to get out of it now; he’d genuinely thought she was trying to mate with him before, so why was she resisting now? She was playing hard to get, like all strong females did. His confidence growing, as well as the erection in his thin shorts, Raditz had moved closer, trying his damnedest to herd the female away from the fire. Grabbing for her hair, he the monster from his clothing right in front of her face. It was big and it bobbed against her cheek. The look he was giving her meant it was time for her own up to her promises.

* * *

Her POV

No way was she taking her clothes off, not when it was this cold. Especially as he herded her away from the fire, lowly closing in on her as she tried to back up. She nearly got to her feet to run, when he suddenly grabbed her hair and pulled her close. Oh, god. He was holding her to it. She didn’t want to suck him off anymore. She’d rather die. Why did this keep happening? She’d gone a few days without them touching her, why couldn’t it have gone on like that?

His cock was pulled out right in front of her face, and naturally she turned her head away in disgust. Eugh. it was awful to look at. Why couldn’t he go with his comrades? Why couldn’t she have been left alone another day? She pressed her hands on his thighs and tugged away, though she only hurt herself from that grip he had on her hair. What was that he was saying, about promising to fuck her later? That was something he said when he pried her off him when they first got to the planet. Had he been thinking she wanted to have sex with him?

“Ng– I never wanted to do that in the first place! I held onto you because I was cold! I’m cold now! I don’t want to! Can’t you let me go? There’s got to be some other hole you can put your dick in.” Despite having just said that she would suck him off, when it was in her face like that, she couldn’t help but refuse it. It was just so… So… Disgusting. How could she suck him off when it looked like that, swollen and massive and demanding attention? How could she willingly do anything for him?

“Let go of me, go put it in the snow until you calm down and don’t need to have sex anymore!” She pulled away more, despite the pain it caused her scalp. The cold feeling seeping in from how far they’d gotten from the fire was enough to want her to refuse him so she could go back and relax. “Let me go!”

* * *

His POV

Damn, she really was a feisty one, wasn’t she? Nothing like the whores he banged on a regular basis. They were always so willing to suck him off. Raditz wasn’t about to let her back out of her promise. His free hand guided her chin to the large head of his cock. The hand wound in her hair shook her head gently, trying to force her to open her mouth. Which honestly, wasn’t very difficult with all the yelling she was doing.

His towering stature shadowed her; he was growing tired of her excuses. Between her last few words, the male slipped the big tip between her lips, pumping it into the back of her mouth. It felt good after being kept out in the cold for so long; sending a little shiver of pleasure down his back. He still didn’t believe her -that she didn’t want it. Above that, he cared even less. She said go stick your dick in a hole, and while she may have meant anywhere else, to him he was doing exactly that. Using the closest, warmest thing to get himself off.

The male’s erection matched his stature. He was hung like a horse as they say, prying open the woman’s jaw with the mere girth. Pumping the solid length down the captured earthling’s throat, a new rang of groans and moans steadily grew from his chest. Raditz was completely oblivious to how the cold may have been affecting her. Shivering, whining, cold hands on his thighs, it didn’t matter. The idea of coming in her mouth outweighed it all. In fact, his exposed body was warm and only growing more heated. The more excited he became, the more heat wafted off his hot skin. She must have felt it.

The only time he cared to make eye contact was when the memory of her puking all over his cock filtered back into his head. He really didn’t want that… But surprisingly the female seemed to lack a gag reflex this time, how odd. In fact, he could get quite a bit of his length down her throat before thrusting it out again. It was something he thoroughly enjoyed, though was confusing the shit out of him.

* * *

Her POV

Her yelling was cut short when he shoved himself in her mouth roughly. She squeezed her eyes shut with how deep he pushed himself in, and she was stuck trying to pull away from him as he began face-fucking her. These Saiyans never seemed to understand etiquette when it came to blowjobs; they didn’t care how the woman moved her mouth, or about trying to make sure she was able to breathe. The just moved their hips the same as if they were penetrating her in other ways.

“Ggn– Kkh–” She tried speaking with her mouth full, and when that didn’t work, she tried biting. Of course, that didn’t work, either. She knew it wouldn’t, but she figured it’d at least be worth a try. At least he had begun heating up, and Bulma no longer feared freezing to death. Even if her struggles had led to her pelt falling down rather than being placed tightly around her, he was giving off enough warmth that it made the hands she’d placed on his thighs tingle.

That, however, didn’t mean she was happy about what was happening. She continued to fight back, at least for breath the more he began to thrust. It was hard to breathe with him shoved to the back of her throat, so she tried other means of getting him off of her. Her hand grabbed onto his balls and pulled as roughly as she could manage, her eyes flicking up to him. She found him staring down at her. Eugh. 

She didn’t want to act like a slave anymore. She might have gotten such a lack of confidence before, but Vegeta telling her not to act like a slave as well as her going so long without being raped, and that near-death experience, had all given her newfound confidence. She’d fight him all she damned wanted, and he better get off of her!

* * *

His POV

Raditz didn’t seem to notice there was a problem with the girl’s oxygen intake for quite some time. Not until she began her muffled attempts of yelling at him to shove off. Instead of giving her what she wanted, he took control. Pressing a little more speed behind his hips, now that he had a good hold on her by the hair of her head.

Her biting felt like playful nips and her angry gaze appeared as a heated appetite for cock. She just needed to learn how to take cock properly. The Saiyan didn’t know the first thing about how good a blow job could feel. When face fucking whores, the man’s impatience had always taken the lead before he could be shown the wonderful aspects of having someone pleasure him properly. Taking charge, it seemed to be the Saiyan approach to sex. Pity.

Not that he wasn’t completely enjoying himself, that is. Raditz was moaning mouthfuls of drool by now, rutting the female’s throat full of his hot flesh until she got the nerve to pull his ball sack. At first he’d thought she was just playing with him, pleasuring him. It felt good at first to have her squeeze it, but then it got a little rough, and then the pain set in.

“What the- hey cut that out!” The man growled fiercely, ripping his heavy cock from her mouth, a string of saliva connecting the tip of his throbbing member and her plump lips until it snapped. He was dripping her in spit, but at least he was unknowingly allowing her time to breath. Bulma had taken a little control of the situation when roughing up his balls. Even for a tough race like them, it still appeared to be a soft spot. He swatted her hands away and took her by the wrist in one hand, trying to guide his cock back into her mouth with the other. Growling, snarling, puffing up and trying to be the alpha in the room for once.

* * *

Her POV

He only seemed more excited to see her glaring up at him. It frustrated her further, and her grip on his balls tightened. Finally, he let out a yell and told her to let go. Finally! He deserved some pain! And it got her what she wanted– he pulled himself out and let her breathe. She took in a deep breath as soon as her lungs were given the chance to fill up, and let go of him without complaining. But only a moment later, he grabbed her wrist and her head again.

“Mph!” This time, she knew better than to keep her mouth open. Her mouth stayed shut and she jerked her head this way and that to prevent him from shoving his dick inside her mouth again, while she struggled to get her hand free from his grip. That asshole just didn’t know when to stop, apparently. She glared at him again, and that’s when she got an idea to possibly make him not even in the mood to violate her.

With her free hand, she punched him. Right in the balls, and going straight up rather than punching to the side. She had the full intent of trying to crush them, even if she knew that was basically impossible. If biting their cocks did nothing, punching their balls was sure to not cause much damage, either– but she just needed a little bit of pain to get her free.

“QUIT IT!” That’s all she dared say before she shut her mouth tightly again, getting off her knees from the hard rock to try and see if she could struggle away easier with her feet on the ground, bending where he was forcing her head down. When the hell would Vegeta be getting back? It’d be nice if he could get back just in time to pummel Raditz, but it seemed like that wasn’t happening.

* * *

His POV

He aimed for the left, he tried for the right, but no matter how many times Raditz tried to stuff his oversized cock into the girl’s mouth she managed to dodge it. He was getting fed up, and by the looks of it, he wasn’t in a playing mood anymore. The warrior grabbed a large handful of the girl’s hair -surely stinging her scalp with a new pain, but it didn’t last long. Bulma’s punch to his softest spot had done the trick, well as much as it could, coming from a ‘weakling’. If Bulma could even be considered that after the feats she’d accomplished.

The pain was annoying, it down right hurt, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Saiyan for coming back for more. Raditz had let go, allowing her to scurry to her feet and away from the big brute, but he just kept coming. Gnashing teeth this time, his arms were wide open and his hands in the formation of claws. Claws that were ready to grip right back into her tiny human body.

“You dumb bitch, you’ll pay for that!” That was it, the signal, he lunged! This time pinning the woman to the cold hard floor. Raditz wasn’t so interested in taking her mouth anymore, the impatient male was trying to mount right on top of her. And with his impressive weight and wide spread demeanor, it wasn’t difficult to trap her under him. The only thing that was really delaying the inevitable was her clothing. She hadn’t taken them off like he’d ordered her to, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t get rid of in a few good rips.

He was snarling, growling, a regular animal trying to mate, but it lacked the finesse and ferocity of the many times Vegeta had tried to pin her down under him. It’d been the first time Raditz had ever fought a formidable female without help from Nappa or his leader.

His gaze searched over her body, trying to figure out how he was going to go about this. Her legs obviously had to be the first thing he’d force open. He really didn’t want to get kneed in the junk. With a little finagling, Raditz pried open her thighs with his knees. Planting his knees on the stone ground, he forced her to straddle him. Allowing his big member to dip and lick at his new target -the soft folds of flesh he planned on pounding into at any given moment.

* * *

Her POV

He let go of her just long enough that she ran passed him to try and get closer to the fire. She wasn’t sure what her plan was then, but her eyes landed on the dagger that was sitting near the inventions she’d made as well as the cubs. She tried to go for it, but instead ended up pinned to the ground with the force of Raditz’s entire body on top of her.

It knocked her breath from her lungs and made her feel like she at the very least severely bruised a rib, with cuts from hitting the hard rock on her chin, knees, shins, and forearms. It left her dazed and confused as Raditz ripped her clothing off, though she was lucky enough that the pelt was forced off of her without being ripped. Either way, however, the cold hit her bare body like needles all over her skin, and she groaned in pain while Raditz worked on pulling her lower half up and spreading her legs apart.

“Ng… Stop…! Let… Let me go…” It was hard to breathe, with whatever had happened to her rib, so it was equally as hard to yell at him. She reached an aching arm back to try and shoo him away, while she looked around for a way to fight back. She didn’t want to burn her pelt, and the dagger was too far away to grab. She tried hitting him in the balls again, but he had made sure to separate her legs to prevent that from happening.

Disgusting; she could feel him rubbing up against her lips. The only solace was that his body was hot. If anything, she wished he’d bend over her more, and start groping her. If she was going to be raped, she’d rather it not be till she froze to death. Her nipples felt like they’d burn off from frostbite. G… Goddamn it. She was shivering from how cold she was, even with Raditz’s burning hot body pressed up against her backside. What, was he going to let her freeze to death while he fucked her? Maybe he liked fucking cold, dead bodies.

“Kk… St… Stop… Cold… I’m– I’m cold,” she begged, her head lowered. “Too cold…” Maybe she could convince him just by begging for him to stop. It was a one in a million chance, but it was better than just dealing with it. “Fr… Freezing…”

* * *

His POV

Yes, finally it felt like the female was giving in. There was something different, something that called to untapped instincts deep down inside that told him that yes, this is what taking a female really felt like. It was similar to the spark he’d felt the night he’d watched Vegeta take her in the grass on the planet of rams. So this was what the prince had been getting, it was no wonder he kept the female alive. It felt better then he’d expected to finally have the woman pinned under him. Like it was some sort of triumph coursing through his big body. Raditz had no idea towards the internal damaged he’d inflicted on the earthling’s fragile bones. He was far too interested in his new claiming of his dick between her legs.

“Fuck… Tha- that feels good.” He was talking, well moaning more like it, right over her pleads for help. Her body was cool, but the exhilaration of pumping between her thighs drowned out any other unpleasantness that might have been brushing against his body. It’d been a few days since he’d fucked; the big soldier was getting into this. Sure to leave her raw with just how much he was banging into her, sliding her skinned and bleeding body against the rough stone floor. It was a good thing she’d sucked him off; there was no need for lube this time.

By a stroke of luck, Raditz lowered himself further down over the girl’s naked back, resting a portion of his weight on top of her while his hips drove him deeper into her tiny insides. He was groping her. Sliding his massive palms under her pinned belly and sliding them up and around her breasts. At least his hands granted some warmth, even if he hadn’t realized that’s what she’d been begging for. His nose dug into her hair, grunting and groaning right into her ear, before his mouth found the flesh between her neck and shoulder. Clamping down on it hard.

Finally, he lifted the girl upright, resting her shivering back against his massive build. The heat radiating off of him sweltering, beading with sweat even in the cold of the cave. Thrusting up into her bruised body with no regard to how it must have felt. His hands slid over her torso, her hips, down between her spread thighs. His thick member was growing steadily harder inside of her, hitting her cervix. His movements were more forceful with each new jolt into her being, unaware of how the girl was gasping for air. She’d stopped yelling so much; she must have been accepting it. It felt as if it were a mating gone right, for once, and the excitement of that prerequisite was bubbling her full of his pre-come. He was going to burst in her at any moment.

* * *

Her POV

“Gah– Mn… St… Stop…” She begged him to quit it as he began thrusting into her roughly, causing her to jerk back and forth. Her already torn up knees begged for relief, and her vagina was already feeling raw before he even got far into the sex, just from how forceful he was being. She grunted and whined each time he shoved inside her again, her body shaking both from the pain and the cold. The only relief was when he leaned his body against her and sent a wave of heat into her back. That felt damn good, and she was relieved to feel it.

Her body felt like it was coming back to life at least partially the more he groped her, and on instinct alone, she leaned into him. Not because she enjoyed him violating her, but because she needed the body heat. Her eyes kept staring at the mouth of the cave, hoping for Vegeta to appear at any moment to save her. How silly of her, to expect one of her rapists to save her.

“Gn– Stop… Haa… Stop…” She whined again when he jerked her upward onto his cock and began shoving himself right into her, with hands clamped on her sides. A pain shot through the ribs she felt had been bruised, and she groaned loudly in response. He began moving his hands up and down her, but every time it’d hit that spot, another whine of pain would leave her lips.

Even worse was how hard he was bucking into her. It was physically painful, from just how far in he was. She could feel her lower stomach ache in pain from the abuse to her cervix, and he didn’t seem to even be thinking of quitting any time soon. She grabbed onto his arms and was somewhere between shoving him away to make him stop and moving closer just to keep safe from the freezing cold. God, why did this have to happen to her? She was so sick of being treated like meat. She sniffled.

Her crying only made her ribs feel all the worse. The panting that had begun from the rigorous sex was enough to make them ache in pain, but then she began to sob in self-pity, and her side felt like it was in a whole new world of pain just from the uneven, hard breathing. The pain made it worse, because as it went on, she only began to cry even more, loudly and pathetically. 

* * *

His POV

It had taken a while to get the big soldier off. Without any disregards to how he was handling Bulma’s body, Raditz pounded into her until he felt his climax starting to build up between his thighs. His body quaked and his mouth poured with rolling moans. The amount of jerking, fighting, and shoving she was doing only spurring him on -the little of it he noticed. Raditz seemed to be in a daze. Selfishly using the girl, roaming his hands over her breasts, despite any discomforting yelps it may have caused. Her mewls and sounds of pain sounded so similar to his ears.

And then his intense fucking staggered his movements into one hard jolt, tensing every muscle he had in his massive body. He’d pumped her full, until the thick hot liquid gulped down her thighs, puddling on the stone floor below them. Any pain or disgrace she may have caused him the few times before when he’d tried to fuck her was forgotten. All he cared about now was sucking up the glow of ecstasy that came after a hard orgasm like that.

He hadn’t even noticed the whimpers and yells coming from the cubs until he was falling down from climax. The cave started to slowly come back into focus and Raditz began realizing just how long he’d taken in fucking the poor girl. Shit! If he wasted any more time Vegeta and Nappa were sure to notice.

“Fuck, I’ve taken too long..!” He didn’t seem to notice the poor state of the girl in his grasp. Raditz was still holding Bulma upright by one of her arms, but quickly dropped it as soon as he realized he should have left some time ago. He didn’t seem to give her beaten body any regard, letting her drop to the soiled ground.

Well, he didn’t seem to notice at first, but before he left completely, the massive soldier threw her one glance over his shoulder. The cubs were crying for their newly adopted mother and the girl was bleeding and bruised. It was the first time in his life he’d noticed the state of health of the ‘whore’ he’d been using. It didn’t matter, she was just a slave, he reassured himself. He wouldn’t get in trouble for it. The soldier brushed it off and quickly belted his armor back into place, heading for the mouth of the cave.

* * *

Her POV

She was used and abused, with Raditz pounding into her with growing force every time he withdrew again. She was whining and crying in pain louder and more hoarsely the more it continued, and as it did, the littler of cubs cried to meet her noises. Finally, he jolted a few last, long-lasting thrusts, and a steady stream of cum mixed with the remainders of her period that had just about stopped. Then he dropped her and just left her in a disgusting, dirty, sweaty heap on the hard, cold floor.

“Ha… Nn…” She kept sobbing quietly to herself, finding it hard to even bring herself to try to get up from how much pain and discomfort she was in. Raditz didn’t seem to care and didn’t give her much more than a passing glance after quickly throwing on his armor and heading out of the cave. She gulped her feelings down and slowly pulled herself up to her knees, and then onto her feet to collect her pelt. The rest of her clothes were ripped apart, and she was forced to instead fish out her capsule from her shorts with much pain–it was not fun, bending over–and setting it loose. She collected new clothing and pulled them on, and when she was finished, without even caring to fiddle with the capsule to return the rest of her clothes to their storage, she sat at the fire.

The puppies waddled over to her and clambered on top of her when she finally laid down and pulled the pelt over her like a blanket, still weeping quietly. She couldn’t believe it happened again. She thought she had finally passed that part of her life. She thought they’d finally leave her alone, considering they had gone days without touching her. Apparently not, and they were just as violent as before.

The little animals were at least a comfort and helped to some degree in keeping her warm, along with her pelt and the large fire. All her crying eventually managed to put her to sleep, or perhaps it was the pain that knocked her out. Either way, she eventually fell unconscious, relatively warm and with the puppies licking her wounds.

* * *

His POV

It had been a tiresome day of warring. But with it came the rush of fulfillment, the wonderful burn and ache of over used muscles, and the roaring hunger of an empty belly. It had been a cold, battered, blood bathed day that’d earned the prince a few new wounds that’d soon turn into old scars, but overall it’d proven productive. The three soldiers had all but finished off the snow-globe world. Pushing back the last of its defenses and scattering what remained of its survivors to the winds. Where the icy holds of glaciers and caverns once housed thousands, now only a few stragglers gripped onto survival. One more day, and the planet would be barren of life.

Vegeta had suffered his own mauling, but it was hardly noticeable to the battle hardened prince. His black, dragon decorated armor had been destroyed on the left side, opening up his blue suit to reveal his solid chest which was marred with thick claw marks. The useless armor was discarded as soon as he entered the dank campsite. Tossing the hunk of black metal beside the roaring fire, the ring of metal hitting stone clattered through the cave. That’s when he spotted the sleeping girl curled up with the cubs under the pelt he’d left her with. At least she wasn’t dead this time, by the looks of it. 

Nappa and Raditz weren’t too far behind, dragging in yet another kill. This time a giant tusked bear nearly as big as the elephant. Nappa was ordered to drag the mammoth out of the cave and replace it with the massive bear. The soldiers greedily divided up the rich bloody meat, even if it was a little on the frozen side, as quickly as possible. They were damn hungry after a long day; it felt like it’d taken forever for the sun to set on this miserable planet.

It’d been hours since they’d last seen the girl, but it looked as if she’d survived yet again. There was no sign of a new fight, no new kill in the cave, it must hav been a relatively event-less day for her. At least, that was the prince’s initial deduction. He hadn’t really given her a second glance past his first coming into the cave. Acting as he so often did -ignoring everyone, speaking to no one, and expecting those under him to know exactly what to do without being told.

He was supervising the deviation of bear beef, though he couldn’t help but shake the sense that he should be looking in the earthling’s direction. While Raditz and Nappa were distracted, talking among themselves, the prince darted a glance over his good shoulder. The light of the fire flickered across his angular features, his nose picking up the scent of blood and sex from the female’s direction. For some reason the new realization thundered a quiet growl from his chest. She’d been hurt that day, after all. Suddenly, he wasn’t so focused on the men, but he certainly wasn’t making his concern known, either, standing next to the fire like the regular lead of command he was.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t dream much, other than a short nightmare that was not extreme enough to awaken her. Just of Zarbon, bringing her back and being sickeningly sweet. Her legs kicked in her sleep as he broke her ribs, but the dream took a turn for the better when Vegeta came to save her, cruelly slicing off the head of Zarbon and handing her the trophy. By the end of it, it had been pleasant, leaving a semblance of a smile on her face.

“Mnn…” She woke up with more aches than she went to sleep with from sleeping on the hard rock, and did so to the sound of the Saiyans coming back from battle. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked, being welcomed awake by a cooing kitten that had snuggled up against her cheek. It was some comfort, until she was met with the throbbing pain of her side and the ache of her empty stomach. That was right; she had skipped on food because she was so tired and in pain from what Raditz had done.

Vegeta’s figure hovered over her next to the fire, and her eyes focused in on him. He looked annoyed, but why? She gently lifted the two kittens that had rested on her chest so she could sit up, but that much was difficult. It took her a moment to be able to work through the shooting pain to sit up properly, letting out a low groan of pain as she moved. God, did it hurt. Gnn… She held a hand at her side to apply much-needed pressure, and again looked up at Vegeta.

“…I’m… I’m hungry and thirsty. I’m allowed some of the meat over there, right…?” Though it hadn’t come back full-force, it was clear that some of her meekness had returned thanks to the beating she went through when Raditz pleasured himself with her body. It was to be expected, honestly; this was why she had become meek in the first place. Experiences like that. With Raditz reminding her of what she went through, it was only natural that her voice would begin to soften again.

* * *

His POV

Something was wrong. The prince could see it in the way the female’s body shifted, favoring one side with more care than just the fresh ache that regularly came from sleeping on an uncomfortable surface. She was damaged, and it ran deeper than the cuts and scrapes that were visible once she sat up right, revealing more of her figure to him in the dance of fire light. That wasn’t the only thing that felt wrong, though. There was meekness in her voice. It was that lowliness in her voice, the same he’d hated to hear so much, the same that had been absent the last couple of days. He’d thought they’d seen the last of her timid-ness, but it was back, and it suddenly had the prince pacing by the fire in a stance of new fury.

He looked to his men rather than answering her question about food. Then, he knelt down before her. With his hard lined face and figure shadowed, hidden from the fires glow behind him, he handled one of her arms and gazed down at the lack of skin on her knees. Then, he leaned in to sniff the lingering scents that hung in her hair. A lowly growl slipped past her ear, drawing himself back to look at her. His eyes narrowed, as if asking ‘ _what happened_ ’, but he didn’t expect an answer. The aromas told him a story of what had happened that day. She’d been raped again, and roughly. The smell of Raditz was all over her.

The prince was no stranger to having broken bones. He’d suspected she was victim of a cracked or bruised rib, but it was worse than that, and he knew it the minute he forced her shirt up. Her side was blooming with bruises. Her fat content was so minimal, the Saiyan could make out the unnatural shape of her rib cage and the breaks in-between. The prince’s face darkened, the ominous sound of his rumble slowly echoing through the cavern. Both Nappa and Raditz halted what they were doing, looking back at their prince.

“Don’t move,” his rough words ground out lowly, only meant for her to understand. His body tensed, his fists clenched, Vegeta stormed his way towards the two unsuspecting men. Well, that is until Raditz noticed Vegeta had been crouching down by the girl and was now looking at him with the intent to kill. Shit, the long haired soldier knew what was coming but that didn’t make it any less painful.

The prince’s fist made its way right into the bigger male’s gut, uppercutting right into the bottom of his rib cage, causing Raditz to collapse into the fetal position on the floor, splitting a few of the male’s ribs, for sure. The prince was punishing him not for fucking, but for harming the female. For breaking not only her bones, but her spirit. Yes, that’s what he was really punishing his underling for, for returning that meekness to _his female_.

“You god damn idiot! …what the hell did you think you were doing, roughhousing with her like that?!” He kicked Raditz for good measure. “For Kami sake, she’s more delicate then that! Honestly… I can’t trust either of you fucking morons with anything.” Vegeta yelled, his two men cowering by now, especially Raditz who was balled up on the floor. “If I catch either of you using her again, I’ll kill you where you stand!” The prince’s roared, trembling the cavern walls. It wasn’t an empty threat either, and both of them seemed to know it by the way they were quaking in their boots.

* * *

Her POV

He took sudden interest in her. She was scared for a moment that he’d pin her down and rape her, but instead he seemed more focused on the injuries she’d obtained. He sniffed her all over, and grabbed her arm and looked over the scratches she had. She stayed quiet the whole time, her breath caught in her throat from being scared of what he was doing. Finally, he roughly lifted her shirt and took a look at something she didn’t even know was there– a giant, dark bruise on her side, with ribs that were clearly mangled. 

It made her sick to look at it, enough that she barely registered Vegeta telling her not to move. She looked that bad, really? It only made her feel worse. Like feeling a little itch turn into full-on pain the moment you see that the source is a wasp with its stinger lodged in your flesh. She held her side tighter and watched him walk to the others, and this is when she was really surprised.

He yelled at them and told them they weren’t to even ‘use her’ anymore. That she was delicate. She hadn’t expected that kind of outburst. Since when did he care about stuff like that? She blinked at him in silence, and her eyes widened when he landed a hit on Raditz– something that was coupled with a loud crack as he broke his ribs. An eye for an eye, it seemed. She had a feeling that before, Vegeta wouldn’t have cared if she was hurt. Something had changed. Whether or not she liked him, she acknowledged it was certainly for the better.

The kittens were crying from terror with how loud Vegeta’s screaming was, and she quickly picked them all up and onto her lap to give them some amount of comfort. It’d scared her too; he made the whole cave shake from just how loudly he yelled. But it was for her safety. By the look on Nappa’s face, it would be taken literally, too. She… Wouldn’t be raped anymore? No more being pinned down, no more being fondled, no more being violated? She…. She nearly didn’t believe it. 

* * *

His POV

He was turning on his own men; at least that’s how it appeared to Raditz and Nappa. He was defending an outsider over his own soldier’s actions. To them, they’d done nothing to instigate Vegeta’s wrath. They’d treated a ‘slave’ exactly as they had a thousand times before. When Nappa had beaten her into the mud, nearly broken her arm, and left her for dead, Vegeta had done nothing more than pop her arm back into place -and that alone he’d considered a grand act of kindness.

There was an uncomfortable bode of silence where the men stood; afraid to make another move. Vegeta’s head was rife with complex and uncomfortable urges. Instincts that demanded he listen to them, but met no rhyme or reasoning in his own regards. He was starting to realize just how odd his own behavior was, but he held his control of the situation by sticking to his guns and asserting his dominance. The men weren’t to touch her anymore.

Once the air had cleared and Vegeta focused more on the carcass then his confused soldiers, things began to return to normal. Vegeta raked up the largest, finest cuts, and then walked back to the fire side with a slab of bear rib in one hand. It was for the girl. He hadn’t ignored her completely -she’d asked for food, and he brought her a portion of the bear.

The men watched, this time their faces a little soured. Their trio had turned into a foursome, and it was making for shaky ground. Nappa and Raditz were loyal to their prince, they looked up to him. If Nappa was the creepy uncle, Raditz was the distant cousin. In their own fucked up way they were a family unit, up until now. They’d had their beatings from the prince now and again, it was only natural, but something was beginning to interrupt their way of life. Watching the prince give into instincts they thought would get him killed wasn’t easy. Judging by the look Raditz shot Nappa as he sat down beside him holding his ribs, he finally believed him. Nappa’s premonition that morning had come to pass.

“Don’t press on it,” Vegeta bit out, casting his sights down at the girl as she tried to apply pressure to her busted rib cage. “It will cause infection. Just ignore it.” Ignore the pain, he meant. After the slab of rib was tossed next to where she sat, the prince found his own place to sit and partake in the kill. Nappa and Raditz sat on one side of the fire, the girl and the pups on the other, while Vegeta sat in between. Whose side he was really on, it was hard to tell.

* * *

Her POV

The relative silence was a little unnerving, but she wouldn’t be the one to break it. She watched Vegeta carefully as he finally quieted and ripped out pieces of the bear, before… Coming to her. She stared up at him in disbelief as she took the ribs he threw down on the rock beside her, before quickly holding the meat over the fire so she could cook it. She still wouldn’t eat things raw, like the Saiyans seemed to like to do so much.

She glanced nervously at Vegeta when he told her to stop holding her side, a little frown on her face when he sat down at the fire. Half of her wanted to ask if they had any cream or something to put on it, or if there was somewhere to go on this planet so she could heal. She couldn’t ignore the pain, it hurt far too much. And yet another part wanted to ask for water for her parched throat, as well. But she was scared of overstepping her boundaries. There was a feeling in the air. She didn’t want his previous rage to be turned on her.

Her stomach growled as she watched the meat slowly cook, but she’d rather wait for it to cook properly than eat it raw and get herself sick. Her arm grew tired after a few minutes, and she grabbed a large slab of stone from the ground and rested the ribs on there, on top of the fire. She rubbed her belly as she waited and the smell grew, and wished she was home where she had sauces and spices to put on it. Mn… She missed having good barbecue. 

Eventually, her thirst grew too much. She eyed the three Saiyans before finally struggling up to her feet, taking a good few minutes to get there, and groaning in pain all the while. When she was stable, she made her way to the supplies and grabbed one of the large containers of water. Then she realized her dilemma– it must be easy for the Saiyans to all just take a gulp, but she couldn’t even pull it more than a few inches off the ground, and they certainly didn’t have any proper cups with them. 

* * *

His POV

There was definitely an unease settling around the campfire. Usually, Nappa and Raditz were conversing among themselves by now, and Vegeta was minding his own business; or on the very rare occasion, commenting on the soldier’s conversation. But not this time. It was eerily silent, though at least things had calmed down. The crackle of the fire and the mewling of cubs was the only real noise in the cave, other than the loud ripping of raw meat off of bones. 

Then the female just had to go and do something obscure. All three pairs of eyes fell on Bulma when she plopped her share of meat onto a rock by the fire. They’d considered it weird at first, that she was trying to hold her meal to the flame, but thought perhaps it was too cold for her teeth. She did complain about the cold a damn lot, they’d come to find out. But no, this was something different. The smell of cooking protein began to fill the cave. The Saiyan’s noses twitched, fixed on her fiddling with a large rock to prop the ribs against, and then they watched her try and hobble to the supplies, again.

They just watched. Fascinated. Raditz particularly, who was arching a brow as the meat change colors due to the heat. The girl was a welcome distraction from the awkwardness of before. All unpleasantness seemed to fade out of the cave. She had the men’s attention like a bunch of cats watching a mouse; each wondering what it was up to next. Curiously attentive to her attempts at struggling with a jug of water that was far too big for her to be handling in the first place, let alone with busted ribs.

They were still just staring, not offering a helping hand, but all the while engrossed. It was like dinner and a show. Finally though, Vegeta rolled his eyes and put down his meal. After unscrewing the top, he lifted the jug, ready to pour it into her mouth. Though, it was only a quick answer to a bigger problem. She needed to be able to get the water herself.

That’s when he asked her, “Why not invent something for yourself, for once?”

* * *

Her POV

To her surprise, Vegeta came around and lifted the jug for her, leading it to her mouth. He grumbled while she drank up her fill of the water, and her eyes stayed on Vegeta’s face all the while. When she wasn’t thirsty anymore, she pushed the jug up to stop any more from pouring out and frowned at him, a slight pout appearing on her lips.

“What do you expect me to invent? If I had a cup, I would be using it. Besides, I hurt too much to just… Invent things. You can tell me to ignore the pain, but it’s not that easy.” She rubbed her side again and turned from him without another word, and soon enough sat back at the campfire– with the same amount of difficulty as she had when lifting her body up.

She noticed the Saiyans staring at her the entire time, and pursed her lips as she flipped the ribs carefully. It’d take a while until it was in a state where she could eat it, and her stomach begged her for food. It was easy enough before, when the fight had done all the cooking for her when that beast landed straight into the campfire. But now that she had to actually wait for her food, she wasn’t so happy. When were they going to finally get off this hell planet? She was sick of being here. Sick of being cold, sick of being attacked, sick of being hungry and thirsty and in pain constantly. Sick of sitting in this goddamn cave all day most of all. She hadn’t seen anything but snow and rock for far too long.

“Are you… Finished with your mission yet? When are we getting back to the pods? You all have to be tired of this place by now, too,” she complained, though there was still a hint of mousiness in her voice. She didn’t speak too loud, and tried to make her voice sound less demanding. But she couldn’t help but demand that they leave this planet, in at least a meek, quiet, roundabout way. “We’re going somewhere warm next, right?”

* * *

His POV

Her meekness didn’t win her any favors and her questioning was met with little more than a ‘shrug and grunt’ from Vegeta. She said she couldn’t ignore the pain, but to him it was just something she’d have to live with. He’d done more than enough for her as far as he was concerned. Anymore, and he could consider himself a nurse maid rather than a prince. He steadied his attention on the meat between his dirty fingers rather then what she was doing. Though, he did side eye her now and again out of curiosity when she began turning the rack of ribs next to the fire.

“What the hell are you doing...?” It was Raditz, surprisingly. Despite having gotten a few busted bones thanks to her (in his opinion), he seemed curious enough about what she was doing to pipe up with questions. The soldier had been staring at it the majority of the time. Paying no attention to what he was stuffing into his maw and more at what was happening to the meat in the flames. He was sitting closer to her then Nappa, which made it easier for him to crane his body for a better glance.

One of the kittens had strayed from Bulma’s care, pawing at the hefty boot strap that kept Nappa’s shoe together. He kicked the tiny creature away with annoyance, but was met with a growl from Raditz, who scooped the tiny kitten up and glowered like an angry feline himself. It looked like Vegeta wasn’t the only one with odd behavior tonight.

Maybe the cold was getting to all of them, thought Nappa. The men were acting as if they’d come down with a bad case of space fever. The big bald man felt he was the only one in his right mind anymore; maybe that’s why he had the balls to outright answer the girl’s question.

“We only got one more day of battle, and then it’s off of this rock! Vegeta,” Nappa’s attention turned to his leader, “No wonder you put this off for so long. I swear the cold is make’n everyone insane. Our kind weren’t made for cold climates… Just look at Raditz!”

Raditz blinked up. The long haired male was trying to feed the cub a piece of meat, dangling it in front of its little nose. Vegeta met Nappa’s complaining with a somber shake of his head. The look on the prince’s face clearly calling Nappa ‘ _idiot’_.

* * *

Her POV

She rolled the ribs over again, wondering when they’d be ready. Maybe a few more minutes? The fire was much hotter than your typical oven, after all. It was the only thing keeping her from angrily yelling at Vegeta about how sick she was of her situation, other than the feeling of meekness that set in from the injuries Raditz had given her. Her chin still stung from the scab that had formed on it, her ribs ached, her arms and shins felt terrible… Eugh.

She glanced at Raditz when he spoke up, frowning a little more. Why did he of all people want to talk to her? She had trusted him to an extent last night, after his attachment to the kittens. But after what he did, she no longer felt he was worthy of any kind of trust. Her eyes went back down to focus on the rib, and after a few moments, she decided to respond.

“I’m cooking,” she replied, grabbing one of the kittens who was straying a little too close to the fire and setting it in her lap. “Haven’t you ever cooked something befo–” her words were cut short by Nappa kicking one of the kittens, something that caused her to react with getting wide-eyed and horrified. It wasn’t hurt, was it? These Saiyans clearly didn’t know their own strength! The gasp she’d made fizzled out when Raditz quickly grabbed up the cub, however, and she let out a breath of relief. …Geeze.

Then she got the information she wanted, finally. They’d be leaving in the next day. Good. She was had begun thinking of ways to work around it before he brought it up, including fishing one of the pod’s remotes out of Vegeta’s armor or looking for it in their supplies. She didn’t want to stay another second, but she also didn’t want to risk getting hurt again. Maybe she could tolerate one more day.

Finally, the ribs seemed to be done. She still wished that they had sauce or some salt and pepper to sprinkle on it, but this would have to do. She took it off the rock and took a bite out of the meat, eyes closing in contentedness at finally being able to fill her starving belly.

* * *

His POV

She didn’t just have Raditz attention anymore. Somehow, all three Saiyan men had grown in proximity to the girl when she took her first bite; watching her savor it’s new flavor. All of their noses were sniffing, leaning for a closer inspection of what she’d made of the rack of bear. It smelt different. Similar to the meats served on civilized planets, but different. It was home cooked, fire grilled, steak. And it was a first for all of them. They were bathed in pure curiosity, if not skepticism.

“Why the hell would you do that,” Raditz murmured again, though his stomach was telling him her meal probably tasted just fine, if not fantastic once cooked. The long haired male had the kitten he’d rescued perched on his massive thigh. It’d tried to eat the meat he’d given it, but with nothing but gums, the kitten soon gave up the fight and was mewling for something other than solid foods. Raditz however, had seen the odd look the girl had given him and shot an equally suspicious look back at her. What was she looking at him like that for?

“It’s better for you when it’s raw!” Nappa’s giant voice protested, though he had to admit too, it smelt pretty damn good. Suddenly, all three of them were scarfing down their meals with a new hunger. Somehow watching her eat her meal had put a new grumble in their bellies. Including Vegeta, who’d gruffed a soft ‘humph’ in agreement to Nappa about raw meat being more nutritious.

Vegeta had noticed the female’s meekness return, but was relieved to notice it hadn’t returned in full. She’d better get rid of it completely if she knew what was good for her, thought the prince as he eyed every movement she made. His gaze trailed down her cuts and open wounds again. They were still raw, bleeding, bruised. He wondered why she hadn’t gone for the medical cream when she’d gone for water.

The majority of the bear was gone in no time, and the three Saiyan had all but left it bare of anything but fur and bone. All covered in blood, as if they’d bathed in it. The dark red liquid dripped from their fingers and jawlines as they cleaned themselves of the fresh remains. There was only one thing left, and Vegeta was staring it down. The girl’s rack of ribs. He was the leader, he could take what he wanted, and he was hella interested in the new tastes of her meats. So naturally, without warning, his lightening quick reflexes darted out and stole a whole rib. Gnawing the meat from the bone, his nose curled at the taste. How the hell did she eat this?!

* * *

Her POV

She ignored their mumbles and ate the ribs anyway, though at a much, much slower rate than any of them did. It wasn’t the best ribs she’d ever eaten in her life, but they were good enough. They filled her belly and they tasted semi-decent, that was all that mattered. It was enough for her that ignoring the three Saiyans chomping away at the bear become easy, though she did take note of the kittens beginning to call for food again. It was about time for more milk, wasn’t it?

Just as she was in the middle of enjoying it, however, Vegeta ripped a chunk of it from her. He only took a single rib, but she still felt irritated. She was starving, and had been planning on attempting to eat the entire thing. She scowled at Vegeta as he ate her food, though she didn’t say a word. Even when he made that face and made it obvious he wasn’t even enjoying it. Hnf…

She finished up the rest of her meat fairly quickly then, scared they’d eat it all if she didn’t hurry up. When she was finished, she even ate at the ends of the bones to try and get any bone marrow left over, and when she was finished, she eyed the kitten that was sitting on Raditz’s lap. She slowly got up to her feet, leaving the bones on the hard ground, and made her way to where the milk was. The kittens all came waddling to her despite how long it took them because of how small they were, and she began feeding again, one by one.

However, she couldn’t shake still being hungry. Those ribs were the only things she’d had since she had a chunk of that beast yesterday. She wasn’t eating regularly enough, and she could feel it with how fatigued she felt on top of the cold and the pain she dealt with. And having nothing but meat couldn’t be good for her body, either. Just one day, right? One day, and they’d be getting back to the pods to leave this horrible planet…. Hopefully to a planet that could give her a decent meal.

* * *

His POV

How the hell was she enjoying this crap? Vegeta handled the bone between his fingers, sniffing one end of the rib and then the other. It smelt charred, if anything. After giving it one last nibble, he discarded the rest of it over his shoulder; finding it unfit to eat when compared with the rest of his food. The meaty rib clattered in the distance behind them, but none of the Saiyan went to fetch it, despite being curious about the taste themselves. They weren’t touching Bulma’s food either, even though the look they were shooting her was clearly the look of someone planning out the act of theft. It looked like as long as their leader sat around the fire side, she was relatively safe.

…then he stood from the campsite, and all eyes were fixed on Bulma again. Vegeta hadn’t moved away, at least not completely. His back turned to the lot of them, the end of his tail twitched in irritation. He’d been planning on fucking the female as soon as he’d returned to the cave. The prince had been thinking of it during battle that day. She was the cause of the large scratch marks that marred the bare half of his chest. Now he couldn’t even fuck the girl without risking crushing her ribs to the point that she couldn’t inhale any longer. He was vexed, thanks to his incompetent soldier.

It looked like he was trying to make a decision when he looked down at her, watching her feed the suckling kittens. A rough growl rolled out of his chest, and then he walked away. He’d have to fuck her another night, how annoying. The prince found his perch, as he did the night before, and bedded down to sleep. However, that left the other two men. They’d behave, surely with their prince in listening range, hopefully. Though, it looked like they were trying to make the same decision, but with much colder intentions -to risk fucking the girl and holding onto something soft during the night, or to go to bed horny and play it safe.

* * *

Her POV

She eyed and debated eating the rib that Vegeta had discarded on the ground, but decided she was better than eating his table scraps. Even if she was hungry. Very, very hungry. What she wouldn’t do for a bowl of white rice topped with some steamed veggies right now… Or some noodles, or strawberries, or a sundae with a banana on top… Her mouth was salivating at the thought, much like the puppies were suckling and salivating on all over her skin as they waited for their turn to feed.

When she was finished feeding the last one, they all looked rather sleepy, so she put them all into their carrier and closed it so they could sleep without escaping when she wasn’t looking. She looked around at the Saiyans, who all seemed to be watching her, and grew a little uneasy. Vegeta after a moment gave up and decided to lie down to sleep, but it was the looks Raditz and Nappa gave her that really scared her. She was injured, they weren’t going to try and violate her after what Vegeta had said, were they? 

Not like there was much else entertainment around here but her, anyway. She wouldn’t be surprised if they risked getting killed just to have sex with her. That didn’t mean she’d be happy about it. She still felt raw inside for how badly Raditz had fucked her; she didn’t need to go through it again. She gulped down her fears and glanced at Vegeta, on his rock. … That’s when she made her decision.

She got to her feet again, wrapping the pelt tightly around herself, before walking over to Vegeta. She sat down on the rock and looked down at him, trying to figure out a way to lie beside him that she’d be comfortable. Being comfortable seemed just about impossible at this point, but she settled for what made her ache the least- laying against him with her weight on the side of her body with the ribs that weren’t cracked. She wasn’t tired, but it was better than sitting by the fire and waiting to be pulled close to Nappa so he could whip his cock out. If she was close to Vegeta, she’d be safe. They wouldn’t dare touch her.

* * *

His POV

They really were debating it. Their sex drive was as big as their appetites, and it was hard to say no to a pretty girl verses a cold bed, even if it meant their lives were on the line. Maybe they wouldn’t go through with it, if only to save their own skins, but Raditz and Nappa were certainly entertaining the thought of silencing the girl’s mouth and dragging her under them before they bedded down for the night.

But then they watched her do something unexpected and their deranged thought pattern fumbled to a halt. She had the balls to disturb Vegeta were he lay. She was definitely head strong, if not completely mental, they had to give her that. It was a gamble to bother an alpha male once they’d bunked down. Sleep meant letting his guard down to an extent. To enter his space was just taboo. There was a serious chance Bulma was going to get knocked off of that high rock just for disrupting his sleep, broken ribs or not. The prince could be cranky when he wanted to, especially when tired.

But he didn’t. The pair of Saiyan men watched her curl up right beside him as if it were her given spot. Maybe the prince really had dragged her there the night before -they had seen her wake up there that morning. They gave her up as a lost cause and found their own places by the fire to call it a night. Raditz curling up peculiarly close to the kitten’s carrier, and Nappa resting on the battered skull of the bloody bears head.

The prince never stirred, never flinched, but he certainly wasn’t asleep, either. He knew the moment her footsteps decided to head in his direction. His brown tail flopped beside him, blowing a soft groan from his nose; his way of letting her know he knew she was there, but he never opened his eyes. Instead, he turned over, giving her the wall of his warm back. Ignoring her presence, but not shoving her off. He’d let her sleep safely beside him for tonight. There was a good chance he’d be gone before she ever woke, anyway.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma was glad to not be held close by the man when she lay down beside him. He rolled over to turn his back to her, even, which was even more welcomed. She didn’t have to cuddle with him, other than to be warm. She leaned up against his back and soaked in the heat he gave off, before throwing a glance over her shoulder at the other two Saiyans. They’d decided to lie down and sleep, too, rather than bother her like they were clearly plotting to do beforehand.

She closed her eyes, but found it hard to sleep. At the very least, she was warm, but she was still hungry and uncomfortable, and that made it very hard to actually nod off. It must have been hours before she finally did, and when she woke up, she was back to being alone in the cave. She looked around and let out a little sigh, before getting up onto her feet and starting the day with taking the kittens out of their carrier and feeding them again. They mewed happily and began to explore the cave, or at least a small part of it with how small their legs were and how little those legs could carry them, and Bulma looked to feed herself, too.

No food was left over, but she decided to look at the supplies. She dug through them and found cream that she rubbed on her wounds–they made the gaping wound on her shoulder from the beast and the scabs Raditz had created nearly disappear, but they did nothing for the ribs. She was still in pain. She let out a breath and dug further, finding nothing of interest. Nothing that could feed her.

The second thing she did was go deep into the cave to get a drink again. She couldn’t lift the water canisters in her state, but she could drink directly from the spring. She drank until her belly was filled with water to help her cope with her hunger, but it was still something too hard to deal with. …Maybe she could find something deeper in the cave? The parts she hadn’t gone to explore before because they were too dark… She returned to the mouth of the cave and took her dagger, using it to break apart one of the supply boxes, just enough for a plank of wood. 

She put the puppies back in their carrier for the time being, and lit the torch with the campfire. That’s when she turned and went deeper in the cave, using the torch to light her path as well as keep her relatively warm along with the pelt, to try and find any kind of food. If they hadn’t come across another beast by now, there likely wasn’t another hidden deeper. Maybe she’d get lucky and find plants, or small animals she could cook. Either way, it was better than waiting for hours for the Saiyans to get back and possibly give her some scraps of food.

* * *

His POV

There was a reason the planet was so sought after despite it being a bitter wasteland of ice and snow. The further Bulma ventured into the depths of the cave, the more likely she was to stumble across the true value that the planet had to offer. Once the dark catacombs began to glimmer from the flicker of her makeshift torch, the hallways of stone began to seemingly brighten far more than they should have. Her meager light couldn’t have made it that bright, not without some help, and that help came in the form of prisms and mirrors.

She was no longer surrounded by stone and rock. The belly of the cave was home to diamonds the size of boulders. Crystals of every shade burst from the ceiling above, creating rainbows of reflective light whenever she passed underneath. The very ground she walked upon dazzled with a large vein of gold that ran right along the marbled path, leading her to the source of the spring water she’d been drinking from. It was a giant pool, and it was all lit up. The walls of the pool must have been diamond itself, glowing and full of tiny life. Tiny fish, tiny glow worms, tiny moths hovering over the water. All of it feeding from the dainty moss that lined the sweet mineral waters.

If there was a good place to find a small fortune, or a bite to eat, this would be it. Though, back at the mouth of the cave the Saiyans had finally returned. They hadn’t brought back food this time. They’d finished their mission and were planning on only being back in the cave long enough to collect the remaining supplies, the cubs, and the girl. Only …she was missing. Again.

God damn it, where did she think she was going to run off to this time? Vegeta’s mouth turned into a hard line, though, a part of him was amused at the fact of her absence. He’d started to worry over the timid nature playing back into her mind. He’d much rather hunt her. In fact, it was a welcome game. This was getting to be such a regular routine that it didn’t fazed him hardly as much as it should have. His nose went to the air. Sniffing her out. Following the trail deeper and deeper into blackness until even his night vision began to dim. He could barely see, but it didn’t stop him.

* * *

Her POV

Wow. It was beautiful... She had no other words. Her path was lit by the reflection of the fire off of all the gems, shining in rainbows of light for her. No wonder why this was a mission. Someone must badly want this planet. It was just… Just beautiful. And at the end of it all, a giant diamond-crusted pool of water. She breathed in sharply at the sight alone, lit up not only by her fire but the glow-worms on the ceiling, walls, and even inside the pool–perhaps this alien species could thrive in and out of water, like frogs? –and that’s when she noticed the fish swimming in the pool. Perfect. She set down the torch on the ground, and got herself mentally ready.

She’d never picked fish out with her hand before, but she’d certainly watched Yamcha do it. If she saw him do it, why couldn’t she do it, too? She watched the fish, noticing a few of them eating up the glow worms. Perfect. She grabbed one of the glow worms from the side of the pool and dunked her hand under the water like she’d watched Yamcha do, waiting patiently for one of the glittering, koi-like fish to come her way. When one did, she tried to grab it by the mouth and pull it up. At first, it’d escape. She tried five times until she finally got one and managed to pull it up onto the glistening ground and hold it down while it suffocated.

“Ha, if he could see me now,” she mused aloud, knowing she’d impress her deceased boyfriend with the trick she’d learned from him. Who knew all those days where she pouted at him dragging her to creeks and oceans to fish would actually come in handy? That wasn’t all she knew, either. She pulled out her dagger and skinned the fish of its scales, remembering that from Yamcha as well. It wasn’t a perfect job, but it got things done. She used the torch to cook the fish, something that only took holding the torch close to the fish for a few minutes to succeed.

She ate it right off the ground, picking around the bone and taking a look around the beautiful cave. After this, she’d have to be getting back. The fish was big enough to calm her rumbling stomach, but eventually they’d be coming back, and they’d probably be leaving, just like Nappa said. Where would they be taking her next, anyway? Hopefully not another place like this.

* * *

His POV

He followed her aroma for quite some time. It appeared she’d gotten herself deep within the subterrane. Just what was the female after so deep within the dark? Well, dark for Vegeta. He hadn’t a light source, but he could rely on his other senses to get him around. His sense of touch along the stone wall, the smell of water up ahead, the echoing of a soft female voice in the distance. It was hers, it was always hers.

Light eventually glistened into view around the bend of the catacomb, leading the prince into the pool side retreat the female had found for herself. He watched in quite for some time. He’d arrived just as she began to eat her meal. It looked like a fish of some kind. How did she catch it, though? Were her reflexes so sharp, or had she figured something else out? She was a survivor when she need be, that was for certain. The prince’s mind scampered for answers. The silent predator eventually slunk up onto one of the giant round diamonds, watching in silent reflection.

He leaned back against the jagged wall behind him. It was rough with quarts and natural gems. That’s when he got a coy idea. A playfully cruel idea. As quietly as a mouse, the prince broke one of the crystals off, muffling the crunch with the flesh of his palm. One by one, he took the tiny pieces, tossing one to the distant side of the pool. The shard made a ‘bloop’ sound as it fell into the tranquil water. A few moments later another one, until they went skipping across the surface like flying fish. They were all skipping from one direction. His direction.

“We’ll be leaving soon,” his deep voice purred out, not caring if she had spotted him or not by now. Snapping off another large sapphire from the wall, it skidded skillfully into the middle of the pond. What was the saying, gold was worthless in the desert? That’s how the prince felt about riches like this. He was far more interested in the fight then the fortune. His smug smile was smeared across his tanned face, letting her know that he’d been lounging there atop of the gem for some time now. As soon as he slid off of it though, his eyes trailed back down to the left over bones of the koi she’d captured for her dinner. His eyes fluttered up, quietly impressed. 

“Is it a required skill of all heiresses of your planet to catch fish with their bare hands?” He taunted and teased, but in some form or fashion he was giving her a back handed complement.

* * *

Her POV

In the middle of eating her fish, she heard something odd. A ‘ploop’ in the water, like a rock falling in. Then again, but this time, multiple ones, like when you skid them. She glanced at the water to see that was indeed what was happening, and then looked to the source– Vegeta! How long had he even been there? At least for once he hadn’t scared her. It was a good way to show her that he was there. She wasn’t scared half to death this time.

She kept eating her fish and nodded her head when he told her that they’d be leaving soon, thankful for that. Her eyes focused on the glimmering gems that he kept skidding, and she couldn’t help but want to keep some of them. They were just so… So pretty. She continued to eye them as she ate, all the way up until Vegeta made that comment about her catching her own fish. She let out a little huff in response.

“No, don’t be stupid. …Before we dated, Yamcha was living in a harsh desert. He knows a lot about survival. I saw him catch fish with his bare hands a lot, and I kept doing it until I caught one. I got lucky, there’s plenty of bait,” she replied between munches, until finally she finished the fish. She wiped her mouth and got up to her feet, walked to Vegeta, and couldn’t help herself but pluck one of the sapphire shards from his hand. As pretty as the rest of the cave. If it weren’t so cold, maybe she would like this planet. …She pocketed the gem as well as pulled a chunk of topaz beside the now-empty chunk in the wall that had gotten loosened, and pocketed that as well. It may come in handy later. 

She grabbed her torch again and began heading back toward the mouth of the cave without another word, eager to finally be free. When they were at the cave, she capsuled the pile of clothes she’d left from, right after both placing the topaz right on top of it and putting the canister close enough to be capsuled as well. She put the capsule in her pocket and picked up the carrier with the puppies inside, and finally readjusted the pelt around her shoulders to keep it steady. Yep, she was finally ready to go.

“You guys are sure the pods aren’t covered in snow by now, right?”

* * *

His POV

The prince’s eyes wanted to roll at the mention of her earthling mate again, but he was far too interested in listening to her speak of her survival skills to interrupt with a snide comment. Perhaps there was still a hint of jealousy there, but it was quickly being over ruled by his admiration of her learning the skill by watching. She was an interesting female, that was for sure.

The prince was equally surprised when she had the nerve to pluck the remaining gems from his blood stained glove without fear. She didn’t fear him as much anymore; he watched with new revelation. She seemed much more interested in the gems on the wall, too. The prince’s eyes followed her busy hands, traveling his gaze up it until he spotted a larger, shiner looking blue rock. Breaking it off, he added the massive sapphire to her collection of topaz.

“ _I have seen much finer shades of blue_ ,” he purred in passing, dusting his gloves of the shards of sapphire that was too small to collect, pressing on past her and down the cavern passage. At least he had light this time; her torch came in handy. The geode-esc grotto glistened as they walked back together in silence.

By the time they’d arrived, Raditz and Nappa had broken down the campsite. Vegeta was side eyeing the female. She hadn’t complained much about her ribs since the night before and was determined to gather her things carry her pups -to which he wasn’t about to stop her. The prince would rather see her show the strength to carry her own things rather than have to do it for her. The cocky grin on his face meant he was slightly admiring her handy work.

“The pods will come to us this time.” Vegeta answered her amazingly enough. Slipping the small remote from his suit, he pressed the tiny button. Raditz and Nappa followed their prince’s lead, doing the same. Before too long the three snow dusted pods were landing outside of the mouth of the cave. Good thing too, since it was snowing enough to freeze hell over. Raditz and Nappa made it to their pods first but Vegeta was staying behind. He was watching the girl, arching a roguish brow at her, waiting to see if she could make the few yards from the mouth of the cave to the open pod door. If not, he’d carry her in, but until then he wasn’t touching her.

* * *

Her POV

_‘I have seen much finer shades of blue.’_ Even when they got to the mouth of the cave and she got herself ready to leave, the words rang in her ears. Was he trying to flirt? He had been trying to… To ‘court’ her. That’s what Raditz and Nappa seemed to agree about. It was odd to think about, but it… Wasn’t that bad of a thing to say. The man seemed to have been coming a long way from when they first met. She eyed Vegeta as she held the carrier of the kittens to her body, careful not to push too much on her ribs.

She was reminded of the remotes the Saiyans had when Vegeta explained the pods would be coming to them, and within moments, she saw them lowering down onto the snow just outside of the cave. She watched Nappa and Raditz walk into the horrible weather to their pods, and she tried to follow. But the moment she took a step into the snow and her foot sunk deep, chilling the bare skin of her leg to the bone and infesting her shoe with snow, she retracted her legs.

Her eyes went to Vegeta for support. He was staring at her expectantly, but really, what could he expect? It was easy enough for the Saiyans, who could fly and didn’t seem to mind the cold, but just a few days prior, she’d nearly frozen to death. She shifted her weight and tried again. She moved fast and managed to not slink in too much the first few steps, but suddenly the snow crunched under her and she dropped down to her hips in the snow, only three feet in front of the pod.

There was a clear, large shiver that went up her spine, and a series of small shivers followed it. She held the carrier close and turned her head to look for Vegeta for real support this time, giving up trying. She didn’t dare even move, scared she’d just sink down lower in this kind of hellish climate. She wasn’t about to drown in snow because she wanted to be tough. But God, was it cold. If she didn’t have frostbite already, she certainly had it now. The first thing she’d be doing in whatever next planet they got to would be to find some of that rejuvenation water just so she didn’t end up with black skin a week from now.

* * *

His POV

It was ...amusing, to say the least. Watching the female try to march, then run, and eventually end up sinking into the flurry of snow. What was the word Vegeta was looking for? ...adorable. If only he had the vocabulary of a human man. By the end of it he had a fist to his bottom lip, doing his best to suppress the snort that tried to chuckle out. She’d almost made it, too. Well, he had to give her some credit.

When her eyes begged for his assistance, Vegeta’s white boots lifted from the cave floor. Hovering right out into the cold and over the female lodged in her death trap, he lifted her up under the arms and carried her the rest of the way to the pod. He knew it must have hurt, her weight tugging on her broken ribs, but it was only a short distance. By the time he had her safely back into his lap, the pod door was shutting out the pouring winds of the frozen tundra. That’s when he remembered …he’d let her keep those damn pups.

It had just been a way to piss of Nappa, initially. The prince had backed himself into a corner during the conversation with Nappa. His hot-headed temper boasting his ego by allowing the female to keep the pups since Nappa seemed so against it. At the time it had felt like a win, but now he was starting to question his own sanity. God, this was going to be a long trip. As if the pod wasn’t cramped enough as it were. Maybe he should force her to toss the cubs out at the last minute. Tell her there just isn’t enough room.

“I can’t believe you kept those damn things,” he gruffed. Despite glaring at the pup’s carrier, he hadn’t told her to get rid of them. He couldn’t back down from his word; the prince just had too much pride in him. It was working in Bulma’s favor. He may not like it, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t show it. His brows knit and he leaned back as far as possible in the tight space. Turning his hard lined face away from her, he punched in the new co-ordinance for their next destination. The ship rumbled, leaving the snow globe behind.

Her POV

She was grateful to be pulled out from the snow by Vegeta, but regretted it to a certain extent when he held her by the side and put so much pressure on her ribs. She couldn’t help but groan in pain, even if the cream had ultimately helped to some extent. It didn’t last long, thankfully, and soon enough he placed her in his lap in the pod and shut the door. Another heavy shiver ran down her body, and she set down the carrier on the space between Vegeta’s feet before she drew her legs up and quickly began rubbing warmth into them.

“Y… Y-y-you said I c-c-c-could,” there she was again, shivering so much she had a hard time pronouncing. It wasn’t as if there was a heater in the pod, and she was still cold from what she just went through with the snow. She glanced at Vegeta with a solid pout, brows furrowing lightly. “Don’t tr… t-t-try to change your m-m-m-mind now.” She eventually took her pelt off and wrapped it around her freezing legs, and kicked her shoes off to get out all the cold, melting snow.

“Th-th-they’ll get you a n-n-nice amount of m-m-m-money, don’t com… Complain.” She shivered strongly again, before ultimately trying to press her body up against him. He was a very good space heater, after all. She remembered how warm he felt when he all but revived her with that transfer of body heat. She needed that heat right then, that was for certain. The puppies might be crying for entertainment after being locked up in that carrier for so long, but this was more important to her.

“Wh… Where are we g-g-going next, a-a-anyway?” Her eyes moved to the place where he’d typed in coordinates. She still didn’t much understand those coordinates, but she could at least try to remember if they were relatively close by. 

* * *

His POV

She was shivering. He was painfully aware of how badly her body was quaking against his sturdy build. The prince could hardly remember a time when he’d shook from the cold. Once, twice in his life time? He nearly had on the planet, but that was after full days of flying through blizzards. Her breed seemed much more adapt to shaking, something that was quickly trying his nerves. Even if it did make her ranting demands far less menacing then if she’d spat them out correctly. She certainly was making herself at home in his ship this time.

His finger and thumb caught her chattering chin, halting it from making any more toothy noises. He was staring at her in the new silence. There, that was better, now maybe he could get a little peace in this mess of a pod. She’d already managed to dump snow on the floor and dig her bare toes back into his warm thighs. Something he thought he’d never have to deal with again. Slowly, he let go of her chin and looked back at the control screen. 

“Somewhere damn warm. Anywhere,” he all but roared. A soft grumble followed, but at least his passionate voice had calmed down. He was mentally preparing himself for the cramped trip. No getting to feel the woman up, probably no chance of a nap, and she was cold. Not as cold as when she’d been knocking on deaths door, but cool enough for him to notice it against his naturally burning skin. Then, his angry gaze turned down over her, and he noticed she was still wrapped in the pelt. She’d kept it. Something about that tamed him down. Enough that at some point his tail snaked around her, allowing her to tuck herself into the warmth of his body. Getting comfortable for the long ride.

The planet they were destined for wasn’t too far away at all. This lively rock was much closer to its sun. So much so that it was nearly all tropics, all the time. The vast amounts of water kept it nice and humid, lining nearly every country with sandy beaches. However, it was far away enough from its star that it didn’t pose the threat of burning up. It was a paradise planet, to say the least, and they were crashing right into one of its white sandy shores. The palms blew back and the ground cratered at the Saiyan’s arrival. At least it was an abandoned beach. Nothing like the town’s beach some miles away from the lush thick of palm treats and sun kissed waters.

  



	20. Trouble in Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of the blistering cold and into the blazing sun, our interstellar travelers find themselves on a new planet. But you know what they say about jungles, there are monsters out there.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

All in all, the trip wasn’t a bad one. Vegeta let her warm up, though even then she refused to put her shoes on– they were cold and wet, no way was she putting those on her feet. She left them on the ground up until she found the planet in sight. That required some foresight on her part– not only did she quickly put her shoes on to avoid them flopping up and hitting her, but she also took the puppies out of their carrier and wrapped them in her pelt, making sure they were as protected by Vegeta’s arms as she was before they crash-landed so the fragile little beings didn’t go flying.

Vegeta didn’t even have to open the door for them to get out. She opened the door immediately and took the carrier as she took her first few steps out, climbing from the small crater that had glassed over from the heat and pressure. She was greeted by a warm, sandy beach with beautiful weather overhead. It was similar to Roshi’s island, with sand that seemed purewhite and water that was a translucent teal. A paradise. 

She set the carrier down and kicked off her shoes, before carefully placing the puppies down on the pelt so she could sit down slowly–her ribs still bothering her–and run her fingers through the sand. It really was like she was back on Earth again. It was so similar. Nothing was oddly colored, nothing was out of place. The palm trees had green leaves, the sky was a deep, breathtaking shade of blue, the clouds were a fluffy white… For a moment, she could pretend like this was Earth.

She got up again quickly, despite her injuries, and hurried off to the shoreline. How long had it been since she had dipped her fingers in the warm waters of a tropical beach? She could feel the little fish nibbling at her toes, and around her could see all the wildlife, so similar to Earth. Little crabs that were only a little more red than she knew, a sea turtle with a deep yellow skin color further up the beach that was trying to get back to its waters, and where she’d very nearly stepped, a translucent jellyfish lying for someone to accidentally sting themselves on.

Then suddenly, she whipped her head in the direction of the Saiyans. “You aren’t destroying this place, are you?!”

* * *

His POV

The fact that the woman in his lap had comfortably moved not only herself, but his body into a safe position for landing had somewhat taken the Saiyan by surprise. Though ..he did not suggest the puppies could be included in that given pact of protection. At first he hadn’t the faintest idea why she’d be taking the cubs out of their carrier. Then he realized, and it was too late; he couldn’t stop her. For the first time it was a truly uncomfortable landing, at least from the prince’s perspective.

Kami, was he anxious to get out of that stuffy pod. His fingers bit into the arm rests and his teeth ground tightly together, putting up with the female in his lap during the few moments it took to burn through the atmosphere. Though, that didn’t stop him from noticing how able-bodied the woman was of commanding his ship to open once they’d stopped. She got around the ship by herself quite freely, and he was all too ready to let her; seeing as he wanted to feel the warmth of the planet just as much.

For every ounce of Vegeta that loathed the cold, a part of him loved the sun. He was made for the downpour of golden beams and sizzling waves of heat rising from bright sands. The blast of hot air that hit him in the face as soon as the new world was exposed to his senses, was a welcome relief. The prior planet of cold had been a planet of punishment. This planet was a planet of pure pleasure. It was just waiting for him to explore it.

The ocean swept view wasn’t the only thing that caught his attention when he ventured from the pod. His gaze landed on the blue tress girl, and how naturally she took to the new lands. Suddenly, the hue of her hair and skin tone made sense. She was as blue as where the sky met the ocean, and as pure as the seashore. She was from a water based planet, if he remembered correctly. There was curiosity in his attentive expression; putting together why she seemed so at ease, at home, on this otherwise alien planet.

He stepped closer, quietly; unmoved by the landscape around them. With his attention to the horizon, his hands laced behind his back like a proud soldier; taking in the scenery as just another stop along the way in his path of destruction as he always did. Though, his nose was twitching against the salty sea air. Then she asked him something, and the prince found himself looking down at her. She’d asked him if he and his men were going to destroy this planet. Honestly, the prince hadn’t planned on it, but his mind could shift as easily as a mood swing. There was a good chance he would if he felt the need arise. Though-

His voice exhaled quiet yet coy; more for her then his men that were still making their way towards them some distance down the shore. He debated, but then answered her with his own follow up question, “... _do you want me to?”_

* * *

Her POV

_Do you want me to?_ She knit her brows at the tone in his voice. Quiet, contemplative. It wasn’t mocking, but there was something to it. It was so odd to hear. She looked him over for a second, more shocked that he questioned her so seriously more than anything else. What did her opinion ever matter to him, anyway? She pressed her lips in contemplation just at the situation, before she shook her head with vigor, her eyes still and firm. 

“No. I don’t want you to destroy this planet. It’s… It’s beautiful here.” She turned her head to look at the ocean again, out to the horizon. She crossed her arms loosely, feeling a slight pang in her side from the little bit of pressure on her ribs. “It reminds me of home. I don’t care what kind of mission you might have come here for, I don’t want this place to be destroyed.” Her fingers tapped on her arm, and she turned her head to look at him again.

“It’s not like my opinion really matters anyway though, right? You all just leave a trail of destruction and death and suffering wherever you go.” She was a good enough example of that. Planet destroyed, title stripped, turned to nothing but skin and bone and forced to be a sex slave… She sighed. Her eyes focused in on the distance of the palm trees, breathing out slowly. She really, really didn’t want to see another planet burn.

“How come you guys do this, anyway? Can’t you just conquer a planet for yourselves? You can be a prince again, and just rebuild your old planet. Instead of just destroying planets. You can still fight, but what fun of fighting do you even get from just blasting every innocent person you see? Isn’t it better to just build another planet of people like you again?”

She sat down in the sand and playing with the water, splashing gently and playing with the tiny lifeforms that lived in the shoreline. Still, it burned in her mind. Why did they have to do what they did?

* * *

His POV

Vegeta was a firmly set man. Stern in his view the universe, he was set in the ways that he thought fate had given, in the lifestyle he’d chiseled out for himself. His mind was primarily made up. He was sure that whatever she had to say, he would still make his own decision whether or not to destroy the planet. But still… He could listen, when he wanted to. The prince was finding himself genuinely curious in what she had to say. He’d quieted the further she spoke out, tuned into her growing voice, and was staring down in contemplation. To his own shock, he was finding that her opinion on the subject somewhat mattered to him ...if just for the time being.

His expression, however, soon shifted from curiosity to shock, then from shock to anger the more she ranted on. The earthling had hit a nerve. A sore spot so to speak, that the prince never spoke about. She was right -there was always a lacking sensation felt after selling a planet. A hunger for something new, different. But he always shoved the idea aside and fixed his goals on ransacking the universe for his own selfishness. And here she was blurting it out as if it were yesterday’s news. The prince’s stunned face morphed into vexed rage. Pacing along the shore line, his scowl never ripped from where she sat in the sand. He had to collect the ability to speak, rather than growl, in order to answer her.

“Do you think it’s that easy?” The Saiyan truly sounded like a beast, ripping the words from his snarl, “…and just what planet do you have in mind?” He sarcastically spat. “What people would you have me rule? What army to lead?” The prince halted, crossing his arms over his chest in a new defensive stance. He’d snapped his jaw shut, catching himself before he gave too much of his mind away. He didn’t care to rule, he’d come to terms with that years ago. Strength was far more impressive than a kingdom. 

“…I have no time to dominate a weakling species.” He meant who else was he to rule, but Saiyans? That was exactly what he was doing after all, even if there were only three of them to date. He turned his wrath from her, calming his rage; fixing his burning glare into the distance of palm trees. The end of his tail twitched furiously. It was just about then he spotted Raditz and Nappa. They’d approached just as the conversation was getting heated, and had decided it’d be safer not to make a peep. Geeze, it seemed like every time they stumbled in on the two, their prince and the girl were going at in one way or another.

He should have never listened. He should have never opened his mouth. That’s what Vegeta was thinking as he made way away from the shore line and headed past the thick of trees, towards the nearby town. Really though, what else did he expect? The female was always full of fiery comments. It’s what drew him to her in the first place. Even if he was angry at her for it at the time being.

* * *

Her POV

She turned her attention to him when he began to pace. He was clearly furious at her suggestion. That caught her off guard– did she hit a nerve? His eyes widened the same way they always did when angry, and his hair seemed to bristle like a cat’s. And that tail was swishing. He was really easy to read, honestly. She watched him go, a layer of concern that he might take his anger out on her, especially when he yelled. But he didn’t hit her. He controlled his anger, looking away.

“I–” She spoke up meekly, but it wasn’t any use. He turned at started stomping off into the thick rainforest-like area, and she pursed her lips. …Did she want to come with? She glanced at the puppies, seemingly having trouble with their new environment but still settled on the pelt. She took another glance at Vegeta, and ultimately decided her rib injury could wait. She had a bad feeling about the pups, and she’d rather Vegeta cool off before he attacked her.

She trekked back up the sand to the puppies, instantly noticing them panting heavily, their wide mouths wide open. They’d all opened their eyes by now and were getting better at moving around, but this time their eyes were closed and they were all just laying around the pelt. Of course they’d be acting this way– they were used to a cold environment. They were overheating, and because they were so small, she’d have to act quickly. Any idea of going off and following Vegeta fell to the wayside, and she focused specifically on them instead.

She tossed out the capsule with her tools and parts in it, going straight to work. It was easy enough to make a large, powerful fan that ran on the sun’s rays, and she was done only in a few minutes. A simple task, for a genius. But she’d need more than that. It definitely helped the puppies when she turned it on and face it to them, but she continued to work on something else.

She grabbed their carrier and went to work with some cables and special units, screwing them into the carrier. It took at least twenty minutes to accomplish, but by the end, the carrier was lined with little fans for extra cooling and had a small heatsink attached to a hole at the back and a few little solar panels on the top to create essentially a fridge. She helped the puppies back into their carrier and made a mental note to make the carrier bigger as they grew in size, or at least make it retractable so it could increase and decrease as needed. That was something she’d focus on later, however. She was sure there’d be times later where she’d be bored enough to need something to keep her busy.

* * *

His POV

Vegeta marched right past his men, knocking his shoulder into Raditz forearm aggressively as he stormed on. If only he were a taller men, or his soldiers weren’t so large in stature, the prince’s exit may have been a little more menacing. No matter, he was gone in moments. Bulma was right to let him leave. Vegeta tended to make his brashest, stupidest decisions when angry.

Both Raditz and Nappa turned to watch their leader storm off into the jungle, debating following. He hadn’t ordered them to, in fact if they were judging him correctly; it’d be smarter to give him a wide berth. So instead they looked to the girl whom was already making a mess of the beach. Just what the hell was she doing now, with all of those pieces of metal piled on the shoreline?

The earthling had Raditz attention in particular. He may have lost her trust, but he hadn’t known he’d had it in the first place to loose. He was primarily oblivious to the damage he’d inflicted, though some part of him did feel a new uncomfortable vibe whenever he looked the girl face to face. He wasn’t sure as to why. He was only there to check on the pups, anyhow. He had little interest in the girl, especially now that he’d learned the hard way that she was off limits. His arms crossed over his chest, intrigued when she moved the litter, what she was building for them, and then he saw her turn on the fan.

It felt good, it felt damn good. The beating sun felt amazing on his skin, but there was something about a powerful breeze to the face that made anyone relax into it. Including Saiyans. Nappa was hardly as interested (maybe because he lacked the lush locks of hair that donned Raditz), but when Bulma busied herself with fixing up the carrier into a suitable habitat, he’d gone and stuck his face right in the high powered fan. Raditz took a seat in the sand, letting the powerful blades blow his massive waves of hair straight back. Skewing his vision, but loving every moment of it. Like a dog sticking its head out a car window.

“N-a-a-p-p-a-a-a-a, -y-y-o-o-u-u g-g-o-o-t-t-a-a t-t-r-r-y-y t-t-h-h-i-i-s-s-s-s-s-s-s.” The male’s voice was butchered by the blades of the fan, making for a rare but humorous scene. Nappa was half curious, half disgusted, and half wondering when Vegeta would get back. He really didn’t want his leader to stumble up on them when they were making fools of themselves. But still, he was gullible, so after a glance from Raditz he stuck his head right in front of the fan, too.

* * *

Her POV

After she finished with making the carrier into something of a fridge, Bulma’s attention turned to the Saiyans, playing with her fan. Her nose wrinkled. Had they never dealt with a fan before? They looked so stupid, and Bulma wondered in passing if they’d go off to follow Vegeta. She wanted to be left alone again like she was at the cave– too bad that didn’t seem to be happening. They were far too interested in the fan, and had likely come to the same conclusion she had about it being best to leave Vegeta alone. …Damn.

“Shouldn’t you guys be setting up camp or something?” The question was demanding, but she felt confidence after Raditz was beaten half to death for what he did to her. As far as she was concerned, she was allowed to do as she pleased. If they hurt her for it, Vegeta would surely make sure they regretted it. …She hoped, anyway. As things were between them, there was uncertainty. However, he could have struck her then, but he didn’t. That counted for something.

“This fan isn’t for you two, it’s for the puppies. It’ll be good to use when I need to take them out of their carrier for whatever reason. I don’t want it falling apart because you guys overused it,” she huffed, promptly turning the fan off and allowing it to charge its battery with the solar panel. She eyed the two Saiyans for a moment, wondering if she overstepped her boundaries. Vegeta told them he’d kill them if he caught them using her, but they might risk it anyway for as far as she knew. She couldn’t help but gulp as she looked the men over.

“…Anyway, it’s only a matter of time before they get sold off. Maybe I’ll give you two the fan then, but not until then.” She put her supplies back in its capsule and put it back in her pocket, before getting up and looking at the rain forest again. …Did she want to risk venturing out to find Vegeta? She’d found out the hard way about the negatives of wandering alone. As far as she knew, she’d be captured by giants again. Now there was a thought that made her sick to her stomach.

“…Do you guys know anything about this planet, anyway?” Her eyes focused on the Saiyans again, still terrified underneath it all to see how they took her commanding attitude. B… But they really wouldn’t attack her, right? Right? “What… What kind of people live here? You’re not just here to destroy the planet, right?”

* * *

His POV

The fan clicked off and both of the Saiyans formed grumpy faces; shooting daggers at the female for ruining their fun and then having the balls to put their attention back on what they were supposed to be doing. Well, somewhat. Vegeta hadn’t ordered them not to make a campfire, but he hadn’t ordered them to either. As it were, they were busy playing hooky until given a proper order. Like a couple of kids tossing pencils when the teacher stepped out.

She sure was getting bossy for a slave, female …whatever she was now. The two men didn’t completely know where she fell in the ranks, but they knew they wanted to put her in her place. Vegeta may have threatened their life if they struck her again, but that didn’t mean the instinct and drive to pin and ‘put her in her place’ wasn’t raving within their bones. The way they both looked at her, it was clear; the soldiers were still debating taking her again; trying to suppress the urge due to their leaders command.

“We’ll do whatever Vegeta tells us to, girlie.” Nappa’s rough voice answered her about the fate of the planet. It was a valuable planet; there was no doubt about that. Just what tyrant wouldn’t want to own a paradise under their belt? His answer held a double meaning too. It meant just because they were told not to touch her, didn’t mean they were about to do as she said. As far as Nappa was concerned, she was still lower than them. Just a pretty little thing that’d obscured their prince’s judgement for the time being. Until Vegeta got rid of her, that is -that was Nappa’s hopes.

“I hope they’re something pretty.” Raditz stood up, stretching his arms above his head. “Something fuckable.” He shot Bulma a defiant look like an unruly child. Raditz was one expression away from sticking his tongue out at her. He blamed her for his lack of sex in the last few hours. Before the man could open his big mouth any further though, a clattering sound came from the top of the nearby pod. It was Vegeta, crouching on top of the metal sphere and watching down over all of them, his forearm resting on the plank of his thigh. He’d snuck right up on them.

“Pack up. We’re going,” was all he said before bolting off the far side of the pod and out of sight. The prince landed in the soft sand, waiting silently for them to follow suit. Though, he had taken a moment to roam his vision over the trinkets and contraptions the woman had put together in his absence. He’d been anticipating being furious at her all over again -despite calming himself down- but the moment he set eyes on her, and on her genius, it was hard to be anything less than curiously off-put.

* * *

Her POV

The looks they were giving her sent a shiver down her spine. She had a bad feeling, even as they spoke. They didn’t seem happy, and she was wondering if they’d possibly back out on their word of listening to Vegeta’s orders, when all three of them were brought from their thoughts by Vegeta landing on the pod behind her. She turned her head to look up at him with wide eyes and the sides of her mouth stretched in surprise, clearly spooked. What was with him and sneaking up on people like that? It wasn’t funny!

He told them to pack up, and Bulma quickly grabbed her fan, shoes, pelt, and the carrier, and not a second later was scooped up into Nappa’s arms roughly and without care. His fingernails dug into her broken ribs, and she groaned in pain up until he finally got to where Vegeta had flown and set her back down in the sand. The pain continued even when the pressure stopped, and she had to remind herself that she was carrying puppies and couldn’t simply drop everything just because she ached. She set them and the fan down carefully and dropped the rest of the items more haphazardly, as well as her own butt to land in the white sand.

“Ah…” She glanced around, raising a brow. They were still next to the shoreline, but there were huts lining the far side of the beach, grassy and primitive. Something that Yamcha could probably make. If her ribs weren’t aching so much that she’d rather just sit in the sand and hold her side gently, she’d probably go to investigate further. Luckily, she could see plenty from where she was. There was a shower connected to the side of the huts, obvious by the little showerhead sticking out from the right wall of each of the primitive buildings. A pathetic outhouse was constructed a bit further off from the huts, and seemed to be the only one there. She wrinkled her nose, already deciding that perhaps she didn’t like this place so much.

“Hey, do they have that healing water stuff somewhere around here? Please tell me we didn’t land on the one planet around here that seems to lack it.” The showerheads were clearly too primitive for separate switches to allow for healing and regular water, after all. And she was beginning to think that her ribs would cause her serious damage. What if she breathed in too far and punctured a rib? It was lucky she’d learned to breathe rather shallowly to prevent too much pain so far.

The cubs were mewing for more food, and that was the only thing to really get her in gear despite the pain. She took a few moments to focus on standing up again, and when she did, she gathered all her objects again and began heading to the huts, hoping to god that maybe they each got their own this time. Maybe they’d even have real mattresses, if she was lucky. Or at least decent cots that weren’t just slabs of rock. That was the only thing keeping a pep in her step as her ribs poked her in the side with each sway of her hips.

* * *

His POV

The prince was watching that pain staggered sway in her hips, each and every step towards the shack of a hut. He was sauntering slowly behind her. Never offering help with her things, seemingly forgetting to answer her question about the healing waters. Vegeta was back in command, back in control of those he considered under his rule. That little bode of walking through the jungle seemed to of cleared his mind and put his cocky attitude back in check.

Much to the girl’s dismay, the inside of the hut was nothing like she’d imagined. And yes, all four of them would be bunk mates in the one roomed hut. At least there were beds this time. Sort of… They were hammocks, nice ones at that. Two on each side. Not just netting tied between two poles, but soft blankets and a wide spread sheet. Plenty big enough for a full grown Saiyan, but if the beds could stand up to their weight, only time would tell. Hammocks just made more since on this planet. Away from the creepy crawlies below, allowing cool air flow on warm nights, and well …they looked like nests. This planet’s people tended to like nests.

Raditz audibly whined his dislike of the sleeping arrangements. Dropping his shoulders once he realized he’d be taking bottom bunk under Nappa. God, he really hoped the giant lug didn’t fall on him during the night, _or worse_. The two soldiers made quick work of stuffing their supplies crate under one of the beds. Not taking any notice to whatever the female was doing with her things and the cubs. The rampant thoughts of food and sex was driving their movements and grumbling their bellies. They hadn’t eaten on their return to the cave. It’d been a full day since any of them had had food. In fact, Bulma had been the most recent one to win a meal.

Once Nappa and Raditz staggered out of the hut and into the nearby village, Vegeta turned his attention on the girl. He’d been quiet; surveying his men’s unpacking up until now. It wasn’t until they’d made themselves scarce that he looked at her. Jerking his head towards the direction of the town, he blew a soft grunt from his chest, implying that she was to follow his lead out of the shaggy hut door. It was his quiet way of answering her question, finally, about her ribs. If she wanted healing waters, she’d have to follow him.

* * *

Her POV

She was disappointed by the set-up, but she dealt with it. At least she got her own bed, and it did look somewhat comfortable with the blankets and all. She’d survive. So she set her things down and pulled at the capsule with her clothes, popping it open and tossing it. She collected the milk from it and knelt at the carrier as the Saiyans played around, still inwardly annoyed that she didn’t get an answer to her question. …Whatever. She had pups to feed. Or kittens. Or cubs. …Speaking of, maybe she should come up with a name for this species.

She fed them one by one, putting them right back in their cool carriers after she was finished and thinking of names all the while. …Ah, they were growing big, weren’t they? Their legs growing and eyes more wide open. Three or four days had made a large difference on their appearance, though they still had a long way to go until they ended up the size of their mother. …She couldn’t help but hope they found someone or somewhere to buy them soon, before they got big enough to grow teeth and eat her.

By the time she finished feeding the last pup, the Saiyan underlings had left. Loudly. Vegeta’s grunt was much quieter, but obvious enough that she picked it up. She closed the carrier and put the milk back in the capsule with the clothes, making a mental note to make a third capsule for the cubs’ supplies specifically, and she hurried straight out the door to follow Vegeta. If he was going to finally help her with her ribs, she wanted the help as soon as possible, even if her pace made her side hurt a bit.

“Hey! Where are we going? You’re not going to make me walk far, right? I’ve been feeling horrible lately, don’t make me walk far.” It seemed she was rather comfortable with talking to him casually and in a demanding fashion, and to a far greater extent than she did with Raditz or Nappa. Even if Vegeta gave them orders mixed with a terrible threat, she was still scared they’d go against Vegeta’s wishes. They wanted to; she could see it in their eyes. Vegeta, while still terrible, was… More protective, she supposed. A form of safety.

“Really. I think my ribs are getting worse. It’s not easy to get out of breath like this, you know?”

* * *

His POV

She’d understood him. After a few moments of quite observation, Vegeta realized she’d known what his hushed grunt meant. She hadn’t reacted so readily to it the first few times he’d growled in her direction when they’d first met. But she’d answered him as readily with her words as if she’d understood his primitive use of language. Something about that left a soft vibe over his shoulders, something he was somewhat allowing himself to savor.

“Stop your complaining,” he snapped, keeping the steady pace he’d set for them through the shifting sands. The sand not making it any easier on someone who’d have to struggle for air, but easy enough for a sure footed soldier. He may have seemed stone cold towards her condition, but the prince had noticed. The way she held her side despite knowing not to apply pressure, the small slips of air that were inhaling through her lips. He was aware of it all. His brain was drowning in the need to find her somewhere safe to heal. Some part of his psyche tugged at him to slow down, but his hard-headed nature pressed on, all the way up to the rim of tropical grass that carpeted the town’s pathways.

Gorgeous flowers of tropical proportions sprouted from the bushes and trees that framed the wooden buildings. The streets were busy with the feathery locals of the beachy world. Birds. Almost all of them, aside from a few reptilian looking species. Fluffing their brightly colored feathers and wearing little to nothing, if anything at all. Some sold flowers from baskets, others were dancing right there in the streets. Vegeta, however, was keeping silent tabs on the girl’s location.

Nappa and Raditz’ noisy laughter and vulgar voices boomed from a nearby eatery. They’d apparently stopped off at the first sight and smell of food and pretty tropic ass. But it was no place to seek medical attention. Vegeta may have stopped, pausing before the institution that his men had made way for, but then after a quick glance at the woman, he pressed on. It was, to say, not the decision he would have made a few weeks ago.

“It’s not far,” he finally hushed. He’d already staked out the place before he’d returned to the pods. There, a few buildings down, was a thatched hut that smelt of soaps and steam. It was a bath house that relied on natural springs. A hot spring.

* * *

Her POV

He told her to stop complaining, but that was easy for him to say. It was easy for him to keep trudging along. She was still shoeless as well, adding to the difficulty. Ugh. She scowled as she continued, the ribs poking and pricking her painfully with seemingly every movement. It had been fine before when she didn’t move much and did so at her own pace when she did, but now that she was actively trying to keep up with someone else, it was much more difficult. He didn’t even slow down for her, despite looking back every so often to keep tabs on her.

They got to town, and Bulma was surprised to see what she did. The citizens were all… Birds. Their bodies were barely humanoid, just enough to allow them the ability to dance much like and other human, but they still had feathers, beaks, tails, talons… And seemed to be very carefree. They danced in the streets, sold flowers and hula skirts and necklaces of pretty beads, and no one seemed too scared of the Saiyans. Maybe it was just because they were so welcoming? It felt somewhat stupid to Bulma. They should be evacuating.

Though she did have particular interest in the children. Much like real birds, the babies were small and fat and full of fluffy, light-colored feathers. They were simply adorable to see, bouncing around all chubby and soft without a care in the world. She squeezed her lips together. She wasn’t going to let the Saiyans ruin this paradise. She wasn’t going to see the Saiyans kill these sweet children.

Vegeta paused to look at where they could both hear Raditz and Nappa visiting, and for a moment, Bulma thought that they had arrived. But no. He continued on, muttering that they would only be going a little further. But it hurt so much! He’s carried her before; why couldn’t he do that now? He could carry her and just be careful about her ribs, and it’d be a win-win for the both of them. So she stepped closer, faat enough to reach out to Vegeta, and firmly grabbed onto his shoulder.

“H… Hey.” Her voice was quiet because she had been breathing so shallowly, but she stared at him seriously regardless, hoping he’d obtained her message– She didn’t want to walk anymore. It wasn’t as if it were a matter of embarrassment, right? He’d carried her in front of the other two Saiyans before, and when she was in a much less dire state. The Saiyans weren’t here now, and she needed his help. She stepped closer to him, brushing her side against him to make it easier for him to just scoop her up. “…Don’t… Make me walk anymore…”

* * *

His POV

He was doing his best to push her out of mind. They were just going to attain medical treatment, that’s all. Just because it was unusual to provide a slave or servant with the means to keeping them alive, didn’t mean anything. He’d done it before without worry. Maybe what was bothering the prince was that he was doing it so openly. He felt the awkwardness he’d inflicted in on himself in the past few days. Keeping her warm, fed, safe from other males. It was all beginning to wane on his irritable mind. Vegeta didn’t like feeling out of sorts, out of control of his own actions. Maybe Nappa was right, maybe it was just a matter of time before the prince came back to his senses.

But then her shortened inhales whined for his attention and all thought drained from his mind. She sounded out of breath, struggling to keep up with his increased pace. Looking back at her from over his thick shoulder, Vegeta rolled his eyes. She did look pretty damn pathetic. No shoes, tattered clothing… Her cheeks were pink and panting from the heat and the work she was putting in trying to breathe. He’d been trying to avoid her, refusing physical contact as much as possible when in a public place, but he found himself scooping her up in no time, regardless.

He’d scooped her up like a feather weight. Maybe it was the way her gentle frame tugged at his shoulder, enticing him to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way. He’d understood her message, but didn’t say anything. Nothing more than a grunt. He could feel her fragile bones through her thin clothing. Maybe they’d be getting food after this. She was pathetically thin still -that’s the thought that was rolling around in Vegeta’s head when they finally arrived at the hot spring’s front desk.

A feathery creature with exuberant tail plumage cheerily greeted them, placing a flower boa around Bulma’s neck and then making the mistake of putting one right over Vegeta’s unyielding stature. It was like decorating a bronze statue. Vegeta completely ignored it, getting right down to business. He ordered the bird to ‘fix the girl up, and be damn good about it’ as well as wanting a bath for himself. The bird was already eyeing the large gashes that were scabbing over his chest. His shredded clothing was bloodied and stained. He wasn’t one to mind personal appearance, obviously, only there to see to it that the girl was in health; fuckable again. …maybe he was a little pent up. It’d explain his irritableness of late.

“R-Right this way,” the receptionist sweat dropped, grateful when the slaves that ran the place showed up at the front desk. It was a pair of beautiful male peacocks. Their down feathers sparkled and their plumage spread as soon as they saw the female in Vegeta’s arms. But then they tried to take her from him and something in Vegeta snapped. He recoiled, holding Bulma tightly in his flexing arms, baring his canines and shooting hot steely daggers at the servants. It was an instinctual reaction to their plumage. To his instincts, it appeared for a moment that they were trying to court the broken girl. But no sooner had he realized what he was doing, Vegeta loosened his grip and let the girl slide from his chest. Maybe it was due to having worked so hard to attain her -he told himself- hunting her down on the android planet, then from Zarbon, then her broken ribs. He played off the growl as if he were clearing his throat.

* * *

Her POV

She was relieved when he picked her up, and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck as she watched where they were going. It actually hadn’t been much further– just a couple more houses over, but she was still happy about not having to walk nonetheless. It seemed to be bathhouse, and when they walked in they were greeted by many tropical, brightly colored rainbow-feathered birds. Males, then. The one in front put a lei around her neck, and did the same for Vegeta– something she found funny, to say the least.

She was expecting to be handed over, but right when a few more birds came to take her, Vegeta… Growled. She turned her head and raised a brow at the man in bafflement, but was soon just handed over when Vegeta’s cheeks turned red and he tried to pretend he was just clearing his throat. He was getting particularly protective now, wasn’t he? It made her nervous. When she got back to Earth and collected the dragon balls, she didn’t want Vegeta to track her down and just kill everyone again. Who knew what he’d do to Yamcha.

The peacocks took her and led her off to the hot spring– Outside, with only small rocks built up like walls as privacy. She could still hear the birds outside, and in some instances could see the tops of their heads. She was supposed to bathe here? That was embarrassing. She couldn’t help but dwell on that as they set her down so her feet touched the ground, but in mere minutes they pulled her clothing off and left her nude and trying to cover herself. It’d happened so quickly that she didn’t have time to react; maybe they were just so used to this.

They helped her into the bath, and that was the only bonus. Suddenly all her pain went away, and she could physically feel the bones in her chest shifting to go back to their proper place. She held her side as it happened, breathing in deeply when she found herself finally able to. God, it felt nice to be able to properly breathe again. She’d been beginning to feel lightheaded from the shallow breaths she had been taking before. 

* * *

His POV

It was good to get away from the girl and into a proper bath. The springs bubbling waters washed over the edge of one of the stone bath walls. Vegeta was sinking his naked body deep within the healing properties once he’d been shown to his private quarters. Well, if you could call them private. Servants still loomed around, it was blatantly outside, and it was easy to make out the rest of the customers past the bushes and flower walls that separated the walk ways.

The bruises and gashes along the prince’s skin quickly sealed themselves up. Shallowing out until there was hardly a hairline scar to remember them by. Pity. He looked down at the new scars that had now faded into a soft tan instead of a bumpy brown. He sort of liked his scars; they were a testament to his many battles and hard work. These waters didn’t just heal, though. They left its bathers feeling tingly and generally relaxed all over. There was a good reason, too. This planet was the source of the water that’d spread over the universe. Its chemical makeup was the recipe for every healing bath the girl had ever had. Coming from the source made it extra potent, healing the most internally damaging wounds in mere moments.

Sun, sex, and hippie vibing healing waters -it was no wonder why the locals were always in such a wonderful mood. Including the white stork like bird that was sent to tend Bulma’s bath. The prince had said ‘and make it good’ to the host. After his display of aggression to such a peace loving breed, they were readily doing as he said.

“How are you feeling?” Beamed the stork. “I hope you enjoy your stay at our reserve. You won’t find better healing waters anywhere in the known universe. That’s us, Planet Xeonoc, home of happy sun and the birthplace of rejuvenation.” It was a sales pitch of sorts, but the bird was pleasant enough about it. He began setting down vile after vile next to her bath, getting ready for the next phase of her order, apparently. Two large lizard men soon followed behind, and then a pretty plumed girl. Towels laid over their scaly arms, like towel boys, the female obviously there to give her a rub down. The woman didn’t even wait. Kneeling down behind Bulma, she began kneading her shoulders tenderly into her clawed hands.

* * *

Her POV

She healed nicely, and soon felt good as new. She hadn’t even noticed the stork or the reptiles walk into the hot springs until the stork spoke up to give her some kind of sales pitch. …Did he know that she was supposedly nothing more than a slave? Either way she looked back in surprise, and only a moment later a lizard that looked smaller and possibly more feminine knelt down behind her and began rubbing her back. She let out a little sigh and faced forward again, simply enjoying the massage. But in the back of her mind, she started recalling the whorehouse from however many weeks ago.

She glanced over as the vials were set beside her, pursing her lips. She didn’t…. She didn’t want another thing to happen like that. She didn’t want to be tingly and drugged, and she already began to feel enough of a tingle from the water itself– that scared her enough. She didn’t want Vegeta to come out and watch her be fucked while moaning and slobbering and begging for more. It was embarrassing. She wasn’t a fuck-toy. He might want her to be, but she wouldn’t be. She wouldn’t let that happen to her again.

“What are those oils? I…” She took a glance at the lizards and quickly grabbed one of them, popping it open and smelling. It had a n earthy, tropical scent, and when she stuck a finger in, it just felt like regular oil. It didn’t make her skin tingle, and it didn’t make her feel strange. She supposed that was a good sign, but she was still nervous. What if they still managed to drug her somehow? What if this water did the job? It did feel different compared to the other healing waters that she’d been in.

“Hey, can’t I have a bathing suit or something? I don’t like this. This is too weird, and don’t– Don’t get any funny ideas, alright?” Her cheeks were turning red just from thinking about it, but she was simply nervous about repeats. She’d been humiliated and embarrassed enough, and had only just came out of it. She was healing from wounds of her last rape, and she wasn’t about to get drugged to enjoy another one.

* * *

His POV

The lizards glanced between one another when Bulma made the demands for them to stop and requests for ‘bathing suit’. It took them a moment but then they realized she was asking for clothing. They giggled between one another, a hissy sound. The majority of beings on this planet didn’t wear clothes. They didn’t have need for them. With being a warm climate, and being covered in scales or feathers with no reproductive organs in sight, it just made sense to walk around in the nude. And they were more than welcome to let visitors indulge in their way of life. Even if they were particularly squishy …how odd.

They weren’t listening. The two lizard males dunked right into the warm springs with Bulma. One grabbed her calf, while the other began to rub down her forearm. They were doing as they were told. This may have been a happy planet but they still belonged to someone, and even in the better parts of the universe a slave knew not to piss off its master. 

“You’re master requested the works …right?” Spoke up the feminine lizard behind her, dipping her hands into the water over Bulma’s breasts and bathing the girl’s shoulders. Then the feminine lizard realized, “Or is he a mate, was he to do it himself?” The female lizard sounded genuinely confused as to her orders, looking to Bulma for answers.

The two lizard boys in the water, however, had begun looking over the naked girl in the bath. She was peculiar, to say the least. One of them was poking her nipple out of pure curiosity, as to rarely seeing a breast. Not all creatures that stopped by were humanoid, and even fewer of them were half as attractive as Bulma.

“ _These are supposed to be valuable, right?_ ” Whispered one of the male lizards to the other, slathering the opened vile of oil over the earthlings leg.

Behind an archway of flowers and a wall of steam, the prince was being seen to getting his own ‘royal treatment’. Vegeta wasn’t one to normally go for the ‘rub down’ option unless it meant getting some ass, but this planet seemed adamant about it being part of the deal. He growled, giving the lizard that’d arrived at his tub side a sidelong look, but he wasn’t about to deny something he felt he was due. He wasn’t a stranger to having slaves faun and bath him. It came with the routine he’d landed in so many times between missions over the years. His only thought was, where were the whores and how the fuck was he going to fuck a bird? Surely his men weren’t having a problem about it, though. 

As rough as Vegeta’s thoughts were, his thoughts couldn’t help but venture in the direction of the earthling, just a few springs down. He could hear her voice, smell her wet skin, and began tuning in; disregarding the hands that had started rubbing at the base of his neck. Was she in danger? No, not here. But then why was there a whine in her voice? He listened.

* * *

Her POV

They didn’t care about her demands, and continued to lather her up– even laughing at her! Her cheeks reddened yet as they rubbed down her legs and arms like she hadn’t just yelled at them about it, and the lizard behind her was getting uncomfortably close to touching her breasts. No aliens seemed to have any sense of privacy. Except maybe the nice old man with the bug wings from that planet so long ago. How was he doing, anyway?

“Wh… Master…. Mate? No! No, he’s a–” Shit. Uh… Ah! “A travel partner! I’m just with him for the time being, that’s all. He was worried about me but he didn’t mean he wanted you to feel me up! I don’t want to get felt up like this, I’m not a doll!” She jerked her leg from one of the lizards and pouted her lips out when he curiously reached out and poked her nipple. She quickly slapped his hand away and covered her breasts up with her arms.

“You aren’t to touch me. What he says doesn’t matter, I’m not his slave! And certainly not his mate!” Disgusting they’d even think about it. She’d never be in a relationship with him, much less call such a relationship ‘having a mate.’ A shiver went down her spine and her eyes narrowed off to the wall, her lips pouting. Could he hear her from wherever he was? She hoped so, just so she could tell him how she really felt. How he’d never control her! Ever!

She honestly was sick of being treated like a slave. Vegeta had been nicer recently, telling her she only was one if she acted like it, but she still got stared at like one. She wasn’t there for anyone’s amusement, she wasn’t there just for people to have sex with. She’d gone through that terrible period and she was never going back. Never, ever, ever. 

* * *

His POV

He was listening. The prince heard every single muttered, fuming word that poured from her perfectly pink lips. He didn’t care though. For once, Vegeta was feeling well, feeling like himself. Allowing the slaves to rub oil over his marred skin, letting the healing waters wash away the stench and dried guts of victims of his past, while he basked in the aspect of being fondled by a female. Albeit, a strange looking scaly female. He did jerk his head away violently whenever the slaves fingers dared to venture over his rough features. The face was off limits for touching; it’d earned them a hardy snort.

For once he and the female agreed on something. She was no mate. Not today, not tomorrow, not in the god forsaken otherworld he was one day destined to meet. The earthling could protest to being a slave all she wanted, but being his mate was something she could never have. The prince wouldn’t allow it. It was just not something he did, despite any odd behavior he had reasoned away. At least, that was his view on the topic. However, he was acutely honing in on the tone of her voice. If anything, he was amused at her frumpy face -sullen up at being handled. He didn’t have to see her to know that there was a nice ripe pout on her face by now.

His outstretched arms tensed whenever a pair of hands ran down them, flexing across the baths rim. It felt good, but it was making him horny. The girl’s growing voice wasn’t helping that. Her tone filled the springs retreat. Vegeta’s eyes began to wonder for his own piece of tail to fuck. The lizards were odd but the birds were pretty. Vegeta had fucked countless varieties of odd species across the universe. It didn’t really matter to him as long as it felt good.

Meanwhile, back at Bulma’s bath, the lizards were hardly giving up to her demands. When she struggled or puffed up, they simply tried their best to return to their work. Though, thinking this was one of the harder clients to deal with. Honestly, if anyone needed to relax, it was this mammal! No wonder her partner had demanded they give her the best. She needed it. That’s what she said she was traveling with, wasn’t it? Maybe they were on an exploration team of some sport.

Mammals, they were so odd. Including their body parts. The lizard male’s hands began to get frisky. They’d finished rubbing down Bulma’s legs but hadn’t stopped at her thighs. Their hands ventured up, up, until they were sliding their palms over her more sensitive areas. Partly curious, partly trying to pleasure her.

The female lizard in charge only coaxed them on by stating, “. _.sorry sweetie, but we’ve got a job to do. Why not just sit back and enjoy it?_ ”

* * *

Her POV

“Hey! Hey, stop that!” She could feel the lizard feeling up her leg, her thigh, and then start fondling her privates. She jerked away quickly and the other lizard told her to just relax, but how the hell could she? Without another word she jumped to her feet and got out of the spring, kicking one of the lizards in the face when he tried to grab her and stop her. She dried herself off with one of the towels left on the ground as fast as she possibly could and then threw her clothes back on.

She stomped straight out of the bathhouse before they could even grab her, her cheeks bright as the red hydrangea-like flowers being sold on the side of the little streets. She wasn’t dealing with that anymore. She wouldn’t be felt up. She’d already felt meek. She knew what being a slave mentally felt like, and she wouldn’t go back there. There was no relaxing and enjoying. No, she’d fight to the death before she got felt up again.

At least she was feeling better now. It was easy to make her way back to the hut, though she did get lost halfway there. She wasn’t quite as tuned to her senses as the Saiyans were, but she still found her way to the hut, and was pleased to see that none of the Saiyans were there yet. Still busy doing whatever the hell they did. She let out a little breath of relief when she entered the grassy hut and heard absolutely nothing but the sound of the puppies mewing and whining for attention and for space to run around.

She pulled the capsule with her tools in it out her pocket again and pressed the button so that the tools and supplies could form a pile on the ground, and went straight to work with her previous plan of making the carrier retractable so that when they were left alone they could still run around in their little space. It was better than laying around and being forcibly felt up by disgusting lizards, that was for sure.

* * *

His POV

He let her go. Though, it definitely wasn’t going according to what the prince had had in mind. He’d heard the female being taken by force again, and he’d yet to stop it. It seemed he wasn’t so against his men fucking the female, as he was against them hurting her. He was allowing her to be raped, again. And he was enjoying listening ...it was getting him off. It was much better to listen to than the voice of the whore he’d pulled onto his lap. Well, maybe not a whore, just a slave that ran the hot spring, but something he could put his dick into, and that was all that mattered to the heartless prince.

But then the sound of her forceful aggression suddenly stopped. Fading away into the distance. Just before he’d hit the mark, too. She could be such a fucking cock tease at times. Did she even know it? The prince was too angry, too pent up, and too defiant against the urge to seek her out to actually go after her. Instead, he took out his new found frustrations on the alien being forced to ride him in his lap. Things hadn’t gone his way, and he had to deal with the consequences.

If she wanted to leave, fine, so be it. Vegeta refused to give into chase again. He was not going to be told what to do by some flighty female. Though, his mind was on her the rest of the day, if just in irritable turn over. If she wanted to leave his presence then she wouldn’t be blessed with nourishment, either. Despite how she was turning to skin and bones …that realization sunk his gut, but his arrogant nature ate up the dark thought like candy. He’d known how many times she demanded to eat a day.

And eat he did. The prince didn’t return to the hut until dusk was painting the ocean with bright oranges and soft pinks. He’d eaten his fill, though away from Nappa and Raditz. The pair of soldiers had stopped by once during the girl’s time at the hut, but only to rid themselves of their heavy armor. Apparently they were going to pick a fight with a few worthy beach body males down the shore line, and they didn’t want their armor weighing them down in the sand. Something they were all too ready to brag about to the female.

* * *

Her POV

She finished the new adjustments to the cubs’ carrier, to make it so the original walls opened up and attached to a higher ceiling of something that was more like a large cage. The newer walls were lined with little fans and she added a few more parts for a fridge just to make sure it was completely cold all around, and when she was finished, she set it all up on the far corner of the hut out of the way. The puppies were definitely happy to run around and use their muscles again. She gave them one last feed, made a mental note she’d have to figure out something new when the milk ran out, and then decided that she herself was hungry.

She put on her shoes again and ventured out of the hut before the two Saiyans arrived, pocketing the money that had been lying in her clothing capsule for some time from when she’d gotten it when selling off an invention a couple planets back. She planned to go find the village again, but she got lost… Again. Stuck in the tropical rainforest with no understanding of how she’d get back to the village. 

Too bad for her, the more she walked the more she found that it weren’t just lizards and birds living on this planet. Dinosaurs much like on Earth existed as well. She first saw a herd of little ones with bright feathers that came by running. They plucked at her feet before running away again when she made a noise she’d learned from her father. One to try and mimic a T-Rex, guttural and enough to get them to leave her alone. Good thing her family had so many different kinds of pets, dinosaurs included.

The more she walked, however, she found that apparently her call had lured another T-Rex. Maybe one that had hoped to mate? Either way, she found the familiar ground-shaking stomping slowly getting closer and closer, until finally a roar sounded from behind her. She turned to see it coming up in the distance, eyeing her like he had just found the tastiest little snack in a while. Oh, great. Shit. In the back of her head, she wished all those lies about the animal having poor eyesight or hearing were truths. She didn’t have her dagger on her, but she did manage to slowly lean down and grab a stick. Really, though, did this HAVE to happen right after she finally healed again?

It may seem odd that she was so calm around this animal when she’d been nearly pissing her pants about the cubs’ mother when she faced it, but that beast was unusual. This was something she saw every day after school. There was no way she’d be able to kill it, but maybe she could at least scare it away. Or, at the very least, trick it well enough that she could scurry away before it had a chance to eat her.

* * *

His POV

He’d been gone for some time. It wasn’t difficult to get separated on this planet. Every winding path begged to be walked, the sun longed to shed its light over any traveler’s skin, and the beach ran for miles with sands that wanted to be scuffed up from playful bare feet. Nappa and Raditz had certainly made it their next mission to destroy any beach-body-builder that was left on the shore. Picking fights as if it were the regular thing to do. Which for them, it really was. Vegeta had stopped back at the hut, but after seeing it abandoned, he decided to do the same. The crated pups told him the female hadn’t run off. He really didn’t expect her to leave them for good after the fuss she’d made over keeping them. Though, in that there was some sort of trust forming for her emanate return.

It was the jungle which called out to Vegeta. He didn’t care for the cramped busy life that populated the beach. The solitude and reclusive nature of the foreboding trees was much more welcoming to his survival driven senses. This thick vegetation thrived with a different kind of life. The sound of wild animals and dripping dew from the tropic humidity was much more relaxing than the hot springs could have ever dreamed. Alone in the wild; this is where he felt at ease.

There was absolutely no way his crew could bother him out here, was there? Yes, there was. A familiar aroma breezed past on the wind. The scent lit up the prince’s senses and dilated his pupils into instant attention. He stooped onto one of the canopy limbs, getting a better whiff of the smell’s direction. It was her. The girl’s scent was all the way out in the middle of the jungle. Just what the hell had driven her out here? It seemed like no matter what, he was driven to find her, even when he wasn’t trying.

He’d found her just in time to witness her make the most exotic sound from the pit of her throat. Like that of a leathery beast. She must have heard it somewhere, mimicking the sound. It was captivating, if not perplexing, but the prince wasn’t impressed just yet -even if she looked far too at home among the animals. He brushed crouched onto the high bark he’d landed on. Then the ground started to rumble and the aura of a new predator vibrated through the air. Vegeta puffed up in response, but kept silent. He wanted to see where this would go.

A stick ...really? Where the fuck was the dagger he’d given her? He rolled his eyes, but kept watching, crossing his arms over his chest. It looked like the girl was braving up. Had this been what had happened back at the cave, when she’d faced the furry beast? That’s when he noticed, he hadn’t gotten to see her fight the monster in action. He was curious. Instead of swooping down to her rescue, the bastard prince watched. Going as far as leaning back against the giant trunk of the towering tree he’d found for himself; the perfect view to see what she was made of.

* * *

Her POV

All in all, she was pretty lucky. It looked to be barely still a juvenile. Its feathers were spotty, clearly still in the process of maturing, and it was nowhere near the size it could be. It made it all the easier for her to, when the T-Rex leaned its head down to open its mouth menacingly, shove the stick right up its nose as hard as she could. It stood straight immediately and shook itself off, breaking the stick in half in the process and leaning Bulma with something to still use as a weapon.

She mimicked a T-Rex again, but this time with a low hissing to try and ward the dinosaur off. It seemed to alarm it, but when it cocked its head to focus its eye on her, she quickly stepped closer into its safe area– the space between its legs. It couldn’t so easily bite her then. She found that it was a male, probably eager to mate for the first time considering how quickly it came running.

This time, when it lifted a foot, she used the stick to smack it in the ankle over and over. It seemed to startle it, and when it took a few confused steps forward, Bulma retreated while still facing the animal. She lowered herself in some bushes while the T-rex turned its body to look at her. It clearly saw her despite her hiding, but was hesitant. Bulma made the hissing noise again, and finally the T-Rex was off on its way. Quickly, too– it clearly had decided that there was nothing for him here, not even a tasty snack. There were easier things to eat elsewhere.

Bulma let out a vocal sigh and dropped the stick as she emerged from the bushes. God, for a moment there she was a little scared she’d be eaten. If she wasn’t so used to her parents’ pets, she’d probably be in real trouble. But now her only real issue was trying to find her way to the village to go grab a bite to eat. It was getting dark, and it wouldn’t be fun to wait around and see what kind of creatures explored during the darkest areas of the night.

“Hn…” She went back on her way again, though she wasn’t really sure what her ‘way’ was. She just started walking, looking around and trying to hear for any kind of noises that might lead her to civilization. Though it didn’t help that the civilians of this planet were all lizards and birds.

* * *

His POV

She was actually managing to pull the damn thing off. The girl didn’t need his help, much to the prince’s liking. As much as he loved a good fight, he just as well wanted to watch one. The girl continued with her noise making, and even had the gall to smack the dinosaur in the foot. It was impressive. Enough that by the end of it, Vegeta’s mouth had turned up into a silent smirk. What was that she’d said over their meal once before, that her father homed a lot of ‘pets’? Perhaps this was similar. The earthling certainly didn’t act afraid to face something that was multiple times as big as herself. She really did have some massive kahunas.

Why show her his presence from there? Vegeta was the silent type. Keeping out of sight and away from any interaction was much more his style. Especially now that he was feeling frisky and alive in what was almost his natural habitat. Why not have a bit of a go at the female? She did deserve to be punished after all. After leaving without permission from the hot springs. Besides, seeing just how well she could mimic beastly sounds, or when she’d finally fear the noises in the jungle as the night crept in, was too good of an instance to miss.

He started small. Soft cooing sounds that trailed off into rolling groans rippled through the jungle. A few moments later, the further she trekked, the sound grew closer, until it’d lost its soft coo all together and had turned into a more aggressive sound. The lowly rumble of a distant beast reverberated off the many large tree trunks. Dusk was setting, and the jungles own orchestra of noise began to hum in. Howls, growls, roars, chirps, and hoots. But always one stood out among the white noise. The sound of something big following her.

It didn’t take much to keep out of the girl’s sights, especially the darker the sky grew. She may have been lucky that the planet had two bright moons, but aside from that, the thick canopy above blotted out any hopes of star-shine. His night vision flickered into light, and his natural predatorial movements slipped into play. Stepping along the lush jungle floor quietly, eyes peeled and fixed on his prey. Watching every move she’d made. Following her in the dark. She was safer then she probably realized, Vegeta being the scariest thing in that jungle. However, it didn’t kill the vibe that something menacing was looming just behind her. A rustle of bush here, then gone. Something stalking, shifting its shoulders, growing closer, and closer…

* * *

Her POV

As she walked, she thought she heard something… Suspicious. A little cooing? But then the more she walked, she became more certain. Something was gurgling, groaning, making ape-like noises of excitement. She looked up and around at the trees and bushes, but didn’t see a single thing other than a little rustle of leaves or something that looked like glowing eyes occasionally. It was getting darker and darker, and she was getting more freaked out. She could deal with a dinosaur, but this sounded like an ape of some kind. What if he was… Interested… In her? God, she didn’t even want to think about that.

Walking wasn’t going to help her. This is what she realized after a few more minutes of the noise only getting closer and more intense. She slowed to a stop, and decided to try and deal with it a different way. She growled and responded to the noises with a hostile attitude, returning those ape noises she was so well-attuned to by now because of her time spent around the three Saiyans. It did cross her mind that it could be them, but… Why the hell would they bother stalking her like that?

Damn, did she wish she had her dagger. She might not get away so easily with a stick this time. She steadied her stance and turned in the direction of the noise, looking around seriously while returning the noises, trying to make it known to whatever beast that she wasn’t interested. She just had to hope that it was similar enough to the apes she knew of, including the Saiyans, that her suspicions and response were on the dot and she didn’t end up insulting them.

She hooted and grumbled, puffing her chest to try and make herself look tough. She wasn’t having it. This ape had to have someone else to go bother, didn’t he? She certainly wasn’t dealing with him. She’d had enough problems in her life, had been violated and raped enough times by enough different men. She’d only just recently stomped away from lizards trying to rub her off! She wasn’t about to get mauled and violated by a goddamn animal. No way in hell. She scared off the T-Rex, she’d find a way to scare off whatever this thing was, too.

* * *

His POV

He blended in with the jungle so well. Moving past the vast vegetation and overhang of surfboard sized leaves. The only thing that could distinguish his presence was the reverberating sound of his voice. The girl echoed his calls and he responded with his own acoustics of grunts and barreled growls. The dance and song between them not that of predator and prey, but of two dangerous creatures sizing one another up. The beast was enthralled with it. Meeting her roar with a bigger groan of his own, telling her who was the stronger between them. He was answering her with some primitive part of his brain. His animal gaze forever transfixed on her figure.

He knew she was wary of him, trying to fend off his encroaching onto her territory by puffing herself up and creating herself to be a proper threat. It wasn’t working in her favor. If anything, it was only spurring his actions on, seeing her as a worthy female that was searching out a strong male. He was hunting her. Slinking through the flora and fauna like a slick panther, growling through his lips. She tried to convey that she wasn’t interested, that she was strong enough to take him on, but that only proved to him how strong she was; retorting with the define drumming of beating on his thick chest.

He rounded the clearing she’d backed herself into; clinging to the shadow just outside of the moonlit opening. Always facing her, always keeping his bright flicker of eye shine fixed on her position. It may have been the only thing that’d gave away his stance, until he fled back into the deep brush and submerged into the shadows again. The ape was gone, completely. Only eerie silence followed. Not even the nocturnal creatures dared to chime in, afraid of the predator that was lurking along the jungle’s rim.

His silent physique maneuvered behind her, going as far as slipping soft breaths past his lips to refrain from being heard. The ape was on full stealth mode. He could make out the curve of her shoulder, her moonlit hair, just before him. Then, his rough hands slipped out from his shadowed silhouette, suavely sliding the warmth of his palms around her belly from behind. Catching her in his arms. He wasn’t planning on letting her escape this time. Soft chutting grunts breathed into her hair as he pressed his nose closer, letting her know that she’d been caught by an alpha male.

* * *

Her POV

She was scared she’d have a situation on her hands when the ape roared back louder and even beat its chest. Or did something that sounded remarkably similar to a gorilla beating its chest, anyway. She listened nervously, wondering if she should try to run and see if she could outrun whatever it was, when… The noise got quieter. Maybe he’d given up? She listened for a while and still heard nothing. Had she dodged a bullet?

She turned and began to walk through the forest again, looking around and hoping she didn’t get eaten up before she made it to anywhere. She was starving and certainly didn’t have time to waste in this dark, terrifying rainforest. She grumbled under her breath about the whole situation, entirely oblivious to someone getting closer and closer yet. That is, until she felt something grab her around the waist.

She didn’t scream, though she wanted to. She was taken too much by surprise to scream. Rather, she jumped and stiffened up as the hands circled around her, until she finally turned her head to see… 

“VEGETA?!” She turned in his arms and shoved his chest, her cheeks turning red and her nose flaring. “That was you all along?! I thought I was being chased by some ape! Get off of me, you dirty asshole! I’m not putting up with any of this! I’m going to go get some goddamn food, and then I’m going to go back to the hut and feed the puppies and go to bed! Get off! Get off, you ass! I can’t believe that you let me wander around lost for so long!” 

She slapped him across the face, not taking any of this animalistic attempt at sensuality. She hadn’t answered his roars because she was an ape too, she answered them because she hoped to god that he’d leave her alone! What the fuck was wrong with him? Running his hands over her and acting like he was suave or something–!!

* * *

His POV

He’d expected her to scream, scamper, roar, but no, the girl held her ground. The prince was slightly amused by her startled jolt in his hands, and even more so when she shifted in his hands to face him. She looked as angry as ever, and that coy smile was plastering itself back onto his sly face, glad to see her spirits back at play.

She yelled, pushed, and even slapped his royal face, but the beast just kept his steady approach. Guiding the girl in his arms back against the trunk of a mossy tree; watching her try and fend him off form what he was about to do. The prince had full plans of taking her, no matter how much she tried to fight him off. In fact, he was looking forward to her display of aggression.

“Who said it was me?” He taunted on a velvety purr, slipping the dark words past his deadly canines. He knew he’d been found out, that she knew it was him all along by now, but he wasn’t about to admit it to her. He was caging her in against the mossy bed behind her. His thighs nearly against her own, making it difficult for her to find much room to use her knees; he knew by now to watch out for that. One of his forearms arched over her head and onto the rough trunk of the tree. Baring his stare closer to her annoyed features, his other hand cupped over her mouth, if only to silence it. He wasn’t interested in hearing her speak of going back, they wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

“You seemed to be doing just fine on your own to me,” he toyed, giving her an all knowing cock of his thick brow. The hand at her mouth slipped down, smoothing down the crook of her neck, following to the curve of her chest that hid just under her clothing. He’d need both hands for this, he was getting too anxious to fuck her; his tail curling against her thigh in anticipation. He’d earned it. She’d called to him for it as far as his senses told him. He was completely ready to finish what they’d started back in the jungle clearing.

The hand over her head reached down, joining its brother to press into the sides of her waist. One hand glided up her shirt, one hand dipped below, pushing his fingertips just beneath the hem of her pants. His heavy hips were only growing closer, too. The heated press of his groin against her own speaking volumes of how turned on he was. He was getting ready to force himself on her. It was apparent in the way his eyes grazed over her from under his black lashes, flicking up to meet her own blues; gauging her reaction.

* * *

Her POV

“Don’t touch me, Vegeta, I’m warning you.” Her voice lowered the more he ran his hands over her and approached, leading to her stepping back bit by bit. She could feel every inch of her body tingling in terror, her heart pumping and telling her to either fight or flee. Sure, he may not want to hurt her, but he was still doing exactly that with what it was he had planned.

He slowly walked her back until she felt the trunk of a tree pressed against her, causing her to gulp nervously. Oh, oh God. Again? Why? Why? At this point, she didn’t really care if that ape was him or not. She just knew she didn’t like where this was going. He made sure she couldn’t knee him in the crotch or kick him anywhere, and when she opened her mouth to yell more, he clapped a hand over her mouth. She shoved him back harder, but it wasn’t going anywhere.

“Mn– Gn–!” She struggled to speak with his hand over her mouth, but when he finally rolled his hand down to cup her neck, she found herself deprived of words. Her heart raced, and there was a terror in knowing what would happen to her again. Even if he was gentle. She didn’t want to go through this again. She promised herself it wouldn’t happen. She felt tears forming in her eyes as his hand traveled down her breast, and he got ready to both push her pants down and lift her shirt up. She blinked the tears away. No time for that, at least not yet.

She didn’t bother wasting her energy on him anymore. She just tried to get away. Running straight to the side, reaching one leg up just to get it over his legs and make it easier to escape. There was no hesitation this time, even when her clothes had ripped from his grip on them when she made the break for it. 

* * *

His POV

Her warnings did little to detour him. Vegeta wanted to lick her threats right from her lips, to meet them with his own set of warning groans. She was speaking his language, and he was bathing in it. All the way up until she was wriggling under him, trying to pry herself away from his exploring palms. The soft squish of her breast squeezed into one hand, the peak of her genitals rubbed under his fondling finger tips.

But then, before he could strip her clothing away, the prince heard the distinct sound of ripping fabric brought on by the girl herself. She had been so desperate to leave him that she’d clawed her way out of his vice grasp. He was left in his same steely position, his knee and hand bracing himself against the trunk of the tree now that he’d lost his nice warm female to press against. He felt agitated, but spellbound. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. The hard thump of it against his wide chest telling him he had to go after her.

He didn’t speak, he roared the moment he leapt from the tree and caught up with the girl that was making her way through the underbrush. At least Vegeta was far more agile then Raditz. He’d caught her wrist and bound an arm around her waist within a few short breaths. The heavy thud of his chest hitting her back was gentle compared to the damage he could have done. But he was still on her. Still growling like a wild animal in her ear. His hot breath pouring over her shoulder, raking his teeth down the crook of her neck, forcing her onto her hands and knees.

The ape was mounting her, right there among the flora and fauna of the jungle floor. The threatening gurgling grunts of an alpha male clamped onto her shoulder, holding her in place. He was watching, too. The blackness of his gaze flicked towards her near face. He knew she didn’t want it, but her fighting was like a heavy aphrodisiac calling his name. Rocking his weight atop her, the hard length trapped within his suit roved against her ass cheek, telling her he was ready for her. The frame of his body encased her, and he knew he had her this time. His half lidded eyes were heavy with pleasure, knowing that with just one quick movement, he could be pressing into the female once again.

* * *

Her POV

Despite her attempt to free herself, it was all for nothing. Vegeta grabbed her wrist and wrapped his arm around her waist, causing her to trip and fall– and for Vegeta to get on top of her. She wasn’t wounded like she had been when Raditz had hurt her, but it still hurt to skin her knees on the ground.

“Gn–! Ah! Stop!” She shook her head, the tears she was trying to hold back finally coming to fruition and falling down her cheeks. She sniffled and whined, trying to claw her way away from him. It was useless, he’d gotten her pinned good. His crotch was rubbing up against her rear end, and it made it all the worse that her clothing was torn. It wasn’t looking good for her. Despite what she said to herself, despite her promise, it was going to happen again. How many times did she have to go through it?

“STOP! STOP! LET GO OF ME!” Her yell was louder, more desperate. She began sobbing then, even before anything really happened– she was just terrified. Terrified of what was to come. She’d gone through it so many times by now, getting used like a sex doll rather than treated like a person. He refused to let either of his underlings touch her, even threatening death if they did. He killed Zarbon for what he did to her. He told her she was only a slave if she acted like a slave. So why, then…?

“LET. GO. OF. ME.” She screamed at the top of her lungs like there was someone around to save her. No, no one could save her. Not Vegeta, not herself, no one. She cried harder, shaking her head violently as just one more means of protesting something that felt like the inevitable.

“STOP! PLEASE!” She was begging by now. God, it was back to before. It was just like before. She finally felt like she had some purpose and some respect, and she was right back to being pinned to the ground and defiled like she was nothing. Like she was a doll. Like she was a piece of meat.

* * *

His POV

At first her cries proved to be little more than an annoyance to the Saiyan. Like the screeches of a little rabbit that’d found itself trapped in the jaws of a jungle cat. The wiggle and writhe of her body trying to escape from under him only felt good. The brush and strain of her back moving under his abdomen, the bump of her backside in the bend of his hips -it was only driving him wilder with anticipation. Answering her pleads with a lowly groan that vibrated into the skin he so dominantly bit into. Dear god, did he want to fuck her.

The ring of her desperate cries echoed through his ears, but he pressed on. Muffling out the sound with his own grunts and groans. He didn’t care, he’d earned this. ...but then the familiar scent of salty tears wafted past his nose, and his primal mind somewhat sobered, wondering what in the hell she could be whimpering for. Sure, he’d pinned her, but the prince would of known if he’d hurt her, he’d made sure not to. But then why was she tearing? Then the memory of the shower slipped past his mind, questioning their time together, until he understood. She hadn’t been crying because he’d bruised her body, she teared because she didn’t like it. She honest to god didn’t want it.

The beast pressed past it, shaking it off and pushing his hips against the girl’s quaking thighs. It didn’t matter; he’d fucked plenty that didn’t want it. He never cared before. Especially with this female, something he actually desired, something he was driven to procreate with. But then the shrill sound of her helpless voice pierced his ears again, and the prince’s thrusts tamed down, slowing to a gentle halt. He hated the sound of her crying nearly more than anything. And he was causing it.

The violent mouth that was bitten into her shoulder gradually released. The warm hands that’d begun roaming her torso slowly slid from her frame until his warm touch was absent. His hips stopped, and soon his weight lifted off of her. The prince was left sitting on his knees behind her, but he didn’t wait long. Before she could question him as to why, Vegeta took to his feet, his heart still thumping in his head and his blood still rushing, but not nearly as it was before. Not with the realization that he’d just be causing her harm. Instead, he headed into the bush. Fully intent on leaving, but not without one sly look over his shoulder, if jut to question his own decisions.

* * *

Her POV

He bit her skin, and she let out a cry in pain along with all the tears. This was something they did often– they liked to mark territory, maybe. Who knew. It didn’t make it hurt any less, nor did it make her cry any less. She sobbed and begged him not to touch her anymore, but the fighting she was doing only seemed to make him more excited. He rubbed up against her and grunted and huffed warm breaths in her ear. 

But then he hesitated. And then… He got off her. He seemed annoyed, when she looked back with her tear-streaked eyes to watch him. He… He had really let her go. He took a glance back at her, but he continued to walk into the underbrush. It was shocking and unexpected, even if it’s what she had wanted all along. She really hadn’t expected him to care. Why would he, after all? She… She was some kind of slave, right? 

Then the idea of getting left behind in the rainforest popped up in the back of her head. She hated the idea of sticking around him, but it looked like she’d have to follow at least until they reached somewhere recognizable. Even if it was the hut. She was starving, but she’d rather be hungry than spend a night in this place, especially all alone. So she quickly got to her feet and followed him, though she made sure to stay far enough behind that she felt a sense of comfort.

Why did he let her go, though? He’d never done it before. Had he really changed…? Now that she thought about it, before when they had sex, she had… willingly… done it. She hadn’t truly consented, but she had been scared of what would happen to her, so she just did as he asked. If she had fought back and told him no, would things have been different? Or was this something new? He had been slowly getting more protective rather than just obsessive like he was before. He never bothered to buy her another shock collar, nor did he seem to care as much when she left without an escort. And the beating he gave Raditz… The threat he’d given to them both about touching her… Had something really changed?

* * *

His POV

He just kept moving. Vegeta didn’t care to mask his footsteps this time, nor was he concerned with leading the earthling out of the deadly treeline. He was too furious. Well, was furious the right word? Pent up, was more like it. It had taken some time for his throbbing dick to settle down, along with the rush of adrenaline to end it’s surging through his bones. He’d really let her go -he was realizing that along with her, as they both moved silently in unison through the thick tropics.

The prince was trying to justify his own actions to himself along the way. It had been her crying that’d struck the last cord. He couldn’t take it …but there was more than that. He didn’t understand it, it confused him, but there was definitely more. And by more, he meant things that he wanted to suppress down and never consider again. God, he was glad that Nappa or Raditz hadn’t been there. That none had been near to witness it. …would it have changed things? No... But it didn’t matter. He’d of been an embarrassment to his kind, his men would of questioned his right to rule. He felt it was weak, but he couldn’t deny that he wouldn’t have done any differently if he could go back.

Damn her.

A small slip of frustration vented past his lips in the form of a growl, slowing his steps, but he never turned back. He never looked at the girl whom he sensed was following him, though maybe some distant part of him was content with leading her to safety. He could have flown off by now. Though, once his fiery anger was quenched, cooled down by the long walk back towards the huts, the prince began to notice the jungle around him. His senses perked back up, straightening his back and turning his head in alertness. The soft call of distant night fowl, the sound of dripping water and singing insect, and then the smell of salt and the rush and roar of ocean surf. They’d made it back.

The huts twinkled not too far off, visible from where the jungle spat them out along the shoreline. Vegeta finally turned his gaze back on her, but he was as silent and barbarous as ever. The two moons that hung in the ocean of stars above provided plenty of light to get her back to the hut on her own, where Nappa and Raditz were surely already snoozing. It had been dark for some time. Vegeta really didn’t expect her to follow him, though they were both probably going in the same direction. Maybe he’d just sleep outside tonight.

* * *

Her POV

He grunted irritably and Bulma thought any moment now he’d try to scare her off, but he didn’t. He kept her around. He let her follow, though he was obviously aware of her presence and not happy about what had gone down. So why had he done it? Or… She supposed, rather, _not_ done it? She pressed her lips in a thin line and was only distracted from her curious thoughts when she heard the waves of the ocean, and eventually the little lights of the grass huts. They came out from the rainforest, and only then did he turn to look at her.

“…” She was hungry. She wanted to tell him that she was. But she knew damn well that she’d be pushing her luck by saying it. He was already unhappy, and she wasn’t about to demand more of him only for him to pin her down on her hands and fuck her like he had wanted to fuck her back in the clearing. So instead, she silently returned his stare, her eyes saying ‘why?’

She broke eye contact after a few long seconds, and walked right passed him. Her stomach rumbled, but she paid it no mind and instead just focused on going back to the hut. In the back of her head, she was wondering what to do with herself. She should escape soon. As soon as she found a good place for the cubs. She’d steal one of their pods or something and go straight to her home planet, and get the hell away from them. He might have stopped when she begged him to this time. Who was to say what would happen next time?

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she entered the hut, finding the two giant Saiyans lounging on the two hammocks on the side of the hut while the other two on the opposite side were empty for her and Vegeta. The puppies weren’t yipping in their large ‘cage,’ so she assumed they must be asleep. She checked just to make sure, and found her assumption had been correct. She went to eye the other two Saiyans again, and then the door, wondering when Vegeta would walk in. …She felt a sense of unease, even as she broke her gaze to climb into the lower hammock.

* * *

His POV

He hadn’t missed the graze of eye contact or the meaning behind her inquisitive blue eyes. He met it with his own serious stare. She wanted to know, just as well as he did, why he hadn’t forced himself on her. Why he hadn’t raped her yet again. The prince couldn’t answer her, but even if he could, he wouldn’t dare. That wasn’t her place to know, and even less something he’d ever let out in the open. He let her go, both feeling the heaviness of the evenings events hanging over their heads. They parted ways. Bulma to the hut, while Vegeta took to the night sky.

The prince was feeling the need for solitude. To collect and center himself once again. Nature always worked well for that. Damn if he’d let the female intrude in on it this time. It... Hadn’t gone so well for him the last time he stumbled upon her when he was looking for isolation. Though, he knew where she was by now, sleeping soundly in the hut no doubt, leaving the rest of the night for the prince to make productive use of.

He’d staid on the shoreline this time, mostly. Occasionally venturing into the trees or standing perfectly balanced on the bridge of one of the larger palms that’d begun to bow from its own weight. The beach was nice and quiet under the velvety blanket of stars. Deserted, aside from the lonely prince. It was actually …nice. Until he’d gotten hungry.

The jungle provided plenty to pick and choose from. An unsuspecting nested bird and its eggs. A tree heavily laden with meaty fruits. As he bit into the fruit, the orange flesh so ripe with juice that it poured from the tree he sat in. The prince remembered the sound of the girl’s belly just before they’d parted ways. She hadn’t eaten in a while. He remembered. He was keeping tabs after all. Her kind did seem to need to eat a lot; at least a few times a day. As much as he preferred to think of no one other than himself, he didn’t quite like how thin she was growing, either. It wasn’t very grab-able. Her going to bed hungry would only heighten that fact.

He didn’t care to use the door, the stealthy Saiyan slid in through the huts window as quietly as a mouse returning to its home. There was a great temptation to throw a baseball sized fruit right at the girl’s face and break her nose for the trouble she’d caused back in the jungle, but Vegeta relented. He didn’t want to bother with the noise of waking her up. So instead, a pile of various kinds of fruit was left just below her swaying hammock. The Saiyan slipped out of the front door as easily as he’d entered. Nothing more than a shadow passing swiftly through, only to find rest on the beach. His hands tucked behind his head, resting under a palm.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry for the delayed update. I had a lot of work/projects going on last week and it got a little overwhelming. However, a chapter for you! I hope you all enjoyed it. It looks like our prince is coming to a realization, but can it last? Have things really changed?
> 
> And a very important announcement! Because of the love and support by all of you amazing readers Captive has won "The Most Violent" award from The Prince and The Heiress contest this year! We couldn't of done it without you guys, you all keep us going. Thank you all so much <3
> 
>   
> 


	21. The Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just like Bulma is trying to enjoy herself on this planet, she's also trying to find some comfort in Vegeta.

  


Her POV

She lay down in the hammock and stared out the window for a while. Vegeta didn’t seem to be returning; he likely didn’t want to be around her right now. It was for the best, because she didn’t want to be around him, either. She did debate making a run for it again, but… It’d only make Vegeta sure his actions were wrong. He might go back on his decision if he were to catch her trying to use the pod to escape. Besides, he’d kill the puppies. They were stuck for a while, and with the acceptance of that fact, it occurred to her that she hadn’t heard from Yamcha in a few days. …She wondered how he was doing. Was training alright?

Her eyes closed and she focused on Yamcha instead. That was something that was relieving to think about, rather than stressful. She still clung to the late mornings spent in her bedroom with messy hair, slowly rubbing each other off under the covers because they were still too tired to actually have sex. She missed that. She missed… She missed loving intimacy and sex. She couldn’t find pleasure in it anymore. There was no pleasure in having her face shoved in the mud while she was harmed from behind. There may be physical pleasure from the unwanted sexual contact, but it wasn’t— It wasn’t _enjoyable._ But with Yamcha, it was different. It was how it was supposed to be.

Just when she was beginning to dwell a little too much on it and it had been beginning to cause her body to stir–her nipples to harden, her thighs to ache, her body to get naturally wet, she could see a shadow behind her eyelids. She kept them shut and stilled herself, taking her thoughts away from Yamcha. When the shadow disappeared and she didn’t even hear any creaking of a hammock being slid into, she opened her eyes to see a pile of fruit just beside her bed.

She reached down and grabbed whichever was closest, biting into it to find that it wasn’t just the rejuvenation water that was more potent on this planet. The juices flowed from the fruit down her cheeks, and filled her mouth to the brim with sweetness. For once, she was able to have a calm moment. She closed her eyes as she ate, thinking again of her lazy days inside with her boyfriend, eating sweet food and basking in feeling. She let her leg fall from the hammock so she could gently swing herself from side to side, her lips parting to let out a content sigh for the first time in a while.

* * *

His POV

A fine glaze of sand clung to the prince’s bronze body. Vegeta had lost his shirt, gloves, and boots some hours ago. The humidity and heat of the planet had made the clingy fabric suffocating. He was more tanned than ever now that he’d slept the hot morning away. Sleeping past sunrise was considered a lazy day in bed to Vegeta. By the time the morning rays were painting the churning surf with pinks and purples, he was turning from his back to his chest. Face down and soaking up the sun with the broadness of his shoulders. He hadn’t slept much that night. He’d stuck around a little after leaving the fruit once he’d exited the hut.

The prince had sat outside the shaggy dwelling for all but a few moments. Silently listening to the girl stir awake, proceed to dig into the fresh fruits, then softly sigh herself into a gentle swinging of the hammock. She seemed to be enjoying herself. Content on some level, he gathered. Once he himself was satisfied that she was eating, he slunk away. Sleep escaped him still, however, for a few hours. His mind was plagued and restless, wishing for days when things were much simpler. Destroy a planet, bang a wench, eat a beast, sleep it off and do it again. The necessities of life. But here he was, beating himself up over the fact that he’d let a weakling female slip right through his fingers, literally.

He didn’t stir from his spot in the white sand even as morning encroached; lacking much needed sleep from the eventful night before. The rising sun felt good over his bare skin. Sunbathing, he looked more asleep then anything. He wasn’t the only one sleeping in that morning; Raditz and Nappa were dead weight in their hammocks. Raditz was drooling and Nappa’s long arms hung from the hammock above. The two were very heavy sleepers. The woman could probably braid Raditz hair while he was passed out, or shave Nappa’s mustache, and neither of them would have ever known it.

The shore line was equally as sleepy. Barren of public eyes and empty of footsteps. It was completely isolated. Well, aside from the rush of waves, the lively corals, and the fish that called the turquoise waters home. It wasn’t just an ocean view, the water as clear as glass and as colorful as the painted sky. Nothing for miles but sea, sun, and surf.

* * *

Her POV

She had finished eating about half the pile of fruit when she finally decided to nod off. Her body may have still been begging for attention because she had been thinking so much about Yamcha and how much she always liked slowly running her feet along his cock and balls until he woke from whatever nap he was taking on the other side of the bed or couch. But when she really began thinking of fingering herself, all she had to do was open an eye and look at the two Saiyans in their hammocks to know it wasn’t a good idea. They may awake, and with Vegeta not around to fend them off… …Now that she thought of it, she hadn’t had some real time alone that wasn’t completely unenjoyable in a long time. She closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep, still swaying and still thinking of Yamcha’s naked body running over hers.

It wasn’t a surprise when she had a wet dream. It was a faceless man with tanned, scarred skin over toned muscles, feeling her bit by bit and grinding his cock right between the lips between her legs until she felt like she was on the verge of orgasm. It never came, and instead she opened her eyes to find herself in the hammock again. No one in the hammock above her, and with the two big lugs still passed out soundly despite the sunrise creeping in steadily through the window. Her panties felt like they were almost soaked, and she could still feel the wetness between her lips every time she shifted, but she ignored it for the same reason she did last night and instead finished off the fruits still sitting beside her hammock.

She got out of bed and tended to the puppies, just beginning to stir and murmur. She fed them all and gave each of them good morning kisses, to which they responded with sweet, tongue-y kisses of their own in return. She returned them to their large carrier and let them wake up and roam inside it as they pleased, though she did make the mental note that they’d grown again. Were their ears already opening up? Ah, whatever– she likely wouldn’t be with them for much longer. She cast the matter aside and stood up, focusing more on her dirtiness and the tears in her clothes. She needed to clean up.

She walked outside to the pathetic little shower on the side of the hut, but when she turned on the water, she found that apparently it was not used all that often– yellow muck came out— and barely any muck at that. She turned the water off and turned to her next source of water– the vast ocean in front of her. It was salty and also pretty dirty, but it was better than nothing. Besides, when was the last time she went for a swim? On her own terms.

She at least had the good mind to go off as far from the hut as she could when walking across the shoreline. She didn’t want either Raditz or Nappa walking outside to see her nude, nor did she want Vegeta coming back to the hut from wherever he’d went off to find her. She walked until she couldn’t see the hut anymore, and then a little more. When she was satisfied, she kicked her shoes off and stared out at the horizon. It was beautiful, filled with pastel pinks and gentle yellows as the sun steadily rose. Her shirt came off, and after that, she took her clothing capsule out and set it off. Then her shorts dropped, and finally her panties. They stuck slightly to her lower pair of lips just from their wetness, but the attention got her heart racing again. …Well, she was alone now. No one else in sight. The beach was silent. 

She didn’t want to get sand in odd places, so she stayed standing up. She played with her breasts, running her fingers in circles over her nipples before slowly making her way down. Up, down, up, down, gently feeling up her body. She eventually got between her legs, and massaged her inner legs first, before slowly playing with her lips. Playing with herself, slowly getting herself all the more excited until her nipples were completely pointed and she was already letting out little gasps. She spread her lips and began rubbing her clit, but had enough wetness that it wasn’t long until she picked up the pace. She bent over the more she moved her wrist, and her other hand reached from behind so she could press a couple fingers inside her and jerk in and out with the movements of her other hand. It was hard to stay standing like that, but oh, was it worth it. The blood going elsewhere must have helped it last so long. It made it all the more intense when her tired arms finally worked herself to a jittering, gasping, sweating orgasm some fifteen minutes later, with the sun rising a bit more into the sky. 

She had needed that so much. It’d been pent up in her system, obvious enough by how much her body was begging for it, both literally and by how her body simply responded to the idea of sex as she used to know it. She wished she had Yamcha on the beach to ride properly, but this was nearly as good with how pent up it had truly been. Enough that her legs were shaking, and she stayed bent over in the position she was as she caught her breath– both from panting from the activity and from gasping and moaning from pleasure during the act.

* * *

His POV

It was a while before he heard anyone approaching down the sandy shore line; the soft pattering of footsteps shifting into the sand. A sound numb to human ears, but vivid in the Saiyan’s, especially with his face to the grainy surface he’d used as a bed. The crunching sound was growing closer and Vegeta felt as if his nice unapproachable morning was about to be shattered …but no, there was a familiar scent rolling in with the ocean tide. It was the aroma that had the ability to tense his muscles from the girth of his neck to the writhing of his spine. His hands gripped into the sand in defiance.

God damn. Couldn’t he get away from the woman for once morning of peace? The prince willed himself heavier into the sand, pressing himself into the shifting bed as if he wanted to disappear into it. His gaze slit open, watching the small approaching figure of what he knew to be the earthling he craved, dance along the shore line. Damn it… she was soaked. He could smell it from here, it mixed with her already intoxicating scent. Did she really have to tease him like that? Did she want him to get up and rape her right then and there? And after he’d let her go, this is what he got for it. After he’d made up his mind not to force her under him. He growled under his breath, blowing away the immediate sand around his lips. 

It couldn’t have gotten worse than that, and then it did. Vegeta was batting back and forth the idea of breaking his decision and pinning the girl in the sand. She smelled like she needed a good fuck, and he was more than happy to oblige. In fact, while watching her grow closer to his hiding spot he could feel himself grow against the warm silt. His hips begged to rut, forcing the sand to bunch under his abdomen, while paying close attention to the details of her breeze-swept body as it came into view. The flow of her hair tugging past her pink cheeks, the sun kissing and casting a perfect glare over her skin. She really was one of the prettier creatures he’d seen. That he could recall, come to think of it.

Then she began to take her clothing off and the prince nearly lost himself. The crest of his brow and cheek bone dug into the beach, painting his cheek and forehead with the pale sand. He didn’t jump her though. Oh no, he was far too bewitched with watching where this was going. Bewildered with what she did next. It seemed every time he let the little female out on her own she did something to incite him to watch. Why would this be any different?

His curiosity overcame him and Vegeta tuned into every movement her lithe little body made. She wasn’t just stripping for him; she was god damn _touching herself_. He watched without movement. Even the churning of his hips against the sands halted, just in order to give her his full and undivided attention. He watched as she played with her breasts, seeing just how she liked it. Watched her hand slip between her buckling thighs, and picked up the soft moaning coming from her lips. It didn’t take much for Vegeta to slip one of his own hands under his shadow and start rubbing his own self off. He damn well needed it, he was harder than rock at this point.

Did she know that he was watching? Was that it; was this his punishment for not taking her when he’d had the chance? Oh god, he’d heard of karma, this must have been it. Well… karma was hardly doing him wrong. Vegeta was enjoying every stolen perverted moment the girl gave to him, watching her shiver into orgasm. It took him a little longer, however. His chin dug into the sand, stifling a moan. He had to be god damn quiet if he didn’t want her to know of his presence. He wasn’t done peeping on her. After all, she was naked. Just because he’d let her slip away once didn’t mean he couldn’t force himself on her today.

In fact, he was already deep in the act of fantasizing of pinning her under him. His bent knees beat his swollen member into his hand; bucking into the phantom woman he visualized. It wasn’t hard with how she bent over. He wanted to cover her, to come when she called and fill the need she so obviously ached with. He was drenched with sweat from the heat and humidity, heavy breaths panting from his gaping maw, beating himself off. His movements grew steadier, pressing his sights into his forearm while a shiver of heat raked down his muscles. Forcing them to tense, flex, and finally release with the heavy spill that pumped out from under him, pooling in the sand. God, she’d made him come, but where was she now? His fogged over gaze lifted, looking for the siren that’d taunted him into touching himself.

* * *

Her POV

She thought she heard rustling in the foliage nearby, but when she glanced over, she didn’t see anything. It had to just be her imagination. Besides, it’s not like those lizards seemed very much into her, anyway. She doubted anyone but the Saiyans cared, and she was sure that Vegeta was probably out in the town or something. Why’d he just be standing in some bushes? She had a nagging feeling, but she refused to act on it. No. She’d pleased herself, and now there was no time for stress. She’d just go and take her bath.

She walked into the water, wadding until it was halfway up her hips. She dove in and began swimming, forgetting all worries or thoughts about the Saiyans and feeling fresh. New. A little like she was reborn. With that time to herself she was able to have to herself this morning, she could focus on herself. Of who she used to be, who she was. It was easy to push aside the bad memories with a kind of morning like this that started off so great.

She swam underwater for some time, running her fingers over the sand at the bottom and taking a look at the wildlife that lived in the waters. Turtles, colorful fish, beautiful corals, all kinds of things. She had never been too into animals, but this planet made her nostalgic for her parents’ love of the subject. It would have been nice to go scuba diving, even. Ah, well. She could at least enjoy the moment of bathing in the ocean, entirely nude. Scrubbing off all the dirt and grime that clung to her, at least until she could get a more proper bath.

She swam up to the surface and took a large breath, pleased to find herself facing the rising sun. It was like it was greeting her. She breathed out contently before flipping over to float on her back along the ocean’s gentle currents. It was too bad this couldn’t last. …When she escaped the Saiyans and got back to Earth and wished everyone back, she’d have to get Yamcha to go skinny dipping with her like this. She missed being frisky like that.

“Hn…” Now that she thought about it… They really hadn’t talked recently. She had the time, why not try? She cleared her throat. “Yamcha? Yaaa~mcha. Are you there? Are you training still? I’ve been missing you, we should talk.” She stared up at the light blue sky and watched the clouds go by as she waited for an answer, but nothing came. How weird. …Maybe that King Kai got annoyed with her constantly trying to contact him? Maybe he was busy with training. He was safe up there, at least. You can’t die twice.

* * *

His POV

By the time the prince found himself rolling from his front to his back, the girl was gone. Out of sight for the most part, but not completely vacant from the beach, she was wading into the roaring waters. Vegeta could make out the slender sight of her exposed back gleaming under the rising sun. He watched, still captivated. He stripped the tattered pants from his legs; it wasn’t difficult with how they were hanging half way down his thighs. Already, his skin was showing a line between tan and tanner. He was feeling particularly good after having jerked one off and now was given the chance to lay nude in the sun and watch an attractive female play in the surf. Resting his elbows back in the sand, he lounged comfortably, crossing his ankles. Wondering what in kami’s name she’d get up to next.

At first it appeared that she’d just gone to rinse herself of the grime and sweat of rubbing herself out. But then her figure began to dwindle out and the prince perked up in his spot. She was swimming a little too far into the nearby cove. The crescent formation of rock that kept the lagoon a quiet, safe, and tranquil mirror of turquoise blue, hiding her out of his direct line of sights.

If he wanted to watch he’d have to get up. And that’s exactly what the snooping prince did. The coral reef teamed with life, giving her plenty of distraction to explore while he perched himself between the lava rock above. He stared, but then she began to surface, and Vegeta knew to get lost or risk being spotted. He took to the water himself, slipping in as silently as a droplet returning to its body of water. Though, he did have to have a little help moving along the reef bar. His ki, usually invisible, rippled around him like the shield of a torpedo. It was quiet at least, and by the time Vegeta spotted her again the girl was laying above him, floating on her back. Her soft voice magnified in the water below, though he couldn’t make out what she was saying. It was far too muffled. Though, it did sound as if there was a sing-song-tune to her voice. Was she singing..?

He didn’t waste time to find out. He had better plans. Like scaring the shit out of the woman. He moved skillfully through the currents, making sure to keep directly under her. The sea water was too pure to give any cover. Then there was a slight brush against her foot. What was that saying, ‘something touched me’? It was exactly what was happening to Bulma. Again, something touched her, but before he could use up his chances, the prince grabbed the woman by the foot, lurching her down. Not nearly as violently as last time -he’d remembered what happened when he’d been too rough. Though, he did pull her by the ball of the foot hard enough to bring her down into the bubbly water where he could see her eye-to-cocky, staring eye.

He wasn’t paddling, just standing in the water much like when he hung in the sky. And he was completely naked. Giving her an all too arrogant-hard lined look before letting her return to the surface. He couldn’t fuck her, couldn’t frisk her, but at least he could mess with her. She deserved to be messed with after what she’d put him through. The prince was still slightly irritated at her. His slight annoyance showing when he popped his forehead and scowling eyes above the surface; leaving everything from his cheek bones down submerged in the cove. His jet black hair was slick to his head for once, due to the heaviness of water.

* * *

Her POV

She let go of trying to contact Yamcha, instead simply drifting in the ocean. But then she felt something brush her foot. It brought her from her thoughts by shock, giving a slight jolt at the movement. But… Ah. It was probably a fish or something. She wrote it off until something brushed her again, and then her foot was grabbed. She was just barely able to hold her breath before being dragged under, and she fully expected to start getting eaten.

But there she was, eye-to-eye with Vegeta. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to shout at him, only for just bubbles to come out. He wasn’t holding her down, thankfully, so she wasn’t stopped from quickly returning to the surface and refilling her lungs. Gn… Where the hell did he come from? Was he watching her all along?! Why was he naked too?! He wasn’t going to try and go back on what he had decided not to do before, right?

He came up to the surface as well, staring at her with his eyes peeking out just barely from the water. He looked like a shark fin. She scowled at him, her cheeks reddening at just the idea of what he may have seen. Why did he always have to follow her around like this? It was disturbing. She wadded away as quick as she could to try and get back to the beach, all the while yelling at him.

“What’s wrong with you, huh?! You have no clue about privacy! I’m bathing! I’m naked! Why’d you even take your clothes off, anyway?! I hate you! You’re impossible! _Ugh!”_ She just had to hope he didn’t decide to pin her down. She focused on swimming to the beach, swearing under her breath about how far she’d gotten from it. Stupid goddamn current…!

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t finished fucking with her. He’d liked the net of bubbles that’d escaped her mouth in her rave of anger. If he wanted to watch he would do as he damn well pleased. Besides, what was the problem by now? He’d seen her naked plenty of times, fucked her, he’d even bathed her. He didn’t care enough to figure it out, though. He sliced through the surface of the water. Following her like… Well, as she’d thought it, like a shark on the prowl. The prince had little shame in himself, and even less when it came to the personal space of others. Particularly this female he’d decided belonged to himself.

He didn’t let her get too far. Just as she was exiting the cove and growing closer to the safety of the beach, Vegeta’s thick arms wound back around her from underneath, this time plunging her down with more ferocity. He pulled her back, back until she was right back to where she started. Stranded in the middle of the blue lagoon. The prince disappeared from under her the moment he unwound his caging arms from her waist. It was fun annoying her. Something about it was releasing the tension and steam that had been pent up between them from the night’s events before. He was punishing her, but in a more mild manner.

The Saiyan wasn’t the only predator in the water, however. All of their splashing, thrashing, and disturbing the tranquil seas had brought on the attention of the planet’s natural carnivores. Sharks, real sharks. Though a little different in size and number of fins then those of earth. They were long, menacing looking, and their spines trailed with multiple dorsal fins ...and they were circling right below Bulma. If she wanted to make way for the coast again, there was a good chance she’d be chum bait before she’d ever arrived there.

Vegeta had wandered off into the isolation of the coral reef. In or out of the water, the beast seemed to prefer staying out of sight. That is until he saw what was circling underneath his females flicking feet. She wasn’t left along for long, but the prince wasn’t about to let his presence be known, either. Popping up out of the water again, not too far behind from where she waded, he was submerged from the waist down like an anchored buoy. She’d handled the frozen feline and toothy dinos just fine. Why should he help her this time? Even if he was keeping an eye on her every paddle of the way.

* * *

Her POV

She thought he’d leave her alone, so when he wrapped his arms around her waist, she was taken by surprise– again. She let out a yelp and was lucky he didn’t dunk her under the water because it would have been much harder to hold her breath. She struggled and tried to kick him, terrified of what exactly he was doing all the way back she was dragged. At terrifying speed, too. She was scared of what he planned, but then all of a sudden, he let go.

She blinked and looked around to find that he’d disappeared. Her brows furrowed as she swam in place, before finally letting out a huff. That jerk. He was just trying to be annoying. She began swimming again, and felt something at her foot. Again. Goddamn it, Vegeta. It wouldn’t work twice! She ignored it until a pair of actual fins popped up from the water. …It wasn’t Vegeta. It wasn’t Vegeta. Where was Vegeta?

She swam more quickly, her thrashing movements as she tried to get to shore only exciting them more. They swam in a tighter circle to cut her off, so she dunked under the water to see the horrifying beasts circling and planning on eating her. Her heart was beating impossibly fast and she tried to swim under them, though they only began following and circling in a more complex web around her, constantly cutting her off and confusing her as to where she could go. They looked nearly like sharks, but at the same time, not truly. They had to be smarter, too, if they knew to confuse her like this.

She was in a worse position this time, running out of breath with each second she stayed under the water. They’d cut her off from the top as well, so going up to the surface for air wasn’t a possibility. Where the hell had Vegeta gone? Did he want to watch her drown and get eaten by these shark-beasts? God, she didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to die, not like this. 

* * *

His POV

It looked like water creatures were where the female drew the line. Between swimming and attacking, it looked like the girl was slowly getting herself trapped between the swarms of fins and teeth. It was a minefield to try and dive through, and Vegeta knew when she’d hit her limit. The girl could only hold her breath for so long, but she’d done remarkably well. Even if he was a little disappointed in the fact that water beasts were a little out of her range for fighting, unlike the terrestrial fears she’d faced. She was more than a decent swimmer though, any idiot could have picked up on that. Just how many species could say they could maneuver through the currents while being chased by hungry sharks? Her water planet origins had shown themselves. That was enough for Vegeta to step in.

A hurling blast of blue ki rocketed through the water like an incoming comet, right past the struggling girl. The impact of the bright light, muffled. The trail of bubbles it left rose to the surface along with smoking wisps purple blood. Vegeta had blasted the head off of one of the sharks just as it’d turned to eat the girl’s legs up like a bad scene from Jaws. A second shot was fired. A mouth of teeth was bum-rushing for the girl’s side but the fish’s head burst into pieces. The rest of the shoal of sharks dispersed after that, finding it not worth getting turned into fish chunks over a bony scrap of earthling meat.

It was Vegeta; he was submerged from doing battle with the toothy fish, but quickly rose to the surface, making sure to bring the girl to the surface with him. The hard wall of his chest bumped against her, a hand planted on her elbow. She was caught by a predator after all, the biggest one in that abundant ocean. There wasn’t a hint of concern in his features, either. If anything, the prince looked more cocky and arrogant than ever. He’d saved her, she must have known he’d have to save her, and the egotistical bastard was sassing her with his smirk. Eating up his victory. He’d won something for her again. To him, in his own sick way, he was puffing up and boasting like a peacock spreading its feathers.

* * *

Her POV

One of them came straight at her to take a chunk of her foot, but in a great blast of light– his head was burnt off. She lost what little air she had when her mouth opened in surprise and let all the bubbles free. It happened again with another shark that lurched at her, and within moments the sharks were gone. Vegeta returned, grabbing her and lifting her up to the surface.

She wheezed for breath when her mouth finally hit air, gasping and sputtering and still shaken up. She’d been so close to at the very least suffocating, but Vegeta came to save the day. He did that a lot. She stared at him with wide eyes, clearly not even caring that he was so close– his chest was pressed against her own, and he was holding onto her with that cocky, smug look in his face. She couldn’t even care about that. She was just… Just…. Surprised.

“Ah… Vegeta…. Vegeta! Vegeta, you jerk!” When her brain finally started working, she made it clear that she was not pleased. Not pleased in the least. “You’re such a fucking asshole! I was struggling! Didn’t you see all that?! I can’t BELIEVE you! It took you long enough to finally save me after YOU put me in that situation! I nearly got my foot ripped off by that shark!” She pounded her hands on his chest, knowing full well that shoving would do absolutely nothing.

“And again! Why’d you have to bother me, huh?! You were peeping at me, and then you just had to start grabbing my foot because you thought you were funny! You never quit, do you?! I was having a nice morning until you came around! I hate you so much. You never leave me alone! Eugh, it’s ridiculous! … …Look. You can redeem yourself. I need to do some tanning. It’s good for me after all that time I spent in that cold cave. I’m going to go tan, and you’re going to go get food. I had some fruit this morning, but that wasn’t enough. I want something better. You go buy me those kebabs I saw they were selling.”

* * *

His POV

Well, someone was certainly getting demanding. Was this the type of thanks he got for saving her sorry ass? What, she suddenly expected him to run to her aid whenever she was in trouble? He didn’t have to save her, he just …felt like it. Through all of her ranting, the beating of her hand against his chest, Vegeta rolled his eyes right over his smirk. He was nobody’s hero, nor anyone’s attack dog. He was the villain, and that worked well for him just fine.

She called him a jerk, and he only reverberated by the arching of his brows, as if saying ‘I know’. She’d called him that enough by now. However, her demands started getting a little too specific and the prince’s amusement and pleasure taking from her angry mouth dwindled into quite stewing. Knitting his face into a new scowl of his own, one of his large hands caught the fist that was beating against his bare skin while his other hand traced up the curve of the females back, submerged under water.

“You want food. Get it yourself,” he huffed, pushing her back in the water with aggression. No one told him what to do. Not this prince. He may have given her food from time to time but it’d been from his own accord. By his own decisions, or when she’d asked rather than demanded. Vegeta didn’t take to being ordered around very lightly.

After one more angry gleam, the prince disappeared, dunking right back under the water. This time he intended on leaving her predominantly until he reached the shore. He wasn’t taking his time about it, either. The small wave that split the surface revealed just how fast he was booking it; like an underwater missal headed towards land. His physique lifted from the tide just before he hit the coast, landing where he’d started under the shade of a palm where he’d left his pants. Well, where he was sure he’d left them. They were gone, completely. Nothing left behind but a pair of bird like foot prints in the sand. God damn, someone had stolen his clothes.

Vegeta’s head jerked towards the female. He’d moved quick enough to leave her behind for some time. Then he noticed her clothing had been left on the beach in a nice little pile. It wasn’t ideal, but she seemed to possess the ability to pull any type of clothing she needed out of that mess of fabric. Maybe he could find something useful until he made his way into town. He wasn’t too concerned with going nude, but who wanted their junk brushed against when walking into a crowd? Certainly not the prince. Vegeta sighed, crouching down over the pile of feminine products. Picking up a shirt he sniffed it, then tossed it over his shoulder. Again, shorts, then …panties. Sniffing them. Well, these, maybe he’d keep.

* * *

Her POV

He wasn’t having her demands this time, much to her dismay. He tossed her aside after some harsh words, and dipped under the water to swim back to shore. Eugh! She didn’t want to go get food herself! Last time she tried to go find the town, she got lost! He was so impossible. …Though maybe she’d get lucky and he’d go back on what he said. She had asked for meat, and he always seemed irritated when she ate anything but. Maybe he’d shrug it off and go get her meat just because it was something he wanted her to eat.

She swam back to shore with the thought in mind, and when she was close she saw Vegeta doing something suspicious on the beach. She moved closer yet, and was angered to see him… Rifling through her clothes! 

“HEY!” She swam faster yet until she could stand and trudge quickly up the shoreline. At this point, she didn’t even care if she was completely naked. She ran at him and slapped him across the face, giving a few hard shoves to try and get him away from her clothes. He’d seemed to get into a good amount of it already, with one of the shirts sitting halfway in the tide. Goddamn it! She picked up the clothes he’d strewn across the beach and started yelling frantically.

“This is EXACTLY what I meant! You have no sense of privacy or personal use! You just take, take, take! I hate it! You’re awful! These are my clothes, not yours! I can’t believe you can’t even understand that much! I have money in the pocket of these shorts, you know! What if it’d gotten wet?! It’d be all your fault, that’s what! You’re such a jerk!” She dropped them further from the tide and went then to her bigger pile, the one she’d formed just before going into the water just so she had a pile ready for when she came out. She picked up a random piece of cloth and held it to her body, her eyes narrowing.

“Get away already, then! Get your own clothes, where’d you even leave them?! I told you I’m going to tan! I’m not going to have you ogling at me while I do it!”

* * *

His POV

He hadn’t cared enough to pay attention to the naked female; still trying finding something decent to wear in the colorful mess. So when the hand went flying across his face, Vegeta was a little more than startled for once. It didn’t hurt, it barely left a sting, but it had been harder than usual -he did notice that. His blood heated just as quickly, meeting her aggression level with ease.

“What the hell, woman?!” He shot daggers in her direction, still crouching possessively over _her_ clothes. As if he were entitled to them, which to him, he thought he was. “I can take whatever the hell I want, why can’t you understand that?!” He combated her reasoning, spitting his words while he watched her march up and down the coast line, collecting the items that were now scattered and dirty, and probably smelling of ocean tide, along the beach.

His angry gaze met her own when she returned. Finally, he stood up from the pile she was so desperately pulling away from the rush of water. He eyed her, watching her do her best to cover herself and question him at the same time. The prince’s large arms crossed over his bare chest, clearing uncaring as to how naked he was standing there. Though, he was looking a little unsure about something. It was the way he was grinding his jaw and looking down his nose at her. As if he had a statement to make, but just couldn’t bring himself to say it. As if whatever he had to say would shame his pride.

“They’re gone. Alright? Happy now?!” He barked, stamping his foot in her direction. “You must have something useful in that pile of shit. Now give me something to wear, woman! God damn it!” He wasn’t playing around. His brow was pressed firm and his glare was on fire, his teeth clenched and baring his canines, yet it was very difficult to make himself look like an alpha male when he was turning to a little female to give him clothing. God, she better not give him something that’d condemn him. Maybe he should just go off naked while he still had the chance, and a little dignity.

* * *

Her POV

He hovered over her clothes like they belonged to him, and all but said that same thing, too. She stared him down in anger till he finally gave up, standing straight and staring at her with a slightly embarrassed tone in his voice. …He’d lost his clothes. Someone had either stolen them, or they’d been ripped up to oblivion. Ugh. What an idiot. And he expected her to share her clothes? …Well, if she didn’t, he might decide that he’s… Horny. Goddamn it.

She leaned down and grabbed the first clothing she came across–her short shorts with some alien writing on the butt that she had found by now read something along the lines of ‘cutie’ on it, and tossed it at him. That’s what he was getting. She didn’t give a rat’s ass if he didn’t like it, because she wasn’t willingly going to give him anything else. 

“There. Now go get me some food, since I was so nice! I told you, I want the kebabs!” She rubbed her body down with the shirt she’d grabbed to get all the water off her, and afterward sat in the sand. Still glaring at him. She wanted to take a tan, but she didn’t want to just let him stare at her body all he wanted while she did so, after all.

“Make it a lamb kebab, too, if you can find it. I want lamb right now. Lamb or duck. Those are both really good kinds of meat. …So get on it already. Hurry up, I want to start working on my tan, and I refuse to do it with you here annoying me.” She’d really gotten more bold. The morning to herself had made her feel alive again, more like her old self. Especially after he had decided to listen to her cries of ‘no’ the night before.

* * *

His POV

He glowered down at her, watching her pluck something from the pile of rubbish she tried to call clothing. The prince didn’t really like the sensation of not being in control of what he was given to put on his body. He was a control freak, how was he supposed to take this situation? The pair of shorts hit him in the face and he could at least relax at the idea that he’d actually fit into it -somewhat. The short, stretchy pink fabric barely hid his butt-cheeks, thanks to his defined muscular build. At least her giving him clothing had somewhat calmed him down enough that he stomped away from her in the sand. The word ‘cutie’ plastered across his butt, right under his angry swinging tail, when he stormed away, back up the beach and into town.

He hadn’t answered her about gathering her food. He wasn’t planning on it, either. Vegeta was stewing, marching down the corridors of shops in order to find a clothing outlet. It wasn’t easy and only growing more difficult. There was a reason the lizards had laughed at Bulma at the talk of clothing back at the bath house. This planet didn’t seem to sell any. It was a difficult item to get your hands on and Vegeta was steadily, angrily, finding that out. The closest thing to clothing it seemed was grass skirts, coconuts, and lei’s. None of which he’d dare even consider. In fact it made his head jerk back in defiance, snarling viciously at the shop’s window.

Then he spotted something. A cart. A cart of beach gathered junk pushed by a beach-bum looking bird. The bird’s once white feathers were dusted and dirty from living on the sands. Happily toting its cart along, selling the junk he’d found washed up on shore. Including the prince’s suit pants. The stretchy blue material was impossible to miss. It lay across the odd-ball pile of odds and ends. Vegeta was furious. Instantly. So, this was the buffoon that’d stolen his clothing and forced him into this ridiculous get up! One minute the bird and its cart were there, the next it wasn’t. The boom Vegeta had blasted at the poor unsuspecting bird was surely heard all the way back to the beach.

* * *

Her POV

He got dressed and left in a huff, and Bulma was finally allowed peace and quiet again. She laid down on the beach on her tummy, letting out a nice long breath as she enjoyed her relaxation. The sand was soft, and the sun’s rays were warm. It reminded her so much of home, and though she was still skinnier than she used to be, she could imagine that nothing about her had changed. She’d just lay and relax and tan her skin like she so often did before all this stuff happened. How nice. And any moment now, Vegeta would be back with her kebabs. Oh, did those sound so good…

After some time of tanning on her stomach, she heard a loud ‘boom’ in the distance. She opened her eyes and lifted herself to look toward the source, though it was too far to actually hear anything. How weird. She had a bad feeling about it, but she let it pass. Whatever. She shrugged her shoulders and rolled over onto her back, tanning that side now after promptly rubbing off any bits of sand that covered her.

Some more minutes passed, and she opened her eyes to glance around the beach again. That asshole was taking a while with the kebab. He wasn’t coming back, was he? …She’d show him. How the hell was she supposed to get her cute figure back if she didn’t eat? Those fruits definitely did not have enough calories in them to help her gain weight. She could still see her ribs, for crying out loud!

* * *

His POV

It wasn’t Vegeta, but a pair of different Saiyan apes that came strolling their way down the beach. Both Nappa and Raditz had already taken their fill of nourishment that morning. As well as local tail: lizard tail. But that didn’t end them from searching along the shore line for a new set of victims. It was always the same for the pair of big brutes. Their prince so often preferred to stay away from their company, and the two soldiers were left to entertain themselves. It looked like the beach was going to provide that entertainment, too. If it wasn’t the earthling, lying flat and bare for all eyes to witness, right there on t he beach. And so ...alone.

Raditz nudged Nappa quietly the closer they approached, not wanting to give away their creeping up on the girl too soon, in fear of her yelling for Vegeta or scampering away. Nappa rounded above the girl’s position, giving her plenty of space, in order to sneak around to her opposite side. Raditz flanked her left while Nappa closed in on the right. They really were a pair of battle dogs; they’d done this too many times for it to not come so naturally.

“Well, what do we got here?” Nappa’s large voice interrupted the serene silence. “A pretty little girlie, all alone on the beach,” his voice box exploded into horrible laughter. Raditz watched his comrade from the girls other side, separating her from her pile of clothing.

“Where’s Vegeta?” The long haired male questioned, arching a brow at the vacancy of the beach. The two men, they really were a pair of beach bullies. They were in just as little clothing as possible, too. Nothing but those crude black spandex underwear type shorts that they wore under their battle gear. Leaving the majority of their bulky build and dark skin exposed. They were both eyeing her too, casting their long shadows over her once sunny spot now that they were hammering their terrifying statures down over her position.

* * *

Her POV

She shrugged off Vegeta not coming around and eventually closed her eyes, simply enjoying the moment. She breathed out slowly and got to the point where she was thinking she may just fall asleep under the warm rays of the sun (and promptly resisting those urges; she didn’t want to be sunburnt) when a familiar voice rang out. Her eyes shot open and focused in on Nappa. She quickly scrambled in the other direction to get to her clothes, onto to run into Raditz’s feet.

“Ah– Ah–” Shit, shit, she tried to open her mouth to yell at them, but she was far too scared. Every time things seemed to be working out well for her, she got a crude slap to the face like now. They were eyeing her like cats eyeing an injured little bunny they’d stumbled across, and God, was she scared shitless. Vegeta had basically confirmed he wouldn’t be touching her again unless she wanted it–which she of course never ever ever would–but these two were a different story. Vegeta had threatened to kill them if they touched her, but he wasn’t here– a point Nappa clearly alluded to when he asked for his whereabouts.

“H… He… He’s in town! I asked him to get me a kebab! He’ll be back any moment now, and if he sees you two doing anything, remember what he said! He’ll kill you both! So don’t you dare think about it! So just… Let me get to my clothes and… And you guys can just go off on your way!” Her shaking made it obvious she was terrified, and if that weren’t enough, then the size of her eyes confirmed it even more. She had thought things were finally turning out well for her. As well as they could get in the situation she was in, anyway. But here she was all over again, with the two boys between her with cocky smiles on their faces.

* * *

His POV

The little female was shaking like a leaf. To the two towering hunks of meat she was very, very small. Raditz was the only one between them however, who seemed to be eyeing the girl a little suspiciously. He hadn’t forgotten his busted rib cage just yet, and subliminally began rubbing his once damaged side (he’d made it to the healing springs, too) when the girl mentioned talk of Vegeta beating their asses to death if they touched her.

Nappa, on the other hand, wasn’t looking so glum about the prospect of raping the girl now that they’d cornered her all alone and out from under their leader’s protection. Maybe he was just too dumb, or maybe he was finally seeing a rare opportunity to get rid of the troublesome female once and for all. Once they were done with her, the ocean depths could claim her body, leaving her to mysteriously disappear. The bald man didn’t look convinced when she blabbered that the prince would return shortly with food. He’d heard the blast that’d rattled off in the distance. He knew his prince was off doing who knew what the fuck by now. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound like foraging for some slave’s next meal.

“And look, we don’t even have to strip her!” Nappa let out a bellowing ‘ha!’ Groping his big fingers around the girl’s tiny waist, he backed her up against the wall of muscle that was Raditz torso, right behind her. Raditz still didn’t sound so convinced, but he did have a vendetta against her. Maybe he didn’t want to get his ass kicked for raping the girl, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t watch Nappa rape and reap the punishment of violating her. To him, that’d be a win-win situation.

“Are you sure about this?” the long haired male questioned. Raditz heavy hands landed on Bulma’s shoulders, scowling down at her from above.

“Of course I’m sure,” barked Nappa. “Now bend the bitch over, I want her cunt this time.” Charming, as ever.

“Alright...” Raditz doled, watching Nappa readily rub himself through his thin shorts. He had to admit, he was feeling a little frisky himself, and rubbing his hands down from Bulma’s shoulders, over her breasts, and back again, was starting to make him grow against her backside. Still, he made sure to clarify, “but if Vegeta comes back, this was your idea. You’re taking the punishment.”

“Stop being a pussy, Raditz, and lift her up.” Nappa insisted, his cock already thick in his hand.

* * *

Her POV

Nappa leaned down and grabbed her by the waist, lifted her up, and backed her up against Raditz. She could feel her heart throbbing so fast she thought she was having a heart attack, but any kind of death that a heart attack might bring her never came. She gulped, staring up at Nappa. He was serious. She could see all the intent behind his eyes. He would rape her, even if it meant that Vegeta would find him and kill him. In some senses she supposed it may be a little flattering, but it was far, far more terrifying.

“Ng… Ah…” She glanced back at Raditz as he pressed his hands on her shoulders, followed shortly by running them down to her breasts before back up again. It was sickening to feel their grimy hands on her, but it didn’t look like she’d be getting away any time soon. God… Why couldn’t Vegeta have been nice and just listened to her? Why couldn’t he have just brought her her kebab? If he had, then she wouldn’t be in this situation. Instead, he was off doing God-knows-what, blasting out ki. …Though if she heard that, _maybe he could hear her_.

“VEGETA!” She screamed it at the top of her lungs, knowing this was her last chance. She didn’t even bother squirming this time, having caught on by now that it only made them more frisky. More violent. No, her only option was to get Vegeta to come back here and give the two Saiyans what they had coming to them. “VEGEEETA, HELP ME! HELP, HELP, HELP!!! **VEGEEEETAAAAA!** ”

* * *

His POV

“God damn it, she’s too loud!” Raditz slapped one of his big palms over the girl’s mouth after her last blood curtailing screech. He was looking a little anxious. Darting eyes along the shore line and towards the nearby town, but nothing ever seemed to come barreling out of the forest line. Good, it looked like they were safe to do their dirty deeds. Raditz was doing as Nappa said and hoisting the girl up by one of her thighs. Not as easily done with only one hand, he had no choice but to let go of her mouth in order to spread her legs for the other big male to get a clear shot between her thighs.

It didn’t last, though. Nappa, with massive throbbing cock in hand, was just about to push into the nude girl’s spread legs, when the distinct whistling sound of an incoming torpedo came hurling in their direction. It ended with a massive bang that blew back the sand, knocking Raditz off his feet. Nappa however, wasn’t so lucky. His frame was now nothing more than a pin-dot skidding helplessly out into the ocean’s horizon, like a skipping stone.

It had been Vegeta, naturally. He was left hanging out over the lapping waves. The blue of his ki was dimming out around him; he must have used it on impact. The prince had heard Bulma’s cries all the way from the town’s streets. At first he longed to ignore it. But he couldn’t deny how well tuned in his senses were to the sound of her voice turning to panic, and he’d dropped what he’d been doing to find Nappa going at it again.

He’d refuse to be anyone’s attack dog, but seeing his soldier defy him so easily lit his anger on fire. He had to punish his soldier. He’d nearly killed the man, but since Nappa hadn’t really entered her yet, Nappa got off with a few broken bones in the form of an impact. Vegeta had struck the giant with the brunt of his incoming shoulder -that had been the bang they’d heard.

Vegeta’s attention turned back towards the girl and Raditz, looming his sights over his shoulder. He didn’t look happy. In fact, after a quick glance over the girl’s position, his steely glare turned on Raditz. Oh yes, he was next, and the solider knew it too. Backing up, he hid a whine behind his lips. Damn, Raditz really didn’t want another set of broken ribs. He’d just gotten back from the healing pools last night.

* * *

Her POV

A hand was clapped over her mouth, and was unmoving even when she bit down. God, she was going to get raped all over again. Vegeta wasn’t coming. Raditz picked her up and spread her legs apart, and she had to watch Nappa, with that cocky grin of his, pull his spandex underwear to the side to get ready to enter her. No! No! She kicked her legs frantically, no longer caring if it only spurred them on. She didn’t want this! She didn’t want it! 

Just as she started screaming again, something hit Nappa full-force. It drove Raditz off his feet and caused him to drop her face-first onto the sand, but Bulma didn’t hesitate in standing up. She was about to start running, but stopped when she saw what the attack was from. Vegeta had nailed Nappa with his own body. He was beating the man so hard she thought he might die, and when he finished, his gaze set on Raditz.

She’d never been so relieved in her life. It was over. She’d been protected by Vegeta again. She wanted to say she hated the man for all he’d done in the past, and she did hate him, but he was her sole protector now. He fed her, gave her a place to sleep, protected her from harm, and for the most part was beginning to let her do as she pleased– it was hard not to begin to almost enjoy his presence.

She dusted the sand off her body and quickly threw on panties, some sweat-shorts, and a crop top. She didn’t want to know what would happen to her if she stayed nude through the whole deal, and she wanted to hide her body as soon as she possibly could, anyway. She took her capsules and money from her dirty pair of pants and proceeded to capsule the remaining pile of clothes, pocketing it and returning her gaze to what was happening.

…Dang, he didn’t even bring her a kebab. He really _hadn’t_ listened to her.

* * *

His POV

While the female was busying herself with her pile of clothing, Raditz meek voice was stifling as many groans as pain as he could bear. Vegeta was walloping him a good one, though the prince had known Raditz hadn’t been the prime culprit, more the follower on the bottom of the totem pole. The soldiers hadn’t gotten off too easy by normal standards, though not dying in the process was considered a kindness on Vegeta’s behalf. By the end of it, Raditz was buried half way in the sand, in a crater of his own, painted with both blood and bruises, and Nappa had finally managed to pull himself up onto dry land. Maybe now they’d take him a little more seriously when he stated ‘no touching’.

Vegeta didn’t seem to care about the state of the girl, other than a quick glance of eye contact in her direction. He was standing tall on the beach, reclaiming his rightful place as the leader among the pack. His attention turned towards the evening sky just above the town. Another loud boom cracked in the distance, but for once it wasn’t him or one of his men. Another set off, and another, followed by the scent of gun powder. Vegeta’s nose twitched, growling at the obviously imposing threat on the wind. The sound far too reminiscent of war to be taken lightly. How was he supposed to know it was the sparking of fireworks?

It was confusing him, it was shown in the way he cocked his head and twitched his tail. How he was obviously enticed to check out the disturbance yet was holding his ground like a predator trying to sniff out a new threat. If it was a threat, Vegeta wasn’t entirely sure. There wasn’t the scent of fear or blood on the wind. No smell of burning from ki, no trace of laser blasting. No soldiers that he’d seen on this peaceful planet …and the shallow cheers of joy coming from the direction of the town were only confused him further. Perhaps this planet celebrated war. It was a nice thought, but he knew it to be unlikely.

He’d lost the booty shorts, too. The prince had apparently replaced them with his tattered pair of space-suit-pants. The blue clingy material faded, torn, and more shorts then pants now. In fact, one of the pant-legs was completely missing. Hopefully she wouldn’t want those short shorts back, though. They had _mysteriously_ burned up in a terrible rage of fire the moment they’d been ripped off.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma watched Raditz get beaten, but her attention was soon taken away by the loud ‘boom’ in the distance. She turned her head just as it was followed by a fizzling sound, to see sparks in the sky. It was only mid-day, so typically one wouldn’t be able to see fireworks. This seemed different, however. Whatever was being set off left sparkling rainbows in its wake. How interesting. Just as she put her shoes back on after realizing she’d left them to almost be taken by the tide, she saw Vegeta was interested as well. His eyes were dilated and his nose was in the air. It was… Kind of entertaining, actually.

She began walking in the direction of the sound, deciding she likely wouldn’t get lost in the jungle this time when there was such a clear pointer to where the town was. It only took her a few minutes before she popped out the other side of the rainforest into town, to see the birds and lizards all dancing in the streets and shaking their scales and feathers to some kind of party. Music was playing, beads and flowers tied around their bodies were jingling, and headpieces filled with feathers were bobbing. A festival.

She glanced back in the direction of the rainforest just out of curiosity to see if Vegeta had followed her lead. But then she continued on into the town, careful to stay out of the way of what appeared to be a parade, to go and find the damn kebabs she wanted so badly. She found the stall and set her money down, buying one to calm her grumbling belly with the hopes of getting Vegeta to pay for more later– she wanted to be able to save her money in case of emergencies. With the amount of money she had being only a fraction of what she used to have, it would be wise to spend carefully. 

She began eating them up immediately and went to go find somewhere to sit and enjoy the festivities, her head turning each and every way so her eyes could take in everything that was happening. The people on this planet really did go all-out, from the looks of it.

* * *

His POV

Much to the Prince’s surprise, the little earthling had the nerve to venture out into the thick of jungle and into the bustling town. Towards the direction of what Vegeta had suspected to be battle. His deduction that it must have been a fight quickly fizzled out from merely watching the female head towards the noise as if she’d heard it before. As if she knew what it was. That was it, she was familiar with whatever tactic this was, and she didn’t fear it. Though, in his experience, just because this strange female didn’t fear something didn’t mean it wouldn’t pose a threat. She did stand up to him nine times out of ten after all, and he was the scariest thing on this planet.

He pursued her, but held his distance, falling behind and well out of sight this time. Vegeta welcomed the cries and screams of battle, enjoyed the booms and crackles that came with every new blow, with every new crunch of bone. But this was different, and the warrior was out of his element. He was on the investigative end this time. His stone wall of defense in place, he was on the prowl.

The bright lights lead them right into the middle of town where Vegeta decided it was best to hang back and retreat from the busy crowds. Masses of happy creatures -it was just not something the massacring prince felt comfortable with. Not unless they were screaming and running for their lives. They were all beneath him. Unless they were ready to feed or fuck him, he didn’t give a damn about the locals. It wasn’t the grimy underbelly of society he so often put himself in. So gliding among the crowd of feathery creatures, his nose pointed wherever the girl drifted to next, was new for him.

A hiss slipped past his maw when a little feathery creature bumped into him. It was just enough to get the girl out of his vision. Damn, where’d she go? Then he’d spotted her. Sitting off to the side by herself, eating ...eating one of those damn kebabs. He’d followed her in order to collect information. She seemed to know what was going on, and he was not one to be left out of a loop. However, the prince was quickly losing that line of thought and was eyeing her meal instead. He never said anything, he never revealed himself. No, he just plucked one of the kebabs she’d bought with her own earnings right out of her fingertips from behind, popping it right into his mouth. She was right, these were good.

* * *

Her POV

It was interesting to see birds and lizards try to dance. The birds mostly waddled and wagged their heads and showed off their feathers, while the lizards mostly swayed back and forth. She didn’t bother joining in–she was tired from all the day’s events, and would much rather simply watch rather than be the center of attention. That was her ego talking– she was certain that she’d be the absolute center of attention if she was given the chance to dance.

Just as she went to go bite off another piece of the kebab, Vegeta reached down and plucked one of the pieces from the stick. She blinked and looked backward to see him with it in his mouth only for a split second before swallowing. Ergh. Pig.

“I’m still hungry. You should buy the both of us more. You got mad when I said I can pay for my own food that one time, right? Well then, go buy me food. I’d like more kebabs, but you could buy anything else, really. …Oh, maybe a burger… Or a gyro… Or some meatballs…” Her voice pittered out as she looked up at the rainbow-filled sky that was filled with birds flying around just to think about the food. She was never this obsessive about food back when she was at home. She blamed it on her skinniness. She was hungry all the time because she was essentially on the verge of starvation.

But before he could react, something occurred to her. She should probably… Say something. “Hey, Vegeta… Thanks for what you did before. You saved me again. I was thinking you wouldn’t come, but you did. Thanks.”

* * *

His POV

He didn’t answer. Her demands for more food were only met with a scowl, his seemingly permanent grimace. But then the hard lines of his ridged face began to soften the further she spoke up. Thanking him. He refused to react, jerking his attention turned towards the dancing fowl that were making their way down the street. Licking his fingers of the meaty juices from the kebab, maybe he was getting a little hungry. The idea of more food was starting to sound nice.

“.. _.I was merely punishing my men,_ ” his dark voice roughed out a little too softly, as if trying to convince himself. The crowds had begun to part ways and the lizards on the side lines halted their wiggly dancing, cheering in place. It looked like a parade had started, and they were at its forefront. The lizard’s scales painted in bright colors, running along their long bodies and tails in intricate designs. The prince was hardly interested. His belly was demanding its own nourishment now, his sights staking out the best place to find more food. Stealing the girls snack had only teased his appetite into wanting more.

Confetti blasted over the streets, loud music began drumming, and Vegeta had completely disappeared. He did that a lot, especially when they were anywhere but alone. At least he hadn’t said he wouldn’t bring her back a meal. He hadn’t forgotten just how skinny she’d grown. It was a strange thing -he’d unspokenly clarified that he had no intentions of forcing himself on her again, yet he kept up her appearance and health as if she was something for him to fuck. To him, she was something to fuck, but at the same time he knew she wasn’t. In the long run, he was unaware of his own intentions, of his interfering instincts. A good thing or he may not have brought her anything back to eat.

However, in the prince’s absence, the two lizards on the side lines started taking particular interest in Bulma. So much skin! Just waiting to be painted! The pair was obviously the planet’s form of street artists. Paint brushes and body paints in claws, and looking at Bulma with wishful eyes. They didn’t ask, much, other than implying, ‘...paint for carnival!’, before their wet brushes started trailing along her bare skin. She’d be ready to dance in no time if they had anything to do with it.

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t refuse to, and his features and tone were soft when he left– he was going to bring her food. It left a smile on her face as she finished her kebab, only to be met by two lizards soon after. They were holding brushes and paint, so it was not hard to tell what they wanted from her. Their choppy words confirmed what she figured they wanted from her, but before she could even open her mouth to say yes or no, they went right to work.

Their brushes glided over and bare skin they could reach, and after a moment one of them grabbed her wrist and forced her to stand so they could get all around. They didn’t take her clothes off, but they did try to jerk it to get under the fabric. She drew the line at certain points, but they continued with their artwork without painting those areas. A large swirling sun on her side, rainbow scales on her thighs that faded into similarly rainbow-colored feathers, blues of the sky that melted into the ocean’s large waves across her back– they painted her like a canvas, using up every bit of skin they could touch.

She was actually surprised by the detail. It wasn’t typical sloppy street painting; they were making true art, and just out of being mesmerized at it all, she let them go a bit further with her clothes. She didn’t flinch when they pulled down the bottom of her shorts to draw golden fish swimming along the space just above her buttocks and the pink and orange lively coral reef on her cheeks. She also didn’t flinch when they lifted her crop top to paint her breasts into bright red hibiscus flowers, so covered that she didn’t even truly feel naked.

It wasn’t as if any of these animals minded anyway; they were all naked, and treated her as being natural when her clothes were pushed away to reveal her body parts. Even if she didn’t have feathers to hide her body, she didn’t get any lingering sexual stares. Only stares of curiosity at the fact she was unlike them, and interest in what the two lizards were painting.

* * *

His POV

Bulma wasn’t the only one among the onlookers who were given a new rundown of color. After his exit to find more food, Vegeta spotted his own two men getting the painted treatment. The two soldiers also must have been attracted by the sound of explosions and distant clatter. They’d been given pity by the locals for their shitty, beaten states. Both had been fixed up, washed down, and were now being stroked with the various colors that the lizard species seemed adamant on coating everyone with. Both Raditz and Nappa were seemingly happy just to be getting the attention. Vegeta on the other hand, gave them a deadpanned look, thankful that he hadn’t been spotted, and carried on his way to find something to stuff into his maw.

The state of his men had been idiotic, but what was unexpected was to find the girl with similar vibrant hues brushed along every inch of her skin. That was by far better use of the body paints… She was stunning. It stopped the prince in his tracks while the parade danced past behind him. He’d been staring. Grazing his eyes up the long length of her rainbow thighs, up her painted belly, and her bright red breasts that bloomed like flowers. He couldn’t help but stop a moment to drink in the sight, the soft reverberation of an appeased growl lingering in his chest, even if he returned to his rebuttal of uncaring side glances and a cold hard brow within a few moments.

He’d brought back food. A large tortoise shell mounded with red meats, whole fish, something that looked like pita breads, and candied fruits were sat down beside her. It was obvious he’d yelled, ‘ _give me food and a lot of it_ ’, at one of the food stands, and in their hopes of making him leave had piled as much food into the tortoise shell as possible. His approaching presence caught the pair of painting lizard’s attention too; unaware of the imminent danger they were putting themselves in when they tried stroking all of his bare bronze muscles with their paintbrushes too. The vivid colors would show up so well against his dark skin, how could they resist?!

Well, they could resist pretty damn easy once Vegeta shot them white hot dagger eyes and growled like a beast. The friendly lizards were caught so off guard by the sudden show of aggression, bumping into one another as they tried to scamper, that they ran off without a second thought. Leaving their paints and brushes scattered all over the bench beside the painted earthling. Vegeta, huffing out his nose ‘ _good riddance_ ’, picked up a large leg of meat -something similar to a ham-bone, sinking his teeth in for a bite.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma hadn’t seen Vegeta coming at first. She was too entranced in the paint job she was going through that it wasn’t until Vegeta came over with a tortoise shell full of food that she actually looked at him in surprise, almost having forgotten that he’d left to go find her food. And it was a lot of it, too. As soon as the lizards switched from painting her to trying to paint him, she fixed her clothes to cover her butt and breasts again and picked up the shell full of food.

“I don’t even know what to pick first! Geeze, it all looks good!” She wasn’t fazed by Vegeta scaring off the two lizards it was the usual. She was at least happy that he didn’t actually hurt them; he just gave them a dirty look. Rather than whine at him about it, she sat down in her spot and quickly ate up her food, picking first a large slab of what seemed to be– lamb! She ate it up, her eyes then turning to Vegeta.

“Mn, you really picked good. I didn’t think you’d have such good taste in food since all you eat is raw stuff. I don’t know how you can eat that kind of stuff, it’s so nasty.” She chewed away, her face getting covered with the bits of meat as she took big bites. She still wasn’t quite over her near-starvation period; it could be hard to eat properly, especially when the food in front of her was so delicious.

* * *

His POV

She was praising him. It caught the big Saiyan off guard. When given food, it seemed as if the woman transformed into a different being entirely, especially now that she was coated in a fine layer of pigment. He eyed her wryly then took the seat next to her, if just to keep in grabbing reach of the mound of food. It felt a little bizarre to hear her thank him, to comment on his tastes and distastes of nourishment, but he could let it slide, especially if it meant focusing on the wonderful tastes of the meats from this planet. Damn, everything here seemed to ooze greatness. No wonder the planet had a high price around its neck.

“Don’t blame me for the lack of raw food.” He tilted his head back and gaped open his mouth to pour in another large slab of meat. “Raw is better for muscle and stamina growth. This shit won’t sustain you.” At least he was talking, and calmly at that. Tossing a bag of candy at her lap to prove his point, the natural callus tone of his expression dipped in her direction, in curiosity. Why the fuck was she looking at him like that? As if she was happy to see him. It must have been the food. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks full and jubilant. It made him feel uneasy, he had to look away. The woman really must have been hungry, judging by the way she was gobbling it up. Though, he wasn’t exactly steadying his pace, either. Vegeta shoved his fourth sandwich into his mouth.

“What is the fucking point of all of this, anyhow?” The harsh prince bit out, trying to make sense of the booming crowd. The glitz and glittery natives on the passing floats were throwing flower petals in their direction, catching in both of their hair. Vegeta didn’t seem to notice until he finally shook his hair free of the debris. 

“Don’t they know I could have them killed at any given minute?” His weight shifted in his place, but then he glanced awkwardly at the girl. He hadn’t blown this planet to kingdom come, not since she’d asked him not to. He didn’t mean it to sound as if he were holding off on a mission. It hadn’t been why he’d landed her, but he couldn’t deny it’d bring in some nice cash. Though, the way the girl enjoyed it, something about it put his mind at rest. But still, a mission as a mission, even if the locals wouldn’t put up a fight. He was still debating it.

* * *

Her POV

“If I eat raw food, I’m just going to end up puking it all up. This stuff gets cooked for a reason, you know. I don’t care if you think it’s more nutritious.” Her eyes rolled, but the action wasn’t entirely spiteful. She was happy for what he’d done for her in the past few days. He’d been nicer, that was for sure. It felt a little wrong to be warming up to him considering what he’d done in the past, but she at least couldn’t be angry at him in the moment.

She made a mental note to keep the candy to eat for later, but focused on moving from the slab of lamb onto eating the pita bread. She dipped it in the green dip that was in a little bowl in the corner, very much enjoying herself. Especially after being on the wintery planet with such horrible food for so long! It was impossible not to appreciate all this delicious, well-cooked food. She’d have an issue with leaving this place. It was alien, and yet it was still so much like home, too.

She didn’t mind the flower petals, but she did notice Vegeta’s growing irritation. She glanced at him with a raised brow, wondering to herself if he’d ever really been to a festival before. He was so attuned to survival and war that it wouldn’t be a surprise to her if he didn’t. But the idea was sad. He had no clue how fun things like that could be.

“It’s probably to celebrate a day of importance. It’s a festival. Usually stuff like this is for… Ah, well, independence days, unification days, days to celebrate the military or lovers or family, and sometimes it’s just a holiday. You’ve got to have heard of stuff like that, right? Like my home planet had a day called Christmas. It had a lot of different origins, but mainly it was to give presents to your loved ones, especially your kids.”

* * *

His POV

The prince looked at her as if she were speaking Greek. And with all the gyro and pita, she may as well have been. He listened, though. Pressing his thick brow together and trying to make sense of the bits and pieces of information he clearly understood between the words that held no meaning to him. It seemed to be a thing among peaceful planets. Unsuspecting planets. Weak planets. Pointless. Although, all her talk did bring one memory back to the forefront of his mind. A long since forgotten memory. It took a moment but he finally spoke up, lowly adding to the conversation in his own way.

“…whenever an army returned from vanquishing a war, the soldiers would bring back their leaders bodies. I remember, they’d rip out the hearts and mark the small children’s faces with the blood of their enemies.” The memory was vivid, his soft smirk said so. He was a child himself then, after all. It’d probably happened to him. “The bodies would be placed on pikes and marched around the city. Then the heads were kicked around until one gang lost. Then the winners would feed the losers to the beasts.” His attention came back, giving her a look, and then turned his snarl towards the crowd. “…but it was nothing like ...like this!” One of his palms pointed at the crowd, mocking the display as if it were ridiculous. “We celebrated victory. We did not turn ourselves into fools!”

He seemed aggravated, though the prince’s fury soon simmered down. As atrocious as he found the parade, as meaningless as it appeared, he couldn’t shake the fact that the female did look damn attractive in all that paint. If paint had any use, it was for this. He gauged her reaction to his tall tale and then quickly ignored it with a hardy gruff. Resting his arm alone the back of the bench, he shoveled more food into his powerful jaws. His irritation was growing, there was a good chance he’d up and leave for the beach soon.

* * *

Her POV

…What the hell? Bulma squinted and stared at him in utter disgust as he explained his past. What the hell kind of festival was that? Was everything he knew death and destruction? Maybe that’s why he was so awful. It wasn’t his own fault; he’d just known nothing else his whole life. She felt a bit bad when he turned his head after she reacted the way she did, even though how disturbed she was was completely warranted. She glanced away as well, till her eyes hit the paint that was still left on the bench.

“Oh, oh, hold on.” She set the tortoise shell down after quickly finishing the pita bread, and proceeded to pick up the paint and one of the paintbrushes. She turned her body to Vegeta and touched his chin with the handle of the paintbrush, forcing him to turn his head to her again. “You said that they’d paint children’s faces with their blood, right? Well, imagine that now. We can give you war paint. I’m not the best at painting in the whole world, but I’ve done some stuff before. I can try.”

She dipped the paintbrush in the red and gently ran it across his left cheekbone, right under his eye in a long line. She did the same with the other cheekbone, and decided to get a little fun with the rest of his face– drawing a small circle on his forehead, followed by arrows down his nose.

“What kind of stuff did they draw on your face, anyway? I can try to mimic some of the designs. Come on, it’ll be cool. I want to know a little more. …Just leave out any bloody details, alright?”

* * *

His POV

He’d caught the glance she’d given him but he could hardly rebuke her for it. In fact, he half way didn’t understand her look of disgust in the first place. What he’d told her was completely normal in his opinion, yet she looked at him much the same that he’d looked at her before; shadowing his distaste for her description of Christmas and gift giving. They both seemed to find the other rather bizarre.

Then she did something that completely took him off guard. Not even the drumming and buzzing cries of the passersby could distract him from what she was trying to do to him. She was painting him. The first cold brush of pigment under his eye warranted a growl and jerk of his head, trying to distance himself from her brush, but after the second swipe over his opposing cheek bone he relented, slightly giving in.

“How the fuck am I supposed to remember that!” He snapped, but it was more his anxiousness at a new situation rather than anger funneled at the girl. He was letting her continue, after all. “…Fuck if I know,” his voice tamed down, rolling his gaze into a distant direction, trying to recall the war painted faces of his dead heritage. He was slowly coming to terms with answering her properly. “Claw marks… bite marks… Patterns and lines,” he answered, uncrossing his arms to allow her access to wherever her brush dared to wonder. As long as he was looking away he felt he wasn’t fully participating.

Then something struck him. His brows lifted, the tell-tell sign that he remembered something. “A lot of gold. There was a legend of a great gold ape.” His chest swelled with pride right under her, just at the legend’s mention. “Gold was the color of strength, like the sun.” He still wasn’t completely comfortable with revealing this in the midst of a crowd, but it felt good to reminisce about his people. His eyes even darted to hers, as if searching her for another question to answer. Whenever Vegeta was given the chance to rant about his people, he found it exceedingly difficult not to go off on a tangent of the great superiority and strength of his Saiyan class.

* * *

Her POV

He snapped at her at first, but then he tried to remember, and she used that in her painting. She drew claw marks on either of his cheeks, and after doing a long line with a long series of circles under it on his forehead, she began trying to color it to look more like blood rather than just red paint. That’s about when he spoke up about gold. Hm. What was that about a legend? It sounded interesting. It’d never occurred to her that the Saiyans might actually have some kind of a culture, at least not beyond fighting.

“So what was the great golden ape like? What’d he do? Was that, like, your god?” When she was satisfied enough with her attempt at coloring the paint to look more like blood, she washed the paintbrush and dipped it in the ready bit of gold paint. She covered the tip of his nose in a golden triangle, outlined and underlined many of the marks she’d already made with the gold as well. She surrounded his eyes with it in a thick line all the way to his hairline on either side of his face, as well as did two little lines from his lip to his chin. This was more fun than she thought it’d be.

He wasn’t the masterpiece she was, but it certainly looked like war paint. It didn’t look like something a painter painted on, it looked like he was part of a tribe getting ready for war. And boy, did red and gold look good on him. It contrasted with his dark skin and even darker hair, made his black eyes look all the more intimidating. It looked good. 

“Alright, I think this is good! I wish I had a mirror on me, I want to show you.” She looked around the area to see if there were any kind of reflective surfaces, before her eyes landed on the mirror that was just inside one of the little stalls. Maybe they were selling it, maybe the songbird manning it just liked staring at its feathers all day. Either way, she elbowed Vegeta and pointed to it. “There! You can look over there. Don’t you think it looks cool?”

* * *

His POV

She’d seemed interested in his culture or his background at least. It was rare the prince opened up to anyone, but conversing about his people was hardly something he relented doing. In fact, it was the probably one of the easiest topics for him to talk about, aside from blood and war. He had no idea exactly what she was plastering onto his face but he didn’t care in the long run. It was a welcome distraction from the people passing by, and well, having the pretty girl’s undivided attention didn’t feel half bad. In fact, part of him was sort of enjoying her fawning over him. If war painting could be called fawning.

“God?” He questioned, opening one eye then closed it yet again; maybe to keep the paint out, maybe because the brush strokes felt good, maybe a little of both. “Legend,” he corrected, turning his head this way and that whenever she coaxed him. “Though, the words mean the same thing in Saiyan language.” He noticed the gold paint her brush dipped into. “There was a legend of a Saiyan who could turn into a great golden ape. The first of royalty. The most powerful Saiyan to ever live. He conquered planets and was as bright as the sun. He was a legend, a god. But that’s all it was, stories.” He bit the last word through his teeth.

By the time he’d finished with his tale, Bulma seemed to be done with her masterpiece. The prince opened his eyes and couldn’t help but notice the look of triumph on her face thanks to her handy work. Alright, maybe he’d take a look, not that he cared all too much. Leaning into the direction she pointed, the prince caught sight of himself in the nearby mirror. The gold and red dots, the lines of war paint that dripped from his maw. How reminiscent it was of his actual homeland. He had to admit, she did a damn good job. Though, he didn’t say that much. Instead, the prince shrugged his shoulders and replied with a simple, “It’ll have to do.” Though, the smug look on his face said one thing and one thing only -he absolutely loved it. He felt ready for war; holding his chin unusually high.

It was about then that the tail end of the parade pranced by, initiating fireworks. The small pops they’d heard earlier must have just been test runs because the big bangs that were lighting up the sky now were of outstanding proportions. Truly, this planet knew how to party. It’d grown dark in their time talking. Dusk hung over head, giving into night. It was time to go; at least Vegeta was feeling the tug for solitude. He’d had his fill of food and entertainment. He did give the girl one last look before lifting from the bench and heading towards the jungle. If she wanted to get back safely, she’d probably follow him. Maybe some part of him even wanted her to.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I don't think there's much to say this time. Thanks for all the comments saying we deserved the award! I appreciate it, and I'm sure Galactic/Lion does, too. We read every comment, and I've seen some that really touched my heart. Even if I don't respond, I want you guys to know I appreciate them all! Sometimes I just don't know what to say. I'm really glad this "little"(it's so long...!) roleplay can touch so many people's hearts. 
> 
> By the way, back a year ago Galactic/Lion and I did an art collab of the scene near the end of this chapter. If you guys are interested in it and one other little collab we did with it, you can check it out at cappuccino-cosmico.tumblr.com/post/157542937036/i-figured-since-were-finally-done-with-that-art (whew, hopefully I typed that out right)
> 
>   
> 


	22. You're Only A Slave If You Act Like It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma struggles with her ever-continuing homesickness. Vegeta struggles with what is means to be a Saiyan.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

She grinned in response to his reaction. He might have had an attitude about the way he talked, but she could tell he enjoyed it. He had that same smug look on his face he always got when he was… Well. Smug. She grabbed the tortoise shell again and placed it on her lap, again placing the bag of candy inside it before turning her attention back to the parade. It’d gotten dark since they’d been sitting and they’d for real set off fireworks this time. Bright enough to cover the whole sky, but apparently safe for the birds to fly around, because they were having their own little show up there with the fireworks.

“Hn.” She grabbed another piece of meat–tasted like pork chop this time–and began munching on it as she watched the festivities seemingly coming to an end. The parade’s tail was passing them by, and the fat little baby birds were yawning from tiredness because they had stayed up far past their bedtime. Bulma found herself with a little bit of a disappointment that it seemed to end so soon, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. But then Vegeta stood up, and her attention was taken from the festival to him.

“What, we’re leaving?” She got up from her spot and followed him into the woods, still holding onto the shell with one hand, partially resting it on her hip, and eating up the pork chop with her other hand. She knew better than to make the trek without him, especially when it was dark outside– it didn’t bode well for her. She could possibly handle more dinosaurs, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed it when a T-rex came barreling up to her with the intention of eating her.

“Hey, by the way, how long are we going to stay here? I like it here. We’re not leaving any time soon, right? It’d be pretty nice to spend a few more days. It’s like a little vacation. That’s what you wanted from this place, right? …Though, we do need to find a suitable place to sell the puppies to. Do you know anywhere we can do that? I’d rather it not be somewhere where they’re just going to be eating someone for sport or something.”

* * *

His POV

As suspected, she was following him. It was a good thing the earthling was trailing behind so she didn’t have to view the snarky smirk that took the prince’s face. She may have denied belonging to him, but she more than acted it today. Calling for him to rescue her, eating his food, prepping his face for war, following him without being told …he was taking it as a quiet victory. It took every bit of his stubborn headed will power not to say something and gloat, but he resisted. He did want her to follow him rather than run off into the woods only to need saving again, after all.

“We’ll be leaving tomorrow,” he stopped in his tracks into order to throw her a saucy glance. “Unless you’d want me to blow up this planet, _after all_.” ‘After all’ meaning he’d decided to go with her word and spare this rock. The idea of selling the pups for sport did perk his interest. He normally didn’t tell anyone his plans, let alone help them with some given information, but this was different. The girl possessed the ability to spill words right out of his mouth, things he wouldn’t normally adhere to.

“There’s a space station not too far from this planet. A space ring. It’ll provide plenty of places to sell your _adopted offspring_.” He meant that last part as a jab.

At least during their talking they’d made it out of the jungle patch unscathed. Hardly a surprise. The beasts in the brush were already learning to steer clear of the scent of Saiyans. The beach was deserted and the sky was coated thick in velvet and diamond above the lapping coast. Stars, they were almost as vivid as they were from the space pod with how massive the sky dome was on this world. Vegeta didn’t head for the hut. He had no interest in it since their arrival, and he certainly didn’t have any now. Instead, he let the girl trail off wherever she deemed fit. Not forcing himself on her, not grabbing her by the wrist, though the thought did cross his mind, he simply planted himself in the sand instead.

* * *

Her POV

“Tomorrow? …Can’t it at least be tomorrow night? I don’t want to leave that soon.” She let the comment about how she hadn’t wanted the planet to blow up pass (but kept it in the back of her mind for future reference), but… Damn, they couldn’t have at least given her a warning? She really enjoyed this planet. It was horrible to just up and leave so quickly. She let out a little huff as she followed him to the end of the rainforest back into the beach, finishing up her pork chop on the way. When they finally came out the other end, they were greeted by a giant blanket of stars across the night sky, reaching all the way to the horizon where it touched the ocean’s surface. The planet was just so beautiful. How could she not want to stay a little longer?

His comments about the cubs were set in her mind. Alright... So would that be her next stop? Good to know. She almost didn’t want to let go of the pups– she’d made the mistake of naming them, and it had gotten her a little attached. But the last time she fed them, she noticed that their teeth were starting to come in. Little stubs that were just sharp enough to feel like you were getting stabbed by a tack. It wouldn’t be smart to keep the kittens much longer, even if she really wanted to. …Maybe that comment about ‘adopted offspring’ wasn’t too far off. 

She watched him plop down on the sand and thought for a moment that she should just head home. But… Instead, she sat down beside him for reasons she couldn’t explain. Maybe she’d been getting a little more friendly with him. She wanted to get to know him better. She set the tortoise shell between them and drew her knees up to her chest, her eyes focused on him.

“If you want to have any more food, you can. I think I’ve just about had my fill. Except…” She reached out and grabbed the bag of candy. “This.” She opened it up and popped them into her mouth, pleased to find that they were sweet-tasting gummies covered in powdered sugar, almost like Turkish delights. 

* * *

His POV

They were done, weren’t they? By the time Vegeta and the girl returned back to the beach, he’d expected her to go about her night, whatever the hell she normally did. That’s what his men always did. As soon as whatever business they were up to ended, they parted ways without so much as a glance. He’d gotten her back to the safety of the hut, so why the fuck was she walking towards him …sitting next to him? What, had he missed something, what did she want now? His hard vision turned up in her direction, a little bewildered by her presence.

Vegeta was completely confused by the prospects of someone wanting to sit next to him -it put him slightly on guard. The universe gave him a wide berth; his men knew not to follow. And here was this scrawny earthling sitting in the sand next to him as if he wasn’t an alpha predator, the thing that’d raped and bitten her countless times. It felt kind of strange to not sense immediate fear off of someone.

His curiosity slipped, raising the gold dots that flecked over his brows, once he’d decided she wasn’t a threat next to him. He watched her finger the leftover food; popping one of the candies into her mouth. The succulent sweet expression of her enjoyment called him to stare. She’d offered him food and he took it, going for the meat rather than a sweet. A left over pork chop.

He sat in quiet, and after a few moments rolled by the rest of the food was gone, leaving the tortoise shell empty. His belly was full, the sound of surf was filling his head, and the soft wisps of the girl’s hair being tugged along by the ocean wind kept catching his attention from the corner of his eye. It was the only thing that didn’t seem to be painted; her long vibrant hair. It didn’t need it. It was as blue as the sky, if not a little silvery under the moons glow. He hadn’t noticed he’d turned his head to look in her direction, dragging his quiet gaze down the side of her cheek. The soft strands of blue were brushing past her shoulders. That’s when he noticed, “... _your hair is longer now_.”

* * *

Her POV

He was giving her an odd look for not just going back to the hut, but at the mention of food, he certainly dug in. She watched him before she turned her head to look out at the ocean. She kept popping the candies in her mouth, leaving the rest of the food for Vegeta. She made a mental note to go back to town in the morning to have another fill of food, and maybe buy extra so she could eat it later. Who knew what kind of gross food she’d be forced to eat next. She wanted to be able to savor the food here while she could.

“Hmn?” She looked in his direction when he mumbled, and it took her a moment to figure out what he’d said. Her hair had gotten longer? She reached up and ran a hand through it, taking a good look. She hadn’t really noticed. Maybe by an inch or two. Before she’d been kidnapped, she’d been trying to grow it out to the end of her shoulder blades after having cut it pixie-short before. Weird how she just didn’t care anymore; her priorities had changed too much. There were bigger things to worry about.

“I guess it has. I haven’t really been paying attention, but it makes sense. How long has it been since–? A few weeks? A month by now…? …This might be long enough to start putting up in a ponytail again. I missed being able to do things with my hair.” Not that she’d really get the chance in the situation she was in. She was beginning to get homesick again. She wanted to be back on her planet. She wanted to have all her hair products back. When was the last time she’d been able to wash her hair properly?

She let out a little sigh and finished off the rest of the candy before she rolled over onto her stomach. She dug her hands in the sand and began sculpting with it, her brows furrowing.

“It’d be nice if we had more than just pods. I’d be nice to have a real room to myself again.” She didn’t really expect him to listen to her demands, she was just babbling. Babbling about what she missed. She honestly did miss her room. All her belongings she had in there. All the memories. It hurt her heart to know it was all gone. …Maybe with how nice Vegeta was being, he’d eventually let her go back to revive the planet. Maybe he’d even let her stay?

* * *

His POV

He may not have looked it, but he was listening. The prince’s dark gaze was fixed out over the horizon. The vast blanket of stars didn’t affect him as it would some. No, to him it reminded him of places to go, wars long past, and things he’d witnessed. Each star was a place to wage war, every solar system its own banquet of battles. Some saw beauty when they star gazed. Vegeta used the time to plot out his next move like an over-sized road map.

He did that a lot -finding somewhere quiet to think. But his thoughts were distracted when he sensed movement down beside him. It was the earthling’s hands pushing and pulling the damp sand into different shapes and patterns. Just what the fuck was she doing now? His brow twitched, glaring his confusion down at her. The tip of his tail twitched between them in the disturbed crevasses of sand that her fingers had made. Then he noticed the length of her back lying peacefully along the shore. Her back was still painted, her hair drifting along her shoulder line, and he couldn’t help but reach out and brush the ends with his fingertips just enough that it may have felt like a stronger tug of wind.

“Pods are sufficient,” he answered, but his heart wasn’t in it, he was still too busy watching her build things in the silt. “Just what the hell are you doing?” One of his palms rested on his bent knee, leaning himself down for a better scout out of her creations. He didn’t know why, but he had the strongest urge to destroy it. To push his mighty hand into it and break the whole thing apart. Maybe it was his ape like nature riling up, or his Saiyan instinct to ‘conqueror’ anything that remotely resembled a castle. Either way, his hand gripped into the wet sand, giving the tower of silt a sniff, not realizing just how close their faces had grown in the process.

He reeled back before any real damage could be done, and turned his attention towards the empty tortoise shell. Damn, no more meal. Then he saw her empty bag of sticky sweets, noticing she’d missed one in the corner of the crinkly container. He dished it out, popped it in his mouth, and instantly regretted his decision. The stuff got stuck in his maw and had him chewing disgust, like a dog that’d gotten into the peanut-butter. How the hell did she eat these things?

“This shit gets stuck in your teeth,” he ground out, smacking the sticky substance in annoyance.

* * *

Her POV

She was making her home. The Capsule Corporation. She worked at making the domed house, along with its sticking out entrances and the tower-like structures that popped out the top of the building. It was a rather simple structure, and that made it fairly easy to make. It was good that it wasn’t too complex or she might have gotten mad at Vegeta when he grabbed at the sand and took a sniff. She scowled at him when he did it, just waiting for him to notice her irritation.

“It’s my home.” He backed off and she let out a little huff as she fixed the bit of damage he’d made to her structure. And when she was finished with that, she stuck her finger in the sand and began adding details. The windows, the cracks between the doors, the large ‘CAPSULE corp’ words on the front of it. It was… Calming, almost, to be able to do it. It helped her feel closer to home again when it was destroyed on a probably smoldering planet so, so far away.

“Hn?” She glanced up at Vegeta when he complained about the sweets, simply rolling her eyes in response. “Yeah? So does meat. It doesn’t mean it’s not still something yummy to eat.” She waved him off as she finished up with the details, even using some small sticks to create the sign in front of the house. She sat up and marveled at her creation with a small smile, looking more than proud about it. It really looked just like home. Then again, you don’t so easily forget the home you’d been living in for close to thirty years.

“See? This is my home. We get earthquakes a lot, so that’s what the dome shape is for. It’s stable, so nothing breaks or falls down when an earthquake happens. My dad came up with the design a little after he came up with capsules. Almost everyone has a house like that now, so that’s part of why we’re so rich. You can’t go to a single town without seeing the influence of the Capsule Corporation.”

* * *

His POV

She was talking about ‘home’ again. Vegeta hardly understood the meaning behind the word in the first place. After all, roaming from place to place, he hadn’t had a territory to call his own for quite some time. Never really, if he were thinking about somewhere he had to rule. But this female seemed enamored by the thought of a house, by roots, by a place to stay. And though the big brute may not have understood it, he was still watching, listening, though holding the softest of grimaces on his face in contemplation.

She’d taken to filling in the finer details of her masterpiece. Sticks, lines, what he assumed to be a door and windows. He could barely recall what the homesteads of her planet looked like; though he gave her a sly look when she mentioned the structure’s design came from her family. After a while every planet eventually bled together. He remembered that her planet had water, that it was blue, and that was about it. Though, he did quirk a brow at the writing on the side of the dome. He hadn’t seen that language before. The prince couldn’t make out what it said, but she filled it in for him when she called it ‘Capsule Corporation’. It must have been her native language.

“Dome houses, exploding capsules, blue hair,” he listed it off as if it all sounded ridiculous to him, which it sort of did. Vegeta’s thick shoulders landed back in the sand, having his fill of paying attention. He’d only come out here to contemplate where they’d be going after the space ring since this planet was a bust as far as profit. All because of that female.

He glanced at her from where he’d pressed back into the shore. Just what the hell was he going to do with her now? The question was still up in the air. If he really wasn’t going to fuck her maybe he could sell her. No, that idea made him instantly angry, knitting his brows while he thought. Not touching her was proving frustrating, but hearing her sob under him was even worse. He hated it. Maybe he should leave her on some god forsaken planet. No again, there was always a nagging in the back of his brain when they were separated. Maybe he should just kill her. Maybe that’s what he should have done in the first place.

The prince pressed his heavy forearm over the bridge of his painted nose, blotting out the stars above. His tail flopped, irritated, ignoring the girl -whatever she was doing by now. Maybe he _should_ kill her. She certainly wasn’t slave or whore material. Though, that brought up a memory. The idea of the brothel when he’d first truly lusted over her. The sight of her squirming, the vision of her lapping at that nymph’s lips. A heavy sigh ran from his chest. That’s right, he still didn’t know what the fuck she’d been doing with her mouth. If he was going to get rid of her he may as well ask, that’s if he were to ever demand that particular type of pleasure from a random whore. 

“When you pressed you mouth on that whore, at the brothel,” he spoke up, but didn’t bother opening his eyes, recollecting. “What was it?”

* * *

Her POV

“Am I that confusing of a person to you?” She asked without looking at him, pointing out the way he listed off the pieces of her that she supposed made her unique. Blue hair was rare on her planet, but was it truly that rare anywhere else in the universe? It was an ego boost to know that her family line stuck out even in the vastness of everywhere outside of the Earth. Both their technology and their genetics. She pressed her elbows in the sand and rested her chin on her hands, admiring her work of art as she thought about it. She wasn’t a slave. She’d never be a slave. No matter where in the world she was, she’d still be the beautiful, unique, clever Bulma Briefs, heiress to the Capsule Corporation.

Her eyes looked out at the beautiful sky, with the two moons looming overhead. Small, but still enough to light up the ocean with their white reflections. Beautiful. She let out a sigh at the sight, even though she was still feeling homesick. She knew Yamcha, Goku, and the other fighters she knew were all training with a guy named King Kai. But what were her parents doing now? Were their pets in Otherworld with them? She didn’t think they’d be truly happy otherwise, so she hoped so.

“…Hn?” Her head turned over her shoulder to look at Vegeta. What was that he said? It processed in her head, and her eyebrows fell flat, with her lips pouting and her cheeks turning pinker than usual. “Don’t bring that up. They drugged me. It’s… It’s embarrassing to think about. Don’t remind me about it.” She turned her face forward again, her eyes focusing in on the little sand version of the Capsule Corporation she’d made. …What had he said, anyway? She thought for a few more seconds about it, furrowing her brows. He was asking…?

“Were you just asking me what a kiss was?” She turned her body to her side so she could properly look at him, staring at him with a disturbed expression. He was so fucked up of a man that he didn’t even know what a kiss was?

“That better be what you were asking, because if you were trying to ask me how it felt or something like that, you’re going to regret it. That’s a disgusting question.” _And_ it disturbed her to know it stuck with him so much that he thought about it so often.

* * *

His POV

Of course she confused him, what sort of question was that?! The prince lost a huff from his cheeks, still refusing to give the girl any form of attention. Everything he’d found out about her was confusing, even the way he felt towards her was complicated. She was a bewitching, bewildering, survivalist brat, all wrapped into one frail little female. As smart as a whip and as demanding as a queen. What part of her existence wasn’t supposed to confuse the bastard prince?

Vegeta uncovered his eyes just in time to witness the girl’s bright pink pout over take her cheeks, blaring her disapproval down at him for mentioning the brothel. It put a little smug grin on his face that he’d annoyed her so easily. He watched her jerk her disturbance away and towards the rolling ocean. He was about to tell her ‘not to be embarrassed about it’ but then he couldn’t rightly talk. Vegeta remembered being drugged and embarrassed to his wits end once. So instead, he settled on commenting, “ _You were very good at it._ ” His voice was nearly too low to catch, its baritone timbre blending in the roar of the ocean. He’d meant it as a compliment, but it probably came out a little too perverse. He did love taunting her, after all.

Then she began spitting new complaints at him and the prince couldn’t help but finally give her a disgruntled look, uncovering his sights from his forearm. She’d asked him if he was referring to... Whatever the word was. Getting upset over nothing as far as he was concerned. He’d asked her something simple and she was going off on different sex positions by the sounds of it. 

“How the hell am I supposed to know? That’s why I was asking you!” He barked, rolling his spine up off the sand. “If you want to tell me how it felt, be my guest.” His wry smirk was back at play. He did enjoy getting her fired up, but that still hadn’t answered his question. No sooner had his amusement in her banter come, it’d gone. Vegeta was even a little flustered. Frustrated that he had to ask a second time. Requesting tips on pleasure seeking wasn’t exactly something he’d normally do ...but he was curious, especially now that she’d begun talking.

“ _Kiss,_ ” he tried to repeat the word but nearly failed; rolling an ‘r’ in there somewhere. It was obvious it wasn’t part of his native language, the word hung off his tongue like a foreign object. “What the hell is a kiss?” He glared at her, puffing up his chest until he was nearly nose to nose, ready to snap out more words. “I was asking about …oh, just forget it!” He barked, turning his head away and glaring out over the sandy shore. Resting his forearms on his bent knees in dismay, a firm pout sunk into his face; he could feel his cheeks burning. For all the times for her not to babble on about something, this had to be the worst! Maybe he should have asked about sex positions instead. She really was a perverted woman!

* * *

Her POV

So he really didn’t know? He seemed embarrassed about not knowing, either. It was enough of a surprise that she let the comments that’d otherwise piss her off completely pass. Seriously. This man was a kiss-virgin? He’d really, truly, never been kissed in his life? Was it so rare in the universe he didn’t understand what it even was? What the hell? She stared at him with that same disturbed expression even as he grumbled a ‘forget it’ and looked away. Seriously...?

“You’ve really, truly never kissed someone before?” All his barking hadn’t fazed her. Even when he got so close, she didn’t seem to mind. She just stared at him with that same expression. Actually, she almost pitied him. Kissing was wonderful. It was one of her favorite things to do, honestly. There was just something amazing about feeling that close to someone without going the whole nine yards. It was so versatile, too. It could be innocent or sexual, simple or passionate, a way to say hello or a way to say goodbye… It was such a big part of her culture, it baffled her that he had no clue.

…Damn it, she hated herself what she was about to do, but she couldn’t help it. She reached out and grabbed Vegeta’s chin so that she could force him to face her again, and then gave a quick press of her lips to his. It was as quick as she could manage, then she let go and stood up. Her hands pressed to her hips and she stared down at him with that little pout, one brow raised.

“That was a kiss. Alright? It’s just when you put two people’s lips together. A kiss. I can’t believe you’ve never had one before. Back on Earth, people make fun of you if you’ve never done it. It’s worse than being a virgin. Being a kiss-less virgin. Hasn’t your mother ever kissed you, at least? You… You aliens are odd.” She turned her body and trudged through the sand back to the hut, refusing to spend extra amounts of time with him willingly after doing something so embarrassing. But… It was alright, right? He’d been saving her recently. He wasn’t forcing himself on her anymore. He fed her, let her do as she pleased. It was just a way to give back.

* * *

His POV

Vegeta was willing to let the conversation wither and die. Refusing to answer her when she’d asked him if he’d ever experienced a kiss. It wasn’t bad enough that she’d embarrassed him, but she hadn’t answered him either. Or at least he thought she hadn’t. She was still ranting and raving about that damn word. The woman was clearly confused by his question, and the prince was steadily getting irritated. As if it were something known throughout the universe, as if her inadequate cultural habits had any notion among the stars. Honestly, was she so egotistical?

He was just about to give her what for, fed up of the awkward silence between them and head back down the beach himself, when she grabbed him by the jaw and planted one right on his firm lips. He wasn’t expecting it. The press of her mouth caught him completely off guard, enough so that he hadn’t had time to process what was happening until she’d parted away.

He gave her a mystified look, staring up at her from under a hard brow when she rose above him. Unconsciously, he brushed his fingertips over his newly tingling mouth, piecing it together. It had been quick, just enough to explain to him what she was talking about. What do you know, they’d been referring to the same act the entire time. So that was a _kiss_. Who knew? And then she scolded him for never having partaken in the act, like some weakling runt that couldn’t get any tail, and the prince felt his anger begging to boil back up again. Though, it was hard to be angry when he was more buzzed than ever. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t wish it’d lasted longer.

“I am no _virgin_.” As if he had to tell _her_ that. “Why the hell would I go around putting my mouth on other people?! Saiyans do not kiss anyone!” Yeah, he barked that, but he’d been begging for answers about it not moments before. The prince was defending himself. Though, part of him craved another despite his conveying that it was unnatural. He even stood up, tensing his muscles much like the dominant male he was. He could very easily demand she pleasure him. That she show him more. The idea was clearly burning across his painted forehead, but ...he didn’t. Despite all the tail twitching, Vegeta let her go. Jerking his head harshly away from the hut and towards the sands, he marched off into a different direction. It looked like he’d be calling it a night under the starts yet again.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t so much as look over her shoulder at him when he barked in her direction, and instead just kept walking. Feh. No way she’d pay him any mind. She only really waved him off as she kept her walk to the hut. She was sleepy, and she had to feed the puppies again. She didn’t have time to listen to him acting like a bashful idiot because she’d so kindly let him witness what a kiss was. It still surprised her that he had no clue. Seriously…

When she returned to the hut, she opened up the cage to greet the yelping cubs. They were hungry, clearly. She went to work with feeding them, but even after, she’d left the cage open to play with them. They’d had to be cooped up in that thing to stay cool, but she did miss the little guys. They’d seemed to miss her, too, so she decided to spend some time playing with them. Giving them their own little kisses that they returned with their disturbingly wide purple tongues of theirs, with the occasional slightly painful nibble. Should she still be feeding them milk? There was hardly any left over. Maybe she should start giving them meat instead.

An hour or two passed, and that was finally when Bulma decided to call it a night. She shuffled them all into their cage, which wasn’t hard at all– they were beginning to yawn and weren’t as hyper as they were before. They were getting tired, she could tell. They didn’t protest being put in their comfortably cold little cage, and Bulma was able to get back to her hammock in peace. Her stomach did growl a little when she laid down, but… She’d just have to ignore it. She wasn’t about to go on a midnight run.

…Where was Vegeta, anyway? She didn’t really care about whether or not the other two were here, but Vegeta was missing again. …Maybe he just didn’t like to sleep in hammocks? Maybe he was still embarrassed about that kiss? That’d be pretty funny. It was only a kiss, after all.

* * *

His POV

He’d walked down the beach for some time. Sticking to the shore line, he left behind a faint trail of footprints before they were swept away by the incoming tide. Bulma had really caught him off guard. It was rare the prince found himself in a position of ‘taken by surprise’. He’d made a life style of staying on the alert, but he wasn’t particularly opposed to what happened either. He tried to push it out of his thoughts the longer he lingered down the beach, but it was hard. There was something about it he couldn’t quite grasp. He hadn’t forced her to show him, to display the kiss so openly, yet she’d pressed her mouth to his on her own accord. Albeit, only for the breath of a heartbeat. But still, she’d done it by choice. Something about that was fascinating ...he kind of liked the idea of it.

It wasn’t Vegeta, but the other two lugs that came noisily barreling into the tiny hut some hours later. They were both covered in paint. Nappa was printed up to look like an oversized rainbow parrot with scales down his legs. No need for hair anymore, his bald head was completely covered in colorful streaks of paint. Raditz on the other hand, had been attacked by one of the flower girls, or so it appeared. His hair was braided into a massive, thick rope down his back; dotted with jungle flowers all the way down. A crown of tropical leaves was on his head and his bare skin had also been attacked by a painters brush.

Both of them had been conversing when they shoved their way into the sleepy hut, but both quieted when they noticed the girl laying in one of the hammocks. Nappa gave Raditz a sidelong look. As if instigating a little pay back on the girl for what they’d been put through earlier that day. Raditz, who was gnawing on a giant leg of meat, had other ideas about Nappa’s revenge plan.

“Oh no...” Raditz spoke up, raising his hands in defense. “I’m not getting my teeth kicked in because I touched Vegeta’s slut again. If you want to, fine, I’m going to bed.”

Nappa grunted, calling Raditz a ‘pussy’ under his breath. The bald man didn’t want to be punished alone so relented in raping the girl, instead crawling into the top bunk grumpily. Raditz sat on the edge of his bottom hammock, just under Nappa. His outline was still ripping chunks form the hunk of meat he held in his hand. The glow of his night vision flicked towards the girl opposite of him, but he didn’t say anything. If Bulma stayed quiet, there was a good chance both of the soldiers would be asleep before too long.

* * *

Her POV

She woke up when the two Saiyans came into the hut, but pretended she was asleep. Her heart began beating fast again at the sudden silence, likely from them realizing she was alone, and it was made worse when Raditz confirmed her fears by telling Nappa that he wasn’t about to get his teeth kicked in by Vegeta again. She fully expected Nappa to grab her by the wrist and start raping her in what they assumed to be an unconscious state, but… Minutes passed. Nothing happened. She opened an eye carefully to see them both in their hammocks. She let out a little breath of relief and fell asleep, even if her stomach had growled a little louder at the sound of Raditz munching on some food.

She awoke with the morning light again, feeling refreshed. The puppies were beginning to yip from hunger, but she figured she likely didn’t have enough milk to feed them all. Raditz had finished off even the bone of whatever he’d been eating last night, obviously, because she saw no remainder other than one or two pathetic crumbs. Damn. It looked like she’d have to be making her way through the jungle to get to town again. She got off the hammock and closed up the cage, careful not to squish any of them as she forced it down to the original carrier size, and promptly picked it up.

“Alright, cubbies. We’re going to go on an adventure today.” She spoke in a whisper just so she wouldn’t wake up Nappa or Raditz as she headed out the hut, breathing in the warm salt air at the first step. The puppies were yipping louder and she found that it had become much harder to carry them all. It was only a few days, and yet they’d all grown a pound or two each. It certainly added up. She supposed this was a good thing– it was a way to work out. The starvation she’d gone through probably destroyed a lot of her muscle. She had to start working out again. 

She scanned the coast to look for Vegeta to see if he’d give her a little tour to the town before they could leave for the pods, but she didn’t see him. Maybe he was sleeping in some bushes or something. Or maybe he was already in town. Without any other option, she headed into the rainforest to make the trek to town for food. She had the money on her, so she should be able to pay for all her cubs as well as herself. She just had to worry about running into another T-rex. 

* * *

His POV

The morning hit Raditz hard, as it usually did. The man was a heavy sleeper. His party-animal tenancies probably only hardened that fact. He’d drank, fucked, and even danced the night away. The reminiscence of paint was still smeared all over his body, particularly around his waistline—evidence that he’d fucked something probably before, during, and after being painted up. Soldier life under Vegeta wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t too bad either. The big bloke had been expected to be dead by this point in his life by most of his comrades. Yet here he was, waking up to another morning on some random-ass planet as one of the only Saiyan survivors. Take that, ‘natural order’.

It was sad to say he had no breakfast waiting for him. Damn, maybe finishing off the bone last night hadn’t been the greatest idea. The big Saiyan rubbed the sleep from his eye with a dirty palm, glancing around the morning soaked hut. That’s when he noticed the cubs were missing. Hell, the girl was missing too! Maybe Vegeta came to get them in the night, or that morning. Maybe they’d be leaving so. But that couldn’t be it. The hut didn’t smell like their leader. Just what the fuck had happened to the pups? He was kind of curious.

The long haired male, his mane still tied back into a full braid, made way out of the hut. Stretching his big body in the morning sun, he spotted something along the jungle tree line in the distance. His vision was acute enough to make out that it was the girl, toting the cage the pups with her. And it looked like she was struggling, that got a dark laugh out of the soldier.

“Hey, what the hell are you doin’?” Raditz boomed from behind her. He had flown to catch up with her, noisily landing in the brush, then trotted up to question her from behind. He wasn’t as stealthy as the prince, leaving plenty of trail and noisiness behind him. His eyes were fixed on the cage the pups were in. Scowling a little when he heard them crying from their tiny prison. What, was she getting rid of them already? He’d sort of hoped he’d get to see them fight at least once. If anything, at least watch them take down their first kill. Too bad.

* * *

Her POV

She trotted into the rainforest and it seemed to be quiet, other than a brachiosaurus that had lowered its head to pick a particularly delicious flower close by. It eyed her curiously, but she didn’t bother him, and he didn’t bother her. She even hesitated for a bit to watch the animal before Raditz’s booming voice caused her to jump and the dinosaur to find food elsewhere. She turned her body quickly in the direction of the sound to find Raditz staring down at her, questioning her.

“You scared me! Geeze! You can’t be quieter? I’m just trying to get to town. I’m hungry, and so are the pups. There’s not enough milk to keep feeding them with it, and their teeth are coming in, so I thought it was about time to give them some meat instead. They’ve just… Packed on a few pounds.” Clearly. It seemed pretty obvious to her that she was struggling a little with the carrier. That’s when something occurred to her, like a lightbulb going off in her head. She pushed the carrier into his hands.

“You can come with me. You’re probably better at figuring out how to get there than I am, I got lost last time when I tried walking alone. You’re probably hungry too, right? It’s not like I’ll pay for you or anything, but you can at least go to where there’ll be a bite to eat. It benefits all of us.” A second passed, and she quickly added on: “By the way, don’t take them out of their carrier. They overheat quickly. It’s nice and cool in their carrier, so they can live. But they’ll die if they spend too much time outside of it. Okay? Okay. So let’s go.” She didn’t give him the option to argue, instead beginning the trek as quick as possible. 

“Come on.”

* * *

His POV

It was a good thing Bulma told him not to open up the pup’s cage because that was exactly what he was starting to do the moment she shoved the carrier into his big hands. It wasn’t heavy enough to warrant a grunt, but the annoyance on his face said plenty. He didn’t like being ordered around by a female a third his size, but what could he do? He couldn’t punish her, couldn’t pin her down without Vegeta pummeling him, and well ...the pups were kind of cool. 

Raditz forgot his irritation as soon as he stuck his nose between the bars of the cooled container. All the little pups mewling, happy to see him. …At least that’s how he was taking it. So, they were getting nippy for meat, were they? That painted a great big smirk onto his face. 

“Of course they need meat! What the hell have you been feeding them? Rocks?” The big Saiyan looked back. He’d taken the lead towards town after she’d demanded him show her the way. Not that it was too big of a deal, he was headed that direction himself. His big footsteps easily over took her own, pressing through the thick jungle and basically cutting a path with his giant physique. Really, the man was a bulldozer and he probably didn’t realize it.

He’d carried the cubs past the jungle line and into the beginnings of town. The locals were already awake and buzzing this morning. Early birds, who would of guessed. Stalls were trying to sell fruits, meats, and chains of ocean beads. Raditz nose was already quirking, picking up the best place to get a bite to eat. However, when he pointed in the direction of the local eatery that he and Nappa had visited the first night they’d landed, he spotted something other than food.

It was Vegeta, sitting on top of the buildings wooden shingled roof, watching the passersby below. Raditz halted, not caring if Bulma bumped into him or not. His attention was on his leader, being aloof as ever. But as soon as Vegeta glared in their direction, the prince darted off into a random direction. Disappearing like a gust of blue wind. It was then Raditz eyed the girl who’d been trailing him. Arching a questioning brow, he was suspicious as to what her and the prince often got up to. They were alone together a lot after all.

“Why the hell haven’t you gotten pregnant yet?” He blurted out, moving towards the eatery. “You’ve been fucked a lot, right? What’s wrong, are you infertile or something? Kakarot had a son, so I know it’s possible.”

* * *

Her POV

She followed him through the rainforest, wrinkling her nose at his comment. “No,” she replied. “I was feeding them milk from their mother. Weren’t you paying attention? But now their teeth have grown in, and they should be able to eat meat just fine. I don’t think there was a whole lot of food on that planet to eat, but I did see fish deeper in the cave. I’m thinking that that’s probably what they’d eat. Fish…” She was certain there’d be a lot to buy in town. And Raditz was certainly helpful with leading her there, even creating a nice path as he walked by destroying every branch or bush that was in his way.

They reached the town in no time, but almost as soon as she stepped onto the dirt road, she ran straight into Raditz’s back. She grumbled and glanced to see what he was looking at, but shut up quickly when she saw Vegeta. Hn. So that’s where he was. It was odd to see him run away so quickly at just the sight of them, but she let it pass and instead walked around Raditz to take the carrier from him. She needed to work her muscles out a little, right? She could handle the rest. But just when she reached out to take the carrier, Raditz blurted out something that caused her face to contort in disgust. Eugh!

“Pregn… And… Why do you have to put it that way? ‘I’ve been fucked a lot.’ That’s awful to say!” She forgot all about carrying the pups and just followed Raditz, a scowl clear on her face. Though there was that little reminder that Goku had a son. She had forgotten about it; Raditz had only mentioned it for a split second very early on. It hurt to be reminded. …She’d try to contact Yamcha again later to ask about him. What was his name? What did he look like? What kind of a father was Goku? Was he still with him, over in Otherworld?

“…I have an implant,” she finally said. “It’s a chip. It prevents me from getting pregnant. Back when I was with Yamcha, he really wanted to settle down, but I didn’t. So I had an implant so we could mess around without having to worry about what happens. It lasts for like… Five years or something. I put a new one in two years ago, so I have a while.” She kept quiet about where it was just to be safe. She didn’t want anyone ripping it out. Not only would that be excruciatingly painful, but she absolutely didn’t want to get pregnant in the situation she was in, by the men she was around.

* * *

His POV

Raditz was half listening to the female yammer on. Not even fazed by her scolding him, in fact he dug into his ear out of boredom. He was too busy looking for food. At least he was picking up on tidbits of information here and there. Probably best for Bulma’s sake that he wasn’t fully paying attention, or else he may of made a mental note to tell the others next he was around his comrades. He did side eye her, however, when they arrived at the eatery. It was just an outside bar with a rooftop, its stools open to the public. All a customer had to do was take a seat and they’d have their order taken in no time.

Raditz stepped right up, clearing the way of a couple of perched birds to claim a seat for himself. The birds squawked and flapped away. The pet carrier dropped right beside him with a thud. He really was careless, or oblivious one, to how powerful his mere body weight could be. The Saiyan started ordering two of everything on the menu. It wasn’t until he was done ordering his massive meal that he turned back towards Bulma.

“Implant,” he finally commented with a shrug. “I guess that’s pretty clever. Does Vegeta know about that? I mean, of course he does, he’s our leader,” he paused, a great big gyro aimed half way for his mouth, “But just in case. I mean, if he’s trying to mate with you and all.” The soldier bit into his sandwich before realizing what he’d said. Once he realized he nearly choked, trying to swallow the massive bite of food. “Not that he is! Oh shit …don’t you dare tell him I said that, or else!” The Saiyan looked genuinely scared, actually giving Bulma his full attention for the first time.

“It’s just a theory me and Nappa have, there’s nothing to it. Vegeta would never fall for stupid instincts, he’s too smart for that,” he reassured her, as well as himself. Raditz angrily munched into the rest of his food. Downing one pita packed sandwich, and then another. He’d ordered a ton of food, and it was steadily being funneled onto the bar top. Beer was next, he’d need a drink to cool down his anxiety. The Saiyan wasn’t the most confident in the bunch, and now he had to hope some little female didn’t go ratting him out.

* * *

Her POV

He led her to a stall and even made room for her. Well. He didn’t, but the birds decided to make sure to give her space as well, just to be certain. She steadied the carrier that had been rudely and haphazardly tossed down and took her seat on the opposite side of it to Raditz, eyeing him as he spoke. There was no way in hell she’d mention it to Vegeta, and if she did, there was no way in hell that she’d let him figure out where in her body it was. She turned her attention instead to the person running the stall and ordered a large amount of fish and a dish of shrimp and any kind of fruity drink and vegetable side they had to offer.

When it was placed in front of her and she promptly paid, she popped a shrimp into her mouth before opening the cage and setting one of the fish inside to see if they’d eat. They munched away and fought, so she threw in another so there’d be enough to go around. She focused on her own meal then– shrimp, a pineapple and mango smoothie, and… What vegetable was this? They tasted like asparagus. But she needed all the food groups, so she wouldn’t complain. She still wasn’t doing well weight-wise.

“…Raditz.” It was odd, saying his name. She hardly ever did. Even saying ‘Vegeta’ was still odd to her. But something had come to her mind and was bothering her. She wanted to see if she could pull some information from him. “I won’t tell Vegeta about what you said if you answer some questions of mine. Like… I want to know. Goku’s son? You mentioned him before. Tell me about him. What did he look like? How old was he? Did you remember what his name was? I knew Goku really well, since he was a little kid. I want to know.” Could she really be blamed? She was his first friend, and a close one at that. She wanted to know about the life he lived that she never got to catch up on.

“Ah, and… What happened to Earth, do you guys know? Who did you sell it to? What did they want from it? Resources? Space? Did they terraform it? Or is it the same as before…?” She felt she might not like the answer to these questions, but they just began spilling out. All the things she so desperately wanted to know and yet wished weren’t real… What if it had been totally destroyed? Or completely wiped so the dragon balls hadn’t survived?

* * *

His POV

Raditz was doing his best to focus on his meal and wish away the circumstances he’d gotten himself into. What a mess. Was this girl really trustworthy? Troublesome was more like it. He side eyed her, trying to come up with a way to instill fear into her, to make sure that she never muttered a word to Vegeta, or even Nappa, about what he’d said. Then the girl spoke up for him and offered him a deal. It was if she was reading Raditz mind. So, all he’d have to do is spill a bit of information and she wouldn’t tell the boss? It was suspicious, and it took him a few heart beats to agree, but Raditz really wasn’t in a place to argue. Blackmail, it was a language he understood.

It was just as odd to him to hear her try and pronounce his name. It turned his attention from his food, listening to her long list of questions. Boy, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. It felt like digging himself an even deeper hole. Though, her curiousness seemed innocent enough, even if she did keep using the name ‘Goku’. She claimed to know his brother, and Raditz couldn’t help but be a little curious about him himself. It is why he’d traveled to earth in the first place - to find his brother. Now that the initial wound of Kakarot betraying them was healing up, he found himself in the mood to talk about it too, but not without finishing his next sandwich first.

“You’re talking about Kakarot,” he corrected with his mouth full. “And his brat of a son. Yeah, I remember them. I don’t know.” He stopped eating just long enough to try and recapture what the squirt looked like. “He looked like any Saiyan cub. Black hair, black eyes, brown tail, short. I think Kakarot kept calling him Goku... No, Gomen? Goham... Whatever his name was, he sure was whiny, but he had a high power level. He had great potential.” He bit the head off of a whole fish, thinking he’d answered her in full. Her next question wasn’t so easy to answer. It was the Prince’s territory to decide what to do with the planets they conquered. It wasn’t Raditz place to blab Vegeta’s business.

“Those are more questions for Vegeta… He’s the only one who’d know who bought it, if anyone has yet,” he murmured, but he had remembered their deal. He spoke up a little more, just to cover his tracks. “Once we conqueror a planet Vegeta usually sells it to the Planetary Trade System. The highest bidders take it from there and do whatever the fuck they want to with it.” He flicked his gaze towards her. “Your planet wasn’t exactly on the list; it was barely on the map. I managed to convince Vegeta to go there in search of my brother… I’d convinced him that collecting the last of our race would make us stronger …but, Kakarot didn’t want to go. He didn’t want me to train his son either.” He shrugged. “So a fight broke out, and, well, planets usually burn after a fight like that.”

“Now I have a question for you. You kept calling my brother ‘Goku’. Why’s that? Come to think of it, what the fuck do they call you?” Not that he cared too much, but mentioning ‘Goku’ ‘Kakarot’ and ‘Goham’, was it? He was a little curious. Alien names could be so weird.

* * *

Her POV

The description wasn’t much to go on; though it was a curiosity in the fact he had a tail. Just like Goku. Hn. And… ‘Goham?’ It was Gohan! She stared down at her food as she ate, her brows raised. He named his son after his grandpa. A little sigh left her lips. She felt terrible knowing it. Hn… Maybe he got to know Grandpa Gohan where he was now. However, it reinforced her belief these men were truly monstrous. They killed children. Even children of their own race. Their own blood.

Her eyes turned so she could stare at him out of the corner of her eye. They didn’t know what happened to her planet, but they hadn’t been planning on going. It was only Raditz who convinced Vegeta to make the move. It was Raditz. He destroyed her planet. He killed Yamcha. Goku. Goku’s son. Her parents. Everyone. He was the reason she went through the hell she did. It was all him. Her hatred of the Saiyan grew, and suddenly she found herself unable to be in his presence. She couldn’t stand another second around him, knowing what she now did.

She put her plate on top of the carrier and got up off the seat. She picked up the carrier and left, unsure of where she even wanted to go. Not back to the hut, but certainly not near him anymore. She debated to go find Vegeta, but… No. She didn’t want to be around him either. He may have been nice recently, but it didn’t change the past. It felt like an old wound being torn open again. She just… She just wished none of this ever happened. She just wished it was a terrible, horrible nightmare.

She kept walking even if it was damn heavy, and after a moment she found somewhere to sit under a tree in a more quiet part of town. She sniffled quietly as she set the carrier down between her legs, forgetting all about how hungry she was. The pain in her heart took all importance. Sniffles turned into sobs, and suddenly it was like she was recently captured again. She cried the same way she did when she had seen the state of her planet, or the times the men had pinned her down and forced themselves on her. Loudly and pathetically. The pups cried back in response to her sobs, but she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t stop crying.

* * *

His POV

Had it been something he said? Raditz swiveled his head once he noticed the girl was making a run for it. She looked slightly irate, but that was about all the emotion that the big selfish lug picked up. The real thing he noticed was her lack of answering his questions. Not that it mattered too much. The soldier shrugged it off, returning to the big meaty fish between his hands, digging into the rest of his order. Who was he to stop her? Even if she was taking away the pups, the man hardly cared. In fact, he’d forgotten all about her by the time he started on his third drink.

She was crying again.

Of course Vegeta had kept the pair at an eye’s distance. Too far to listen, but close enough to watch in silent contemplation. The prince hadn’t wanted to be spotted that morning. Seeing the two venture into town had intruded on his solitude. The girl seemed to have a knack for finding him just as much as he had the notion to find her out. He didn’t want to confront them; too moody and stewing in his own turbulent thought process. Meeting down with them would mean leaving this rock, commanding orders, and Vegeta wasn’t quite ready to be squished into the tiny pod with the female again just yet. So instead, he waited.

He watched. The loud voice of his thoughts taming down the further he tuned into watching the girl sit, eat, and generally be a nuisance to his soldier. Served Raditz right, the prince smirked to himself, let her annoy someone else for a change. Watching her had become peace inducing, until her posture began to look uneasy. She was losing her poise, and then ran off with the pups in tow. It was slightly amusing, Vegeta inwardly mocking the female, following her quietly, above in the shade of jungle trees.

She was sobbing…

He really did hate that god awful sound. Kami, did she have to blubber so much? The weeps and sniffles of her choking breath grated on his nerves. His better judgment told him to ignore it, to walk away. But there was that instinct raising its ugly head. He couldn’t fight the urge to stoop down from his hidden position and drop himself down beside the whimpering female. He landed right beside her on his haunches as quietly as a cat dropping from a tree. His vision fixed on her, permanently, seriously. He didn’t have to ask why she was crying. Instead, he looked over his shoulder, towards where she’d left Raditz, then back to her. As if confirming _‘he made you cry’_. His head tilted and he shot her a sarcastic-deadpanned look that asked, ‘ _do you want me to beat him up too?_ ’ Mocking, it was his odd way of trying to comfort her.

* * *

Her POV

She kept crying. In the back of her head, she did acknowledge that Raditz had asked what her name even was. Why she called Goku by his name. It made it all the worse. Someone who didn’t know about her or her life single-handedly destroyed everything she ever knew, because he wanted to see a brother than didn’t really exist. And then he killed his brother. And his own nephew. There was just something so completely overwhelming about the knowledge. Just knowing she really was surrounded by such monsters… It broke her spirit. She wished everything could just be back to how it used to be. 

But even if she managed to get the dragon balls, would it really? What if Vegeta just came back for her? And even worse, it’s not like she could just forget everything that happened. She’d still been tortured and abused. As much as she wanted to wipe it clean, all those beatings and rapes had happened. Even if she was safe again, would she ever truly feel safe? She still had the lingering feeling of Zarbon with her still, even if she didn’t show it. He still haunted her in her dreams, even if she managed to sleep through the night. How different would it be when back home? Even if Vegeta was nice to her now, he was still someone who killed without caring. And Raditz and Nappa only needed a window of opportunity before they’d pin her down and rape her again.

Speaking of Vegeta. She wasn’t even surprised this time when he appeared. He always seemed to when she least wanted him around. She wiped her eyes and stared up at him, her lip trembling. His face was similar to Raditz’s, now that she thought of it. …She wondered who exactly killed Goku and Gohan. And Yamcha. Vegeta liked battle. How many of her friends and loved ones had he personally killed? How gruesome were the deaths? She’d seen him kill many before. She saw how he killed Zarbon. He wasn’t one for doing things cleanly and painlessly. How much did Yamcha have to suffer? How much did Goku’s toddler son have to suffer? Did Chi-Chi have to witness her family die? That was at least one solace she took from what happened– she didn’t personally see her loved ones die, and they didn’t see her get… Violated. She gagged when the memory came back to her mind, as fresh as it had been when she first woke up after the fact. 

_“Go away,”_ she told him coldly between haggard breaths, turning her body away from him. Even if he was nice now, he still did what he did. He was still the one to shove his cock in her mouth back then. To rape her as many times as he did, and get off to her fighting back. Even that time that Vegeta jacked off while maintaining eye contact until he came onto her naked body came to mind with such malice that she wondered why she stopped trying to kill him. But even now, she didn’t try. She just wanted to cry. She just… Wanted to wake up from this nightmare. But rather than wallow in pity, she began to feel angry. Angry in a way she hadn’t felt in so long.

Her head turned to look at him, even colder than before. “You guys… didn’t even… want my planet… You just… You just wanted to v-visit Goku… and… And then you had to destroy everything, because he wasn’t like you! That’s all you ever do! That’s all any of you ever do! Destroy!” The longer her outburst went on, the less she blubbered and the louder she got. She began to yell at him, but when she was finished, she covered her mouth and turned away again. Then the sobs came again, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Couldn’t he just go away?

* * *

His POV

Sarcasm wasn’t working, threats weren’t working. What the hell was he supposed to do with this emotional mess of an earthling? Little to his knowledge, he was probably just making it worse. Vegeta shook his head, glaring at her when she bit out for him to ‘ _go away’_ , tossing his presence aside as she turned her back on him. Something was wrong and he didn’t have the damnedest clue as to what. Though, the look on her face just moments before she’d hidden herself from him. It was the look of someone remorseful. What the hell had she and Raditz actually been speaking about?

Not that it mattered, the real reason Vegeta wanted to get to the bottom of this was to keep from having a sobbing female in his lap on the long journey to their next destination. It was time to go. He’d dropped down to tell her that. Well… some part of him had been perked with interest at her current emotional state. Staring right back at her, he tried to figure the woman out. He almost reached out to touch her, to give some firm lecture, but then she turned around -beating him to the punch.

The cold hard truth shot out of her mouth like venom. The glare in her watery blue eyes spoke volumes. There was that fire back in her eye, the hate that he craved. But it was different, warped this time. Her fire turned to cold malice, shooting icy daggers, and it was aiming for him. Curse that damned Raditz for bringing up her planet. He would have to remember to punish his soldier later for this, if only for the inconvenience of the situation.

“Yes,” his dark voice rolled out, flat and cold. “Your planet was a casualty. It’s been destroyed. You’re right, I killed them.” His hard voice trailed into silence. He didn’t just own up to what she’d spat at him, scolding him for the people he’d killed, for the things he’d destroyed. He was downright admitting it freely. There was no remorse, but his lowly tone wasn’t gloating, either. It was the one part of Vegeta that could really be trusted, his bluntness. No emotional lube required, he spoke his mind. 

He watched her for a moment, something crossing his thick features that may have been akin to rapport, or empathy. But it couldn’t hold roots, whisking away from his naturally steely scowl as quickly as it came. Even if the way the tears stained her cheeks was causing an uneasy wrench in his belly. He pushed it aside. Vegeta wasn’t so good at this ‘comforting others’ thing. He was usually the one making others cry. This was a first for him; he didn’t like seeing his repercussions on her face. He wanted this pointless situation to end.

The man stood to his booted feet, fixing his hard glare back into place, the one that meant it was time to put her feelings aside and get back to business. “We’re leaving. Gather your things.”

* * *

Her POV

The cold way he stated the facts made her feel even worse. Her stomach dropped as she sobbed, and she began to curl in on herself. She didn’t want to be around him any longer. She just wished between all her babbling sobs and rocking, she’d wake up and end up in her warm bed again, with Yamcha’s strong arms wrapped around her waist. But no matter how much she tried, it didn’t happen. She could still hear the squawking of birds nearby, and her cubs yipping for her in response to her pathetic crying. No matter how much she hated it, this was reality.

An eye opened when Vegeta told her to get her things, and that they were leaving. She didn’t look up at him, but rather stared at his boots. The other eye opened, but she ended up looking like she was just staring out into nothingness. …He was daring to tell her to leave? No. No, she didn’t want to be around him for a moment more. Much less cooped up in a pod with him. She shook her head quickly as she sniffled and cried, but then something occurred to her. She didn’t look up at him, but when she finally spoke, the anger in her voice made it obvious that her fiery eyes were still there.

“Why can’t you just… Just leave me here? What’s the point? You have no reason for me! You haven’t raped me again since the last planet however many days ago. You don’t let the other two do it, either, and beat them up if they even try! So why am I forced to stay with you?! I’m sick of it! I want… I want to be left here! It’s better than having to stay with any of you a moment longer! I’m sick of it! Sick of it! Just leave me alone! You don’t need anything of me anymore, so get out of my face! Go find another woman’s life to ruin! Go find another woman to rape until she thinks you’re being nice when you finally stop! Go find someone else! I’ll kill myself if you try to force me to stay with you again!”

She only turned her head to spit on his boots before quickly turning away again, curling tighter than before. Her eyes landed for a moment on the plate of food still on the carrier. Goddamn, she’d been… She’d been enjoying this planet. The culture, the scenery, the food. She’d been enjoying her meal. It all had to be ruined just because she had another horrible detail of what had happened to her planet. All the feelings she’d pressed down and come to terms to had come rushing back full force. She hated them. She hated herself. She hated the situation she was in. The suicidal feelings were back. She just wanted to die. It was really her only option. The only thing stopping her were the puppies. What would happen to the puppies? He’d probably kill them in a fit of rage at the concept of no longer being able to follow her to the ends of the universe to torment her. Even in death, he’d still torture her as much as he could. Though the other two wouldn’t be much different. Nappa especially struck her as the type to rape corpses. Her shoulders slunk. Not even suicide was a way out of this hell.

* * *

His POV

Her arguments weren’t fazing him. If anything, they were just irritating his naturally moody temper. A murmured growl clicked behind his teeth. The gate of his pearly whites were showing now that his lip was quivering dangerously above his deadly teeth. He didn’t like what she had to say, and he enjoyed even less the looks she was giving him. Let her spit her fire, he loved it, but once its flame turned into something venomous, the prince felt his heart grow cold. Unsettled. Irate. He could sense her displeasure far too easily, and that fact was bothering him. Since when did he sympathize? Never, and he refused to start now. Even if it was over a pretty little female that made his blood surge with new direction.

“I said. We’re leaving.” He bit out harsher this time, not hiding the growl in his chest. His stance changed, too. To that of an aggressor rather than a proud and collected prince. Vegeta did not like hearing his orders disobeyed. It was an insult to him, and even if he’d given her yards of slack the last few days, he was putting his boot down on this one, even if she’d spat on it -metaphorically and physically speaking. He didn’t want to answer her questions about leaving her behind. He couldn’t answer her because he couldn’t answer himself. They both knew if he let her go, the he’d be right back barking at her doorstep. He was pulled towards her like a planet around its star, a salmon up its stream, a tide to the moon. He hated it, but he knew there was no getting rid of it. Not without getting rid of her.

“Is that a challenge? Would you prefer me to make use of you, woman?” His dominating glare bore over her, a battle of silent wills between them. He knew that look in her perfect face. It was the same the last time they’d verbally battled back at the hotel, when their tempers flared high and she’d tried to kill herself. She was backing into that pitiful state of mind. Part of him hated to witness it; gripping his fists by his sides so tightly that his knuckles bled white, rebelling at the thought of her being anything other than strong, mighty, worthy of recognition. He’d thought she’d moved past this. His head hung, and then his face grew dark, foreshadowing the darkness of his own thoughts.

“I can do whatever the hell I want with you.” His voice was closer now; the prince had crouched down to glare at her eye to eye. He was willing himself up to something, something that it didn’t look like he fully intended to do at first. Deciding if he’d go back on his previous choices; if what she said was a worthy enough challenge for him to put her in her place, right then, right there, on the side of the road under a tree. She was right, he hadn’t been fucking her. Her time of usefulness was over. He couldn’t leave her, but if he didn’t fuck her then his weakness was as good as found out. His gaze ran over her shoulder, down the smeared paint of her knees, only to press back up into her face. He hated to hear her cry, the stains of her cheeks halting his more wicked actions of pinning her down again in the grass, but he wasn’t about to be made a fool, either.

* * *

Her POV

He kept his position of trying to force her to leave with him. But there was no way in hell she’d go willingly. Not with how she was feeling. It didn’t matter if he had been good to her the past few days. He was a terrible man, who did terrible things, and she didn’t want to be around him a second longer. Why did he have to force her to be with him? Why? Why couldn’t he just let her go? She swore at herself internally for not having used one of the pods to run off in that small frame of time where he trusted her not to run. She should have made a break for it when she had the chance. Her opportunity was lost, and now he was threatening to rape her again.

Her anger still flamed inside her, making her whole body shake with rage. But she stopped showing it. Maybe before everything that had happened, she would have tried to talk back. But she curled in as tight as she could to herself, even going so far as to shield her head with her arms. She didn’t speak. She didn’t look at him. No, she didn’t want to go through it again. And if it were to happen, she couldn’t just yell for someone to save her. He was the only one that could save her, and if he was the one committing the act…

She sobbed quietly into herself and pressed her body against the tree when she heard his voice change in direction. He was crouching next to her now. Her feet shifted inward so her shoes brushed against one another. No. No, he couldn’t. …He was going to do it, wasn’t he? She had to go through all of it again. She let out a particularly loud sob at just the idea of it. She thought she was finally passed it. That finally he’d keep her safe and not violate her. But in a few cold words, she’d worked against herself. It wasn’t as if she didn’t believe even the slightest bit of what she had said, but maybe she should have held her tongue. She was going to regret it in a moment, the same way she regretted all the times she spoke back to Zarbon. 

That’s what it all turned back to. Zarbon. He’d taught her to keep her mouth shut. She had come out of her shell after around a week with Vegeta, but in a single conversation, she was reminded of the idea of punishment. She’d get what was coming to her for disobeying and disrespecting ‘Master.’ She knew it, and in preparation for the punishment, she was acting a lot like an abused animal. But she really was one, wasn’t she?

* * *

His POV

She’d recoiled, and the prince knew she was turning inwards to herself. Resisting him, blotting out the rest of her world in hopes that he’d leave her, but it wasn’t meant to be. Her sobs continued, but he was working against his own mind; blotting out the sound of her voice echoing in his head. He was a terrible person, they both knew it, and Vegeta had always reveled in it. He knew he was a bastard. The bastard prince. He’d raped, pillaged and killed without compromise. And the life had served him well. Selfishly so. So why was he willing to compromise now? …He wasn’t.

The tip of his nose brushed past her ear, into the softness of her hair. He was closer now, prowling in for the kill. His guts twisted—He’d smelt something that’d caught his attention. The scent of salt on her cheek. His tongue dipped out, softly lapping the stain from her skin. No, no that wasn’t what he was here for. He wasn’t meant to groom her, he was meant to fuck her. He pushed away the natural tendency welling up inside, willing himself to push on further with his horrible acts. He’d made countless sob for their lives before, it wasn’t about to start affecting him now. He wouldn’t allow it.

His burning eyes bore down at her the moment he planted her on her back. Vegeta had gone for her wrists while his nose had explored her features. Both hands pinned back into the grass with one hand, he pried her balled up limbs apart where he could get a better look at her. He didn’t care, like hell if he cared if she cried. If she hated him. He’d almost allowed this female to interfere with his better judgement. With what he knew to be true. He had to put her in her place, to show both her and himself that he wasn’t attached. Was that it; was this what it was to grow attached? Because they’d talked? A stupid reason. He refused the idea, inwardly calling himself an idiot for even going down that direction.

His knees pried her own apart, edging himself into position to fuck her. The prince looked away, hiding the dim light in his eyes. He forced himself to keep focus, catching her wrists into one hand while he slid his free hand down his ratty pants; willing himself to harden in a palm. He ignored his own growing irritations at the situation, and the coldness that came with imagining her face. He could do this, of course he could. He swallowed down anything remotely similar to disgrace, leaving behind an iciness to his veins. He was the prince; he’d damn well take any woman he decided on. What was that word she used so often on him? Monster… That’s right, he was a monster, and he was about to prove it to both of them. He distanced himself from that small voice in the back of his head, willing himself to regain the heartlessness that had been there just a month or so before.

* * *

Her POV

She could feel him getting closer. She could feel his breath on her skin. His tongue licked up her tears, but she turned her head further away from him to resist in what little way she could. And… here it came. The punishment. He pushed her down onto her back, causing her to shake from more than just anger. She was terrified. It was her own fault. Her own fault. She was the one that had said those things. She should have just listened to him. Maybe if she obeyed him to the best of her ability now, he’d let her off easy. The thought process caused her to not fight too much when he pulled her limbs away from her body to get a better look at her. 

However, it didn’t stop the tears. She continued to cry, so much so that any natives that were passing by–quickly, out of their own fear–turned to look at her in both pity and disgust. She’d seen the look so much by now. She was a pitiful creature. And disgusting for showing emotion. She didn’t always have her blindfold on when Zarbon had those… ‘exhibits.’ She got to see the expressions on people’s faces. She was supposed to be something cute and sexy to use. That’s all she was good for. Vegeta was just reminding her of that. And yet, it didn’t stop the tears.

Even when she’d surely run out of tears to cry, she still babbled and sobbed dryly. She must have looked hideous to Vegeta, but she didn’t bother checking his expression to see how he felt about her. She avoided his gaze, with her head turned to the side and her eyes squeezed shut as Vegeta forced her legs apart and fit himself between them. The feeling of a man between her legs used to make her excited. Now it was a feeling synonymous with disgust and dirtiness and shame. 

Is this what hell she got to live in because she was perverted and promiscuous back on Earth? It was true, she did stare at other men even when on dates with Yamcha. Whenever they had the slightest disagreement, she’d all but forget about him to go flirt with other men. Was that why? She deserved this, and not just because of what she had said moments ago– she was a bad person, a slut. She deserved this. She liked this. Maybe Vegeta was doing her a favor, by teaching her a lesson.

* * *

His POV

He winced his eyes shut, refuting the moment, the girl whimpering bellow him. It’d never bothered him before. In fact, before this earthling, he’d never noticed if his victim wanted it or not. Never differentiated between a moan and a cry any more than taking pride in making someone yelp under him. It all felt so dirty now and he didn’t know why. Only with this female, only with his blue haired earthling that he couldn’t seem to let go. That he had to fuck to prove a point, to confirm to her his held position. To solidify the fact that he didn’t possess the ability to give a damn about anyone, not even himself.

His insides gnawed at his brain to stop, but he bit them back with the same wrathful aggression he’d show anyone else. His pride and anger welled up, tapping into his mindless stubbornness to will his own instincts into submission. He wanted this, he convinced himself, this was his place in life and he’d be damned to be denied. The prince took himself away from irritating mewls and stain of tears from the female he’d come to know, to respect on some level. If he was to fuck her properly he’d need to get hard. He had to dip into fantasy, to remind himself just how much he wanted this female, the many ways he’d imagined her, in order to stimulate his body into a neediness to fuck.

Her writhing body underneath him. Her painted skin and moonlit tresses. That fiery look when he insulted her, only to get a slap in his royal face. The look of ecstasy and longing that she gave him at the brothel when she’d been drugged out of her mind. ...the night before, when she’d smiled at him so oddly and kissed him on the lips, only to run away like a taunting nymph. Those thoughts came to mind. It didn’t take much to start stiffening up, pumping his growing length in hand. He’d be ready to fuck her soon.

His body had crept closer through all of his fantasizing. His build radiating waves of heat against the bare bits of her skin, he was so close. Pressing both of her wrists into the grass above her head, Vegeta’s mouth dipped in to the crook of her neck. Slowly, softly, carefully. Tasting both fear and sweat from the line of her beating pulse. She was afraid, he’d known it since the moment her body began shaking under him. It tormented him, but hating it only made him angrier, only assured him that he had to do what he had to do.

Soon, the rocking of his heavy hips pushed against the exposed flesh between her legs. His jerking hand left his erection long enough to strip her of her shorts and toss them against the base of the tree. Leaving his own sensitive organ out in the open, seeking refuge between her legs once he began to lower himself over her again. Both of his hands had her pinned in the grass now. He’d lifted himself from the lapping at her neck, catching a glimpse of her, bringing him back to reality. It wasn’t the sultry female he lusted over; it was the afraid earthling he’d rescued. God damn, he really was a monster. She was still as attractive as ever, despite her sobbing features. If he were a monster, he better act like it. The prince felt a wash of darkness flood over his shoulders and a coldness creep down his muscular back. He turned his dulled vision away, so that he wouldn’t have to witness her face when he finally plunged in. Rocking his thick member into her unyielding insides again, with less vitality and amusement than usual.

* * *

Her POV

Her cheeks reddened when he tugged her shorts off, or at least became more red than they already were. It was humiliating, even if the natives of this planet saw no problem with nudity. He hadn’t bothered removing her crop top, but maybe she wasn’t even worth that much to him. This was strictly to show a lowly slave what she was good for. Nothing more, nothing less. He… He was being kindly, if anything. Like Zarbon when he raped her on his soft mattress rather than the cold floor. Even if he never let her linger in his presence too long after. This was the same- Vegeta hesitated, and even when he got to business, he let her stay partially modest.

Even so, the sting was still there when he forced himself inside her. It was painful. She whined, though she also knew better than to fight. She should accept her punishment. It was what she deserved, after all. She deserved the pain he put her through. Even if he was a monster, he meant it out of love. Some kind of horrible idea of it, anyway. If she had tears to shed, she’d be shedding them at that very moment. But she felt empty, and even more empty with every wave of pain that came with the slow thrust of his hips. Small grunts passed her lips each time, and her eyes opened only so she could stare at whatever was in front of her. The cage. The puppies were huddled together and watching nervously. Were they tired too, from all the crying they did with her?

She sniffled and averted her gaze. To the sky this time. It made it so she was forced to smell Vegeta’s hair as she turned her head, given his face was pressed into her neck, but it was a better sight than anything else. It reminded her of many things: Yamcha, freedom, her home– all things she didn’t deserve. That was right. She didn’t deserve any of it. She was nothing but a sex slave now. When Vegeta liberated her from Zarbon, she thought she’d never have to deal with that thought process again. But here he was, forcing himself on her and instilling the idea. Even with what he told her.

“You’re only a slave if you act like it,” she murmured. It was quiet, but surely something Vegeta could hear given their close proximity. She wasn’t sure if she’d gotten the wording quite right, but it’d be something like that. Even if she was a shameful, dirty, disgusting slut… Even if she was everything Zarbon said she was… She couldn’t shake Vegeta seemingly turning back on his words. He had tried to force her out of the shell he’d made for her back then, so why was he doing this to her now?

* * *

His POV

What the actual hell was he doing? He was getting what he wanted, that was what he was doing. He reminded himself, forcing his own ideology through his thick head. If it was her place to take it, then it was surely the prince’s place to give it. He’d so many times before. Beating himself between a female’s legs, taking what was rightfully bestowed upon him as a prince, as an alpha male. What was the difference now, between the million and one times he’d fucked a whore without consent? Just because she looked up at him with those fiery blue eyes. Spoke to him without fear. Nothing, nothing had changed. Nothing …had …changed. … …Everything had changed.

He usually found vast amounts of pleasure out of taking a female. That, or didn’t care one way or the other if he was getting his dick sucked. That was what this was for, for him, wasn’t it? Making himself feel good. He could hear the soft pants of both their breaths as he fucked her. Finding the familiar rhythm of in and out while his senses tried to numb away from the act. He’d wanted the female so many times before, but the way her limp body refused him, her lack of will power to fight. It was as if both of their vitality and vigor for life was fading out between them. This didn’t feel good. This didn’t feel _right_.

What the hell was he doing this for? He’d been so irritated, rash, the prince had jumped at the opportunity to prove himself. He’d let the female off the hook so many times before, he couldn’t allow it a third time. He had to prove something. That this earthling didn’t possess some ethereal power over him. That he could do as he pleased, that he was the dominant male of the pack. He could taste her skin against his lips, the brush of her cheek against his hair, the sensations that begged to burn through his torso from the stimulation, yet it wasn’t what he wanted.

_You’re only a slave if you act like it_.

The prince’s whole body flinched; she must have felt it with how far he’d pressed his warm body against the softness of her form. The words echoed in his head; his own words. She was right, she was no slave. Suddenly, he felt something snap inside of him, and the prince’s thrusting hips stopped cold. He was dead weight over her, every muscle he owned tensed and frozen. She was right. The prince had been putting on a show, god, he was no better than the green toad he’d ‘rescued’ her from. Backtracking on everything he’d longed to hear from her. Rescue, what a pathetic and weakling word. He mocked himself inwardly, but couldn’t deny he’d again become the thing that made her cry, that tortured her.

“You’re right...” He murmured beside her ear, rolling himself slowly up, bracing his palms in the grass. It was the first time he’d looked down at her since they’d started. “ _You are no slave_...” He admitted, and in admitting that some part of him was setting her free from the duties he’d tried to force on her. Deep, tucked away in the darker parts of his secretive mind, he knew he’d never force himself on her, ever again. But he wasn’t ready to admit that out loud, not yet. Instead, his heavy gaze almost looked remorseful; he was ashamed. His guilt morphed into turbulent anger, anger at himself, but it wasn’t to last.

He was staring down at her. The look of new realization ghosted across his distant gaze, like someone who’d seen the sun for the first time after a long winter. Something he knew was there, but never cared to look at; too dark to care. Not until this girl came along and shook up his life. His chiseled features stilled, as cold and quiet as stone. Though there was a raw emotion that dared to peek out at her, digging down into her tear stained face, making sure she understood his meaning when he lifted himself from her and muttered, “… _But I am …A monster._ ”

* * *

Her POV

She could feel how he flinched at her words. Even if she was adjusting again to the position of slave the same way it’d been forced on her when she spent those weeks with Zarbon, she couldn’t help but think of how much he deserved it. She wanted him to feel bad for what he was doing. What he had done. Even if every part of her body was saying she just had to take it. That it was her punishment for speaking up in the first place. …She fully expected him to retaliate again, actually. She expected him to hit her, or start going faster. The memory of Zarbon’s horsewhip came to the front of her mind; that’s what he’d hit her with when she talked back or didn’t do what she was told.

But he didn’t retaliate. He pulled himself up so that his face blocked out the piece of the sky she’d been staring at, but he never hit her. She stared up at him with squinting eyes, just waiting for it– but he just agreed. He agreed she wasn’t a slave. It took her by surprise, but she recalled what Raditz said about him trying to court her and make her his mate. That itself was almost more revolting. He was showing her her place not as a slave, but as his ‘mate.’ When she was forced into the position of slave, she could at least detach herself and claim she was no longer anything but an object. But with the idea of ‘mate,’ she wasn’t an object- she was an animal. An animal just there for breeding purposes. Not human, but not inhuman enough to let her completely detach herself from what happened to her.

He kept eye contact with her, and she was sure he’d finish his ‘job.’ He wanted to impregnate her, right? That’s why Raditz had asked if he knew about the implant. She would be even more certain to hide its existence, for fear he really would rip it out. But– But he just stared at her with a strange expression, an intense one that had hints of guilt and shame and anger– one that likely mimicked her own, save for the feeling of being completely subjugated. And then he got off her, all the while telling her something that she already knew. Of course he was a monster. She’d been saying that all along. That’s why this happened; she called him out on the monster he was.

She watched him for a moment longer, the pain still throbbing between her legs from the small amount of time he had spent between them. She had been brutalized far worse than this, but the ache was still there, mixed with rawness from how dry she’d been. Her legs closed tight when he gave her the chance to close them, and her body rolled over onto her side. She didn’t make a move for her shorts, and she didn’t say another word. What was there to say, anyway? That she knew? …She didn’t feel like it. She didn’t feel like saying or doing anything. She didn’t even feel like crying anymore. She just wished she could finally get free of him. She would have run, if not for the puppies.

Her hand reached out to the cage and she stuck her fingers through the bars. The puppies licked and nipped at the skin they could reach, comforting and trying to get close to their adoptive mother. She’d find them somewhere good. Somewhere they could thrive and be taken care of without being abused like she was. And then after that, she’d find a way away from Vegeta.

* * *

His POV

He didn’t like the way she looked at him. It wasn’t her look of disgust, hate, or even fear that struck him. It was the expectancy she had for him to strike her; to lash out at her for her quick tongue. If anything it was her quick tongue that he had saved them both. It was the purest form of pleasure when he’d found none from misusing her body. It had been her belligerent mouth that’d brought him back to the surface and caught his wry attention once again. To remind him just why he enjoyed keeping this female in the first place. That is... if he still enjoyed keeping her around.

Vegeta rolled off of her as quickly as possible, longing to distance himself from the distant look in her eyes. His lip turned up at it in disgust, shooting her a look over his shoulder before turning towards the tree to correct his uneven pant line, tucking his softening member back into place. How was he supposed to know the turmoil burning through her brain? He could barely recognize his own. The turbulent thoughts were running rampant. He was adamantly trying to simmer down back into the normalcy that he’d known for years. He was focusing on himself, righting himself back into a controlled manner …Though maybe part of him was aware of how the female seemed dimmer than before. That something was wrong; he pushed it away.

That’s when he noticed her shorts laid out at the base of the tree. He’d tossed them there. He’d known she’d been ready to rid herself of him, to hide her nudity. He knew she’d need them if they were to go back. However, his pride stuck to his bones like rotten meat. Keeping his sour temper and disdain for the moment in place. He didn’t want to touch them. They were a part of her, and the prince didn’t even want to look at her at the moment. He didn’t even want to acknowledge her existence. It only made the shame he’d brought on himself set in.

What was he going to do with her now, though? The prince kept tugging towards the beach. His senses and posture longed to drag himself away from the scene and press on with life. But every time he tried to make a move, he felt himself swaying to a halt. Keeping his booted feet in place. What was he to do with her. He needed to make a decision before he left completely. Maybe he’d just sell her when they arrived at the space ring. Then maybe he could at least get a profit off of the girl. Leave her behind for good. Get rid of her. His black vision flicked towards the shorts again. Vegeta swallowed down his pride and picked them up by the hem, tossing them towards the caged cubs.

“Do you want to sell your god damn dogs or not.” He bit out, finally turning his head enough to gaze over a thick shoulder. He sounded angry, angrier than usual, but the frustration wasn’t directed at one particular thing. He was trying to change the circumstances, to lead them into a new direction before he took on the role of a weakling fool. To correct things on some level. He sounded like a furious commander. Barking orders and standing tall. Dominant. Unapproachable. Alone.

* * *

Her POV

He wouldn’t leave. She kept wishing he would, but he didn’t. She could still feel his presence. Why was he still there? There was no reason for him to still be there. She stayed still, hoping that at any moment he’d finally just walk away and leave her alone to wallow in self-pity and think about how she deserved it anyway, but that never came. Instead, after what seemed like ages, he slapped his shorts down nearly on top of her and gave her a stern command. She’d be leaving. …Yeah. She forgot what she’d been punished for. She told him to just leave her here. She wasn’t about to make that mistake again.

She sat up and pulled on her shorts at a sloth’s pace, having no interest in moving fast to get stuck in a pod with him for who knew how long. But she had to go through with it. Not just because she didn’t want to get punished, but because she had to in order to get away safely. She’d sell off her puppies to someone she thought would take care of them, and then she’d find a way to get away from him for good. And get the dragon balls back. …Though she doubted she could ever go home. She didn’t feel like herself anymore, even when she most felt like herself. She didn’t belong anymore. She’d go find somewhere else to live. She’d… She’d figure something out.

She reached down and picked up the carrier with a little ‘oof,’ though the ache it caused her arms wasn’t much compared to the ache between her legs. It was bad enough that she wished she didn’t have to stand, much less walk. How she had managed to deal with worse than this, she wasn’t sure. She’d dealt with so much over what? A month? She tried not to think of it, especially her time with Zarbon. How many men had he let rape her? There were days she spent with him where it felt like there was one man after another for hours.

She finally began walking in the direction of the jungle that led to their hut. She was silent, but she did spare a passing glance at Vegeta. A small one, only for a second before she quickly looked away. It felt shameful to look at him. …Some part of her couldn’t believe the last few days. Where he stopped his men from raping her, when he resisted raping her himself, when he fed her and talked with her and she actually gave him his first kiss. He hadn’t raped her to completion, but he didn’t have to for the subjugation to still set in. That was all she really needed to bring back memories of things she’d quickly suppressed. 

* * *

His POV

It didn’t matter how long it took her to collect her things, the prince wasn’t budging. He stood still, silent, as stone as a statue. His fists clenched at his sides in cold neglect. He wasn’t going to look at her, not even if it took her all night. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait that long. As repugnant as his attitude towards her was, he was still as in tuned to her movements as ever. The soft brush of her feet against the grass, the release of her breath when she turned on her side or sat up …the small whine of pain when she had to move her legs. He’d caused that. He hated the fact that he gave any worth towards her befalling harm, or how it twisted his guts.

As soon as he heard her stirring alive, he began to walk; leading them in and out of the brush of jungle foliage like he had so many times before on this planet. Only, it was different this time. Not the gentle play of watching her confront dinosaurs, not stalking her like worthy prey during the night, not even an easy walk and talk as quiet company. No, it was stiff, silent, and the static was ripe with discomfort. Neither of them wanted to be in that cramped pod again. Although, the prince had turned his gaze just in time to catch her glancing his way. It was awkward, and he quickly averted his eyes, too.

Raditz and Nappa were already at the huts. The two men had been talking over what to do with themselves that afternoon, debating between a brothel and a fight when Vegeta walked in, followed by the girl. They both shut their traps, able to sense the unease that was radiating off the earthling and their prince. Something happened, of course something happened. Something weird always happened when their prince and the girl got alone time. The two men were starting to find it the norm.

Then there it was, the pod. Their prison for the new few hours. Shiny and perfectly round, waiting for them in the glassy crater it’d created on impact. The pod hadn’t landed too far from the huts, thankfully. It was only a short walk, and the warriors wasted no time in following their leader’s orders of packing up and heading that way. Though, Raditz and Nappa were hardly as excited to leave the beachy world as Vegeta and Bulma must have been. The prince was still doing his best to remain as aloof as possible. Both physically and mentally. Though, he did grace her with one last look before they stepped up to the pod. It was quick, and easy to miss if she wasn’t looking. It was almost as if he wanted to say sorry. Too bad his jaw was fixed shut, as tight as ever.

* * *

Her POV

He led her out of the jungle, a walk that was awkward and tense. She didn’t say a word and neither did he, all the way to the hut. Even that walk to the hut was only to alert Nappa and Raditz that they’d be leaving. In some way, it added insult to injury. It was like Earth all over again. She was happy and felt at home and safe. Vegeta ruined that. He ruined everything. She should just feel lucky that the entire planet wasn’t up in flames and that the pups weren’t dead, she supposed, but she still felt bitter.

They walked out to the pods, and the sense of dread that came with the idea of being stuck in that thing with him again overtook her. Maybe she’d be lucky. Maybe he’d think she’d learned her lesson and leave her alone. She didn’t want to get raped again. She didn’t want to be fondled either. She was so tired– maybe she could get away with just taking a nap the entire time. She hoped so.

She glanced up at him just quick enough to see that look he gave her as he walked into the pod. Remorseful, or at least she thought so. But this was a Saiyan. He was a monster, he even admitted it. All three of them were terrible beings. How could he be remorseful? Maybe he was just upset she became so meek. He’d made it clear that he didn’t like it when she got like that. But she couldn’t really help it, after everything she’d been through. It wasn’t possible to keep on yapping on when she’d gotten raped and beaten for doing exactly that. She was at least loud previously because she thought she was safe with him, but he only reminded her that she was anything but.

She sat down in the pod not on his lap, but in the spot at his feet. She didn’t fight being close to him, but she certainly wasn’t going to sit in his lap, either. The cage rested between her legs, and as soon as she closed the door of the pod silently, she opened the cage. If she was going to be forced to be around Vegeta, she at least wanted to spend time with the cubs as well. They needed to stretch their feet a little, and this let them do that. It was cooler in the pod than it had been on the planet, too, so they wouldn’t overheat so easily.

She picked out one from the cage–the one who had took the longest to open his eyes; she’d named him ‘Squint’–and held him close to her chest. He yipped and kneaded his paws against the warmth of her bosom while she rubbed between his rounded ears, while the other puppies climbed out of the cage. They instantly went to the food that she’d carried on top of the carrier, and despite the fact she wasn’t hungry anymore, she grabbed the plate and lifted it out of their reach. …She’d need to regain her energy if she wanted to escape, right? When the cubs finally got tired and fell asleep, she’d eat the rest.

* * *

His POV

He didn’t care where she sat, as long as she got into the pod without forcing his hand at shoving her in. Luckily, it hadn’t come down to that. Vegeta really didn’t want to put his hands on her again. Something about it felt …repulsive. Not he didn’t find her attractive anymore, it had more to do with bringing up the fresh memories of holding her down. In fact, her sitting in the pod floor was a welcome relief. He really didn’t feel like being fumigated by her intoxicating scent while he drowned in humiliation.

“Do you have to do that in here?” He finally barked, once they’d broken the planet’s gravitational pull and the pups had been released into the small cabin. His nose crinkled, obviously annoyed by her letting them roam about, but that was all he would say on the matter. It was the most attention he’d given her in a while. However, now that his gaze had crossed over her, the prince lingered a moment. She was holding one of the cubs, pressing it to her breast like the caring creature she was. He could see the red stain of paint peeking past the hem of her shirt. He was watching in quiet fascination. As if she were an anomaly he couldn’t quite understand.

_She would make a good mother_. God damn it, that was the last thought he wanted to cross his mind. The prince grunted unto himself, looking away and crossing his arms tightly over his bare bronze chest. He’d put his feet up in the seat, too. Leaning his grumpy back against the armrest and glowering at the opposite padded wall, trying to ignore his disgusted feelings. He felt disgusting. The two were completely separate for once in the pod. It’d be a while before they made it to their destination. Long enough for food and a nap, and a little thinking too.

The clatter and clang of metal hitting metal eventually rattled the pod. The soft beeping of the control panel telling them they’d arrived. It was the space station, they’d made it. For the first time since he’d captured the girl, they wouldn’t be making a crash landing. No need for it in space. The space ring simply let them drift in, the mechanical arms of the docking bay greeting them, stationing them and then leaving the pod gently on the docking pad until their return. Docking Pad 107, 108, and 109 was theirs. The pod door hissed to life, opening to reveal a brand new world of mixed races and bright over head lights.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone doesn't so quickly become a knight in shining armor. I think, despite how fairy tale-like fanfiction so often are, even when they portray abuse, it's important to remember that. I hope you'll continue to read how the story progresses, but maybe this is an important place to put the life lesson for those who may find it harder to differentiate between fiction and reality: If you're being abused by a person and they promise they'll never touch you again if you just give them another chance, don't believe them.
> 
> This is a VegeBul roleplay/fanfic and the story and characters continue to progress, but I just thought it'd be nice to end such a sullen chapter by telling you guys to remember to be wary of romanticizing abuse. We've tried in this to portray the emotions realistically. I hope you guys continue to enjoy this story, even if it still sometimes dips down to the horrors it originally started on.
> 
>   
> 


	23. Temptations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta continues to come to terms with his new understandings in life. Bulma has rekindled her need to escape. Will either of them succeed?
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

Vegeta made one comment but otherwise didn’t say anything about the cubs. She’d ignored him, and that seemed to work. Maybe he really was remorseful. Either way, she kept the puppies out, playing with them and cuddling with them as they desired and making sure to keep them from getting too close to Vegeta. Eventually they tired themselves out and fell asleep, and Bulma was given the opportunity to put them back in their cage–with the door still open–and eat the food that was left on the plate. It was cold, but it still did her stomach some good. Even if she had to force herself to get it down when her mind started wandering.

After she was finished eating, she followed the cubs’ lead and took her own nap. She napped all the way until she head the familiar beeping that signaled that they were going to crash-land onto another planet, and quickly grabbed up all the puppies, some of which woke up in an irritated mood, wondering why she’d disturbed their sleep. She eyed Vegeta for a moment as she debated getting into her lap willingly, but before she could even get up and sit between his legs… They stopped. The pod beeped and the door opened up. …No horrible crash this time? Why not?

She put the puppies back into their cage and closed the door, slowly checking her surroundings outside the pod. She picked up the carrier and stepped out of the pod, still looking suspicious. It was… Some kind of docking station? There were all kinds of life forms, and next to their pod there were other pods lined up. They had some kind of set-up in place so that pods could come to whatever place this was without violent crash-landings, apparently. How odd. It wasn’t until her eyes caught sight of a large window that showcased the stars from all directions that she understood. This wasn’t a planet. This was some kind of floating base. A station.

She looked back at Vegeta with furrowed brows, but kept silent. What had happened still weighed heavy on her, so she didn’t risk questioning him or doing something that might warrant him showing her what a monster he was again. Her eyes said anything she needed to say anyway– _Where are we? Is this where we sell the cubs? Where is the marketplace, then?_

* * *

His POV

He’d watched her sleep for some time. The prince had tried to do the same but rest had evaded him. So instead, he’d taken to staring blankly at the wall before him, mulling over dreary thoughts and plans of destruction in order to ease his troubled mind, until he noticed the girl nodding off. It was the first time he could catch a glimpse of her without feeling barbarous. Without feeling like he was going to get caught looking. It was sort of peace inducing to watch her rest... Good. She’d need it.

The moment the docking bay arrived outside their pod door, Vegeta was hardly startled. He waited, still in the same folded up position in his chair, though he had tapped in something to the control system to make it stop blinking. The girl looked bewildered that he wasn’t trying to gather her into his lap; haphazardly gathering her ‘puppies’ in a hurry to save their worthless little lives. It was amusing, and was the first time that slick smile took Vegeta’s face since the incident back on the planet. His expression was starting to gleam its dark, smug self again.

He caught the question in her piercing blue eyes, the one that asked about their surroundings. He’d already begun walking down the round corridor of overhead lights and distant murmur of crowds. Raditz and Nappa weren’t too far behind, but the prince was walking shoulder to shoulder with her -without the threat of brushing, of course. He rolled his dark eyes under the hard line of his brow, taken by her questioning. He answered back with a receptive look of his own, and a single soft nod of his head. Yes, this is where they’d sell her cubs.

“It’s a trade station,” he finally mumbled just loud enough for her to catch; leaning the line of his jaw in her direction without eye contact. His burly arms crossed over his still bare chest. In fact, they were the dirtiest creatures in the station. Covered in paint, sand, and ratty clothes. They’d arrived in the busy part of the ring. A place offering the finest products that the universe had to offer. If she could read the lingo, she may have noticed a large flashing sign that was advertising a ‘Planet Trading Post’. The place was surprisingly clean. Its open walkways were lined with specialty shops and high end sells clerks. This was no ordinary place to bargain. It was only for the richer societies of space.

His maw quietly opened once more, finally flicking his gaze from under dark lashes. “If you’re going to get a good price, it’s going to be here.”

* * *

Her POV

He nodded as an answer to her unspoken question and led her down the corridor. She looked over her should to see Raditz and Nappa following, looking as uninterested as could be, going so far to even scratch their butts and dig in their noses. Chances were there weren’t any brothels here; maybe that’s why they looked so uninterested. She scowled and turned back to face straight, focusing her eyes on what was head. It wasn’t long till they walked into a doorway that had a sign labeled in alien that she could only partially read. ‘Planet’ and ‘trading’ was enough to get the point across.

There were a ton of stalls. All manned by various types of aliens, with signs explaining what they were overhead. Her lips pursed. How was she supposed to figure out what place would be the best to bring the animals to? She needed to look for some kind of research facility, but there were so many different stalls to choose from, and while she did know the common alien language by now, it’s not as if she knew every word. This would be difficult.

She held the carrier close as she started roaming, ignoring the odd looks she was getting given her appearance. A dirty but pretty humanoid with unnatural blue hair; why wouldn’t they be staring? Somehow, she’d grown used to being stared at by now. It happened so often that she just expected it. It wasn’t important. What was important was finding where she should sell the pups. 

It took some time, but eventually she stumbled across a stall of various aliens–one blob-looking and only two feet tall, another five feet and eerily similar to the stereotypical ‘Greys’ from Earth, and another yet very lanky, red and six feet tall. They looked fairly professional and had many pictures of what seemed to be exhibits for animals, with a sign that suggested it was what she was looking for– Animal research facility. Bulma set down the carrier on the stall and stared at the two of them, her brows furrowing slightly. She didn’t really want to let go of the puppies, but she couldn’t keep them, either.

“They’re from a winter planet that was taken over. I… I was scared they’d all go extinct or something, so I saved this litter after… After I killed their mother in self-defense. But I can’t keep them.”

* * *

His POV

It was interesting to watch the earthling try and navigate the system of stalls that she clearly couldn’t fully comprehend. The language was different, he knew it’d be difficult, yet there she went -lugging her heavy carrier without complaint. With purpose. With mission. She hadn’t even demanded he carry it for her, as if the thought never occurred. The female was taking charge, taking responsibility, and the prince was finding that on some level …admirable, yet again.

What wasn’t interesting, however, was the multitude of eyes that were hanging on every step the female took. She was drawing in a lot of attention, too much attention for the prince’s comfort, and it wasn’t because of her awkward and dirty state. It was due to her unusual appearance, and it was putting Vegeta on the alert, keeping his natural defenses on edge. So much so, that by the time the girl had found a decent spot to sell off the runts the prince was but a breath away, right behind her. His looming aura hounded with territorial warnings to any that dared to stare too long.

She’d found a place on her own, good. He really didn’t want to have anything to do with those damned cubs. The prince was keeping a watchful eye to their current surroundings; taken by thought as the girl conducted her business. A shop just a few doors down caught his attention. It was a servant and slave sells clerk. Only for the richest of rich. The higher class of life. Maybe he’d sell her there. As much as the idea grated his teeth, he knew it was the best decision -to get rid of her while he was given the prime opportunity to make a buck. He wouldn’t have to worry about here there, either. She’d probably be bought by a wealthy aristocrat. She’d be given easy work and lazy days, good atmosphere and decent quarters. She deserved the finer things the universe had to offer, his mind whispered. Maybe she’d get regular meals. She didn’t eat enough. 

“Of course! We represent the finest research facility this side of the universe. They’ll be treated well. ….We haven’t seen this breed. And so young, too.” The alien behind the desk beamed, coaxing the carrier closer for a better look. Then, the alien’s big black eyes fell on the tribal looking creature behind Bulma; the nearly naked male with primitive paint and a long brown tail. It didn’t even look as if the beast could comprehend conversation, since it hadn’t looked at them once. Maybe the ape was primal.

“What about your pets? Is that one for sale too?” The grey pointed a thin finger towards Vegeta. “Primates are so rare to come by. We’d pay you well, and we’d just want the little one.”

The prince’s thoughts were interrupted by the alien. A flash of anger hit his eyes, the gritting of his teeth telling the grey that he’d gone too far. The two Saiyan flanking him snapped their heads towards the conversation, too. They’d been standing quiet, like good soldiers, until they were called pets…

“…I’m so sorry. Is he sentient? I didn’t know he was your slave! I thought he was primal. It’s so difficult to tell with primates…” The alien tried to apologize, but Vegeta’s tail was bristled, swishing. A threatening growl vibrated from his being just beside Bulma. There was a good chance the stall only had a few minutes to live.

“I am Prince Vegeta,” he spat furiously, snarling his lip over his teeth. “The Prince of the mighty Saiyan Race!” Another growl, followed by the flicker of ki in his bronze hand. “ _I am not some little earthling’s slave!_ ” No one insulted the prince and lived to tell about it, no one.

* * *

Her POV

She nodded along as he looked over the pups and beamed about them. Yeah, yeah. They were cute. And sweet. And she really didn’t want to let go of them, but she had to, despite every piece of her body telling her to keep the little things. This is what she got for growing attached. She let out a little sigh and focused on waiting for them to discuss how much a price would be. But then– Then he focused his attention on Vegeta. At first she didn’t know what he was talking about, ‘her pets.’ She had her ‘pets’ right in front of him. She followed where his finger pointed, and raised her brows when she realized the conversation was focused on… Vegeta.

A small smile came over her face when she looked back at them. She opened her mouth to explain he wasn’t her pet, but Vegeta managed to get that point across well enough by himself. It was what came next that gave her an even bigger smile. They thought Vegeta was the slave. It felt nice for once, to feel like she was in such a high position of power. She felt prideful. Her eyes flicked to Vegeta, who was getting ready to destroy the whole stall. But then she wouldn’t get her money, and the pups wouldn’t be safe. So she interjected, side-stepping to get right in front of him.

“My slave is not for sale,” she replied in a matter-of-fact voice, not letting go of that statement. Slave! Slave! Ha, that really lifted her spirits after what had happened. It served that asshole right. She gave them a smile and pushed the carrier a little closer.

“Just these guys. The carrier, too. It’s special for them. They overheat easily, so this carrier keeps them cool. I want extra for that. Start naming your price and I’ll tell you when to stop.” It looked like she’d have to do some haggling. It’d been far too long since she’d done any of that, to be honest. She was excited to get back into the groove. 

The aliens that bought her things always seemed nice and eager to give an honest amount of money. They were never the frugal type. Actually, that must have been a cultural thing. She hadn’t met a single stingy alien since her time outside of Earth. It was unusual, now that she thought about it. The money she got still went far, so she couldn’t say that she was being ripped off. Maybe the economy in the rest of the universe was just doing surprisingly well.

* * *

His POV

Just what in hell was the female doing? Vegeta was taken off guard by her side stepping in front of him. The dangerous flicker of ki faded from his palm. The rumbling of his growls softened, grazing his attention down towards her near shoulder; staring at her in a new fixation of wonderment. Vegeta was just about to scold her, his raw anger begging to show the Grey his dominance …but then she called him her slave and the prince felt his shocked face burn with a touch of embarrassment. Confused. Mortified. Angry. Stewing. That put him in his place easily enough.

The Grey looked a little confused as to whom was telling the truth about which one of the two humanoids were the slave, but seemed to believe Bulma over Vegeta. In fact, the Grey looked like he held the female in high esteems compared to the Saiyans. Speaking to her with respects, like an old business friend now that she’d shown her control over such an angry pack of primates. She must have been higher on the intelligence scale like themselves. She’d get a good price for sure.

“How’s 500 credits a specimen?” The grey rubbed his thin palms together in high hopes. Vegeta, on the other hand, scoffed under his breath right behind Bulma. He was looking off to the side, refusing to give her business deal any attention. However, the grunt meant he could do better. That he wasn’t impressed with her haggling skills. Let her do it herself if she was so damned to control the situation. She wouldn’t be getting any assistance from him. And by assistance, he meant threatening the Grey until he hit a number high enough to settle the Saiyan’s rogue temper.

“600? …650? …700?” The price kept going up and the Grey’s confidence kept going down. She’d accept an offer soon, wouldn’t she? By the way the aliens weren’t willing to give up the carrier though, placing a hopeful hand on the top of the cage, it didn’t look like they wanted to let such a rare bunch of cubs slip out of their slimy fingers. Just how much did she want for the cubs? Especially if she wouldn’t even throw in one of her primates. She had three, after all!

Raditz and Nappa had taken a step closer behind Bulma, too, if just to listen with their own level of curiosity. They had been ready to jump into the fray with Vegeta once they saw his hand come to life with ki. It had excited them, both of the soldiers were disappointed when they realized the shopping mall settings wasn’t about to go up in flames after all. What a shame, they could use some entertainment. However, watching their prince tame down and allow the girl to take over the situation was entertainment enough. They couldn’t believe it.

* * *

Her POV

She heard Vegeta’s grunt but paid it no mind. The alien wasn’t too lucky. She kept letting his number creep higher until it hit the 1,000 mark, and that’s when she nodded her head. It seemed a good enough price for her, especially considering it was a whole litter. 1,000 a head would do her just fine. The grey handed over the money, and she had to remind him about the extra bit for the cage as well before he coughed it up. She bid him a good day then, and gave a little wave before she turned around and faced the three monkeys. The situation had raised her spirits, if it hadn’t done anything else. She felt more confident again, even if she still planned on leaving. She’d just have to wait for the right moment.

“Okay, where are we going now? I doubt that was the only reason we came to this place, right?” She really doubted they’d go so out of their way just so she could sell some puppies. Vegeta had been allowing her to do plenty of things, but she doubted this would really be included on the list. She raised her brows as she stepped away from the stall, but not before giving one last glance over at her puppies. She shouldn’t be so sad, they’d be in better hands.

“Well? Come on.” They were taking too long, and she was eager to get on the road and get her chance to run away from them. An escape plan was already beginning to hatch in her head. She could just use the pods, right? If she got them distracted, she could get back to them. They were more trusting of her now, as far as she could tell. Things hadn’t gone back to square one for some reason. Vegeta let her walk around as she pleased, even let her haggle by herself. It shouldn’t be all that hard to trick them and get to the pod before they even knew what hit them.

* * *

His POV

She’d actually done pretty damn well by the end of it. Vegeta was doing his best not to be impressed; the sting of his volatile temper still lingered, but he had to admit it. She’d done well. The prince was tamed enough to follow the female once the pups were out of their hands once and for all. Unlike the girl, he was glad to be rid of them. No more cramming them in by his feet in the pod, or having her treat his space ship like a rescue kennel. He should have been suspicious of her plans of escape, and a part of him was keen to her reputation of being a world class escape artist, but something in the way the girl strutted with confidence lulled the prince into a false sense of security now that the irritating buzz between them was beginning to lift.

A soft grunt over took the girl. Vegeta began walking beside her after a few swift steps. His arrogant swagger was back in place. He was up to something that’d stroke his ego, obviously by the way his dismal grin flashed near her features.

“ _Now it’s my turn,_ ”, his low voice smoothed out, taking the lead and leaving her and his soldiers behind if they didn’t step up their pace and keep up. She was right; they hadn’t traveled all the way to one of the finest space rings just to sell off her adopted offspring. The prince had business to attend to. Something he’d been putting off more and more since he’d picked up the female from her burning homeworld. He had a job to do.

It was the ‘Planet Trading Post’. As before, Raditz and Nappa waited outside like two statues while Vegeta conducted business inside. However, the prince did turn a glance back at Bulma. He wasn’t inviting her in, but he hadn’t ordered Nappa or Raditz to see to it that she waited outside with them, either. If she was to follow him and watch how real haggling was done, he wasn’t about to stop her. In fact, part of the prince was banking on her following him in. Something about it stroked his ego; maybe from displaying his court of business to a female.

As before, a strange looking alien greeted them behind a high counter. The inside of the fine establishment looked something like the interior of an earth bank. Or the emerald city. The clerk behind the desk looked more like a praying mantis then anything. Leaning its colorful bug face over the counter, it gave Vegeta its full attention while Vegeta fished something out of his tattered suit pants. It was a chip, small enough to fit on the end of his finger. He handed it over to the clerk and was instantly shown more respect once screen popped up with Vegea’s information. Instant fear and nervousness set into the insect. This was how Vegeta conducted business.

_“P-Prince Vegeta, so good to have you visit our fine outpost. All the way out here. P-P-Please, how can I help you?”_ Sniveled the insect _._

* * *

Her POV

Ugh, he was as egotistical as ever. Bragging by the way he said ‘it’s my turn. She rolled her eyes but followed until he got to a place to trade planets. That’s right, they never did anything with that winter planet. The place the pups got to. That’s probably what this was for. She waited around until he looked back at her expectantly, and that’s when she followed him to see exactly what his idea of haggling was with her arms crossed. 

She almost felt sad for the poor clerk. He clearly knew Vegeta from past experience, and was very, very clearly terrified of him. One glance at the guy could tell her that, and even worse was the way he spoke. Poor, poor man. She pressed her lips together as she watched the scene in silence. She didn’t need to hear more to know that Vegeta’s idea of haggling was threatening people until he got his way. She’d seen that enough already.

It didn’t take long for her to lose interest. She looked around, wondering what she could do to get the hell out of there. How’d she escape? If she screwed up now, he’d be wary and not let her walk around so freely. She had to time this right. Maybe when they were all sleeping? It had to be when he was side-tracked enough that he wouldn’t notice her missing. He did have a habit of following her around, after all.

* * *

His POV

She wasn’t impressed. He could see it in the way her vision drifted away from the desk and towards the blankness around them. Not that he needed to impress her. The shameless prince never cared what anyone thought, they were beneath him. She was beneath him ...wasn’t she? Since when did he search for the approval of some little female? His senses came back to him, and the prince shook off the previous odd sensations that had him burning for her to stroke his pride. He actually hated it now that he thought about it. Getting back to business, he was uncaring as to what the hell the woman did thereafter, or what she thought of the threats that soon seethed through his sharp teeth towards the terrified insect.

It didn’t take long for the prince to get twice as much out of the bug than what the snowy planet was worth. And it was worth a lot. The cavern they’d ventured into alone was worth a small fortune. The prince may have put the mission off for a while, but now that he had it completed and under his belt, there was a brand new fortune in his pocket. Though te vast amount of credits didn’t seem to faze Vegeta, and once the chip was handed back over to him, his eyes began to search quietly for the female. She was right, his attention always found her eventually.

Armor was next. Thankfully, the armory was just a few stalls down. And this one had real armor, not some blacksmiths poor excuse for metal work. The Saiyans had taken Bulma with them this time, too. Raditz and Nappa rejoined their leader once he’d exited the Planet Trading Post. The girl was surrounded by soldiers. It’d be nearly impossible for her to slip past their guard now, even if Nappa and Raditz seemed to brighten up at the prospects of new suits and armor. They were in need of it, too.

men didn’t even bother putting the damn things on. It wasn’t exactly like they were planning on blowing this place up (if they could help it). Vegeta got that look in his eye. The one he always had when he was searching for something that seemed to be just out of his line of sights. He was looking for a hotel. The space ring was lacking brothels or advertisements for luxurious rooms. Too bad there were more eyes on his group then he’d like. One shop owner in particular was eyeing the beautiful blue haired humanoid that was stuck in the middle of the Saiyan’s group. She’d make for a beautiful clone, too bad she was accompanied by a group of rough looking men. Though, it certainly didn’t keep him from staring her down.

* * *

Her POV

He stared at her odd when she didn’t look impressed. Was he irritated about it? …He really was trying to impress her as a mate, wasn’t he? The thought sickened her. Another reason to get the hell out of there. But now wasn’t the time, no matter how much that irritated her. She was forced to follow him after he’d haggled a huge price, all the way to the armory. Filled with unusual fabrics that stretched but seemed to work better than any armor she’d seen before. Maybe she’d be incredibly interested, if her mind wasn’t elsewhere. She wanted instead to focus on the road ahead. How would she get away? Not even now did she have a chance to do so. They were looking at her too much. She really would have to wait till they were all sleeping. Damn.

It thankfully didn’t take long, but it felt like they were at the armory for ages to her. It was a pain of a walk, and not because her feet hurt or something. No– people were watching. She’d never be able to escape like this. Not with everyone watching her every move. She wished she wasn’t so pretty that people gawked even when she was starving and covered in sand. Though she had realized she’d been packing on weight again, even if she was nowhere near her healthy weight.

Eventually they made their way to a hotel. Not a luxurious one, but at the same time, not a cockroach-infested one like the one she’d seen before, either. This was something she recognized from particularly busy cities back on her planet– a capsule hotel. A hotel for wary travelers that was very cheap, but very packed. You slept in a tiny capsule–no, not the kind of capsule her family was known for–and had nothing more than room to turn around. There was a curtain at your feet and a little TV on the side, if these things were anything like the ones she knew. Eugh, she hated them. She slept in one once out of curiosity and because she couldn’t find a better hotel. She really didn’t want to deal with it all over again.

She also didn’t like the way the clerk was staring at her. Sure, everyone else had been staring, but this was different. He seemed like he was looking at her specifically rather than Vegeta or the other two Saiyans. He was watching her, as if he was thinking something. It made her nervous, especially when she thought about how this place may be her ticket to freedom. She didn’t want to run from the Saiyans and end up in the hands of this creep.

* * *

His POV

Something felt off. Someone was staring, the Saiyan could feel it. Vegeta’s threatening scowl turned in the direction of the staring clerk, but no sooner that he did, the clerk glanced away. The unsettling aura of someone watching,trailed up his back, but the prince had to disregard it as soon as the hotel staff started babbling about being shown to their capsules. The word had new meaning after witnessing the female’s ingenious invention. It seemed to drip with the meaning of efficiency. He could hardly be angry at that; he was a stickler for things being kept in simplistic order, after all.

However, once the shoulder to shoulder band of Saiyans (and one earthling) was shown to their sleeping chambers, the Prince was starting to second guess his admiration for efficiency. There was only enough room for one body per pod. It looked like Raditz and Nappa would be having a cramped sleep. Poor guys were probably going to end up with stiff muscles and sore necks, but at least the sleeping conditions were soft and welcoming. 

“The chamber will put you to sleep as soon as you enter,” smiled the host. “Ensuring you have the best rest that money can buy.” There were no television screens, nothing to keep one’s mind occupied, not even a curtain for privacy. It was so much like one of Bulmas capsules, only human sized. Cylinder, padded, glossy and once the sleeper was tucked inside, the contraption sealed up much like the prince’s space pod. Technology at its best.

There was a compartment below each pod that allowed for storage, and that’s where their new armor was placed. Each of the Saiyans slunk into their bed for the next few hours (Raditz with a whine in his voice). Though, Vegeta did glance towards the girl in silence. He didn’t like the idea of leaving her by herself. He wanted to take her with him. Obviously uncomfortable with the notion of being knocked out, but it’d have to do with the circumstances they were in. He wanted to make sure she slunk safely into her pod before he entered his own. The gas would put her to sleep, and then he could rest. He hadn’t since the night she’d planted a kiss on his mouth.

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta didn’t seem to notice the man staring. Every time he did look at him, the clerk glanced away. Bulma didn’t say anything, but her nose wrinkled. She had a bad feeling about this. Even worse when she saw the quarters. It looked a little too unsavory for her tastes. She eyed the clerk again as he explained that you would fall asleep as soon as you entered it. She didn’t like the sound of that. Not just because she didn’t like the idea of no TV. It just sounded fishy. It sounded like an easy way to kidnap her.

…Though, maybe it’d be better that way. They weren’t stronger than the Saiyans, that was for sure. Zarbon was one thing, but that happened because she was stupid. She wouldn’t be stupid again. She’d be able to get out of any kidnapping that could happen, and while the Saiyans were distracted, she’d be able to make her leave. She’d go back to her planet, wish everyone back, and then… Well. She hadn’t planned that far along yet. Maybe go back to that city in the planet she’d visited so long ago, with the nice old bug man. She still thought fondly of it.

“Hm.” She looked at the capsules with pursed lips, but decided that it was for the best. Though she certainly wasn’t crawling into it right away. The other three could fall asleep first, and if they hadn’t forced her into the capsules, she could make a run for it then so she didn’t even have to deal with anything in the first place. Her eyes turned to look at the clerk again, and she spoke up with an inquiry about the place.

“You’ve got to have bathrooms or something, right? I can’t just fall asleep. I’m dirty and I need to go to the bathroom. So what, is there a shared bathroom or something? With stalls and showers for people to clean up in?” She was mostly just stalling, though she did need to go to the bathroom. If she got lucky, the Saiyans would go into the capsules by the time she came back and she’d be able to run off.

* * *

His POV

She was trying his patience. Vegeta’s shoulders winced, the irk of irritation crawling up his spine. The girl was trying to get out of it, he could tell. She was formulating a plot, again. He was pretty wised up to the tone of voice the female took on whenever she was up to something. And it damn well sounded like she was up to something this time. She was putting off going into the chamber until he and his men were tucked away in a subdued sleep. He wasn’t going to let her get away with it. In fact, a smooth smile crept over his hard lips. He’d play her game right back at her.

So, she wanted a bathroom break, was that it? Then she’d be out of excuses? Well, he could see to that. Personally. It was his crude way of getting back at her for trying to pull one over on him as if he were too dumb to notice. His blood was pumping hot and there was no room in his brain for leniency. His hands quickly found the girl’s arm, tugged her towards his silent stance, then pinned her against the metal wall between the capsules. Right where his all-knowing vision could pierce into hers, as if saying ‘ _yes, I know what you’re up too, clever little earthling_ ’.

“When we’re finished, maybe you should crawl into your pod. Though I’m sure I could find room for you in mine, if you’re so damned to not sleep in your own.” It was his way of telling her he was onto her, that she better not try it again. It was an empty threat and he knew it, but she didn’t have to know he had zero intentions of ever harming her again. The prince really could be a cold hearted bastard when he was irritated.

He didn’t hesitate, Vegeta swooped the female right over his bare shoulder. Demanding ‘ _where’s the cleansing facilities_ ’, in a rough, dark voice towards the host. The host meekly pointed the prince down a corridor that lead to a row of private bathrooms. He stepped lightly, choosing one at random, then locked the pair of them in. If she wanted her bath, she’d get it, and he’d be the one to give it to her.

* * *

Her POV

…Vegeta had caught on. She knew it the second his hand tightened around her arm. She gulped and cursed herself for not being more careful, and in a single movement he forced her up against the capsules. He pinned her in place and stared her down with narrowed eyes, making her feel queasy. There was threat enough in his looks alone, but then he went a step further and spoke to her quietly that he could find room for her in his capsule. Her cheeks lost their natural flush and she looked away. That wasn’t something she wanted to go through again.

She was distracted by the threat long enough to give Vegeta the opportunity to throw her over his shoulder. Her heart jumped and she let out a yelp, though she certainly heard his words. He was going to bathe her himself, just like before. She had to hope it wasn’t coupled with a rape, but she figured that part was given. She didn’t fight, but her heart was pounding as she pushed herself up by her hands and watched herself get further from the rest of the group. It only helped solidify her need for escape; she was surrounded by monsters. She had to get away.

As soon as they got to the bath, Vegeta dropped her and locked the door. She continued to stare at him nervously, fully expecting him to do something terrible. …She should be taking her clothes off, shouldn’t she? No. He could rip them off her for all she cared. She wouldn’t take them off for him so willingly. Like he said, she wasn’t a slave. She clung to that fact. It was what helped keep her sane now that Yamcha had gone quiet. When was the last time she heard from him, anyway…?

“…I need privacy. Can’t you turn around and plug your ears or something?” She backed toward the toilet, her brows furrowing. She hadn’t been lying about needing to go to the bathroom, after all. She didn’t want to pee while he was watching and listening. Hell, she wasn’t sure if she was physically able to, anyway. Usually when he popped up it was after she had finally finished doing her business rather than before or even during, after all.

* * *

His POV

There was some sort of smug satisfaction that came with lugging the female over his shoulder and carrying her down the corridor. Like a caveman that’d taken his cavewoman and was now about to give her what she’d mewled for. He always did enjoy tossing her over his sturdy build, even if she insisted on pounding on his back half the time.

“I’ve seen you pee in the woods... what’s the fucking difference?” The prince splayed out his palms at her, in a questioning stance after he slid her from his chest. And now she was demanding privacy. He didn’t get it. They’d seen one another naked plenty of times. He’d snuck up on her while she was relieving herself. What was she worried about now, he obviously didn’t care. Still, after a given moment, the agitated prince clicked his tongue behind his teeth and turned his back on her, giving her a little scowled glance over his shoulder before fully facing the wall.

“You think you’re so clever…” His dark voice rumbled under his breath, realizing his own clothing. He may as well use the time she was taking to pee, to ready himself for a bath. He needed one too, desperately. The prince still smelt of dried salt water and sand, smudged paint and jungle humidity. They both needed a bath, honestly. His boots came off, and then his tanned fingers found the hem of his tattered pants and began stripping them down. His back to her, he revealed his toned backside without shame. His tail swayed, keeping his balance as he rid the fabric from his foot.

“You may as well strip while you’re at it,” he barked, peeking a glance at the woman. “Arn’t you finished yet?” The growl in his voice meant he was growing impatient. He still held his back to her, but that didn’t mean he’d wait forever. He took the time to stretch out his muscles. It felt good after being in that cramped pod in such an awkward position. One arm over his head, and then the other he rolled his neck. The small tub was just big enough for the both of them, and luckily it came with a shower attachment. Everything about the room gleamed ‘efficient’. This hotel had really cornered the market on how to get things done in a tight squeeze.

* * *

Her POV

“I didn’t like it when you saw me pee in the woods either,” she complained irritably under her breath, pouting at his refusal. But there he went. He turned around and gave her her space. She would have preferred him to plug his ears, too, but she knew not to press her luck. So instead she just walked to the toilet and took off her shorts and panties so she could relieve herself, all the while staring at Vegeta nervously. He was taking the time to strip himself down, and did it with much less restraint than she would have. He really didn’t have any shame. He even went so far as to take off his underwear, leaving him entirely nude. She hated to think of it, but his body reminded her of Yamcha’s. They were both muscular and tan, after all, though Vegeta was certainly tanner. (But Yamcha had the better butt.)

It wasn’t exactly easy to relieve herself on command while in his presence, but she managed. Especially when he became impatient and asked if she was finished yet. She wasn’t about to have him turn around and see her in that position. It was too embarrassing, even if he had seen her like that before already. She hurried up and got off the toilet, pulled her panties back up, and flushed the toilet. Because she certainly wasn’t going to strip for him, no matter what he said. She didn’t really care about her shorts, which she kicked to the side to get back later, but the rest of her outfit she wasn’t taking off for him. Even if she was scared of the consequences. She wouldn’t stoop and act like a slave again.

“Yeah, fine, I’m done now,” she replied, crossing her arms. She eyed the bath, not liking how small it was. Even if there was certainly enough room for the two of them, it wasn’t like she’d be able to squirm away. Though she supposed either way Vegeta would be set on bathing her like he bathed her last time. Her nose wrinkled and her mouth tightened. Even though he did say she wasn’t a slave anymore, he certainly treated her like one. Or at least like they were a couple. They weren’t. He could try to ‘court’ her all he damn wanted, but it didn’t mean she’d have to be happy about it. She was going to get away from him once and for all as soon as she got the chance. Even if it had to mean being constantly on the run from one planet to the other. As long as she wasn’t around him.

* * *

His POV

He could hear the pout in her voice, but for once the brute was doing his best to not allow it to affect him like usual. The prince was a little peeved. The woman always had some way of getting under his skin. Of refusing him. This time in the form of disobeying orders and putting them in this situation (even if he was sort of looking forward to it on some level). Though, that wasn’t the only reason. He was finding it more and more difficult not to give into the woman’s whims. She’d whined for a bath, he did so (even if it was to piss her off), she demanded him turned around, and he obliged. His voice of reason lashed out at him, but his instincts muddled his thoughts. Maybe it was because he knew he wouldn’t force himself on her again. Maybe this was the backlash of being under the inability to punish her like an alpha should. He was being put in a new position, and he didn’t understand it. The prince stewed between the tug-of-war that was his judgement verses his urges.

He could hear the rustling of clothes. Turning a shrewd glance over his shoulder, he peeked when she claimed that she was no longer in need of privacy. And of course …she was far from naked. The woman was still trying his limits. An uneasy huff grimaced from his breath once he turned around. His habitual nature telling him he should pounce the woman, and part of him wanted to. His hands tightened into fists and the prince shot her that look; the one of a predator seeking out its favorite prey. But... he didn’t. Instead, Vegeta loomed over her; well as best as he could being pretty eye to eye with her height. He looked furious none the less. But instead of pushing her down and stripping her, instead of fondling her like he had times before, the surly prince calmed himself (more or less), released a heavy sigh, then picked her right up around the thighs.

He’d just carry her to the bath, then. He could be forceful without actually using violent tactics. Plopping her right down in the ceramic tub, he gave her a look. He didn’t say anything; his mouth was a hard line. Darting his gaze away, he turned the nob of the tub and plugging the drain. Though, to a Saiyan a warm bath was considered chilly. It may of been a little on the steamy side but that’s the way he liked it. Only, he hadn’t entered the tub yet. He was crouched down beside it, naked, swishing his tail in gentle annoyance. The truth was, every time he had the urge to force himself on the woman, he felt a new sting that he’d never experienced before. He didn’t completely understand the concept of personal space, but at least his growing respect for the girl was keeping him at bay. He hadn’t tried to strip her, in fact, unless she wanted to get her clothing wet, she’d have to strip herself.

* * *

Her POV

She thought she was in for it when Vegeta turned around and realized she wasn’t naked. His nostrils were flaring and he had walked up to her with that angry look in his eyes, with his tail even swishing around. The same thing he did when she was moments from being pinned down and… Well. But she stood her ground and stared at him as he walked up to her. More out of fear to move than anything else, though she might pretend otherwise. He got close enough to stare her in the eye and size her up, and she was so sure he’d hurt her somehow. But instead, he just sighed and picked her up. He didn’t even rip her clothes off. He just… Picked her up.

He put her into the bath and started up the water, an obvious sign that he was telling her to take her clothes off if she didn’t want them to get wet. Like hell she’d do that. She stood up. Though that wasn’t necessarily just because she didn’t want her clothes getting wet– the water was hot enough to give her a start. Her feet quickly adjusted to the temperature, but she wouldn’t be stripping and sitting down nicely that easily. Instead, she shot him a look and crossed her arms before turning her upper half the other way. Maybe she was pushing her luck, but her hatred of him had come back full force. She wasn’t going to listen to him anymore.

The thought crossed her mind of making a dash for it, but that never worked and she figured it’d only make him angrier. It was a last resort kind of deal, beyond her sobbing and yelling at him to stop. For the time being she’d just have to stand around and quietly refuse to do anything he asked of her. Even if this may be a stupid thing of her to do– clearly the man had a limit and would eventually just pin her down, rip her clothes off, and do whatever the hell he wanted, after all. 

* * *

His POV

She was still refusing him. Being her stubborn self. The woman better be glad the prince enjoyed her bull-headed nature so much, less the situation may have turned out quite differently. But he did find some quiet fascination in her refusal, and even more so when she threw on a full forced pout and turned her body away -making a clear statement to him that she’d be having none of it. Luckily, by then Vegeta’s temper was simmering down, unlike the hot water that was slowly creeping up the woman’s calves. The tub was nearly full by now.

“Will you just sit down already,” he barked, rolling his eyes. He gave her his own look ...and then aimed the shower attachment right for her, giving her a merciless spritz. Not caring if it hit her in the face or elsewhere. She deserved it, and it slightly amused him. It really looked like he’d have no choice. He was going to have to bathe her himself. She really could be so defiant. What was worse, he liked how it looked on her. Strong and proud, she really was more of a queen of her race rather than an alien’s slave. He’d even hesitated moving, finding the view of his crouched position of staring up at her long legs and thin panties not such a bad place to be in. He wasn’t aware of the crooked grin it’d put on his lips.

The prince stood, resting his fists on his hips and staring harshly right at her. The bunching of his thick brow asked ‘ _are you really going to be this stubborn_ ’. What kind of question was that? Of course she was, and he knew it. So, he did what he had to do, he wrapped his arms around the girl’s waist and pulled her into the hot tub with him. Plunging them down into the steamy water until it sloshed over the side and pooled on the bathroom floor.

“If you enjoyed my grooming so much, you should have just said so,” he taunted darkly, the rough purr in his voice making him out to be a scoundrel. He had her in his lap, but for once he wasn’t fondling her. Well, more than he had to by merely handling her. Her clothing was soaked; it was her own fault for refusing to strip herself. Though, he still wasn’t going for her top. Not that he needed to. The wet fabric clung to her form and showed him everything. He may of caught a glimpse, but the prince was acting more uninterested than usual. In fact, rather than going for a grab, he went for the soap instead.

* * *

Her POV

The water went higher, but she stood her ground up until he had the nerve to spritz her. The hot water startled her enough that she all but leaped out of the bath, slipping and falling on her but on the way out. She was thankful she had taken off her shorts when she had– if she still had them on the capsules might have been ruined, and her money certainly would have been. She let out a huff but before she could even rub her butt and adjust, Vegeta grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up– placing her straight into the bath with him, clothes and all.

“Agh!” It wasn’t just that it was uncomfortable to get her clothing soaked. The water was too damn hot! It was hard to adjust to even if it didn’t outright burn her, and certainly hot enough that the skin that touched it turned red. It wouldn’t have been noticeable if the paint hasn’t come off her skin in burst of color like she was a living bath bomb, but the colors painted the water rainbow and what was left was the red skin underneath.

As soon as Vegeta looked away to grab the soap, Bulma took the opportunity to jump up to her feet and get out the bath again. She nearly slipped when her feet touched the tile again, but she managed to steady herself and start stomping away from him with her arms tight around her chest to block out any kind of view he might get from how wet her shirt was. She might as well toss her clothes off now since they didn’t give her much modesty, but it was the principle of it.

“I didn’t want a bath with you in the first place! Why can’t you ever leave me alone?” Though, really, she was curious as to how he was acting. Maybe it was just from seeing her naked enough, but he wasn’t grabbing her like he usually did. No groping her breasts, no ripping her clothes off. …But she didn’t really want to stick around long enough to watch it happen, just in case he quickly changed his mind about the stance.

* * *

His POV

It was like watching a deer try to stand on wobbly legs for the first time. The girl was slipping and sliding all over the bathroom floor, and Vegeta’s face was morphing into an irritated expression. What had he done this time? He hadn’t even groped her. She really could be so difficult, but it wasn’t going to stop him. Oh no, they’d already gotten too far into this. It was going to happen whether she wanted it anymore or not.

“God damn it, woman. This is your fault!” His attitude was back and so was his anger, but it failed in comparison to what it could of been. The fiend stood right up out of the tub, exposed and dripping, and coming right for her. At least he wasn’t hard up this time. No, his eyes were fixed firmly on the stern pout she was giving him. Giving his own firm glare in response. Well, that is until something bombarded his senses. It was a fresh scent, and it was rolling off the female in droves. The prince’s eyes dilated; swaying once in his spot, flicking his black gaze from her underwear and back up to her eyes within a quick second. She smelt funny. Different… Attractive. It was making his heart thump -something he really didn’t need right now.

He shook it off by shaking his head. He had a mission. “And why can’t you ever just do as your told?” He said it but it was just him being argumentative. “You know damn well why I can’t leave you on your own.” His tail flicked, insinuating her escape route tendencies. It appeared as if he were going to make another lunge for her, to grab her and plunk her back into the rainbow waters. But he didn’t. Vegeta just paused, staring at her as if she were an alien. He didn’t quite know how to deal with her now that he was going about things a different way then he normally handled things. And, well, being a dominant force had always been the only way he knew how to do anything.

He couldn’t keep going back and forth, battling with himself. He just had to plunge in and grab her -so he did. The irate prince grabbed her by the wrist, but instead of flinging her across the room and into the tub, it looked like he was trying to figure out how to take it slower this time. His head tilted and his eyes roamed down her drenched form. As if he’d been given something new for the first time and was still working out the mechanics of how to handle it. Weighing it in hand.

Then it hit him again, being so close to her. That scent, that intoxicating aroma that fogged over his brain like a new form of drug. His nose instinctively closed into the source. First tracing lightly down her neck, collar bone, before darting his gaze back up to her. She smelled like she needed sex. Why now of all times, when he was trying so damn hard to be good? The universe could never give him a break; always throwing him for a loop.

* * *

Her POV

He clearly wasn’t letting her go. She gulped as soon as she saw his eyes narrow. And there he was– He got out the bath and headed straight for her, completely nude and talking back to her. Why was he so insistent on giving her a bath himself, anyway? It freaked her out. He always wanted to be close. Sure, he couldn’t leave her alone unless he wanted her running away, but did he really have to get so close? And did he really have to be nude or close to it half the time when he decided to be close? 

She took a step back when he came closer. But he quickly got close enough that he managed to grab her wrist, and she expected to be pulled into his arms and dragged unwillingly into the bath again. But instead, he just glared at her, showing obvious restraint. Maybe if what had happened hadn’t happened, she’d be appreciative of it. But at the moment she just wanted to get away before all the restraint faded away and he decided to fuck her on the wet tile to teach her a lesson.

He kept staring at her odd as he held her wrist. She’d noticed that his eyes had dilated like he was a surprised cat or something, and she instantly started tugging on her wrist to try and jerk it free. She didn’t like the feeling of this. She had a bad, bad feeling, and it seemed like she had a reason to be so paranoid when he crept closer, nose twitching as he sniffed the air. She had no clue what he was up to, but she was absolutely certain she didn’t like it.

He sniffed her neck, and her body stiffened. It reminded her of what had happened before– his face had been buried in her neck then, too. Her eyes squeezed shut and she gulped in anticipation and fear, which was coupled with Vegeta’s nose sniffing downward to her collarbone. She opened an eye to see him staring up at her again with those wide, dilated eyes, acting more animal than man. What was even his problem this time? Was he trying to scare her into finally just doing what he said? Or did he honestly smell something?

“Let go of me,” she murmured quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. She didn’t want to be punished, but she still wanted to stand her ground, however stupid it might be. Maybe it’d be like last time, where he actually got off of her. “Can’t you just let me take a bath in peace? Get the hell off of me.”

* * *

His POV

She smelt good. Better than anything he could have imagined. It was as if the scent was tailored especially for him. The longer Vegeta lingered in the crook of her neck, the further he lost hold of his senses. Falling into a more primordial state of mind. When he’d looked up at her he recognized her face, but her soft features were luring him in regardless of himself. His tail swished behind him, then curled against the bare side of her thigh. She was right; he was acting more beastly than usual.

It sounded as if she was talking; muffled, like being submerged in water. His dilated gaze fixed on her again, soft blinking in a dazed state. Then, he began registering what she was saying. She was telling him to get off of her, to leave her in peace. His pupils retracted into pin dots the moment he came back to his current surroundings. Instantly he let her go, stepping back, and regained his conscious frame of mind -acting disgusted. He’d lost a few heart beats. In fact he could barely remember the last few seconds.

She’d gotten off easy. The tingle in his groin told him he’d begun to get a hard on. The prince was too embarrassed by the momentary lapse in self-control to go near her now. He’d turned his back on her, scowling in her direction as if it were all her fault, and started brushing down his tail. The fur had begun to prickle and stand on end from the exhilaration from the new sensation. She’d asked to bathe in peace, and maybe he’d let her do just that. It wasn’t safe for him to be pinned so closely against her if being near her was going to blur his state of mind.

“Take your god damn bath,” he moaned, his voice more coarse then before. He knew her by now. If she was going to do anything, he’d have to have his back turned on her. That was fine with him, it felt like giving her the cold shoulder, which he was all about giving now. He’d even gone as far as to set on the lid of the toilet, grooming the soft under coat of his tail. He’d told her before there were more than one ways to bathe, and it looked like he was about to go in that direction. Grooming himself like an oversized monkey, or a cat.

* * *

Her POV

She spoke, and his pupils suddenly shrunk to the size of pinpoints. She wasn’t sure what had freaked her out more, but she figured that maybe he was trying to creep her out. She stared at him quietly with her brows raised just so, hoping to God that he’d just let her go and leave her alone. That was when he suddenly regained all his composure. 

He let go of her wrist and stepped back, acting as if he was disgusted by the whole ordeal. He promptly told her to take her bath, and sulked over to the toilet. She was left baffled. What had gone through his head? What the hell had caused… Well, all that? She rubbed the back of her head as she watched him start grooming his stupid tail, the same tail that had disgustingly wrapped around her thigh like a snake wrapping around its prey. 

…Well, she might as well take the bath now that he wasn’t paying attention. It seemed this was as good as she was going to get, even if it gave her disgusted shivers down her spine that she could see his erection from where he was sitting, even if he wasn’t directly facing her. She knew full well he wouldn’t be leaving her alone enough to run off, so she might as well actually do what she’d claimed she had wanted to do in the first place. 

She glanced over at the overflowing bath, splashed with color from the paint, and finally stripped off her sopping wet clothing and went straight to the bath. She didn’t jump right in, given that it was dirty and burning hot, but she did eye the water. It reminded her of the bath bombs back home, a little detail that caused a slight tinge of homesickness on top of what was there already. She shrugged it off and bent down before she reached into the bath to unplug the drain and let it all rinse down. As soon as it was all down the drain, she got into the bath, plugged the drain again, and started the water at a much more reasonable temperature.

She brought her knees up to her chest and ran her fingers through her slightly wet hair, brushing it out a bit primitively since she didn’t have a comb on her. Her head turned and she eyed Vegeta again, her brows lowering at the sight of him. What the hell had that whole scene even been about? She really had to leave as soon as she could. It was only a matter of time before her face was pressed up against the ground and he was forcing her hips into the air again. 

* * *

His POV

He heard the sloppy sound of wet clothes sloshing to the tiled floor, followed by the gentle sound of moving water and running pipes, teling him she was finally doing what they’d come here for. She was finally going to take a bath. And to think, all he had to do was step away and let nature take its course, rather than trying to bathe the female himself. Maybe it was more of that …personal space thing, she was always raving about.

He glanced in her direction when he heard her dip into the tub, but quickly looked away. He was still hard up, and only growing stiffer. Painfully stiff. Despite the prince’s high tolerance and strong willed self-control, it was exceedingly difficult to tame his heated body down with her scent swirling around in the confines of the compact bathroom. He wanted to jerk off, it was his initial reaction. He never cared before who was around, who saw him beat his junk. In fact he’d taken grand pride in masturbating in front of her before …however. Beating off in front of her would be too much like admitting he wasn’t going to be pinning her down again. He’d admitted that to himself, but his pride and inflated ego just couldn’t show it.

She was a beautiful, naked, wet woman locked in a bathroom with him. Her scent was singing its siren’s song of need. Why wouldn’t he fuck her? ...unless he didn’t want to. He couldn’t let her catch on that he was spitting empty threats, but he couldn’t let the throbbing between his legs go on for much longer, either. The prince may have been trying to keep the upper hand, but after a while his shameless attitude took over in an instance of ‘ _fuck it_ ’. He was going to do whatever the hell he felt like. And he felt like jerking off.

Squeezing his grip around his stiff length sent a wave of relief down his spine. Shivering his thick muscles and rumbling a groan out of his throat that vibrated the whole room. That was better. At least he had his back to her. There was still a good chance his composure would drop and his mind would blur. He may have had excellent self-control, but even he gave into temptation now and again. She had a way about over powering his better senses. He knew better then to look at her.

The aroma really was filling his brain, but that just made it easier to pump himself in one hand, fondling himself with the other. He wasn’t grooming himself anymore, he was touching himself. His tail swished in stimulation whenever he twisted and rubbed the velvety skin around his massive flesh. Pressing the pad of his thumb against his more sensitive spots, before giving into a repetitious beating sound.

His free hand dug into the hard muscle of his thigh. Growling like an animal, enjoying himself. Lifting his chin and closing his eyes; the soft sound of moving flesh lessening whenever he decided to give himself a slow rub down. His back muscles were tensing, but it didn’t look like he was paying much attention to whatever the girl behind him was doing. The fact that she was invading his senses never shown on the outside.

* * *

Her POV

He was… He was beating himself off. Her face contorted in disgust at the sight, her brows furrowing. It was revolting. Just getting close to her and sniffing her had given him a hard-on, and he was relieving himself. He couldn’t wait? He couldn’t ignore it? He couldn’t even go in the corner or something? He was jacking off right in front of her, and she didn’t need him to be facing her direction for her to be completely and utterly disgusted at the act. Not to mention violated. She wrapped her arms around herself and rolled into something of a ball before averting her gaze, feeling her stomach drop. It was just…. Disgusting.

The sound was worse. She could hear it him beating himself off even when she didn’t look. Her cheeks reddened at the sound of slapping flesh and soft grunts and animal-like growls. It reminded her all too much of all the other disturbing moments she’d had with him. Maybe it was better he was jerking himself off rather than using her as a fuck-toy, but she couldn’t be too glad about it when all she could think about was how he was right there, pleasuring himself to her image and scent. She didn’t need him to be staring at her to know what he was thinking about.

What almost bothered her as much as this was that she almost felt compelled to pleasure herself, too. Not because she was turned on by what Vegeta was doing, but just a spike in her sex drive she’d had recently. Except unlike Vegeta, she didn’t need to submit to stupid primal needs. She was perfectly content to see the water fill up and just offhandedly think about the kind of fun she’d had with a bath’s faucet before. Besides, she was too disgusted to even think about acting on the random urge. Or, she thought so. Maybe it was like watching the act in pornography. Of course you’d naturally get turned on.

Okay, so she really wanted to act on it. But she had self-control! She’d never do something like that willingly in front of him! It’d been embarrassing enough all the rest of the things she’d been through. The giants that made her pleasure herself against their dirty fingers, or the times Zarbon had tied her up and placed her direction above a vibrator and telling her to get herself off. The memories were enough to quell any mood that might have been forming and clouding her judgement, that was for sure. She sunk down into the bath, half from deflating physically and mentally just remembering things, and half to hide herself from Vegeta should he turn around to take a look at her. 

Her eyes went to Vegeta again, watching him tense up as he slowed his hand movements for a few strokes before beating faster again. She felt a sudden surge of anger at everything she’d gone through, but directed at the moment on him. Even when he wasn’t raping her, he still found ways of violating her. And he expected her not to run away and the opportunity? She got angrier the more she dwelled on it, until the need for an outburst overtook the rationality that she shouldn’t attract his attention.

**_“Can’t you do that somewhere else?!”_ **

* * *

His POV

He’d forgotten how good it could feel to pleasure himself. The act of knowing just where to touch, when to slow down, when to pull and when to rub. It was lulling the prince into string of heavy groans. His rough voice poured out. He felt absolutely no shame from the position he was putting the girl in -having to witness his every move, every sound that grunted out of his mouth. It felt good, but he could hardly deny that he’d prefer a female in his lap instead. It was too bad he didn’t have a whore around him. He’d need a full session after this. With the way her scent was teasing him, he knew he’d be hard up again soon enough without proper attention.

The prince’s thoughts drifted away from brothel sluts. A blue eyed female that could shoot daggers with a stare kept trying to pry into his head. God, how he’d love to turn around and force her prefect pink mouth onto his dick. He’d remembered the first time he’d forced himself between her lips. It was the first time he’d laid eyes on her, and she’d attempted to bite his cock right off. The memory sent a shiver up his spine, gaping his mouth open and pouring out a new flood of moans. Then her voice trailed over his shoulders like creeping finger tips, and the prince roared to a halt, shooting daggers of his own.

“ _Can’t you shut your trap?_ ” He bit right back at her, his cheeks flushed and sweat dripping down his neck and chin. He didn’t bother turning fully back around, aggressively pumping himself once again into a hand; rubbing the rough pad of his free palm over the plane of his thigh. He really didn’t need to hear her right now. Vegeta was one swift move away from ripping the female from the water and bending her over the edge of the tub; fucking her full force. He relented, giving into his hand instead, controlling himself by white knuckling. However, the thought of bumping into her on the bath’s rim had excited him.

His hips were rocking, flexing, and crunching the heavy set of muscle in his torso and thighs. He was doing his best to ignore her again. Tilting his head back and wincing his eyes shut, he released a pent up roar. His movements were getting rougher. A second shutter rolled down his back, and the prince’s hand started pumping faster. The burning wave of liquid fire crept up his abdomen and glazed through his legs, causing his body to jerk. He’d come soon, but he was holding it off. Building it up. Her scent was getting him off on new levels and he wanted to enjoy it. He’d half thought that maybe she’d been drugged and it was wafting off of her, affecting him. Whatever it was, it felt fantastic.

* * *

Her POV

He told her to shut up and just kept going, even going faster than before. God, how sick was it to hear. He was growling and even nearly roaring as he jacked himself off, and while she was furious and wanted to yell at him more, his tone told her that she really, really should keep her mouth shut. She wasn’t going to get raped again. Hell, if she wasn’t so terrified of that happening, she might have thought about making a run for it while he was distracted. But just the idea of running and getting grabbed and pinned down made her skin crawl. Goddamn it. 

When he started pounding himself off even harder, she clamped her hands over her ears just so she wouldn’t have to listen. Her eyes focused on the water, and the rainbow colors that had appeared from the rest of her paint dissolving into the new tub of bathwater. She urged herself to pretend she was at home and in her bath with some new bathbomb, but that was hard to do. It was easy to disassociate when she could still connect with her past self. She felt so different now. It was like she’d become an entirely new person. It wasn’t easy to pretend she was back home anymore. It didn’t even really feel like home anymore. It just felt like a dream. 

Out of bad judgement, she turned her head again to see Vegeta rocking his hips violently with his thrusts. The muscle of his arm and back were bulging. He was clearly very, very sidetracked, and it only solidified her thought process that she didn’t want to get in the middle of it. She gulped and stared back at the water again as it filled up a few inches short of her breasts. …She had to leave. She had to get away. After she was done with her bath, he would likely make sure that she get into her capsule and nod off to sleep. …Maybe she could try holding her breath? That’d only work for so long, though, and who knew if it was gas that made someone fall asleep straight away in those things.

Maybe getting into trouble with the man that’d been staring her down so hard was really the only thing she could do to get away. It’d do the easy work for her, and when she got away from them, she’d be able to find a way back to Earth somehow. She just had to hope that she got lucky and didn’t end up in an even worse position than she was currently in.

* * *

His POV

It didn’t take him much longer after that to hit his limit. The snap of electricity coursed its way through his veins. Heating his build until he knew he couldn’t resist anymore. He had to release. And on a deep, guttural groan, the Saiyan squeezed the throbbing member in his hand as tightly as he could, while shooting stream after heavy stream into the air. The sticky substance splattered onto his chest and heaving shoulders. There was a good chance it’d hit him in the cheek, too. He didn’t notice, he didn’t care. Vegeta was left sitting there, motionless, breathless, his muscles softly jolting to life while he soaked up the aftermath of what he’d done.

After a few quiet moments, the brute’s vision turned towards the girl next to him in the bath. She didn’t seem to want to pay any more attention to him then he did to her. Then his gaze trailed down and he realized …he seriously needed a bath now too. Residue was all over his torso, not to mention the heavy stench of ocean. He’d completely forgotten the paint on his face, however. He took one more glance at his dirty body, and then gave her a deadpan look.

“Move over,” was all he grunted, crawling into the small space beside her in the bath without much warning. The water seeped over the side, and Vegeta made sure to not let the female get away so easily this time. After his little jerk off, he was feeling much better. Mellowed out and much more in control. He didn’t have any second thoughts of harming her this time. No matter how much she smelled in such a close and wet proximity.

If she tried to flee, the man’s large hand just pulled her back in. The way he looked at her was hardly amused. They’d spent too much time in the room as it were. Bathing together just made sense. Besides, it was cold out in the open and the prince wasn’t about to give up the chance to wash himself down in a bath that he didn’t have to fill up. It was the least she could do if she wasn’t going to let him fuck her. His tail secured itself around the girl’s waist when he once again attempted to reach for the soap. Maybe he’d actually get it this time.

* * *

Her POV

Things had finally gotten quiet. She uncovered her hands from her ears and stayed silent as she stared down at the water, but suddenly Vegeta was up against the bath and telling her to move over. She jolted and looked up at him with big eyes, disgusted to see him completely covered in his own cum. Even on his cheek! She scrambled out of the bath as soon as he dropped in, but as soon as she stepped a foot out, he grabbed her and pulled her back in. Into the disgusting, dirty water with his cum in it!

“Hey! Stop! It’s gross, let go of me! I don’t want to bathe with you when you’re covered in cum like that!” She struggled in his grip fruitlessly, because Vegeta solved the issues with a tail around her waist. She tried yanking it, but it did absolutely nothing. She debated looking for something to cut it off, but the look on his face made it clear she shouldn’t even think about it. She didn’t want a repeat of what happened the last time he decided he’d bathe her.

He went for the soap and Bulma settled for covering herself with her legs and arms and trying to weasel away as much as his stupid tail allowed her to do. She pressed her back against the opposite end of the bath and stared at him with nervous eyes, her brows slightly furrowed. He didn’t just subject her to … THAT, but he was still going to wash her up, too? He really had no respect for her. God, what she wouldn’t do to be miles away from him…

* * *

His POV

She tried to bail. Typical. Vegeta wasn’t so ready to pounce her this go around. Instead, he barely looked at her when he yanked her back down into the colorful waters once again. Lathering the liquid soap into his hands, he brushed it through his mane of hair. What do you know, he was actually getting to bathe this time. He was generally minding his own business, too, that is until he noticed the girl’s crumpled up form from the corner of his eye. His nose twitched and he paused running his hands through his upright hair. She wasn’t bathing; in fact she looked slightly terrified.

“What the hell is it now?” The look of confusion on his face said it all. His raised brows, his wide eyes, his tilted head. He honestly didn’t know what was wrong with the female this time. Sure, she’d complained about him being covered in sperm, but that’s why he was in the god damn bath in the first place! What the hell did she want from him?! His face knitted, huffing displeasure from under his breath. If she was going to be so god damn stubborn, he really would have to take matters into his own hands. And by matters, he meant her, and by his hands, he meant pulling the female into his lap until her back was forced back against his chest. Really, the ape had no idea how to handle things delicately.

“Sometimes I think you want me to bathe you,” he glowered, turning his soapy hands on her instead. Lathering up her blue hair until it was bubbled and running with soap. At least the smell of the products was helping mask her natural scent. Honestly, what the hell was that? Had she really been drugged? If that was the case, who’d gotten close enough to drug her? And under his supervision… The idea wavered a growl from his body, rippling the water around them. 

“And what the fuck is that god damn smell?” He sniffed the left side of her neck, then brushed his nose over her right shoulder. Bulma had been right, he really had smelt something. It was the answer as to why he’d been acting so strange. Though, he didn’t seem to be trying to come onto her this time. Actually, there was a hint of concern in the way he was watching her with puzzlement, with a sense of over protectiveness.

Eventually he got up the gall to ask, “who the hell drugged you?” Vegeta didn’t like the idea of anyone coming near her, that was understood, but even less took fancy to the idea of someone lacing her without his consent. He wanted names, then he could bring her someone else’s head.

* * *

Her POV

Despite the fact she was obviously trying to stay clear of him, Vegeta somehow took it as a sign that she wanted to be bathed. He forced her up against his hard chest–even with the cum on it!–and began washing her. She tried to squirm away, but it clearly wasn’t working. He washed her hair and grumbled about how he thought that she wanted him to bathe him sometimes, and Bulma couldn’t help but wonder what kind of mental gymnastics he’d gone through to decide upon that.

And then came the sniffing again. First her neck, then the shoulder on the other side of her. She shifted away from him and he questioned her about… What the hell? She looked over her shoulder at him with a slight squint from how confused she was. Drugged? She didn’t even know what the hell smell he was talking about. She didn’t smell! And if she did, it was probably just sweat and the smell of the salty ocean from when they were still at the resort-like planet!

“I have no clue what the hell you’re talking about! Do I look like I’m drugged?” She didn’t even want to be reminded of the word. She knew full well what happened last time. She’d gone out of her mind with pleasure and willingly sucked face with some prostitute while she fucked her with a strap-on vibrator. Her memories were foggy, but what she did remember was a complete embarrassment and she wished she could forget it. 

“Just– I took my bath already, okay?! Let me go! I don’t want to be stuck to you when you’re covered in– Eugh, just get off me, okay!?” Clearly the nervousness she had about speaking up faded. She struggled more and kept trying to yank Vegeta’s tail, anything to try and get him to leave her alone. But it clearly wasn’t working. “Also! Also, stop sniffing me! It’s weird! It’s really weird! I don’t smell, just let me go!”

* * *

His POV

Vegeta leaned back and shot her a suspicious look when she asked him if she looked drugged. No, she definitely seemed to be in her right state of mind, but she damn well didn’t smell herself. Well, she did, just like a toxic overdose that was filling his head and begging him to put his mouth on her. It was kind of aggravating really. He’d had his fill of being told what to do by this woman. 

“Oh, trust me, woman. You smell. You smell like you’re begging for a fuck,” he demanded, flicking his tail away from her yanking hands, only to curl it back against her once again. “It’s so damn strong, I can’t…” He couldn’t think straight, but he wasn’t about to admit that to her. “…it’s terrible.” And by terrible he meant absolutely glorious. His mouth frumped into a frown. Leaning back, he returned to scrubbing them both down. Might as well, since she was tucked so nicely into his lap.

The colorful sways of mixing colors soon filled the tub. The girl had missed a large portion of paint from her back. And she’d said she was finished bathing, not likely. His hands weren’t the only thing trailing down her back, his vision was too. Watching the colors fade away, revealing her soft flesh to him. She was beginning to fill out again. He could hardly make out her rib cage anymore. Good, it looked like all that food wasn’t wasted by giving it to her after all.

“You should be the one bathing me,” he gruffed, sarcastic but he really meant it. He’d barely bothered to groom himself. Still sticky and covered in dried salt. How many times had he groomed her now? And he always felt pushed into it. If only Bulma knew how backed into a corner he felt, as if he had to… Though, he was probably enjoying it in vast amounts compared to her. His rubbing hands ran from her shoulder blades and into her hair. He’d left it for last, and this time he knew exactly how to tackle it. He’d figured this out from before -no getting soap in anyone’s eyes.

“Lean back if you know what’s good for you,” he demanded when he turned the shower head on. He had such a way of putting it, he could of made dictators look good.

* * *

Her POV

Her mind went into high alert when he claimed she was ‘begging for a fuck.’ Oh, oh god! He was really going to rape her again. She was sure of it. She tried even harder to get away from him, but he obviously wasn’t having it. Hell, he didn’t seem like he even noticed all that much, and the only time she actually made some kind of distance was when he let go of her with his tail for a split second before grabbing her around the waist by it again. But otherwise, he just went on as usual and rubbed her back down to get off paint she must have missed. Though she hadn’t really been trying to clean herself in the first place; she was more focused on trying to tune out his masturbating.

“I don’t want to bathe anyone! And I don’t smell! Just let me go! Let me go! Let me go!” She repeated it over and over, getting onto her knees and desperately trying to climb away despite his hold on her with his tail, or the fact that his hands were trailing comfortably down the sway of her back. Despite how it felt, after what happened the other day, she really, really did not want to be around him so he could end up forcing himself on her again. And it just felt like it was a matter of time until he did it.

He kept ignoring it and simply moved to cleaning her matted down hair, demanding that she look back if she ‘knew what was good for her,’ coupling it with him turning the shower head on. It was weird to see he was really washing her, but she’d be damned if she just let him do it to the point where he started feeling her up and doing something horrible. He’d already broken her trust once. She just wanted to be as far from him as she possibly could. She didn’t give a rat’s ass what he was telling her to do with her head. 

“No! Let me go! I said let me go! Let me go, let me GO!” She struggled as hard as she could, actually gripping the side of the bath to try and get away from Vegeta’s tail’s iron grip on her waist. The tub squeaked under her restless feet and limbs the more she struggled to get out of his reach. She was acting a bit like a cat, but to her it wasn’t funny or cute. He’d called himself a monster, right? How could he expect her to want to be around him? Especially after saying that she smells like she was ‘begging for a fuck.’

* * *

His POV

She may not have found it funny or cute, but it was turning Vegeta on full force. The way she was squirming and wriggling in his lap, clawing to get out from under him like a wild animal. The woman might as well of been a living, breathing aphrodisiac. It was stirring his lap back to life, and the prince had to bellow out a horrible sigh in order to maintain control over his more primitive urges. Seriously, it wasn’t just her scent that was begging for him to top her anymore, it was her whole attitude. If he was forced to endure this much more he couldn’t guarantee he’d keep off of her.

“ _You’re going … to want… to stop that…_ ” It was a demand. The Saiyan’s voice was lowly, like dark thunder against her neck; bitten through clenched teeth. His thick arms wrapped around her frame like a vice. Now the pair of them were pinned over the side of the rim with the girl’s belly pressed to the cool edge. Vegeta’s chest heaved heavily against the splay of her shoulders, his heated weight pressing her against the porcelain, but he wasn’t moving. No bucking of hips or pressing his length against her backside. He was just slipping breathy growls past her ear. He was trying to control himself.

Slowly, carefully, he uncurled himself from on top of her. Slipping his arms from her waist until only his hands remained. It wasn’t enough to hold her in place, but he wasn’t removing his palms either. He was finding self-control once again, caging the animal he usually let run around to do as it pleased. It was a first for him, and it took a little practice, a little getting used to. Though, once he’d calmed his sudden urges, more or less, the ape went back to rinsing out his own thick black hair. His heart was still thumping in his ears, but he could survive that.

Bulma was far from soap free, herself. He’d left her hair in a mess of suds. If she wanted to rinse herself down she could do it herself. The Saiyan had had enough of fighting her if it wasn’t going to lead to fucking. And he couldn’t promise it wouldn’t lead down that path if she tried to fend him off again. So, instead, he focused on himself, then after a moment of self-gratifying attention, he shot her a look. He offered her the shower head in a gentle silence.

* * *

Her POV

He basically pounced on her. She could feel his weight on her, his heaving chest pressed against her upper back. She could swear that her heart nearly jumped into her throat the moment she felt him press up against her like some kind of animal, his arms tight around her body. She thought that was it. She thought he’d pin her down and rape her again, so much so that tears had already begun to well in her eyes before she could even properly process what was going on. But he…. He let her go.

She turned her body to look at him, her eyes the size of dinner plates. His hands were still at her waist, but he wasn’t really bothering to hold her down anymore. He just started washing his hair again. She gulped and stared for a moment longer, like she was just waiting to see what he’d do and when he’d finally just say ‘just joking’ and attack her, but that never… That never happened. 

Hesitantly, she sat back down. She did it slowly, like she was scared she’d startle him or something. She took the showerhead carefully from him and leaned forward to wash her hair of all the suds that had covered it after he didn’t get the chance to properly wash it out, and then she just looked over her shoulder again and stared at him. So… So he wasn’t going to do it? He wasn’t going to rape her again? She hadn’t even noticed that in her fear of it, she’d begun shaking.

She wanted to run off again, but she doubted she had the chance to. She had a feeling any attempt would just end with her getting pinned down like she almost was moments ago. And who knew if he’d resist the urge again after that. She certainly didn’t want to risk it.

* * *

His POV

He could feel her gaze hanging onto him, anticipating his next move; an attack that never came. The prince was far too ‘interested’ in grooming himself. At least that was the facade he was trying to portray. He could still hear his blood rushing in his ears and feel the beginnings of need beg to set in - but thank Kami he had better control over himself this time and the hard-on never set in. As long as he kept his mind out of the gutter, maybe he’d actually survive this without making the woman scream and cry again. It was worth it if it kept her from making him feel like shit.

God though, he really wished the sterile space ring had a brothel, a sex bot, something! Honestly, it just felt like fate was constantly trying to pull one over on him. He grunted like a gorilla in the bath. That’s when his eyes finally lifted to meet her own. The girl still looked terrified, as if she were watching a wild animal that she’d stumbled upon. Which in some ways, she was.

Vegeta’s glare was hard, cold, angry. He lifted himself from the tub as soon as he’d finished rinsing himself down. He was never one to care too much about being clean, as dirty as he so often got, but when he did groom he groomed thoroughly. There wasn’t a speck of dirt on him. His hair weighted down by the clean water, he shook it out as soon as he stepped over the female and onto the bathroom flooring. The mass of jet black hair flared out like rooster’s feathers when it was wet, rather than the fluffy upright mane that he usually wore.

A clean towel went flying in Bulma’s direction. The prince had tossed it at her. Draping one around himself, he toweled the rest of his bronze self off. He still wasn’t paying attention to her. Hadn’t muttered a word since pinning her down, and by the looks of it, he was slightly stewing over the whole ordeal. That, or suppressing something. The bath had hardly gone according to plan. Though he could pat himself on the back for one accomplishment, it was the first time he hadn’t tried to pin a female down when he’d had one under himself and ready to go. It was a shame, he was becoming soft, and he knew it.

* * *

Her POV

She could feel her heart pounding so fast that she felt like she was going to pass out, even as she rinsed her hair off. She was shaking, at least just from the adrenaline of being so close to being… Well. She gulped and stiffened when she felt the water move behind her as he did… Something, but he ended up simply getting out of the bath and drying himself off. A moment later she was hit with a clean towel in the face as a signal to say she could get out.

She unplugged the drain and climbed out of the bath, quickly wrapping the towel around herself. She was still on edge, even if nothing had happened. She was still just… Suspecting it. Waiting. Was he planning on making his move when she didn’t expect it? Or had he honestly controlled himself? She wasn’t so sure of that. Why would he bother? Sure, he no longer viewed her as a sex slave, but… It was Vegeta here. He called himself a monster. He knew what he was.

She walked slowly over to her shorts, watching him the entire time thanks to still suspecting he’d jump on her. She eyed him quietly as she leaned down and grabbed her clothing capsule from her pocket and let it loose so she could get clean clothes, every time she looked way only doing so for a half a second before darting her eyes back. She certainly wasn’t crying, but she was still… Expecting things. Especially with that menacing stare he had. He wasn’t watching her, but it was still scary to see it. Like he was just thinking about something. Maybe he was deciding on whether or not he should just pin her down. She was honestly just waiting for him to do it at any moment, after all.

* * *

His POV

He could sense the girl shaking from where he stood, drying himself off. Even with his back turned to her, he could smell the fear rolling off of her skin just like the water that ran down her naked back. She was watching him, he could feel her eyes trailing over him. The familiar pop of her capsule told him that she was making a quick grab for clothing. He should do the same. He reached for his own tattered, smelly, dirty pants that were left in a heap in the middle of the floor. The blue hue of the once vibrant space suit all but faded out from the beach sun.

It was then his eyes glanced at her, slyly. She looked so primal, it was endearing. The way she hovered over her pile of clothing, protective, coveting them like something she’d stolen or hunted. Watching every move he made like a tiger that was prowling too close. Just give her a spear and she would have been perfect. A real picture from a science book. He half expected her to grunt at him in warning, like he so often did to her when she was getting a little out of turn. He watched her, stalked around her just for the thrill of it, then leaned the dip of his back against the rim of the nearby sink. Crossing his arms over his bare chest, he gave her a haughty smirk.

His eyes fixed on her and his brows raised, as if asking ‘ _expecting something?_ ’ He knew she was. It was kind of nice to watch her fear his pounce for once -himself knowing it’d never happen. It was satisfying to put her in a state of suspense after she’d done similar to him, only in a sexual manner. He’d never been put in this position before. He always pounced; he couldn’t remember a time where he’d passed the opportunity up. She was a first. Many firsts. He wasn’t giving her privacy this time but that came with the territory of eating up her reactions. If he was going to get something out of this, it would teasing her.

He waited until she was nearly clothed to make a grab for his last item -his boots. Fingering them onto his calves and snapping the heel against the tile floor a few times, he smacked them into place around his feet. Finally, he looked like he was going to let her off the hook once and for all. Standing straight, he placed a hand on the door, ready to usher her out as soon as she was fully clothed.

“Whenever you’re ready, _princess.”_ He’d remembered to use that ‘insult’, finally _._

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looks like our prince is finally sticking to his decision despite his greater urges, but does he really understand what that will mean for them both in the future? Will he even get the chance to understand his new feelings before it's too late...
> 
> Hey guys! Galactic here. We got the chapter up in time, woot! We'll always try to post by Sunday night/Monday USA time. This chapter felt a little like an intermission to me, so I want to let you know it picks up from here! One of my favorite and on-going plots is coming up in the next chapter :)
> 
>   
> 


	24. Familiar Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running into some unnerving people gives Bulma gets a real opportunity to escape.
> 
>   
> 

**Her POV**

She didn’t like the way he began staring at her. Brows raised, mocking her fear of being attacked again. Could he blame her? It was a horrible experience. She could only wish that he could get raped for every time he raped a girl. Ten times for each time he raped her specifically. Then he’d see how fun it was. How hilarious it was to mock a girl for fearing it. He’d nearly mauled her moments ago; what else was she supposed to expect other than that he was going to go through with it? She wasn’t sure what was up with him lately, but she was fairly certain he’d pin her down sooner or later if she didn’t find a way away from him and the other Saiyans.

She put on her clothes while showing as little skin as possible, making an effort to use the towel as a curtain. She wouldn’t let him see her naked for more than she could possibly allow. He might have prevented her from leaving the bath before, but as soon as she was given the opportunity to hide her shame, she damn sure was going to make sure he saw as little of her as possible. And the entire time she changed, she kept her eyes on him. Still thinking he was going to make his move.

She put on panties, shorts, and halter top, along with her shoes. That was really the only solace to her situation at this point- at least she could still think she looked cute. Maybe if she wasn’t so eager to show skin by personality she’d be worried with her belly and legs being shown off in what she wore, but she couldn’t bring herself to worry. Even if she was dressed in a burka like those women wore from the village she visited a long time ago with that rabbit gangster, she had a feeling they’d still just tear it off and rape her. He called himself a monster. Monsters didn’t care.

She put the dirty clothes in the pile and capsuled it all, just in time for Vegeta to tell her to hurry up. She zipped passed him as soon as she could and hoped he wouldn’t try grabbing her or anything. She certainly didn’t try to make a run for it considering she was so scared the slightest thing to piss him off would make him follow through with what he nearly did in the bath. She had been so eager to not keep him waiting that he hadn’t even bothered to try to dry or even comb out her hair. Not that she cared at that very moment.

* * *

**His POV**

He saw the small glance she gave him, the one that looked like she was going to make a run for it. The prince was hardly taken by surprise when the girl leaped like a gazelle from the claws of a hungry lion, bolting right out the door and into the dimly lit corridor. He was just about to make a move for her ass, too. Just an innocent smack, just in order to tease her fear, but he didn’t... The moment Vegeta bowed down to make a pass for the running woman, he was hit in the face with the overpowering scent that nearly caused him to lose his mind in the bathroom.

It hit him like a punch in the face. A very wonderful, potent hit of endorphins. He hesitated to follow, caught up in the powdery bubble of smell. The prince had to shake himself to fall back to his senses. Regaining the perma-grimace that so often took his face. He stalked the hallways right after her; this time with more purpose and fluidity. Like a beast overtaking a new territory. This would be his territory for the time being - as long as they were asleep.

It didn’t take but a few swift footsteps to fall in line just behind the girl. He was herding her towards the sleeping chambers. There would be no escape for her this time. In fact, the look Vegeta was giving her was both condescending and urging. The tapping of his finger over his crossed arm meaning, _‘you better get in the capsule this time_ ’. He wouldn’t be leaving until he saw her snoozing face through the tiny window of the chamber door. The prince leaning his shoulders against the metal wall next to her rented pod, fixing his brow into a heavy line, and waiting.

Vegeta wasn’t the only one waiting for the girl to enter the sleeping quarters. One of the hosts that ran the facility was waiting kindly on the other side. Surely to set the gas chamber to its correct settings, once Bulma had tucked herself comfortably inside. Of course Vegeta’s previous offer still remained. If she was going to put up any fight this time, he’d let her share his own cramped quarters. The threat still hung like soot in the air. However, little be-known to the girl, the prince was hoping to Kami it wouldn’t come to that. He’d rather just shove her in her own pod and be done with it. Gassed or not, he didn’t want to be trapped against her intoxicating scent any more than he need be. It could only lead to worse things. Even from the distance between them it was playing at his head.

* * *

**Her POV**

She hurried away from him, but he fairly easily caught up to her and made sure she was only going to the capsules. She glanced back at him nervously, weighing her options. She wouldn’t win this. She had to wait until later to try and escape. Damn, it seemed that she’d honestly missed her opportunity. She should have escaped when she had the chance back on that planet with the birds and lizards. He had let her roam as much as she pleased without herding her around like this. For the time being, she was forced to be under supervision.

She climbed inside the pod almost immediately, but at the notice of a little light on the side of the capsule that showed whether or not what was labeled as ‘sleepy gas’ was on, held her breath so she wouldn’t end up falling asleep. If she just waited and listened for Vegeta to climb into his capsule, she’d be able to get out and run off to the pods without having to worry. If she could hold her breath for a long enough time, that was.

She wrapped herself in the thin blanket that was given, going so far with her holding her breath to press her face and nose into the pillow just to make sure any gas couldn’t get in. She kept her ears open while trying to appear asleep just in case he was watching her. Come on, come on, if he could just hurry up and get into his capsule and fall asleep… She really wished she had stronger lungs than she did, because they were burning with the need for air. 

Maybe he was just silent. She quickly climbed out of the pod and took a large breath as soon as she figured she was able to without being affected by the gas and turned around to see if Vegeta had gotten into his pod yet and had just been very stealthy about it.

* * *

**His POV**

She’d gone silent, but Vegeta wasn’t convinced just yet. The girl was clever, and cleverness always needed to be met with a cunning attitude. If he were locked in a pod and had made several escape attempts already. what would he be doing? He’d be concocting ways to use the situation to his advantage, that’s what he’d be doing. He couldn’t say the same of his men, but the girl was foxy, and the prince was onto her. After all, he happened to like this little back and forth game they kept playing. He was conducting his own counter attack.

He waited. The girl was from a water based planet, so he assumed she’d have a decent pair of lungs on her. On second thought ...he didn’t need to assume that. He knew. The prince had personally witnessed the girl take cock without coming up for air, not to mention the ear piercing screams she was capable of producing. Yeah, he’d be waiting for her escape attempt for a while. He knew it. And he was by far wrong.

There she was, right on cue. Her pretty little blue head popping out of the pod door and gasping for fresh air. And there stood Vegeta. Scolding his glare down at her. His fists firmly on his hips, his mouth a hard pressed line. Oh yes, he’d caught her. The girl just kept using up her chances, however, some part of the prince felt smug to see her. He was right, she’d tried to pull one over his head again. But instead of feeling peeved like he knew he should of been, he was admiring her crafty, if not persistent, attitude.

“Nice try, little blue mouse. Now get back in your hole!” barked the prince, placing a steady hand on her head and shoving her right back into the sleeping contraption. He wasn’t going to let her get away with trying a second time. This time, the prince’s back was pressed up against the small glass window of the capsules only door. If she wanted to try that again, she’d be fighting the dead weight that was the prince himself.

* * *

**Her POV**

Sh… Shit! Her eyes widened when she realized she was faced with Vegeta staring back at her, and before she could even have time to react and try to make up some excuse, he physically shoved her back into the capsule. She managed to hold her breath just before being shoved in and it gave her the opportunity to turn around and try escaping again in a few seconds. She weaseled around in the capsule so that her head was closest to the way to get out, only to find, quite horribly, that it was sealed.

She thumped on it and it didn’t move at all. Even though she knew it was Vegeta’s doing, it still scared the living shit out of her. She struggled to force it open, panic setting in at the realization she was completely trapped, but it just wouldn’t budge. Finally she gasped for air, half because her lungs were throbbing and half because she wanted to yell out for help, but as soon as she sucked air back into her lungs, she felt sleepy.

G… Goddamn. Even when she tried to yell out, she just ended up letting out a quiet pathetic murmur as her body began to feel heavy. Her head dropped and she passed out, the gas doing its magic to make sure the clients of the hotel didn’t have a sleepless stay.

* * *

**His POV**

As soon as silence soothed out from the sleeping chamber, Vegeta turned his sights back on the sleepy pod. She was quiet, but was she asleep? As determined as her spirits could be, the prince wouldn’t put it past her to try and make a break for it a second time. But no, there was silence, and for a long time. He could even see her glossy blue head snoozing near the entrance of the capsule. This time, the soft tones of her flushed cheeks (probably flushed from fighting to escape, he suspected), told him she’d finally succumb to the effects of the sleeping gas.

After a quick tap of the glass with his knuckles, sensing no movement on the girl’s behalf, Vegeta relented and turned towards his own pod. He really couldn’t blame her. The prince wasn’t too keen on crawling into it himself. Sleeping gas, really? He’d rather sleep out under the stars, but with being trapped in a space ring he knew there’d be no rest until they caved and took the only option they had. Besides, they’d need their rest. The next planet he planned on overtaking wasn’t exactly going to allow him to sleep on the job.

After checking the security on Bulma’s tank, assuring himself that he’d wake to her presence just a few moments after she herself began to stir, he hesitantly turned to stare at his own capsule. Fuck, he hated feeling defenseless, but eventually he slipped his agile build into the tiny quarters of the confined space. Holy damn, no wonder she’d thrown a few fits. The place was cramped; he really couldn’t blame her. It must of been impossible for Raditz and Nappa to turn around in comparison. At least it was long. The roof of the tube high above his head. The gas hissed to life, and before too long, the prince was knocked out in his own chamber. Locked away for the next few hours.

Raditz and Nappa had already been snoozing for what must of been an hour, give or take. They’d wake in a few hours, before their prince, but surely to stand guard if nothing else. What were they going to do otherwise, hunt down a brothel? Not likely. If only the two soldiers were wise enough to check for the girl’s location once they awoke. But how were they supposed to know which capsule she’d been shoved into? They’d been asleep when Vegeta and the earthling had marched off for a bath. Unknowing that while they were all passed out, including the girl, something sinister was unscrewing the capsule with the pretty female locked inside, and sliding it right out of the wall. How lucky was the thief that she was sound asleep? Never knowing that she was about to have her genetic code plucked from her; taken captive by a whole new slew of mad men.

* * *

**Her POV**

She woke up little by little, the effects of the gas not wanting to let go all at once. It took her a while to regain her senses even after she’d already regained her consciousness, and something immediately felt off. She knew she’d fallen asleep in a cramped space, but she couldn’t move her arms or legs. That… That was different. She should still be able to! Her mind was already beginning to panic, and when she managed to open her eyes–half-lidded but still open–her heart skipped a beat. This wasn’t where she fell asleep.

She was lying naked on a table with a large light overhead, and was strapped by the neck, wrists, and ankles. There felt to be something on her head, and while she couldn’t see it, it was a series of sticky little pads connected by wires that were monitoring her brain processes. A machine was beeping nearby, showing the sudden jump in brain activity and signaling she was awake.

Could she be blamed for going straight to having a panic attack? She felt like she couldn’t breathe, and an invisible weight on her chest was crushing her. It was like Zarbon. Trusting him enough to blindfold her, only for her to get– Oh, oh God. It was happening all over again, wasn’t it? Where was Vegeta? She didn’t see him around. Did he sell her off? No, why would he do that? It... Was it the… She couldn’t focus. All she could focus on was how she was certain she was going to be tortured again.

She struggled, and struggled hard. Her legs and arms thrashed even with their restraints, enough that it was painful and likely to give her bruises. Her head knocked against the metal table as she tried to fight against the strap across her neck, and her throat’s air supply kept getting cut off every time she forced her head to try and lift again. She began screaming as she struggled, and crying all the while. The only coherent thought she could think was a simple word: ‘no.’ No. No! God, not again. Not like this; why couldn’t she just get _killed_ already? It’d be so, so much more preferable than this hell.

* * *

“What an interesting specimen, doctor.” rang out a feminine voice. It was professional, calm, collected. The whole room rang out with medical vibes and professionalism. However, what was being taken place in the secret chambers was far from professional, no matter how much Bulma’s new captors tried to make it appear. They were thieves, slave traders, in the sex business - no matter how they sliced it or glammed it up with glossy equipment and white lab coats.

There were three creatures standing over Bulma as she began to wake from her drugged slumber. Watching her struggle, panic, give into fear. No sense of empathy passed over their strange squishy faces. Not even the purple female that was busy writing down the girls every reaction. It was important to take notes on her various expressions, less there was a trait they didn’t want to sell their customers. That’s right, they were studying her. They were going to clone her and sell her image off.

While Bulma slept, a verity of tests had already been performed on her naked form. A glass vial of her own earthling blood bubbled and churned near one of the larger computer screens. All of her information, from her metabolism stats to the coding that made her eyes such a vivid blue, was rolling like text over the massive screen. The girl had always been treated like a rarity, and it looked like this bunch of mad scientists wanted to harvest that uniqueness for their own. For profit.

“She seems a little spirited,” mentioned one of the older male doctors. A blobby blue creature with tentacles for fingers that curled around his transparent notes. “We’ll have to add that to her fighter’s mode. Can’t have our clones fighting their owners, after all.” he seemed far too cheerful for what he was about to do . What he was about to put Bulma through. As if this was a common day occurrence, and judging by their mannerisms, for them it probably was.

“Should we start the process now that she’s awake, doctor?” asked a younger male. He must of been their version of an intern. His hand on a lever, one that’d surely be the earthlings undoing. It was next to a row of tanks, all bubbling with a goo-y liquid that’d spit out clone after clone, like assembly line.

“Maybe just one, just a test run.” answered the octopus in charge, and with that, the intern flipped the switch, sending a jolt of electricity that’d surely have Bulma lighting up like the fourth of July.

* * *

**Her POV**

She didn’t like the way the people were looking at her. The lab coats made her slightly less terrified of getting immediately raped, but it didn’t stop her struggle. It wasn’t until the electric shock shot through her head that her panic attack ended. Not because she had calmed down, but because the shock had jolted her so horribly that she was forced out of her thoughts. Afterward, she was too busy stewing in the pain and surprise to do anything.

“Ahn… Ah…” She panted and squinted her eyes through the light to try and see what they were all looking at– in one of the tanks, goo bubbled and filled with red liquid that slowly molded into… Into her! Her eyes widened at the sight, her heart pounding faster than ever. But this time, she stayed still. Just what the hell was happening? They… They created a clone of her? It was just standing in there, nude and covered in the goo, even as the tank slowly drained of the liquid.

“H… Hey, what is that? What happened? What did you do to me?” She wanted to come off as sounding strong, but her voice ended up weak. She was terrified, how could she speak loudly? “Where am I? What are you doing? Why does it look like me? That’s not me!” Even if she should be able to figure out the questions herself, she was left with a blank mind because of just how scared she was. Maybe it was partially the gas still working on her head as well, but she couldn’t think straight. Her mind was on high-alert. 

The previously air-tight door on the tank unsealed and opened and the clone came to life, blinking and stepping outside the tank. She looked at the main man in the lab coat and smiled at him, her eyes bright. She clearly wasn’t the same Bulma, even if she looked the same, down to every dimple and birthmark. She looked friendly, and willing to please. The moment the girl opened her mouth, Bulma had to suppress the urge to puke.

“Hello, creator. Would you like me to have some fun with you?” It came with a little bounce of her feet, and the clone reaching up to squeeze her breasts teasingly. “I only want to please.”

* * *

The clone was beautiful; absolutely perfect! The three octopi didn’t look to notice the girls distress at all. They were too busy celebrating over their success. Twisting their tentacles together and giving one another congratulations and pats on the back. The man in charge looked particularly delighted. He stepped around the motionless clone. Looking her nude figure up and down, judging her. The slick ooze from the tank spilling into a puddle around her feet on the floor.

“It’s perfect,” he proclaimed, much to the other two scientist’s relief. “We’re going to make a killing in the slave market. Hell, maybe I’ll even ship some off to the research and development facilities!” there was a sloshy round of applause form the other two octopi. They hadn’t paid their captives pleads for explanation much attention. That is, until the intern turned his gaze on the girl strapped to the cold metal table. She was equally as beautiful. Though the clone was a perfect copy, the intern looked just as interested in performing a few more experiments on Bulma, himself.

“Did you hear that?” the intern leaned over Bulma, hushing his slimy words. “You’re a sensation, I can’t wait until we’re finished and I get to write my research paper on you. We’ll have so much fun.” Fun wasn’t the right word to use, more like ...torture. She was now in the hands of creatures that wanted to use her body parts for experimentation, now that they had their perfect copy of her. What good was a rebellious original, if not just for further research?

“Turn the machine on again, lad!” cried the older octopus, waving a tentacle, “This time at a lower setting. We don’t want to fry her brain before we get to pick it apart!” The young intern did as his supervisor said, and turned the electric pulse that’d soon be waving through Bulma’s lithe body down to a simmering vibration. They were going to make more of her. Many... Many... More. Until they filled the whole room, if they were lucky.

The machine bolted to life and the ooze in the tanks began filling back up, this time the entire row of twenty something chambers. The vial of blood next to the massive screen bubbled to life again, lowering a bit more with every drop that was spared to create a new copy. Soon, there would be an army of earthlings, only, their free will and understanding of the world around them would be next to none. Like the first clone standing next to Bulma said, she was only there to please.

* * *

**Her POV**

Her eyes turned to the younger octopus-like alien, forcing down sniffles as he spoke. Oh, oh god. No. The older one went so far as to talk about not wanting to fry her brain before it was picked apart, and Bulma began to sob. The sobbing was cut short, however, when she was shocked again. And again. Multiple times, though at lower frequencies. Red bits invaded the different tanks of goo again, and though it took them longer to turn into full humans this time, they did.

As the female octopus grabbed a towel and dried off the first Bulma, the others started arriving from their tanks. All looking just as giddy, quickly greeting their master with large smiles. They’d all been successes. The assistant dried them off one by one, the drying always being met with giggles from the ticklishness of it. The main Bulma clone came up to her master and wrapped her arms around his neck loosely before giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek and a whisper in his ear of something lewd. 

The whole sight terrified and disgusted Bulma after that round of shocks. Why was the universe so awful? This kind of stuff didn’t happen on Earth. Or at least, she thought it didn’t. She sniffled as she witnessed it all, wondering again where the hell Vegeta was. Was she kidnapped? Ah… That was… That was right. The clerk kept eyeing her. Maybe she was taken while he was sleeping. …She should have slept in the capsule with him…

She struggled against her straps again, reminding herself of how she was supposed to escape. She was hoping she’d be kidnapped so she could escape and go back home. But how was she supposed to escape this? She clearly hadn’t thought too hard about it at the time, and so she was stuck in a dilemma. Maybe… Maybe she could get one of them to let her out now.

Her head turned to look at the octopus boy, and she smiled much like the clones did. He looked like he could be manipulated easily enough. “Hey, why wait till later? The doctor is getting so much attention. Maybe if I’m let out, we can have some fun of our own that you can write about in your paper.”

* * *

**His POV**

The lab was soon filled with a small fortune of Bulma’s. All the octopus had to do was sell them to the highest bidder, and they’d be shipped off across the galaxy, maybe even the far stretches of the universe if he was lucky. He was sure to get a mention in the latest scientist magazines for this one! Not just discovery magazines, he was going to go on space aged Playboy and the Universal Times! The doctor was distracted by his own fantasies, eating up the attention that the girls were giving him. Heck, maybe he’d even keep one for himself if they could prove to be this flirty. That’s when his assistant, the female octopus, broke in.

“Doctor, she’s currently very fertile. The statistics show she’s currently ovulating.” her tentacles clicked over the keyboard under the massive screen. “...We should make a batch that is incapable of breeding, if we’re planning on doing business in the slave ring.” a few more clicks came from the direction of the computer, the female had her back turned. It looked like both the doctor and his assistant were highly distracted. That only left the young male intern, and he was making goo-goo eyes at Bulma and her offer.

“R-Really? You mean it?” the intern whispered down at Bulma, a little too close for comfort, surely. His slimy wet lips nearly grazing her cheek. “I... I’ll have you out in a minute...” he finally caved. How could he resist? The girl was pretty enough to be sold to the masses, and he got to play with the original before his professor had the chance to cut her up into tiny pieces. Of course he was going to take up her offer! He could already see it, having the girl spread out over his research, while they ‘played’ on the desk. His imagination running wild thanks to the facade Bulma put on, the intern unclasping the metal rings that bound her wrists, and then her neck. All that were left were her feet, and they’d be doing it on the desk in no time …that’s when the magnetically sealed doors crashed open.

It was Vegeta, and he did not look happy to see them. In fact, the aura around him was seething with hate. His menacing teeth were bared and his chest was heaving. Brooding hate for anyone that’d taken something that was his. He’d followed the girls potent scent all the way into the corridors of the lab, all the way down into the underbelly of the space ring, where their laboratories had been tucked away. They really weren’t expecting the Saiyan to be able to find them, but they hadn’t banked on the female’s ovulation to be so strong. Especially with so many wafting their small through the vents from a concentrated location. It was overwhelming, like stepping into a perfume factory - at least for the sensitive nose of a Saiyan.

* * *

**Her POV**

The boy was stupid and did as she said, even if he was sure to be as creepy as possible as he did so. She hated having him that close to her face, but in the end, she’d have to deal with it to get out. But right as he was in the middle of undoing the straps around her ankles, someone busted in. She didn’t have to wait to see that it was Vegeta. She took no time at all pushing the octopus boy out of the way and finishing freeing herself. She wasn’t about to get dragged back into Vegeta’s clutches. She had a chance at freedom, and she was taking it.

The clones were all taken by surprise as much as the rest of the people in the room were. But when Vegeta’s form showed up, they immediately got giddy. They existed to please, and this was an alpha male, obviously. Why wouldn’t they want to please someone so handsome? They all flocked to him and grabbed him, with a few holding onto Raditz and Nappa instead. Sliding their bare breasts along their chests, giving them kisses wherever they could reach, the occasional fondle of their genitals– they were clearly all over the men.

Bulma, however, wasn’t quite so obsessive. She looked around and found her capsules set on the doctor’s desk, and pushed the octopus boy away yet again to get to them and grab them up. But… Shit. She had to be sure to blend in, or else Vegeta would just grab her knowing she wasn’t acting like the others. She popped the capsules in her mouth because she had nowhere else to put them, and huddled toward the other girls. On the end, slowly trying to make it passed the doors without looking like she was trying to escape. 

* * *

**His POV**

What the actual hell had he stumbled upon… earthling females, dozens of them. At first Vegeta had to take a double take, assuring himself that yes, he was actually staring down a large number of Bulma’s, and not her scattered reflection or optical illusion. It became all too clear just how solid and tangible their forms where, when they started pressing their naked bodies up against his bare skin. His deep seeded anger gave way to a state of irritated shock, but soon that’d be cleared away too …as soon as his senses were hit hard by the penetrating scent of so many ovulating females. They may not of all been his earthling, but they damn well smelt like it.

Their kittenish claws and starry eyed giggles were numbing out his better judgement. They’d caught him off guard, holding the Saiyan Prince at a standstill, drowning in the intoxicating scent of so many females. He could feel his face heating up to new shades of red. Dear Kami, he must have still been knocked out in the pod. That was the only explanation for her toying with him like that. He was still in the capsule suffering from some gas induced dream ...or maybe nightmare. Their rubbing on him like that were starting to give him an undeniable hard on. His eyes dilating, his tail swishing in response ...he couldn’t help it, it was his instincts kicking in. The prince was giving into their touches, using what will power he had left to restrain from becoming a great, big, horny tomcat.

“Hey boss, why don’t we just take a few of these?!” Nappa’s big voice boomed out behind Vegeta, awakening the prince from his daze-eyed trance. Instantly, Vegeta ripped one of the naked clones from nipping at his cheek. God, how the hell was he supposed to think straight in all of this? He had to concentrate, he had to find the girl he’d been looking for. Nappa and Raditz were all too ready to give into the clones’ affections. Already hoping Vegeta would allow them to keep one or two for themselves. After all, there were so many! But it looked like Vegeta had other ideas, made clear when a roar ripped from his angry maw, snapping one of the clones that’d been rubbing on his crotch right in half.

“I didn’t come here for a clone!” roared the prince, scaring the octopi further into their hiding place behind the big computer. Looking down at his now bloody palms, Vegeta finally stated coming back to his senses fully. The look alike earthling was dying in his hands. Her rib cage exposed and her entrails plummeting to the floor. Then, he watched the light grow dim and fade out of her beautiful blue eyes. Something he’d never thought about until now, something that made his guts wrench with a new twisted sickness. 

“Find the original”, Vegeta barked at his men. These weren’t his female. They weren’t what he wanted, they were just meat and blood. He’d rip through every single one of them if he had to. And that’s exactly what he tried to do. Though, doing so while making sure he had his hands on a clone rather than wrapped around the girl’s neck, was proving to be difficult. Needless to say, Vegeta’s carnage was acting like a slow paced distraction.

* * *

**Her POV**

She was worrying about how she’d be able to run off without them catching her, when suddenly Vegeta had grabbed one of the clones that had kissed his cheek. The clones all froze in surprise, and Bulma among them. She knew that look in his eyes, and it didn’t look positive. She knew exactly what had been coming when he ripped the girl in half, and yet she was no more ready to see it. The clones near Raditz and Nappa clung to them in terror, while the clones by Vegeta either cried in horror or tried to calm Vegeta from a coming murderous rampage.

At one sickening sight of the dead body of herself on the ground, Bulma ran. She spared no time getting out of there, other than to gag and force back puke. She could feel the bile stinging the back of her mouth and the sight stayed with her even as she ran, but she had to get the hell out of there. She didn’t want to end up like that, or worse. Oh, god. She’d seen so many things, but seeing herself die a horrible death like that was even worse. She couldn’t help but recall all the times that could have been her. If she had pissed off any of the Saiyans a little more. Or perhaps back on Earth, if they hadn’t found her attractive enough. She did yell at Vegeta once that she had wished she was pregnant so that he’d have just killed her. Would that have been her?

She tried her best to force back the intruding thoughts as she ran, straight for where she recalled the pods to be. Running as fast as her legs could take her, fully believing the Saiyans must be on her tail, even if they weren’t. God, who knew what kind of punishment she’d get for running away again. This was all or nothing. She had to do this now or she’d regret it.

She found the pods and forced one of them open– Vegeta’s. She climbed in and shut the door, remembering the remote he had in his armor. He didn’t seem to be nearby, maybe she’d get lucky. It couldn’t do much from the other end of the universe, could it? She quickly typed in some coordinates–and coordinates; she didn’t know Earth’s at the moment and just needed to LEAVE–and set the pod to get going.

It zoomed up away again, and as soon as it went in gear, she spit the capsules out from her mouth. She took a second to breathe and relax, get accustom to her surroundings again. She was in the pod alone for once. It was odd not to have someone else there. She could explore all she wanted, really. And after a bit of searching, she found the control panel was something that could be opened up to a compartment with various supplies in it. Some of her stuff from the brothel from way back, too. She set the capsules down in it for the time being and peered out the window of the pod. Hopefully this wouldn’t end in being caught again. Or being in worse hands than before.

* * *

**His POV**

The sound of crunching bones and splattering blood filled the laboratory. The girls’ frames snapped so easily under his fingers; like twigs in his hands. It was astonishing, he couldn’t believe how easily she broke. He didn’t have to put in any effort in killing her. One simple swipe of his hand, and the clones to his side were mauled apart as easily as china dolls. The prince had always known she’d been a delicate thing. Her lithe body was fragile, she’d come from a weak race, but he’d never realized just how frail an earthling could be. God damn, maybe he’d been too rough with her all along. There was a part of him that questioned just how much pain her body could take. What was that horrible feeling setting in? Surely it couldn’t be understanding or regret.

The devastation was relentless. It looked as if a wild animal had broken into the lab and torn apart anything it could get its jaws around. The computer sparked with live wire, ki burns sizzled the busted tanks. The walls were painted in the thick spray of oozing blood, and the octopus, who’d stolen the girl in the first place, looked more like left over calamari. But still the girl evaded him. At least… he was pretty sure he hadn’t killed her by mistake. Vegeta whirled in place, shooting his vision from one spot, to another; searching over the piles and pieces of dead bodies. Looking for signs of life from any one of them. It was horrific, the image of her still face painted with blood and turning cold with death. It did something to the bastard deep inside. It was not an image he’d forget easily, either.

His heart started beating rapidly, sniffing out the area and assessing the damage. No, no, no; she couldn’t be dead. He wasn’t prepared to accept that. He had meant to protect her, to keep her alive, not destroy her. That’s what she always told him, wasn’t it? That he was only capable of destruction. He knew it, but he’d never realized just how far he could take it; to this level of self-destructive behavior. He really was a monster. They may of been look a likes, but he’d still ripped her image apart. The prince gripped his head, tormented by his own choices, and the circumstances set before him by his own doing. His men looked on, feeling a new concern for their prince. Hopefully he was just having another temper tantrum and not actually losing it for once.

“She must have gotten away,” Vegeta hissed storming right past the two on-looking soldiers and into the corridor, as if he knew what he was doing. As if he had a well-placed plan. Fuck that earthling, she could be so difficult! That’s right... she really could be difficult. She’d survived so much worse; he couldn’t go letting himself think she was dead just yet. Not until he saw her true face dead in his hands would he accept it. He’d search for her, but it was going to be a wild goose chase. Several of the clones had escaped the carnage and were now running for their lives among the vastness of the station. He’d have to track down every one of them, to ensure it wasn’t his earthling, and proceed to kill them one by one. Mercilessly, until he found her once again. Of all the fucked up things he’d done, this was pretty high on the list.

* * *

**Her POV**

She couldn’t shake what she’d seen moments ago. Her body on the ground, lifeless and split completely in two. Maybe if they were androids or something, it would have been less terrifying. But something about the knowledge of what you looked like dead… Of what your insides looked like strewn outside your body… Of all the things she’d seen, it was the most disturbing. It made her feel sick again, but she forced herself not to puke. She wasn’t going to ruin the pod she’d be forced to be inside for who knew so long. But the image was still burned into her brain. It was that easy for Vegeta to kill her. He barely even moved his muscles and yet she split completely in half. …Would that be her fate, if she had stayed? Maybe he was finally too upset at her running off to let her live.

The thoughts hung on the whole trip. She wished she could sleep or even simply think of something else, but it didn’t happen. Hours passed. How many hours? A lot, that’s all she knew. Maybe close to a day? She was exhausted by the time a completely blue planet came into focus in the window. That’s when Bulma realized her next problem: she had no Vegeta to hold her still. This was going to be a bumpy ride. Damn, maybe she should have grabbed something else. Why had she chosen the pod?

The pod beeped, and she pressed down the buttons that she recalled Vegeta always pressing. She braced herself and pressed her hands and feet against the cushioned sides of the pod the closer they got. She zoomed to the planet, and just as she thought the pod was going to crash, it only splashed down some feet into water. It launched back up again and skidded along the water’s surface for a few moments until it came to a stop, or as close as it could come to one as it gently swirled along the water.

Bulma stared up at the window and saw the bright blue sky. So many planets had the same blue sky as her Earth’s. It was… Nice. She pushed the door to the pod open and was met with a gust warm ocean air, blowing her hair back and heating her skin. As far as her eyes could see, there was just… Ocean. Amazing. Had she landed on a planet with no life? Well, Vegeta would never be able to find her here. It could be nice, to go for a little swim. She smiled and looked down at the deep blue water, showing her own reflection down at her. Yeah, it would be nice to stay for a little while.

* * *

**His POV**

It did indeed feel like the prince and his men were chasing white rabbits. Or maybe black rabbits, with Bulma’s wardrobe history. More than a few of the earthling’s clones had escaped into the thick of the crowds that hustled and bustled along the space rings open floors. A few had already been caught up by greedy hands. Vegeta was doing his best to hunt the vast majority of the females down before they were all blasted off and into different directions of the universe. That’s all he needed, to go hunting down dead ends if someone stole a few of the clones. Or worse, stole the girl herself.

While the Saiyans were busy following false leads, a brand new blue planet was sinking into Bulma’s view from the space ship she’d confiscated. The world really was a navy marble. No land in sight, no islands to speak of, at least not where Bulma had skidded to a stop. It was quiet, peaceful, and water for as far as the eye could see. Some could say one could easily lose their mind out in the vastness of blue, if they didn’t make land fall soon. Hopefully the girl had packed supplies, because it didn’t look like she’d be feeling solid sand under her feet any time soon.

From the surface the planet appeared completely uninhabited. However, a dip into the currents below revealed a whole new world. Vast cities trapped in bubbles and floating along the oceans depths lay just beneath the girl’s bobbing pod. Bulma may not have spotted the world below her just yet, but the locals had definitely taken notice to her spaceship’s crash landing and disrupting their planet’s surface. A team was already being sent to investigate the new comer. To find out if Bulma was friend or foe.

Soon enough, the pod Bulma floated in began to shift. Move on its own, or so it appeared. Small bloops and gulping sounds of water being broken and then dipped back into, as if something was peeking out of the water, only to hide back beneath the surface as soon as she turned to look. How were you supposed to spot a species that completely blended in with the liquid world around them? As transparent as the tides around them, except for the thin blue line that exposed their body, like the outlining of clear blue glass. The intruding earthling was being watched, and it was by more than one pair of eyes. In fact, fairly familiar big black eyes, much like the nymph she’d encountered when she’d made her first ventures out into space.

* * *

**Her POV**

She looked around for a moment longer before shrugging. Why not have some fun? She’d relax for a little and try to drive out all the terrible thoughts she’d had, and then get on her way again. She just had to be careful about not getting any water in the pod. It’d end up useless then. So after some deliberation of how she’d get out, she closed the pod’s door most of the way and lurched her body to turn the pod so the door’s side fell underwater quickly. A bit of water got in, but the bubble of air caused it to stay afloat.

She pushed open the door with her foot and jumped down into the water, welcoming its warmth. She may be naked, but no one was around to see anyway; she could do as she pleased without having to be worried about people staring. She opened and adjusted her eyes, only to see that she wasn’t as alone as she thought. There was a big bubble with a city underneath the surface. And when her eyes lifted, she saw… Black… dots? No… Eyes! And there were outlines of forms! She lost the air in her mouth when she tried to yell, and just as she tried to get back to the surface for air, one got closer.

He put something in her mouth and connected it with little plastic hooks to the holes on the roof of her mouth connecting her mouth and nose. He let go and she found herself… Able to breathe. She stared at him with wide eyes, and he took her hand to lead her further down into the ocean while the others followed. They all seemed friendly enough, but her heart was beating unbelievably fast. What if they turned on her? She couldn’t trust anyone anymore, not after what happened with Zarbon.

He took her to the bubbled city and pushed through the bubble with ease. He was accepted in, and then her as well. Gravity was light inside it, and it almost worked like water itself. She had been scared of falling, but she only slowly drifted down with him and landed safely in what seemed to be a town square, surrounded by beautiful white architecture similar to Ancient Greece or Rome. Pillars, statues, and the people themselves in robes. That’s when she got to get a better look at the people– Hair that flowed like water, black eyes, and ocean-blue skin… Were they the same species as that woman at the brothel?

* * *

They were friendly enough, that was for sure, and all too ready to ogle and stare at the girl once she’d reached the oxygen filled bubble of the city below. Lucky for Bulma, they weren’t staring in so much of a sexual manner, rather than out of complete bewilderment. What was she? Where did she come from, did she fall from the sky? Her hair was as blue as their sky, but her skin was as pale as clouds (to them at least). She was a wonderment, and they were all watching her be ushered in through the beautifully cobble stoned city streets by the group of males that’d found her floating on the surface.

That was the thing though. This culture, this city at least by the looks of it, they were all males. Every single one of them. Sure, some were a little more feminine then others, and the occasional old woman told that their race wasn’t totally void of females, but the majority of the citizens were all males of the species, and seeing a pretty female, be it their species or not, was drawing a little bit of attention as she was shown to the towns center. Bulma was being taken towards the inner city, their leaders hall. It really was ancient Greece, down to how they ran their business. The Massive white columns and fountains of spewing fish decorating everything. They were definitely a fish loving people.

“Is this the alien that crashed on our surface? She hardly looks threatening” rang out a voice, climbing down a large set of stairs, “Pray tell! What has brought you to our humble city?” it was an older man, dressed in hanging robes, like a toga from the roman era. His aged face and cheery smile was welcoming, and he greeted Bulma with outstretched blue arms. Already a few servants were running frantically around the older nymph’s feet. They needed to get something for the female to wear. She was completely naked after all!

“You must be hungry, and in need of a little care,” he hinted at her nudity, but didn’t shame her for it, rather just placed his fist to chin. In no time, the servants returned with bundles of fabric. White fabrics seemed to be the theme of this town. The servants were ready to guide the outsider into the main hall and welcome her as one of their own. She may even need a medic to check her over. While it did all seem wonderfully inviting, the older man’s eyes did travel over her a little too long. Maybe it was because she was a different species, and he was assessing her for himself, being their leader and all. Or maybe it was something else. It was always hard to tell with aliens, especially nymphs that could easily sway the opposite gender with a gentle glance.

* * *

**Her POV**

She was used to people staring at her by now. Somehow, it was beginning to make her feel safe. By all accounts it didn’t make sense for her to feel safe among so many strange men, and yet when she made eye contact for too long, that’s how she felt. Safe. Under control. Welcoming. She’d even felt her cheeks flush. She knew something must be wrong, and yet she wasn’t fighting back as the man who held her hand took her to the inner part of the town. She just admired what was around her, her heart began slowing to a relaxed pace. For some reason, she just felt as though she had nothing to fear.

She was brought to an older man, who was the first to properly speak to her. Servants began waiting on her and checking her measurements before hurrying off as the man spoke. He made a gesture that reminded Bulma that she was completely naked, but… She realized she didn’t mind. She didn’t even bring her arms up to cover herself. She knew it must be unusual, but for some reason, she just didn’t feel the need. Instead, she continued to stare at the kind man and his black eyes, offering food and shelter and clothing to her. How could she not take it?

“Ah… I guess I am a little hungry. I hadn’t thought too much about it until now,” she admitted, just as the servants came back with fabric. They wrapped the white cloth around her and tied it at certain points to form a chiton. She couldn’t even bring herself to watch them as they clothed her; she was too busy staring at the eyes of the man. They felt so welcoming, now that she got to have a better look. She could almost see patterns in the blackness.

“I was kidnapped around a month ago, and I just escaped,” she explained, taking a few barefooted steps closer to the man if only to feel closer to his pleasing presence. “I don’t want to be a burden, but food sounds nice. I don’t really know where I’m going just yet. I know I want to go back to my planet for a little, but I don’t know the coordinates, so I’m stranded until then. …What’s this planet? I just typed the coordinates into my pod at random.”

* * *

The man listened, nodding his head in empathy and ushering the woman up the high steps as she revealed her tale of kidnapping and brave escape. The man never took his eyes off of her, as if he truly wanted to hang onto every note she sung. However, there may of been underlined motives. For instance, the fact that his gaze was so undeniably welcoming. It could only mean she was a compatible female to their species. And she claimed she fell from space by accident? Random coordinates? Hardly. It had to be fate. It had to be the gods smiling down upon them. The cities leader wanted to take advantage of this opportunity that was shining upon their dwindling race.

“Of course my dear, of course,” he sympathized, leading the girl into a mess hall. It was being prepared for a banquet, and it looked like it was in her honor. She was, as it was turning out, their honored guest from the stars above. “You are very safe among our people. Come, you can stay however long you like.” he paused, then shot her a wise old smile, “Who knows, maybe you’ll want to stay. It’d be nice to hear more of your journey.”

The mess hall was being decorated, set up to its grandest festivities, but it wasn’t ready just yet. First the female needed a tour, and maybe a bath. She smelt of sea salt like the rest of them, but it was the least they could offer her. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to give her a medical run, too. If just for her safety, and for their growing curiosity. The fact that there were only males running the species was growing more and more evident. There wasn’t a single female. Not even when they ushered her to the bath chambers. The servants that would be tending to her every beck and call were a small group of beautiful feminine males. They blinked their big eyes and held ready for her a pair of sandal shoes. The public bath was much like the brothel she’d first encountered, only much more open and relaxed. After all, there were only men sitting in the tubs, and no pretty female slaves to state them for miles around.

“Make sure to do as our honored guest says, and give her her own quarters for the night, don’t worry about your ship, we’ll retrieve it from the surface for you,” the man turned to leave, but not without adding, “I look forward to meeting you in the mess hall.” and with that, the man turned to leave from where he came. Leaving the blue haired beauty in the bath and beauty wing. This place wasn’t just for cleaning, it was for primping, and Bulma was going to get anything her heart desired. Food, soap, perfumes or powders, it looked like the big black eyes blinking in her direction only lived to please their honored guest. Their gift from the great fish god below.

* * *

**Her POV**

He led her along with a strong but gentle arm around her shoulders, and even as he walked, she kept staring at him. Her head rested on his shoulder so she could take a look at his eyes as he led her along the mess hall, with her barely registering what was happening around her. His voice was so sweet, and his eyes– There really were patterns in them. It looked like ink blots moving along one another. It was hypnotizing. She was feeling the urge to get closer and closer the more she looked, and by the time that they reached the bathhouse, she’d felt a nearly overwhelming urge to press her lips to his.

“Stay, right… Maybe,” she murmured, unsure at this point. It felt so nice here. And the people were so kind. She’d forgotten all about what happened with Zarbon. It was only when he ordered about the two servants and made his leave that the spell was finally broken. Not entirely. As soon as she looked at the big black eyes of the men that were expected to help her bathe, she felt the same feeling of overwhelming welcoming. Her inner thighs were tingling, and she could feel dirty need in her stomach. If she was thinking properly, she’d know this was strange and that she had to leave. But all she could think about was how nice they looked. The two men, while not typically her type, looked like they were carved straight out of marble. 

“Hi,” she greeted, walking up to them, letting them take off her clothes gently. It just felt so natural, even if she’d been so embarrassed about nudity before she came to this planet. It felt natural here, even more natural than on the planet where none of those birds or lizards wore clothes. This was different, and even the brush against her breasts or thighs she didn’t mind. It felt right.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are so many of you men?” she questioned, the one sane thought she’d seemed to have had as far as an outsider could tell. But to her, it felt like she was in her proper mind. She could still think clearly, or at least she thought she could. But there was something about looking in their eyes that made her so pleased on top of all of it. “I know that you have women, there were older women outside. How come all of you are men?”

* * *

The pair of young Adonis like men looked between one another when Bulma greeted them so sweetly. It’d probably been a while since they’d seen a female, and even longer since their naturally charming nature too effects on such a beauty. They shared a glance then quickly turned their most pleased expressions back on Bulma. Giving her their most graceful and attentive attention. They were just as pleased to serve her, as she was to see them.

They glided through the bath water as if they were a part of the liquid themselves, and for a moment, it truly did look like their lower halves were one with the waves. Eager to please her. One beautiful nymph too her hand, and the other began to disrobe her, just as Bulma spoke out about the lack of females in their grand city. They didn’t look offended though, if anything, the softest, gentlest smile graced their god like faces.

“We haven’t had females in our society for quite some time,” the male stroking the back of her hand chimed, making sure to remain in contact with the dreamy eyed girl while his partner dropped the last of her toga, “You are most welcome among our people, a gift from the water god himself.”

The soft cupping of hands weighing her breasts came from behind. Exploring them, as if it were his first time to see a female’s curves in person, or at least in a very long stretch of time. If anything, it was their first experience touching an earthling female. However, the male that was guiding her into the warm bath by the hand, shot his partner a look. It wasn’t time for that, they needed to be respectful. For once, maybe Bulma would be treated with dignity while being bathed.

Well, that is, until they began smoothing her down with luscious oils and silky soaps. The water was a beautiful mix of pastels. It was salt water, but cleansing salts, like bath salts from earth. Perfumed and giving the deepest sensations of relaxation. The look the two males were giving her probably only amplified the soothing waters effects. Could she even feel their hands roaming her body? Or the exploration of their fingers when they smoothed her thighs a little too high up.

“We’re holding a banquet in your honor, they’ll be waiting for you,” the most talkative of the two hummed again, just a brush away from the girl’s plump lips. They may have meant to be respectful, but it didn’t mean the two males weren’t excited to have her lulling under their gazes. It was tempting, up until they started to robe her again. Sparing no moment in brushing against her freshly bathed curves when wrapping the silky fabrics around her supple skin.

* * *

**Her POV**

She let one nymph take her by the hand, while the other took her robes off. Again, she felt so natural being nude in front of strange men. Ah… So they thought she was some kind of gift from god? She was like a goddess. That was beautiful. She smiled, pleased by the idea of being in this new role. It was far better than being a slave, after all. And when the one who’d disrobed her held her breasts from behind, she didn’t do more than glance down at her chest for a moment. It wasn’t a terrible sensation. It almost felt good, if anything. There was no complaint about it even when he let go and they led her into the bath. Not a single complaint about the touches.

In fact, it was entirely welcomed. She enjoyed being touched. She liked it every time they rubbed her breasts or moved their hands a little too far up her legs. And by the time they had washed off all the soaps, she was hoping one of them would just start rubbing her clit. There was something about the stare they kept giving her that made her so open to the touches, and the touches just made her so… Needy. But release never came, and then they brought her up out of the bath again and dried her before re-wrapping her with her robe.

“A banquet? I think I saw some people working on it,” she replied, not having realized how close one of the men got that their noses were touching, and their lips almost brushing. All she could see was his black, lovely eyes. She never wanted to look away. “There’ll be food, right? That’s what he said, the older one. Ah… I need to look nice. Can you bring me to where you have combs and things like that?”

She would just break eye contact and go herself, but who would want to do that? She didn’t want to leave the man’s side. She wanted to be this close, with her body nearly pressed against his form. It was taking such strength not to kiss him, even though every piece of her body wanted to so badly. But it’d be strange. She’d be seen as weird for doing it. She had to contain herself. It wasn’t proper to kiss someone so randomly, even if they just looked so… So… So _sweet._

* * *

It was a joy to handle her, the youngest of the two males had never gotten a chance once he’d matured out of adolescence. He was grazing her body with his hands with admiration. How lucky was he to be one of the first to touch the pretty female that’d been gifted from the great creator? Maybe if he was lucky he’d get to participate in the festive acts later, too. Perhaps the great god would gift him for his attention to detail when taking care of their most beloved guest. The girl who’d surely saved their species.

She was blue, it was one of the things they loved. It’d make for beautiful offspring, so closely resembling their own kind despite being half breeds. The males touched her hair and stroked her soft cheeks with their knuckles, giving into any of the girls demands. All except for the needy demand growing between her legs. They may of been tempted to brush their fingertips over the smooth skin that crowned her clit, but the pair never dared to give in; never giving her any form of satisfaction.

“Of course, ma’am,” one of the nymphs bowed, taking the girl lightly by the hand and showing her the rest of the way through the bathing chambers. The place was beautiful. It’s domed ceilings and high walls were perfect marble. The windows to the outside world flooded with schools of fish as they fluttered by, just outside of the safe bubbles shield. It was a watery world, and she blended in so well. The two nymphs at her sides were truly hoping she’d decide to stay forever, on her own terms. She really was a sweet girl.

“You can decorate however you wish here, if there’s anything we can get you...” the soothing sound of one of the nymphs voices sang in her ear. They’d lead her to a large vanity set. The mirror was framed in a giant pink clams shell, its desk was mother of pearl, and the fine trinkets, jewelries, powders, and oils were all made from the sea. The bright lights that warmed the set made of some natural yellow glow that came from a local coral. It was beautiful, and it was made just for her. While the two boys that were assigned to wait on her hand and foot stroked at her hair and fawned over the softness of her human skin. One of the tall, strapping nymphs even took up a brush for himself and began running it through the girl’s shimmery clean hair.

* * *

**Her POV**

She was lead to something beautiful. A desk made of a pearl-like material, with a shell encasing a mirror just above it. She was set down in it and one of the men began combing her hair for her, and Bulma had the fun of being able to put on what the planet’s equivalent to makeup was. Powder that matched her skin tone, liquids that worked as pink eyeshadow and lipstick. How long had it been since she’d gotten to put on makeup? She was able to even do her hair again! As soon as the nymph was done brushing it, she swept it up into a curly ponytail held together by beads of pearl, and admired herself for some time in the mirror. She missed being able to do things like this. Even if the eye contact had been lost and she was no longer in something of a daze, she was still happy.

When she was finished, she got to go to the banquet. It seemed like the whole planet was there to greet her, but the man that kept her close was the same older man from before. He wasn’t aggressively possessive like Zarbon had become He was sweet and only wanted to make sure she had the best. She found later he was like their ruler– except they didn’t have one. He was a democratically elected ruler. The people loved him because he was wise and gentle and fair. It made her all the more pleased, even among all the gifts and the greetings and the delicious seafood.

When the banquet ended, despite her tiredness, the man led her on a tour around the city. He held her hand nearly the whole time and explained the history of the planet. How one day there was nothing but ocean, and the great water god. He swam the ocean as a fish and blew a bubble, creating the bubble that the city thrived in. The citizens were born, and that’s how their society was created. She thought the tale was beautiful. She nodded along to every word, even as he got to the talk about why she hadn’t seen any women beyond elderly ones.

They’d all been taken away. Barbarians had come to their city and seen how wonderful the women were. One look with their black eyes by the opposite sex, and they’d be enthralled. So they kidnapped them all. Even the children. The barbarians had said that they would please certain men, or that they’d be more attractive when they were old enough. They weren’t sure about where any of the women were, and Bulma couldn’t help but think about the woman she’d met at a brothel. But what good would she be when she didn’t even know what the planet was called?

“I’m sorry about what happened to your city,” she sighed, holding onto his arm as they walked through the marble- and pearl-covered city. “It’s horrible that they tried to doom you like that. But… I’m getting tired. Can we go back to where my chambers are supposed to be?” A yawn left her lips to emphasize her words. “You’ve been really nice, but I don’t think I can stay up a second longer.”

* * *

It was good to see the woman fitting in so well with their humble society. She’d make an excellent addition to their city, for generations to come. It delighted the old man’s heart to hear her not mention leaving the planet anymore, or asking the whereabouts of her ship. The stolen pod was safe enough, tucked away somewhere in the city, but that was a secret for another day. The refined leader had put it out of his mind once he’d noticed how tired the girl was becoming. He’d wasted the day away with fine foods, the best of care, and tours of architecture and culture. Finally, it was time to let the girl catch some rest without any interruption... Whether she liked it or not.

They’d been kind enough to give her her own quarters. To show her to a lush bed that reflected the ocean life just outside the cities limits. It was soothing and tranquil, and it didn’t seem like they had to wait long for the girl to fall fast asleep. Maybe they had induced it a little bit. Cheating with the softest gazes they could muster before closing the curtains to her own domain. 

That was hardly where she’d stay the night, however. While the girl slept preparations were being made. A needle pierced her skin as slyly as an assassin’s blade, keeping her in the trance of sleep until they’d finished with her. Medical tests needed to be run. Her fertility levels and genetics. The number of times it’d take with one of their most viral males before she’d conceive a child. The old man and his leading scientists were fairly sure she’d be compatible, but there was nothing a little research wouldn’t cure.

A sheet of water, much like the bubble that kept the ocean at bay around the city, quivered and rolled with text like a computer screen. The girl had gotten out of one frying pan and into the other. If she thought the octopi were bad, she was in for a brutal surprise. Their studies had revealed she was indeed very fertile. Ovulating of all things! It was just their luck, they’d better get down to business, and fast. But after a bit more searching of the girl’s body, they found something odd. Something that their sensors had picked up. It was a chip, a very horrible chip in their opinion, that could compromise their entire operation. It had to be removed, and the staff promptly slit open the sleeping girls skin, removing her contraception, and stitching her back up without a second thought.

The nymphs wasted no time in pairing her off with their mostly studly male. A tall, muscular, young man with hair that curled and flowed like rippling water. It didn’t matter if she was knocked out. If she was being held under the eye of several onlookers. The large, blue skinned man disrobed. Not finding it hard to stiffen up with the prospects of mating with a fertile female. It was his duty to repopulate their great nation, and besides it’d been so long since he’d had anything other than pretty boys. He may have carried himself with the same gentleness of their breed, but he was still the healthiest and largest of their men to come to rut. And while the earthling slept, the heavy male pressed his member inside her soft entrance and began heaving without regard.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I'll be bringing in another chapter as well to go along with this! Galactic's been very tired from work and it's been hard for them to put everything together. After a little discussion I'm up to the task today until they can get themselves sorted out.
> 
> Also, I think this was just a misunderstanding, but I want you guys to know we don't have any kind of Patreon or anything. I got a weird ask on my Bulma blog a few days ago about it, and after I questioned them they said they were just confused because I had reblogged whoever they were talking to before, but that response felt weird, especially because they didn't answer when I asked who it was. So uh... Be wary, I guess?
> 
>   
>    
> 


	25. The Deep Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma shows off her survival skills.
> 
>   
> 

**Her POV**

She was shown to her chambers, which proved to be as relaxing and beautiful as the rest of the city. She slept on a water bed and was surrounded by a thin curtain, and laid in blankets and pillows that felt like they were as soft as clouds. When the lights were off, the ceiling glowed like the night sky, and she had no problem falling asleep. Maybe she would stay here a while. What were the chances on anyone finding her? She’d never have to be worried about Vegeta again, and she would be treated like a goddess. She was a gift from their god, after all. That’s what they told her.

Even her dream was pleasant. She dreamt about Yamcha, with his bare body pressing hers up against a wall. Their hips rocked and his warm cock rubbed up against her clit until she couldn’t take another minute of it. She begged him for more, and he picked her up in his strong arms to press himself inside her. In and out, slowly and with the purpose to give her as much pleasure as possible. She kissed him and held him tight as they had sex, and he got steadily faster as she got closer to orgasm and began to moan.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she realized that pleasant dream was only that. But she was being hovered over by a strong, beautiful blue man, staring her down with black eyes. He thrusted inside her gently, but with just enough force to cause him to pant. It would have been right for her to yell and scream about waking up like this, but the eyes– And maybe she would have wanted it after a dream like that, anyway. She didn’t even notice the people watching. Her arms reached out and wrapped around his neck, and she learned in to press her lips against his.

He knew what he was doing. It made her toes curl every time he pressed himself inside her again, though he was going too damn slow. Maybe he was scared of hurting her. She pressed her feet to the bottom of his back and tried to press down with each thrust to get her message across as she kissed him and busied her hands with running through his watery hair. God, did it feel good. She was panting and sighing, and when their kiss broke, she began whispering in his ear about how she wanted it. Harder. Harder.

* * *

It was torture. Irrefutable torture. The girls scent was pumping like thick gas throughout the entirety of the space ring. A few of the escapee clones had managed to slick their way into the ventilation systems as a final resort, making it impossible to gather a direct trail of the girl’s location. They truly were copies of the earthling, even if their ability to make decisions on their own had been tamed. They still had the residue of her strong survival instincts, and they were using them now to try and get away from the threat of the Saiyans that were slowly hunting them down.

Everything smelled the same to him, and the potent perfume was driving the prince insane. Even Raditz and Nappa were falling victim to its primal effects. To put it bluntly, it was making them horny; slowly losing it. Particularly the prince, whom found the sweet smell easily clouding his mind. He was beginning to forget if he was tracking the clones down to kill them, or to fuck them. At one point, after destroying a mindless copy, he’d stopped to bang his head against the near metal wall. The titanium surface giving way and denting in on itself, under the pounding of his hard head.

Back on the watery planet, deep beneath its tranquil surface, the high council were watching with scrutinizing fascination, as their strongest male mated with their newly captured female. It was a glorious day, one to be celebrated. It was the new birth of their race, and it was all thanks to the female that was being slowly raped in the center of the societal circle. The male had little reservations, even while being watched by his rulers. His hypnotic eyes met Bulma’s as soon as she awoke, and never let her gaze go. He understood her need for more, and began pumping into her with more eagerness now that she was staring back at him. The blue male dipped into her kiss, doing as she’d pleaded for him to in his ear. Running his hands along the fine curves of her body (that’d pleasantly been plumped thanks to the nutritional IV in her arm), until he fell into orgasm, releasing himself inside of her fertile body.

A round of applause came from the council members, and slowly but surely, the brawny male lifted from the girl’s reach. Wiping his mouth, correcting his now soft genitals, and taking the robe that was offered to him from one of the nearby servants. Bulma’s statistics, blood pressure, and body temperature displayed on the watery screen held between two marble pillars. It was only a first attempt. Maybe they’d get her pregnant after a week or so of fertilization. Until the next time, they left the girl for the moment. The council exiting to conduct talk over the business of next time, while the big male was ushered out to have a rub down and cool off before going at it again.

* * *

**Her POV**

He drove himself into her harder and deeper until she couldn’t feel her legs, until she was shivering and gasping and begging him not to stop. She felt him cum inside her as she tightened around his cock, and felt the warm stream of his cum leak out of her. She was reveling in it, enjoying it, but it all came to a halt when the applause started. Her eyes widened and head turned, and finally she realized how many people had been watching. How long had they been there? She was somehow comfortable with nudity, but even in the state she was in, she knew this was odd.

She watched the man that had pleased her so much leave, and eventually she was left to her own devices– dazed and confused. She looked down at herself first, and was surprised to see she was looking far healthier than before. She’d gained any weight she had lost, and her skin glowed radiantly. How did that happen? She tracked it down to IVs connected to her arm. She looked up at the bag of fluid that it was attached to, and then to the screens around her, made from what looked to be water rather than any real screen. …Ovulating? Fertility? Egg count? …Was that a picture of her uterus?

As soon as she finally came completely out of her dazed state, she was panicking. They wanted to get her pregnant. Oh, God, she was such an idiot. It all made sense. That’s why they treated her so nice! That’s why they said she was a gift from their god! They were a dying species, and they wanted to impregnate her to save themselves! Oh, oh shit. No. She had to get out of here. She didn’t want to get impregnated by Yamcha, there was no way in hell she’d let some band of aliens make her the mother of their next generation. She wasn’t going to be spitting out babies for anyone.

She pulled out her IVs and spent no time at all getting away. She didn’t waste time trying to look for clothes. No, she just… She just had to go find where they put her pod. Wherever the hell that was. She began walking faster as she panicked, and only began to panic more when she realized they were noticing. Someone grabbed her arm gently and she shoved them away without making eye contact, before beginning to break out into a run. 

It took her at least ten minutes before she found the entryway to the building and escaped out into the town square. People were gawking, but she knew better than to linger on their eyes. She just kept running, her eyes on the beautiful mountainside that was surrounded by the edge of the bubble. That’s where she’d go. At least for the time being.

* * *

The men were too busy reveling in their new glorious victory to notice the girl’s sudden awareness of her surroundings. As far as they knew, she was still far too out of her wits to reject what’d just happened to her. What they’d forced her to participate in. That is, until she started pulling out her IV. The computer alerted them to her sudden detachment, and the councilmen ran back into the room, only to witness her sudden escape. The men called for their guards, and one of the passing servants tried to make a grab for Bulma, but these people were not meant for war; they were peaceful. Well, until you pissed them off.

Then everything changed.

Suddenly the natives weren’t so welcoming. They were right on her tail. The guardsmen had been alerted; with spear and harpoon in hands, they darted right after her. Luckily it didn’t look like this species was aware, or perhaps _capable_ _enough_ to use ki. They had to move on foot, unless the girl escaped to the outside world. Needless to say, they were faster in the water than they were on land.

The cities people ran and shouted as soon as the guard began flooding down the city streets. The place was turning chaotic, but the fleeing bystanders were making it difficult for the troop of soldiers to find the missing earthling. Where had she gone? She could be in any of the shops, in any of the alleyways. Surely she wouldn’t venture to the outside world, would she? She couldn’t breathe beyond the oxygen giving walls of the city. Not without a respirator at least. 

The guards were closing in, searching door by door and throughout the streets, word spreading fast. The only benefit Bulma had were the crowds of people and the small alleys to run through.

* * *

**Her POV**

She kept running, spurred faster by the sounds of guards and sirens and yelling. She wasn’t really sure how to navigate the streets beyond the small tour she’d had before, but her eyes were still on the mountains. That was, until she passed an open windowsill and saw a little, simple accessory sitting on it, ready for the taking. A respirator– the little thing that was stuck in her mouth yesterday. She felt her mouth and found the one she had had was missing. They’d taken it out at some point? While her gaze had only lingered, the moment she recognized it, she grabbed it and continued to sprint.

She managed to make it to the outskirts of the city, to the mountainside. She put on the respirator the next moment she was able to stop, and took a glance back. …If there were no more women who could have children, there was no way they’d just let her go that easily. She had to find some place to hide. So she ran all the way to the mountains, and then some. Climbing and sticking herself between crevices just to try and get as far from them as possible.

Eventually she found a cave, hidden between two mountains with just enough wiggle room for Bulma to climb down and enter it. It went down into a large pool that was covered in colorful coral, and the surroundings were completely covered in moss and other plant life. It had been secluded but had created its own ecosystem. 

She climbed down to the base of the cave, where her feet were submerged knee-deep in warm water. There was a deeper part of the cave she could see, that looked dark but seemed to have more shallow of water. She couldn’t hide somewhere that was so covered in water, so she walked toward it, careful not to step on any fish or bits of coral, catching her breath all the while. She may need to stay for a while. Maybe a few days? …Well, at least when she was hidden in a cave like this, there was no way in hell Vegeta’d be able to find her.

She was met in the little hall of the cave with dry steps of white stone. She climbed up them to find a dry platform with just enough light from a few cracks in the tall cave ceiling that she was able to see clearly. More plant life– trees, even, growing from the bits of soil between broken down rocks. She let out a sigh of relief and sat on the stone ground of the makeshift stairs– it looked like she’d found somewhere safe to stay for a while. And if not, the cave seemed to go on for some time– she could see two more holes in the walls from where she stood, and running water. 

* * *

It appeared as if they’d lost her, but where could she of gone? The councilmen were in an uproar. This couldn’t happen! The gods had gifted them a female, why would the great creator allow her to get away? This was an outrage! The city soon lit with bright torches. Not of fire, but of glowing bits of coral much like the moss that clung to the very cave Bulma had tucked herself away in. The guardsmen were searching every house, ever barrel, every temple in the complex city of stone and pearl, but there seemed to be no sign of her. Surely she wouldn’t have climbed the great mountain. No, that was forbidden. It was where the priests made their sacrifices to the great fish god.

“Find her! Don’t let her get away, or it’ll mean the end of our species as we know it!” cried their leader; the very man whom had shown such kindness and understanding to Bulma. The man who’d planned on using her for the ‘greater good’ since he’d laid eyes on her. And yes, he’d planned on spreading his own DNA into the populous through her, too. He wasn’t about to let his men sleep until they found her once again, but it was proving futile. They had no choice, they’d have to search the mountain.

By the time the waters began to grow dim from the lack of sunlight above the surface of the ocean, a search party of troops had been organized. They marched their way up the rocky paths of the mountainside. Their spears at their sides, shoulder to shoulder, until their commander yelled, “spread out!” The guardsmen spun off in different directions, two by two. Climbing like army ants all over the great mountain face. Little did they know the girl was under their feet, rather than ahead of them. They may of had the mountain surrounded, but none had thought to venture inside of it, passing the dark entrance to Bulma’s cave right up.

...That is, until a pair of snoopy soldiers stopped to look inside the dank dark cavern. Signaling his partner with a quiet hand, two of the guardsmen started to worm their way into the cave and past the corals and blooms of life. Heading straight for Bulma’s secluded hide out. Their feet found the dry stepping stones that lead up to the dimming light of the sun. It was dark and hard to see. Air was not their element, and they peered around suspiciously. They whispered quietly to one another, unaware that this was where the girl had gotten herself. It looked like the two were splitting up. One heading left, and the other searching the cave to the right.

* * *

**Her POV**

She had been left alone for a good amount of time. After a while, she inspected herself and found that the assholes had removed her birth control. There was stitching under her arm from where her implant had been– if that alien had gotten her pregnant, she’d lose it. She wasn’t about to bare the children of some freaky alien race. No way in hell. She let out a huff at her situation, but eventually decided that that was an issue for another time. For now? She just had to relax.

She was able to get comfortable, and even rip a branch from one of the trees to start fashioning it into a spear. She spent a while sharpening the tip with a tin piece of rock, and when she was satisfied, she went on to start sharpening the rock itself with another rock into a more pointed edge. Into something she could use as a weapon. By the time she was done, she was starting to get hungry. Maybe she’d use her spear to get fish? And after that, she’d be comfortable enough to start trying to contact Yamcha again. Tell him she’d finally escaped the Saiyans. …But her thought process was cut short.

She heard noises. Noises of someone treading through the water from the last section of the cave. Two people? …She’d been found? Shit. She scrambled up and thought for a moment before grabbing the spear and rock and hiding out behind some large stalagmites. She laid in wait as she saw two soldiers slowly walk through the area. It seemed they were alone, thankfully. No one else. One went to one hole of the cave she’d left explored, and the other went into the other one. …Good, they were separated further.

She slowly snuck to the right hole in the side of the cave and followed one of the soldiers, making sure not to make a sound. She got closer and closer and the man didn’t seem to notice, so she took him completely off-guard when she suddenly pulled her spear in front of him and pressed it up against his neck. It was a quieter death than if she’d stabbed him with the rock. She slowly strangled him, and when he was no longer moving, she let him down on the ground. She took the torch and blew it out– she’d set it on fire and use that again later.

She made her way back to the front of the hole to find the soldier just beginning to walk out; must have been a small trip. Again, she snuck up on him. This time, she used the spear only to catch him off-guard and stun him, keep him in place so he couldn’t turn around and fight back. While he was busy struggling against her strength–this species was pretty weak; no wonder they got their women taken. Or maybe she’d just gotten that strong?— she stabbed him in the throat with her sharpened rock. Again and again, until when she slackened her grip, he fell to the ground.

She stared at the dead body, panting heavily just from the adrenaline. It’s not like she wanted to kill anyone, and they did have a reason for what they tried to do. But she wasn’t someone’s incubator. 

* * *

The two guardsmen never saw her coming. They fought desperately for their lives. They were only obeying orders, after all. They’d meant to bring her back alive, but in the end it was fight for survival, and the two blue skinned males had lost. Their bodies bled out a blue blood. The cave growing silent after the thrashing and whimpering sounds of battle and death thereafter. It seemed as if the soldiers above were sticking to the surface of the massive hunk of rock. No others came to follow; the earthlings cave was once again safe.

At least it was safe for the next few hours. While the guardsmen above where bunking down around numerous campsites, taking turns acting as lookouts, down below something new was awakening in the caves. Bulma and the gentle sprouts of coral and trees weren’t’ the only life seeking refuge in the caverns. Something big was lurking down there. It’s body like a crab, with several crab like feet, but it’s head snaking out of its shell like a moray eel. It had a tail, too, with a row of fins down the spine. It was monstrous, and it was coming out for its nightly feeding time.

First came the click clacking clatter of its many pointy legs. All six of them. Then a hiss, followed by a gentle rumbling roar. It was bit, standing at least eight feet tall at the top of its shell. Its neck outstretched like a snake, sniffing and licking the air of the cave once it entered the area that Bulma called her hideaway. It didn’t appear to have very good eye sight, but it didn’t need it with its great sense of smell. It licked the air again, and then pointed in her direction. It knew she was there, if only she’d make a move, maybe it could get a better awareness of her location.

The cave had grown dark, but it was hardly absent of light. It glowed, much like the mushroom forests that she’d seen on the planet before, but on a much smaller scale. And this time the light was provided by corals. It was a soft light, nothing as grand as the fungi forests, but at least it was something. The great sea monster that was staking her out wasn’t the only thing coming to life at night, either. The caverns floor began to crawl with life. Crustaceans, clams, snails, and tiny fish called the random puddles of sea water home. Sea cucumbers slunk between the bright coral flowers and a few land based crabs crawled their way up the spars trees. It was a good place to survive, if only it hadn’t already been occupied by a deadly eight-foot-tall tenant.

* * *

**Her POV**

For the next few hours, she was alone. She wasn’t sure what to do at first. She dragged the bodies to the main part of the cave and debated dragging them to the large body of water in the front of the cave, but she was scared it’d gain attention. Instead, she stripped the body that hadn’t bled of its clothes. She lied the robes down on the ground and used them to make a spot for her to sleep later– she may be naked, but at this point, she was more worried about other things. It was warm, it didn’t matter if she didn’t have clothing.

She laid down on the robes and wondered what she should do next. She was still scared of speaking too loud, so she tried contacting Yamcha via whispers– calling his name, calling King Kai’s name. Over and over for at least thirty minutes, hoping someone would answer. There was no reply. Maybe he wasn’t with King Kai anymore? She hoped to God he hadn’t found a cute new spirit in Otherworld. If he did, when she brought him back she’d kick his ass so hard that he’d want to die again.

After that line of thoughts, something occurred to her. …She’d lost her shoes. The shoes from Earth that she loved so much. She went to sleep wearing them before having gotten kidnapped by the people who cloned her, and woke up nude. They must have taken them off. then… They were gone for good. …She thought she’d be more upset than she was. But she couldn’t bring herself to cry or whine. It was what it was. She’d become so accustom to this alien world that she didn’t mind anymore that her only connection to her old life was gone.

She was silent for a few more hours. She didn’t take a nap, but she ‘rested her eyes,’ so to say, for hours. Things got dark, and the cave lit up to compensate. She occasionally opened her eyes to look around and appreciate the sight, though she didn’t appreciate when crabs began to crawl from the ground and scuttle around. Irritating… They at least kept away from her. …That is. The small ones. She heard a larger scuttling noise and then saw a gigantic crab emerge from one of the cave’s holes, clearly facing her. …Oh, oh no. She could never just be left alone, could she?

It was slowly coming closer, even when she stayed still. That’s when she glanced at the bodies– maybe she could put them to good use. She slowly made her way up and toward them, and began pushing their bodies in the direction of the crab. Maybe it’d focus on them and lose interest in her? It’d help her with her dilemma of what to do with the bodies, too. 

“Come on, come on… I have a little snack for you, please don’t eat me,” she whispered as she pushed the bodies in the crab’s direction, her voice low in an attempt to seem unthreatening. 

* * *

**His POV**

The rickety clacking of claws over the sandstone floor echoed throughout the dimly lit cavern. The crabs snake like head hissed, tasting the air with every few steps it took. It really couldn’t see well. However, as soon as Bulma made her move for the two dead bodies, it got a solid lock on her location. There it was! The source of the scent! And the smell of bodies and blood was only growing stronger. It seemed as if the little mouthful of meat was leading it straight towards a better meal, bigger food! 

The snake’s jaws snapped, striking towards Bulma’s location but getting more of a mouthful of dirt then anything. Its long neck recoiled, then struck again! Biting right into one of the bleeding out corpses. It seemed to like it too. Distracted, the sea monster munched its way through the first dead body, then moved onto the second. Gulping them right down within a few mouthfuls, primarily whole. The beats appeared stated, if not a little sleepy after such a large meal, and began to clatter away. It’s large claw like legs clicking towards the opposite dark cavern, treading out of one cave and into the next, disappearing into the darkness.

A few moments later the cave began to stir back to life with its tiny inhabitance. The crab and water based insects that called the cavern home had known better than to leave their muddy burrows when the big creature had stepped out of its cave. But now that the place was peaceful again, it’d stay like that for quite a while. The campsites of soldiers would dwindle with the coming days, but until then the troops still searched along the mountains dangerous cliffs, however, none were wise enough to look below. No more soldiers, no more giant ass monsters come to eat her alive. Not even Vegeta was going to find her for the time being.

Vegeta. The man was having a hard time himself with trying to find the female. If only he’d known she’d gotten herself locked away on some god forsaken water based rock, he may have gone searching for her. But for the time being, the man was growing exceedingly restless, irritated …and pent up. The prince was sure he’d found them all. Every last one of the glassy eyed, doll like clones. He’d fallen into temptation of fucking one or two of them (as well as his men), but it wasn’t the same vibrant sensation that the girl could give him. It was lifeless, unresponsive, and dull. Much like the girl had been after he’d taken her back from Zarbon. He didn’t approve of it then, and he didn’t find it attractive now.

He was starting to look weak in front of his men. He knew it. It wasn’t just a power play any longer. It was obsession, and it was slowly taking over his mind. The prince knew it was inexcusable, even if the strong aroma of the female still lingers within the halls of the space ring. It didn’t matter. She was gone or dead, and if he was the strong prince he believed himself to be; that he’d worked so hard to become, then he’d accept the fact that there was going to be no finding her. Not that he cared; his fist pounded on the corridor wall, convincing himself. He’d searched the lab, the hotel, fuck, he’d killed anyone whom was in the slave trading business that’d tried to keep a clone for themselves. Trying to squeeze any information out of their throats until they choked in his grip. The only thing he’d found of her were her shoes. She really was gone, and it was time to move on. He needed no one, and he certainly wasn’t going to waste his time hunting down a single female. Not anymore.

That’s when he and his men dressed in their best. Looking as sharp and ready as ever for battle. Marching like silent predators down the rings hanger bay metal halls, and into the docking bay. Things were returning to normal. Even Nappa and Raditz seemed to note the shift in their prince. They’d done it, they’d waited it out until the Prince’s longing for the girl wore out. And then they made it to their pods docking stations. And it became all too clear. The god damn bitch was still alive. And she’d stolen _HIS_ pod. _HIS!_ Judging from the string of curses profusely roaring from the prince’s mouth, Nappa and Raditz knew it wasn’t over yet. If anything, no one stole from the prince without punishment …especially not his pod. It looked like they’d be chasing her down one more time.

* * *

**Her POV**

She didn’t want to go to sleep after seeing that thing in action. She wasn’t about to be meat just like those bodies. She might have killed them, but it didn’t mean she was any more pleased to see what happened to them. It was… It was sickening. But maybe she was growing some kind of tolerance for it, because she found herself still hungry despite the horrible thing she’d witnessed. Hungry enough that she wanted to get food.

She picked up the spear and traveled to the first part of the cave, and spent some time fishing for dinner by stabbing them with the spear. It was a difficult job, but after a lot of work, she managed to get three good fish. She brought them back to her main hub and recalled the torches– going to collect one of them that hadn’t even finished burning out yet. That meant she didn’t have to worry about making her own fire.

She built a campsite and lit it with the torch, and soon enough was able to use her sharpened rock to pull the scales off the fish and then stab them through their mouths with a large stick to place them over the fire to cook. If there was anything she could say about her recent experiences… It was certainly making her a survival expert.

She went to relieve herself in the farthest corner of the large section of the cave and washed her hands best she could with one of the life-less puddles of water, before going straight into eating the fish. She ate them all up if only to make sure she was completely full and wouldn’t have to worry about being hungry later, and decided that because she was still sleepless, she’d venture forth into the cave. She packed the dying torch with more moss and lit it again before heading down the right path– maybe she’d find a way out of this place. She had the respirator, if she could swim to the surface, she’d be fine. She doubted they’d really managed to get her pod, anyway. How would they have dragged that bubble all the way down here?

She was in luck, too. She found a giant body of water that was much deeper than what she saw in the front. It clearly went down into its own cavernous part of the cave. After some deliberation, she decided that it was better to keep going than to stay where she’d get caught, and set the torch down on the ground before hopping in. 

She swam through the body of water and was happy to find that the respirator was working as it should. She was able to breathe just fine, and could take her time with the swim. Admire the coral, the beautiful fish with no pigment–and the occasional that had its own lighting system–and the moss with pretty underwater flowers that grew all around. Not to mention all the crabs. There were so many, and some of them even floated in the water like jellyfish. 

* * *

**His POV**

The soldiers were on the move again, as was the big beasty that the girl had encountered before in the cave. It was clacking its way across the mountain side. The soldiers hadn’t been as friendly as Bulma when meeting face to face with the crab like serpent. The locals knew this sea animal to be a monster, and that’s exactly how it was treated. Spears were thrown, a few men were stepped on, but in the end, the monster was fended off to retreat back to the cave. Where it’d surely lick its wounds until it was stumbled upon again.

As for the soldiers, they were busy roving over the mountainside. It had been at least a full day, and there was still no sign of what they thought was the salvation of their species. They couldn’t give up hope yet, their very survival depended on getting her back! And of course, it was only a matter of time before the entrance to Bulma’s cavern was found again. This time by more than two men, it was a whole troop of them.

The underwater cave that Bulma found herself in teamed with life, and just as she’d suspected, it leads to the outside world. However, it wasn’t as unguarded as she may have hoped. The two guardsmen floating around out in the ocean water certainly didn’t seem to notice the cave exit, let alone the girl that was using it as a passage, but they were definitely patrolling the area. The whole city was on lock down, including the surrounding seas. 

Far from the watery world, a different type of action was taking place. It was Vegeta and his men, and the prince was steaming out of the ears at his current predicament. Honestly, his life had turned upside down since coming face to face with that female. He truly hoped she was still alive, so that he could kill her himself! He was stewing rotten, angry and agitated, but if the prince were to be completely honest with himself, he’d find that some tiny part of him was relieved to see the absence of his spaceship. It meant she was alive. It meant the hunt was not over just yet. He simply had to find her.

How to find her, however, was a whole other mess. He wasn’t about to take a lower class Saiyan’s pod, though the thought did cross his mind. It’d stink Raditz or Nappa residue and that really wasn’t something he wanted to put up with for who knew how many hours to come. Then he saw it. A ship for a single pilot. It wasn’t much bigger than his pod, but it was definitely shaped differently. The ship he was ‘confiscating’ looked like a shiny black arrow head. The bubble on top much like a jet fighter, made for one. The prince promptly high jacking the craft after a little finagling with the control system. It was an outdated ship, that was for sure, but it made stealing it that much easier.

Manual control, honestly? The prince clicked his tongue behind his teeth, tossing out an empty bag of space-munchies. Honestly, who the fuck drove this thing? The classic sports car of the spaceship world. Vegeta still would have preferred his pod. A steering wheel was so outdated. Never the less, he took off without a word, despite his displeasure. Luckily he still had the remote for his beloved pod, and quickly fished it out, only to plug it into the crafts controls. The signal was faint, but he had a general direction to go by. The one-man craft and two pods lifted off and set course for the ocean planets direction.

* * *

**Her POV**

She had high hopes when she got to the end of the end of the waterway. She could see light; it was where the sea was. But just as she began swimming in that direction, she saw someone pass by. …Shit. Shit, there were people patrolling. She’d have to wait a few days for them to give up. She furrowed her brows and turned around to go back into the cave, and shook herself off as soon as she got out from the water. She picked up the torch again but hesitated as soon as she heard noises– more soldiers. A troop this time. …Shit. At this point, she thought she might be happy to see Vegeta again.

She put out the torch and hid in the darkness, slowly making her way toward the section of the cave where she heard the noise. But on the way, she pumped into a crab leg. It took her a moment to realize, but… Oh. Ohh. Ohh, no. This was the giant crab that’d eaten those dead bodies. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to get a better look at it, the entire time hoping to God that it didn’t just eat her where she stood, but then she realized it wasn’t in much of a state to do anything. Its snake head was bleeding and full of holes. She… She felt sorry for it. Hell, it was pathetic. It was lying down with its head curled up tight to its body.

She knelt down near the head and began petting between the eyes as she listened to the noise slowly get louder. She couldn’t do anything for the harmed beast now, but maybe if it ate the soldiers, she could find something in their bodies to treat it with. She could at least use their robes to wrap and use as bandages, right?

There must have been at least six soldiers that came down the section of the cave this time. Enough to cause terror. She listened as they got louder, until their torches were visible. She had to think fast. She pulled a smaller, thinner stalagmite from its place in the cave floor and grabbed a rock, tossing it to the wall just to lead their attention elsewhere. She just had to hope this snake-crab decided to help her. Even with how weak these men were, six of them…? She really wished she had her guns again.

She tossed the stalagmite as hard as she could toward the troop, hoping their distracted selves wouldn’t see it coming and that it’d function well enough as a spear. She pulled another from the ground and did the same again, and another just to hold with her for when they caught on and started running at her.

_“Come on, giant monster, don’t you want a snack? Come on, off the ground, off the ground… I need help, come on…”_

* * *

**His POV**

The guardsmen swimming the oceans depths never saw her. However, the massive snake like creature picked up the sound of something approaching as soon as Bulma started making way for the cave. It didn’t possess the instinct to run, rather than try to curl up and hide in its shell. However, as the girl began to shower it with new kindness, the monster slowly unraveled. Finding the familiar scent non-threatening, and even recalling the same scent had provided food before. Food, and now time to heal, Bulma was slowly taming the wild sea beast. She was exceedingly good at that. Perhaps an unrealized talent.

The peace wasn’t to last though. As soon as the guardsmen started filing into the cavern, baring their spears at whatever moved, they found themselves being stabbed through the chest and abdomen with piercing stalagmites. Some were killed on impact, others staggered to the side, yelling while they held their blood spilling bellies; fearing that their guts would spill out. Two of the men were down, but there were still four more to go. And as soon as one of them came into the light of the cave, its hypnotic black eyes fell on Bulma.

The soldier didn’t waste any time, it aimed its harpoon right for her. They may of been told to capture her alive, but it didn’t mean they couldn’t break a leg or something, right? Two more followed suit, rushing for the girl. It was just about then the heavy scent of fresh blood filled the serpent’s nostrils. Hissing to life; raising its head and striking one of the men down. Eating up the soldier just before he’d had a chance to attack the scent that it’d become so familiar with. Before he’d attacked Bulma. The guardsmen had been so focused on their target, they hadn’t notice the monster until it was too late. Now there were only three left. Three guardsmen with harpoons verses one earthling and a wounded sea serpent.

Not too far off, the pods and one space craft was jettisoning their way closer to the planets coordinate. God, he really couldn’t believe this mess. Vegeta had to adjust the seat of the ship after stealing it. It reeked of bad cologne and poor taste in music. It was disgusting, but it’d have to do until he recaptured his pod. Where had the girl taken it? Her homeland, perhaps? That’s …if the girl had confiscated it and not some low life schmuck. For one reason or another, the prince felt his stomach drop at the thought. No, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t just going after the girl. Sure, if it had been her it’d mean he’d get revenge on her running away. But he was only going to collect his pod from whatever thief had stolen it, and proceed to rip them apart. This had nothing to do with her, he reassured himself. That was behind him. It was back to business as usual.

It would take a few more hours of flight, but eventually the ocean blue world would come into view. That had to be where his missing pod had landed. God, water, of course. Because he loved water. The prince rolled his eyes, then radioed to his men that they were about to land through the scouter on his ear. The two pods were going to make a bouncy crash landing into the blue surface, but the slick black jet skidded itself along much more smoothly. And then it began to sink… Kami, the classic piece of metal really was useless. The damn thing couldn’t even stay afloat on a liquid surface. It was only made for space travel. The prince quickly opening the domed hatch and taking to the sky while the black arrow sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

* * *

**Her POV**

She actually managed to kill two! They went down like fleas, but then she realized she was still drastically outnumbered. One of the men launched at her and while she held the stalagmite ready, she was sure she was done for– until the serpent suddenly ate the soldier whole. That was enough for both her and the remainder of the troops to stop in surprise, at least for a moment. But clearly the troops were so focused on the fact that their entire race would die without her, so they continued on and tried to capture her.

One man grabbed her while the other two focused on the serpent. She struggled with him, refusing to come quietly. She knocked the stalagmite against his head and managed to get him to fall, and promptly kicked him as hard as she could in the face– hurting her foot in the process. He groaned but tried to get up, so she used the stalagmite as a baseball bat and smacked him on the forehead with it, knocking him down again and leaving him at the very least passed out on the ground.

Her eyes turned up to the other two soldiers, who were trying to harpoon the serpent. She ran at them to blindside them while they were busy– grabbing one of their harpoons and violently ripping it away. The distraction was enough for the serpent to cut one of the men in half with its crab claws, while Bulma slapped the other with his own harpoon. He fell to the ground and begged for his life, and for a moment Bulma stared down at him. 

…If he went back, he’d tell the others. Eventually she’d be overwhelmed and get dragged back to be impregnated. No. She had to kill, no matter what. She drove the harpoon through his chest, and did the same for the one that had previously been seemingly knocked out. When she was finished and took a second to breathe, her face turned up to look at the serpent. Well, at the very least, it looked… Full. She’d better tend to its wounds. The worst injury she’d gotten was a slight pain to her foot, she couldn’t say the same for that bloody thing.

She pulled the clean robes off one of the dead bodies and ripped it into long strips, and proceeded to bring it back to the serpent. She wrapped the wounds with the fabric of only to help stop the bleeding, going little by little to make sure she covered all of them. It was the least she could do after what he’d helped her achieve, after all.

* * *

**His POV**

There was no way of knowing what was happening in the depths of the cave. The troops had been lost to the city. There were no more coming to find them, to drag their dead bodies back to their homes for proper burial. Bulma was once again left alone in the cave. Well, aside from the sea serpent that was slowly becoming her companion. It may have seemed safe for the moment. Undetected, alone. But that wasn’t the case. Someone had seen the battle. He’d witnessed the soldier beg for mercy, only to be speared in the chest by the female he’d come to collect.

It wasn’t difficult finding the fray of battle. It was the only direction on his scouter where ki signatures were slowly blinking out of existence. The three Saiyans had detected the glowing city below, but it was the anticipation of a fight that stole their attention. If they were going to search, they’d start there. Vegeta had sunk into the water first. He’d found the cavern on the outside wall of the mountain side. Swam into the underwater passage that spat out onto dry land. He was watching, he’d seen at least half the fight. While the temptation of battle always heated his blood, the prince was going about it the stealthy way this time. Slinking around the cavern while the cries of dying men wailed in the distance. He was not disappointed for his acts.

There she stood, like a triumphant little barbarian herself. Breathless from battle, naked and covered in blood. She was beautiful. Something in his throat caught - it was his breath. He swallowed it down, along with his heightened heartbeat. He’d forgotten why he’d come to find her. Forgotten how angry and pent up he’d prior felt. His lack of care suddenly meaningless. He just wanted to watch; knew he wanted her back.

How was the prince expected to take his eyes off of her? Remaining silent, still, a stone watcher, up until she began tending to the serpent’s wounds. Then his sense of self returned to him, and the prince’s gaze darkened like the rolling in of black clouds; into something monstrous. He marched closer, and closer still. The heavy footsteps those of a tyrant, his angry glare that of a murderous king. He was moving in on her, and fast. His blue suit clung to his physique, his armor glimmering under his crossed arms. He truly looked the prince once again. And he was coming to remind her just how strong he was. At least, that was the vibe he was trying to portray.

“You _stole_ …my _ship...!_ ” he glowered at her; though his mouth tightened as if it were biting down a second expression. Maybe that of a haughty grin. He did love it when she showed her survival skills, and the woman was gleaming in it. She had clearly made this place her home. The dead bodies strode across the cave floor spoke of her battle, the serpent that hissed in his direction protecting its new found companion. He’d even caught glimpse of the makeshift spear and campfire. She really was a spectacular creature. But he wasn’t here for adulation, he was here to take back what was his. Both her and his ship … _even if he was glad to see her alive._

* * *

**Her POV**

The serpent was hissing. At first she was scared that it thought she had gotten too close and would attack her, but then she realized his eyes were focused elsewhere. She turned her head just as she finished tying the knot, to see… Vegeta! She scrambled to her feet and stumbled away as quickly as possible while the serpent continued to hiss. But this wasn’t something she and a serpent could take. …Goddamn, why did he always have to follow her? She slowed to a stop when he did, making sure there was a good enough distance between the two of them that she felt comfortable. Then he reprimanded her for stealing her ship. With a repressed smile.

“…You killed one of my clones. You kept threatening to… To do things. You said it yourself, you’re a monster. Why wouldn’t I run away? I knew how to operate your stupid ship, so that’s what I took.” She suddenly become more aware of her nudity again, and covered her breasts with her arms. …He at least didn’t look like he was going to kill her. She may be angry that she never got to make it to Earth, but… Some part of her was relieved to see him– and in a state that didn’t suggest imminent danger.

“…The people here had all their women taken except for the elderly,” she finally spoke up, glancing at the dead bodies. Maybe she was a monster too, even if she tried to excuse it by saying it was self-defense. “They thought I was a gift from their god. They took out the implant I had and tried to impregnate me.” She wasn’t sure if she had ever told him directly about the chip she had to prevent pregnancy, but it’s not like it mattered anymore. She furrowed her brows. “They were nice and fed me and gave me a room, but the next thing I knew, I was being fucked by one of them. And so many were watching.”

She pressed a hand to her mouth as she thought about it, now that her mind wasn’t fogged by their eyes. It was sickening. “They even made me… Like it. There’s something about the eyes of the people here. That’s why their women were taken. Their eyes make the opposite sex… I don’t know how to explain it. I felt so comfortable with everything.” The more she thought… She really was glad that Vegeta had come. Now she didn’t have to worry about how she’d survive. She just would.

“…I don’t know what to do. I don’t blame them. I feel horrible that I killed some of them. I fed some to the serpent.” It wasn’t like she expected Vegeta to care, but it felt nice to finally spout out all her feelings. They all came spilling from her lips, and she couldn’t stop the steady stream of words. “I feel like a monster too. They did it to save themselves. But… I saw someone like them. That woman from that brothel. If I told them, maybe I wouldn’t have had to kill anyone. But I didn’t know the planet, so I kept my mouth shut. And… Now I’ve murdered people. I killed before, but this is different. They’re not bad people. I’m the bad person.”

* * *

**His POV**

He took a step forward, and she took a step back; his hard gaze fixating on her from under a narrowed brow. The prince caught on quick that the female wasn’t going to let him too close into her proximity; keeping it at a standoff. He let her take the lead of the conversation, falling back and steadying his stance across from her at a comfortable distance. He watched the way she eyed him, noticing the new confidence in her. It was appeasing, enticing him to listen. This was her territory; the place was filled with her heavenly aroma. Though he may be the intruder, she was the one in control of the surroundings. Besides, she had a point when she mentioned why she stole his ship. He couldn’t argue with that.

He listened, standing like a stone pillar as the girl spoke both to him and somewhat to herself. How she so suddenly spoke out to him had caught his attention, but so was the state of her frame. It’d changed. At their current range he could see that the bow of her hips were thicker; flared out nicely with muscle and fat. Had she always had that level of curve and tone? ...It looked good on her. His eyes raked up higher; her breasts were full, hardly hidden behind her attempts at covering them. This place had been good to her, nutritionally speaking. Her face even looked a little softer, flushed. That’s when he met her blue eyes, and his attention muddled back to what she was conveying.

Somewhere along the way of trailing his eyes up her figure, he’d lost track of a thing or two she’d revealed to him. But all in all he heard her. He’d snarled when she mentioned she’d been fucked by the locals; their attempts at harvesting her didn’t strike well within him when he’d usually have turned a cold shoulder. His eyes rolled when she said she felt bad for defending herself. In his opinion she’d done what she’d needed to survive. He wouldn’t expect any less from the strong earthling. But then she called herself a monster and the prince’s face changed. Where he’d been half listening, she now had his astonished attention. Her, a monster? He could barely believe what he was hearing. His face crumpled into something dark and mocking; finally drawing closer.

“Monsters don’t feel remorse.” his tone was dark, deep, hushed as he past right by her and her ‘ _newly adopted pet_ ’. He’d caught on to her helping out another stray animal - the look he flicked at her when he passed, winging a brow up at the serpentine crustacean, let her know that too. He was headed right towards the caves entrance. Where the majority of the dead bodies were left to bleed out into the puddles of ocean water. Never ceasing his footsteps, but never telling her to follow him either. He still had a few bones to pick with the locals. If she wanted to witness it, that was her decision.

“Isn’t it obvious what happens now...” his voice echoed from the dark cavern, finally answering her question about ‘ _not knowing what to do_ ’. “I’m going to destroy their city and take back my ship.” he was on a mission. The prince really could be so hard headed when he was after something; she of all creatures could testify to that. He’d known Nappa and Raditz must of already of been reaping havoc on the towns people, if just to entertain themselves. It was a common routine for them to flush out the hidden soldiers that camped along the cities limits, then make way for the city center. Vegeta was going to finish the job.

* * *

**Her POV**

He kept at a reasonable distance, and Bulma didn’t bother backing up any further. The most she had done was cover herself, and while it was a pathetic attempt and Vegeta could still see plenty, it gave her a small comfort. She didn’t eye his expressions too closely, more focused on her feelings than anything else– it wasn’t until Vegeta suddenly got closer and told her that feeling remorse meant that she couldn’t possibly be a monster, that she finally focused her attention on him.

She stared as he walked passed, and while the serpent rolled up to sleep as it healed, Bulma followed Vegeta. Her footsteps were quick as she tried to keep up with him, and when she opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, he answered before she could even vocalize. He was going to destroy the city? Despite everything the people had done to her, she couldn’t let that happen. She stopped caring about her nudity and ran full-force in front of him, and just at the cave’s entrance, she spun in front of him and pressed her hands to his chest.

“No! No. You can’t destroy their city! They had a reason to want to– Look. They were nice, despite what they did. I don’t want this city destroyed! That’s horrible! If we go to them and talk, we can probably get your pod back in one piece with everything in it. You… You probably know the planet that that prostitute we met lived on, right? You should know the name and coordinates! We tell them that, and then they can revive their race with someone of their own species who’ll probably be far happier here than at that brothel, and then we can go!”

Maybe she was too nice. They had wronged her, but she wasn’t like the Saiyans. She wasn’t willing to completely destroy everything just because they had slighted her. She wasn’t like that. She wanted… She wanted them to be happy, and to not have to stoop that low again. They said she was a gift from their god, and she wanted them to still think that. She could make up for the deaths and turmoil she’d caused. 

“Please, Vegeta. When I told you that I didn’t want that other planet destroyed, you listened to me. Listen to me now. Don’t destroy this planet. There’s a lot of good people here who’ve helped me. Who even helped me escape!” She opened her mouth and showed the roof of it to Vegeta with a tilt of her head, pointing to the respirator still plugged into the holes that led up to her nostrils. She tilted her head forward and faced him properly again, a hand still pointing to her mouth even as she spoke. “An elderly woman gave this to me when I was running from the guards. She was helping me. You’d be killing her too. Don’t kill anyone. Please.”

* * *

**His POV**

There subtle sound of her bare footsteps running over stone and puddle caught the prince’s ear, he knew she was chasing to catch up but he never looked back. He had set his mind on what he was about to do. He needed to focus, even if this was a meager race with weak power levels, Vegeta had a mode - a mindset as it were - for dealing out battles. It wasn’t until he felt the press of her hands firm against his plate of armor and saw her bright blue eyes burning up at him, that he finally halted in his tracks.

She couldn’t be serious. She wanted him to spare these people. Hadn’t she just told him of how they abused her? The prince would never allow it of himself. He wanted to destroy them merely for holding his ship hostage. They might not have been the original thieves, but they were as good as thieves to him if they were keeping it from his possession. It was the principle of the thing. Besides, their leaders had touched _his_ female ...that alone could seal the deal that was their fate.

The prince’s face twisted. Casting a shrewd glare at the girl, once she’d closed her mouth from showing him the breathing device. He was skeptical, but the way his eyes narrowed, he was thinking about it. Vegeta really didn’t want to let another planet loose because of some female. She’d already managed to spare one planet, but this was different. The time before had been a whim, this had purpose. However, the pleading in her voice, the way she was staring at him with such determination and hope, the prince felt a war wage within his own self. She wasn’t just some female, she was the earthling he’d come to collect, and now she was begging something from him. ...It was an annoyingly impossible to ignore.

His glove hand found hers on his chest, grasping it lightly; his hot glare met her own. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. He grunted with force, blowing his frustration out his cheeks. Ki lifted from his body in small sparks, but nothing that would cause her harm; it was only enough for the small brunt of irritation to blow back her hair. He lifted her hands from his armor, and swept past her with more speed than before. His tail swaying behind him. The thunderous sound of his voice bellowing once again from the cavern, “ _You’ve got one chance._ ” One chance to convince the elders that their women were still alive on other planets. One chance to find his pod, or it’d mean the end of the underwater city. Maybe he was growing too soft.

The end of the tunnel couldn’t be too far off. Vegeta could already hear ki blasts and smell burning residue. People would be screaming soon, he knew it. Then he realized that the damn cavern was closing in, and while the prince may have been on the smaller side of the Saiyan race, he certainly wasn’t when it came to broad shoulders. Where there was once a small hole, a blast came, shooting rubble and dust into the air. Vegeta was not about to wiggle his way out of a dark hole. They may of been high on the mountain, but one look back at the girl, and she must have known he’d pick her up and take her down in one swift scoop the rest of the way. A mountainside was little resistance to the Saiyan Prince. Though, the realization that she was still naked did hit him as soon as they ventured out of the tunnel and into the light of day.

* * *

**Her POV**

He was glaring at her, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good sign, or a bad one. She glared right back with the determined look and pout Vegeta had come to know, and was surprised when he grabbed her hand so firmly. She broke eye contact to look down at his chest and how he held it, though maybe she was overthinking things. She doubted it was a romantic gesture to him, but to her, it was surprising. When was the last time she’d held anyone’s hand? Just as she dwelled on it, a large gust of air came straight from Vegeta, coupled with sparks of electricity. She looked up again with wide eyes, to see his ki levels growing. For a moment, she was scared– maybe he was sick of her, and would kill her like he killed her clones.

But instead, he pushed her hands away and only walked faster before telling her that she had one chance. She gulped and followed him as quick as she could, thinking for a second to pick up the cloth she’d planned on sleeping on and wrapping it around herself. But just as she turned to go grab it, she was frozen in place by the sound of stone crumbling. Her head snapped upward to see rocks beginning to fall as the cave slowly crashed in on itself, and Bulma just barely recognized the noise of Vegeta’s boots stomping closer to her. He scooped her up, but she wasn’t surprised or upset about it; she didn’t want to end up squashed.

Her arms wrapped around his neck for an added sense of security when he blasted a hole through the cavern and flew straight out it. Sure, she’d been in the arms of the Saiyans before while they flew, but there was always something about it that freaked her out. She held tight when he passed through the giant hole he’d made, a passing thought on the fate of the serpent. But there were bigger matters. She could see smoke from the city where havoc and chaos was clearly happening. Nappa and Raditz were probably having some fun already.

Her hair whipped around her face as Vegeta surged down to the base of the mountains and into the city, despite how far up they were. He didn’t seem to care about how fast he was going, but Bulma sure did. She was nearly scared to death at the speed alone, much less the heights they were at. If her grip on Vegeta hadn’t been strong before, it was then, if only because she was terrified that she’d slip from her hands and go tumbling right into the hard, sharp rocks to her death.

* * *

**His POV**

The descent from the mountain top to the city below was a scene Vegeta had witnessed far too many times. Citizens scampering, carts and buggies dumped over in the streets, small fires consuming any roof top or fabric it could latch onto. It was chaos, but he had grown use to it. What had more of his attention was the girl clung to his neck. She may of been a featherweight in his hands, but the tightening of her arms around his build was felt even by him. Honestly, as if he’d drop her. He’d come too far to find her to let it fall to that. The Saiyan had no idea they were moving at a considerable rate, to Vegeta, it was a relatively normal pace - flying down the mountain.

They landed steady enough. The prince’s boots touching base first, then slowly he unraveled the girl from his arms. Vegeta then shot her a look, nearly nose to nose. He didn’t think he’d have to speak to get his point across. Holding up one finger, he cocked his brow at her, meaning ‘one chance’. He said it, but he was giving her pretty full reign of the situation until it got too out of hand and he had to intervene. That was Vegeta’s plan. He’d wait and see what the girl had up her sleeve.

Raditz and Nappa were strutting their way down the city center. Nappa trying his hardest to find a female to no luck, and Raditz tossing a time-bomb ki blast into a nearby fountain. It exploding, jutting the water out of its pool and causing a few scattering adolescents to scream. The soldiers looked like they were enjoying it too, even when they laid eyes on Vegeta and the girl. Everything was normal to them, up until Vegeta signaled them to cease fire. Both of the men gawking puzzled and unsure. But whatever Vegeta said was command, though it didn’t stop them from cocking a brow at the pair.

“Mercy, mercy!” It was the councilmen, the same that had shown Bulma around the city complex. The same that had subjected her to becoming the new mother of their race. He was running out of a temple; come to beg whomever was attacking his people to take what they want and leave their species in peace. Normally he’d have been slain on sight, but this was different. This was Bulma’s time to act. Vegeta watching the girl closely. Actually, come to notice, he wasn’t completely comfortable with her walking around nude in the city streets, for some reason. It made his lip curl and his arms tighten across his armor; shifting his weight. Maybe he could strip a piece of the hanging fabrics that decorated the city lines for her to use in the meantime. Especially now, with those appealing curves of hers.

* * *

**Her POV**

She let out a breath she’d been holding when Vegeta finally reached the city and set her down. She let go of him immediately and went back to trying to hide her breasts with her arms, eyeing him nervously as he glared at her and signaled she really did have one chance. He was clearly peeved at the idea of having to wait to destroy everything. She pressed her lips in a line and watched him for another few seconds as she debated what to do, until the councilman that she’d come to know as their leader came running from a chapel and yelling at them to have mercy. Her head turned.

He had tricked her, but she didn’t blame him. He did what he did to save his species, after all. It was understandable. She came up to him and grabbed his arm gently to signal his attention, but tried not to make eye contact. Little glances here and there only served to make her feel warm inside and make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It was pleasant, but at the same time unpleasant. She didn’t want to wish he’d start handling her breasts like she had when she wasn’t able to stop staring at his dark eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry any of this happened. I’m sorry they followed me, I thought I’d be safe. But… I got them to stop. You just need to listen to me.” Her eyes stayed on the spot on the cobblestone ground between the two of them, her brows furrowing. “We need the pod I came here in back, with everything in it. And they won’t hurt you. And… I think I can help you. Without you getting me pregnant, I mean. When they first kidnapped me off of my planet, I met someone at a brothel who looks like she’s from your species. She’s not elderly. She looked like she was my age. I didn’t say anything at first because I didn’t know the coordinates or the name of the planet. But they would know.”

She turned her body to look at Vegeta again, registering the angry expression on his face. But things seemed to be going good so far. He had no reason to step in yet. So she spoke up, hoping to pry the information from him. 

“Vegeta! What was the name and coordinates of the planet? The one I told you about? It could help them!” That was her hope, anyway. While she wouldn’t want forced impregnation on anyone, the girl was forced to have sex with men to get money for someone else already. She was a sex slave. Any life would be better than that. She’d get to come back to her people and live a proper life rather than what she had to go through. 

* * *

**His POV**

All three of the Saiyans watched in disbelief as the earthling bravely ran towards the carnage and helped the elder man. Vegeta noted the way Bulma refused to look the elder in the eyes. She’d said their eyes could affect the mind, hypnosis perhaps, he didn’t blame her - she was being smart. The old man seemed compliant too. Nodding his head as Bulma spoke, trying not to pose a threat in the eyes of his invaders as they watched him bow his head - his body language still pleading for mercy from the earthling and her own trailing captors.

“Anything, anything”, the old man had pleaded, “...If there is such a girl out there, we want to bring her home.” It sounded like the councilman was in agreement with Bulma. He’d much rather have one of their women back then force themselves on some outer species for survival. They’d treat her like a goddess, sing praises and build monuments in her honor. But first they’d need the coordinates. Vegeta would have to comply.

The prince’s head had jerked in the girl’s direction the moment her voice rang out for him. He’d busied himself with ripping a sheer drapery from a nearby stall. His expression darkened, wasting no time in dragging his foreboding aura over the old man that had dared to touch his earthling. So, they wanted the name of the planet? Vegeta’s eyes shifted to Bulma, handing her the fabric before crossing his arms - a signal that he was closing up.

Dominating, barely willing to participate, Vegeta burrowed his vision down into the now quivering man. He really should be punished. But... after one more glance towards the girl, his upturned lips parted, rolling out his dark voice, “Kripten-5, in the Hiltar system. Coordinates 00825-47 …There’s a ship on the bottom of the ocean not too far from here. If you can get it in the air, it should fly just fine.”

The old man looked stunned, if not surprised that there was indeed a surviving female of his own kind, out there somewhere. He bowed and thanked the two, Bulma in particular. Not brave enough to take Vegeta’s hand in gratitude, but dumb enough to touch Bulma while Vegeta was standing nearby. The old man’s gaze lifted, if just to make friendly eye contact with his saviors. It didn’t blow over well with the prince, whom bellowed out a growl in response. Taking a step closer that meant ‘eyes to yourself, and hands off’.

“My ship.” barked the prince, and the old man pointed to a distant stone building. It looked abandoned and condemned, but it’s where the pod the girl had come to them in now resided.

* * *

**Her POV**

Vegeta didn’t look too happy when she called on him, but he did hand her some fabric. She let go of the old man to grab the white cloth and wrap it around herself, but Vegeta didn’t look like he wanted to budge. He continued to stare at her with furrowed brows and crossed arms, until finally, finally, he let out the name and coordinates. Bulma smiled and turned back to the man, pleased to see just how relieved he looked. She made the mistake of looking into his eyes for a moment, but she managed to look down instead at the hands he took hers with. He let go quickly and it didn’t take much for Bulma to figure out it was because of Vegeta’s threatening growl. 

Next was the ship. But as the three Saiyans started walking to the direction the man pointed to, Bulma stayed behind to thank him. Even after what he did. “Thank you for the food and helping me get strong again. I don’t blame you for what you did,” she told him, her eyes closed. “I’m sorry, but I killed some of your soldiers when they came after me. I’m sorry. There’s a serpent in the caves of the mountain– Well. I don’t know if it’s still living anymore, the cave collapsed. But if he still is, don’t attack him. He helped me.” It was an odd request, but one she felt was necessary if just for her peace of mind. Even if the serpent was likely dead. 

She looked him in the eye one last time, but only for a split second before she ran to catch up with Vegeta. It didn’t stop the feeling she had between her legs from the eye contact, however. It was strange how easily they could get a reaction like that. She wrapped the fabric tighter around herself and met up with Vegeta just as he made it to the building.

There it was. Sitting inside and looking– Well. It didn’t look untouched. It looked clean. They had cleaned it off and buffed out any major scratches. It looked good as new. She blinked in surprise at the realization, though after a second though, she shouldn’t be too surprised; they’d gone so far as to bring it to the bubble in the first place. With how it floated so well, it wouldn’t have been an easy feat to drag it down this far underwater. The people here were not bad people. They had been hospitable to her when they didn’t need to be. Hell, she still had her respirator. They only did what they had to do to survive. Maybe with time they would have let her leave. Who knew.

“Are we leaving right away?”

* * *

**His POV**

Vegeta headed for the run down building of stone as soon as it was pointed out to him. Never looking back, expecting his men to follow. Which they did, well Raditz and Nappa at least. They’d gotten the impression too, that they’d be leaving soon. That there’d be no more fighting to speak of on this planet. It was a dud, in their opinion at least. They sighed and shrugged. Raditz commenting to Vegeta that he didn’t like the water worlds anyhow, they’d always been his least favorite. Though Vegeta could agree with that, he didn’t bother gesturing a nod. The prince busy turning his gaze back in the direction of the earthling, whom was just now catching up. She’d lingered behind. The damnable old fool better not of tried to keep her behind.

The girl asked if they were leaving and Vegeta graced her with a gentle nod. Raditz and Nappa had already flown to the top of the bubbled dome and rocketed out through the sea’s surface in search of their own space crafts. Lucky for Bulma and the prince, it didn’t look like they’d be getting wet. The pod door hissed open in all its pearly splendor. It really was clean, not just outside, but inside too. No longer hanging with the smell of dried blood and salt water. It was in perfect repair. Maybe stopping by this planet had proved to be useful after all. Vegeta giving the girl’s newly improved curves a once over once more, before tucking them both back inside the confined space of the pod.

He hadn’t helped her in, but he’d been gentle about it when she found her place in his lap. They were space bound in a matter of moments. The rush of takeoff drifting into the undetectable jettison of their pod through space. Vegeta’s gaze haphazardly trailed down the girl that was so close to him. It’d been a while since they’d sat in the pod alone without some complication. Scratch that, there was indeed a complication, and Vegeta was picking up on it pretty fast. It was her scent. As strong as ever, if not worse than when they’d been bathing on the ring, and now it was bursting in waves right under his nose, directly from the girl’s hair.

“You were too soft on them.” he tried to strike up a subject, anything to get his mind away from the train of thought it was trying to head down. He needed to gain control of himself before the threat of her scent ever started. He’d sworn her off, even if she didn’t know it. He wasn’t about to break that now. Though, as soon as his closed eyes slit open, taking in the sight of her curved body barely hidden under the sheer fabrics, he felt his body tense under her. Gripping his fingers into a fist on the chairs armrest, Vegeta turned his vision away. He may of been able to turn his sights away, but he couldn’t strip his body from the acknowledgement of her warm body sitting in his lap. Thank kami he was wearing armor.

* * *

**Her POV**

She climbed inside the pod after him and for once didn’t complain about being on his lap. Maybe it was from her mistake of looking too long at the man’s eyes, but she wanted to feel close to something. And feeling close to Vegeta fit her just fine. She weaseled her arms free of the fabric and tied it up like a towel around her chest before opening up the control panel to see what was inside. The same as before, including her capsules. She took out the respirator and put it into the container, finding having it in for no reason bothersome. But it may come in handy later. Just as she closed the compartment, Vegeta spoke up, and she glanced at him from the corner of her vision.

“They were just trying to save their species,” she replied. “It’s how I can make up for what I did. And… It’s for that girl, too. I’m sure she’s miserable, even if she didn’t look like it. It’s better for her to be at her own planet than be forced to work as a sex slave. Those people are good people, they’ll treat her nicely.” She turned her body in his direction and watched how he acted. He didn’t look at her. His head was down and turned away, and his hands were digging into the armrests. Was he that angry? Why? Just because he thought of her as ‘his mate’? Like Raditz and Nappa had said…

“You haven’t tried doing anything to me for running away,” she pointed out, though she wasn’t sure if that was such a smart thing for her to do. To remind him... “I thought you’d get mad and hurt me. Or kill me. You haven’t bothered to do anything.” One of her legs came over his so that she could sit with his thigh in-between either of her kneeling legs. If only to keep a better eye on his expressions. He just seemed like he was acting weird. Besides–and perhaps this was just from staring at those eyes of the councilman–it felt nice to feel his warm body between her thighs. Even on a non-sexual level, it was pleasant. 

“…Thank you, Vegeta. For not hurting me, for listening to me… And for saving me– again.” It felt odd to say. But he had saved her multiple times, hadn’t he? She was still scared of him at times, but she was beginning to feel safer with him than without him. She missed her planet, but escaping meant falling into worse hands more often than not. She did recall all the horrible things he’d done, from raping her to putting her in a shock collar, but it was different now, wasn’t it? Maybe she was naive for thinking so, but maybe he had changed. To put more thought into her safety and feelings, at least.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally posted this on Badlands instead of here. OOPS.
> 
> But here it is! I hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> I don't know how frequent we'll be in coming weeks. I'm starting Winter Break, which isn't much of a break for me. I start work and, during this time of year (I work retail), I do a lot of 9 or 9 1/2 hour shifts. I know people have it worse than I do, but it leaves me tired enough that I end up just lazing about when I get home. I also usually get scheduled WAY too early for my tastes, which does not fit at all with my circadian rhythm. So uh... I don't know! I'll try to let you guys know, though!
> 
>   
>    
> 


	26. Hope and Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma is, for once in a long time, free of worry.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

He didn’t have to look at her to know she was moving. The prince could feel it, and his body reacted accordingly. When Bulma shifted her thighs over his lap, Vegeta’s hips rose in response; lifting to meet the space between her nearly nude thighs. He tried to play it off as him shifting his own weight, getting comfortable as she did; forcing his hips slowly back down and into his previous sitting position. His body strained and his eyes winced tighter shut. There was no way he could look at her now; he knew it’d be his unraveling.

But then she spoke, and the prince felt his body simmer down into a content buzz. He stilled, listening, risking turning his vision in her direction to fully comprehend what she’d stated. She was calling him out on not touching her of late. She’d noticed. If only she knew what imminent danger she was in now. Now that’d he’d given into drinking in the sight of her, Vegeta was beginning to forget all the reasons he’d had to keeping the girl at a distance, to keep her safe. Her thick aroma hit him like a gust in the face, impairing his senses. Her supple body glowed like angel’s skin in the dim light of the space pod, her full breasts too near his face not to notice. Sometimes he really could have sworn she was from a second dimension. Some perfect nymph or goddess that’d come to taunt him as pay back for all the wicked things he’d done. It was infuriating, and it was growing difficult to keep his hands off of her.

“Don’t thank me just yet…” he gruffed, shaking his head lightly with a shallow smirk. He wasn’t a creature that was due thanks, even if the murmuring of it from her lips did something to his belly; twisting it in new ways. His hands ghosted up the outline of her spine, from her plump backside to her teasing shoulders, but he never touched. No, instead, the prince pushed himself back into his seat again. This time squishing himself into the cushion; refusing his hips the leisure of moving under her warm thighs. An audible whine lifted from his throat, bobbing his Adams-apple in his thick neck. No, he wasn’t going to threaten her, for the first time in his life the prince was going to show restraint. Even if it was in the worse conditions he could possibly imagine. He wasn’t about to see that dead look in her eye again, or hear her cries of pain. That’s all it took to regain a fraction of his composure; enough to look at her and somewhat center himself.

“...I’m not going to hurt you.” he admitted, correcting himself; his dark gaze searching up her face. That was the truth of it, no matter how she tormented him, he’d endure it. Reassuring himself that he was the damn strongest thing across the universe, he wasn’t about to let instinct towards a female tell him what to do - even if she was the most desirable one he’d ever laid eyes upon. That fact still wasn’t helping his growing problem; he was half hard under the clingy fabric of his suit. That he could somewhat deal with, if he focused away from the swirling scent. However, as his eyes rolled shut once again, the image of her body straddling his legs burned in his mind; causing his gloved hands to clamp onto the arm rests until they made an indention in both the fabric and the metal of the chair.

* * *

Her POV

She froze up when he told her not to thank him just yet. She took it as a sign that he was going to force himself on her, and eyed him suspiciously as he ghosted his hands up her spine. But he never really grabbed her, and the gentle movements that barely grazed her skin felt… Good. She wasn’t as scared as she normally would have been in this situation. She trusted him, at least somewhat, even if it was a completely idiotic thing to do. But something was telling her he was worth the trust now. He was… He was restraining himself. She’d felt his hips against hers just a moment ago, but he quickly sat back down properly rather than start rubbing up on her.

His eyes gazed over her body, and she watched as she gulped and whined quietly as he forced himself to be good. He looked up at her face when he looked at her again, and told her with honest eyes that he wouldn’t hurt her. She was quiet. It… It did make sense, with how he reacted in the other planet when she was crying and reminding him of what he said. He had gotten off her. It didn’t change his past, but he seemed to have changed. He wasn’t the main thing hurting her anymore. He was protecting her, even from himself. He stuck to his promise, even, tightening his grip on his chair and squeezing his eyes shut.

Her eyes lowered, and her brows knit slightly when she saw the tent in his pants. Some part of it disturbed her and reminded her of things in the past, but… He was resisting it, surprisingly enough. Even though he clearly wasn’t one to resist urges. … Maybe it’d be best to praise him for this. To thank him for what he did, and make him know that restraint wouldn’t go completely unrewarded. She felt warm all over, and she was still slick from the last time she’d made eye contact with the aliens. While it was an urge she found easier to repress than Vegeta clearly did, the important part was that… She wanted to do something for him. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done similar things in the past. She was no angel, she’d let guys touch and look at her butt for favors.

She cupped him first. Massaged him gently, before she got off of his leg to kneel between his shins. She tugged his pants down enough to get to what she needed to, and with her right hand, she began pumping him gently. Her other hand rested on his inner thigh, with her thumb massaging the skin gently. Her eyes went up to watch his reaction, her brows raised just so.

* * *

His POV

Something was cupping him. It made his back lift from the seat behind him, sucking in a sharp breath. It felt amazingly good, somewhere between a tease and a stolen moment of relief, but he knew it was impossible. The prince tried to chalk it up to an over abundant imagination. Perhaps the side effects of inhaling too much of her scent while being overbearingly pent up. Truthfully, he had no reasoning for the sensation, but he couldn’t open his eyes to check for fear of the repercussions; for fear of losing it.

The peeling away of her body heat from his being was the first thing he noticed; bringing him back from his fantasizing over the very creature in his lap rather than looking at her directly. His lap suddenly felt cold and empty. The unpleasantness of loss tempting a groan from his throat. The groan fell into a surprised growl however, the moment Vegeta opened his eyes. It was more a noise of shock then of anger, threatening the unknown circumstance. She was more than cupping him, she was touching him. Seeping her body in the leg space between his chair and the massive window of the pod. Kami, she really was touching him, he hadn’t fantasized it. His black gaze burned down into her searching eyes, but quickly softened into needy relief the further she handled him. After winging up a brow at her he turned his head away, giving into a soft pant.

“You don’t have to do that.” he managed to grind out, tempted to catch a glimpse of her again. His mouth was a firm line, trying to bite back any further grunts or pleads for her to continue. His chest heaving his armor up and down. He was in disbelief of his own actions. He wasn’t going to make her go through with it. She’d never wanted to before; in fact, she’d nearly killed him several times just in order to not be in proximity of him. He couldn’t deny he was unreasonably hard already, though. The evidence of his pent up state throbbing massively in front of her. In the heat of the moment his hips had even found window to begin their churning, gently bucking in her grasp.

He didn’t want her to stop. Dear Kami had he dreamed about the woman jerking him without being told. To pass this up was to be a complete idiot, but he just couldn’t force the woman to do something she’d regret. Not again. The prince’s eyes found her one last time before fluttering shut. Maybe she was a clone, that’s it. The people had found a clone and he’d been stupid enough to fall for its facade. That, or ...she was acting the slave again. His eyes darted open. He really didn’t want that to be the case. She was no slave; they both knew it. If this was reproductions of her time being trained to take care of a master by Zarbon, he’d rather jerk himself. However, watching her stare up at him from between his legs was mesmerizing. At least for the moment, he wanted to revel in that stolen image. Her mouth so close to the end of his cock, what he wouldn’t give to shove her mouth down on it.

* * *

Her POV

It was entertaining to watch how he reacted. At first he seemed to think that he was imagining it. But then he quickly shot his eyes open and stared at her in disbelief. She kept moving her hand as he began to pant and move his hips, and she went a step further by pushing back his foreskin with her free hand as he continued to harden. She expected him to just lull into it and enjoy her actions, but… Then… Then he did something really unexpected. He told her she didn’t have to. She stared up at him with raised brows, not sure what to say in response. It wasn’t just that he wouldn’t force himself on her. He wouldn’t force her to feel like she had to do something, either.

“…No. I want to,” she replied after a moment, her eyes turning down to look at what her hands were doing. Her index finger circled around his tip a few times, before she finally leaned in. Her hands lowered down to his base just to make sure he was pointed close enough to her mouth, and she gave the tip of his cock a kiss. Her eyes went up to look at him again, gauge his reaction as well as explain why she wanted this; why she’d bother. “This is me telling you ‘thank you.”

She lowered her head and gave one long lick along his cock before she took him into her mouth, bit by bit. She hummed for him and rubbed her tongue flat up against him inside her mouth, doing her best to make sure this wasn’t boring for him. At the very least, she wanted to ensure that it was far better than when he… …When he forced himself on her.

Her left hand cupped his balls and she played with the loose skin, while her right hand moved up and down his shaft as she got more accustom to a certain rhythm to it. She hadn’t been able to do this willingly in some time, but she had found that there was something fun in blowjobs. It was a kind of art she’d forgotten she enjoyed. And it felt nice now, beyond for the feeling she was getting in her stomach. She felt… In control. And that was something she had trouble feeling since she was first found by Raditz in those bushes back on Earth.

* * *

His POV

He was staring back at her in as much astonishment as she was at him. Neither seemed to believe what the other was saying, doing. It blew everything they knew about one another out of the water. She said she wanted to, and the prince had to swallow again, narrowing his gaze in suspicion as best as he could, with all the blood pumping to his head - both of them. It was as if the universe had flipped upside down, but there was no denying it was very welcome.

The rush of watching the female pump him of her own accord felt more exhilarating then the majority of his sexual encounters, if he’d stop to think about it. Not knowing what she’d do next, how, why. What the fuck he was supposed to do with his hands if he wasn’t going to be the one shoving his cock down her throat. The memory of their first encounter crossed his mind. She’d tried to bite off his cock. The girl wasn’t just getting him in a vulnerable position to try and rip it off at the base this time, was she? His brow winged up when she looked to him for resolve. He wasn’t quite sure what the hell she was doing, but he wasn’t about to stop her either …it ….it felt good. She already had his hips bucking, but when she pressed her fingers and lips to his tip, the prince felt a rush of heat shiver down his build. Then she said it was a kind of ‘thank you’, showing her gratitude, and Vegeta’s face softened. Both confused but content, he left her continue. Watching in needy, flushed anticipation. She was turning him on exponentially, and little to his knowledge she’d barely begun toying with him.

Vegeta couldn’t stop the groan that thundered from his chest, when she took him into her humming, warm mouth. Dear Kami, she was doing everything but boring him. The look on his face must have revealed his secret, this was a first for him. He’d never had a decent blow job, and he was enjoying hers immensely. The prince sunk deeper into his seat, lounging with his open thighs on either side of her working face and hands, the massive cock throbbing in response to her grip.

Small tingles and sparks of building ecstasy crawling up his legs whenever she fondled his sack or pressed her tongue against a sensitive spot. Since when was this a talent... Where the fuck had she learned it? It didn’t matter, he wanted more. His heated gaze yearning for further stimulation, while his fingers trailed the soft ends of her hair. Allowing the female full control of the moment. He was under her whim. In fact, he’d never allowed someone to take the lead. Another first, but it was working in his favor, he was slowly figuring out. 

* * *

Her POV

She could hear his groans of pleasure, more satisfying than the last many times she’d heard them from any man. She was making him feel that of her own free will. And unlike with Zarbon, she wasn’t scared he’d turn on her later. He had no reason to put on a fake act to try and win her trust. He’d already done enough; this time he’d finally begun to change. She twisted her hand that held him at the base, and bobbed her head a little more roughly as she began sucking. Pressing her lips tight against him and tugging on his balls with the smallest bit of force.

Her eyes glanced up to watch Vegeta and see how bewildered he was, but at the same time enjoying it immensely. He’d shifted so his legs were splayed open for her, with his back sunk deep in his chair. Had he ever had a proper blowjob before? He wasn’t acting like it. Then again, he’d never had a kiss before her, either. He’d only taken what he wanted by force his whole life, he didn’t know how it felt to be given something like what she was currently giving him right now.

She slowly moved the hand around the base back until her fingers were pressed to the skin just above or beside his cock, just to give her mouth more room. She closed her eyes as she went as deep as she could go, her lack of gag reflex working out for her. She sucked over and over while bobbing her head just slightly, and stayed in her position as long as she could. When she couldn’t hold her breath any more, she gave one long, deep suck as she moved her head all the way back to the tip. She sat straight as she caught her breath and let her hands take over in pumping him at the same pace as she’d been bobbing her head, to make sure he didn’t go back to square one by the time she was finished catching her breath and relaxing her jaw.

“You’d never had one like this before?” It was an innocent question, despite it not being innocent according to at least one definition of the word. But she genuinely wanted to know; after all, he didn’t act like he’d had a blowjob like this before. As she waited for an answer, the movement of her arms began forcing the fabric she’d tied at her chest to fall downward. She paid it no attention, however, despite the fact she had noticed. She didn’t want to break the rhythm of her hands, twisting opposite directions to each other as they moved up and down his cock, to bother caring about covering herself up when it was only the two of them.

* * *

His POV

The continuous stroking and squeezing around the base of his cock felt sensational. It was a new experience on the list of many. The prince had never allowed anyone to handle him, let alone show him what a pair of hands were capable of. If only he’d known it could feel this satisfying all along, he may not of raped so many. Well, maybe. Bulma was a first, and there was reason for that. She was right, the prince always took what he wanted, but strangely enough he was finding that he was wanting this just as much as anything else, if not more. A part of him wanted to back away, the part of him that fled into defense or fight mode whenever he felt himself placed in a vulnerable position, alerting him with red flags. But stronger than that, was how completely he was enjoying her stroking and lapping at his girth. It outweighed any instinct or hold of pride, submitting himself to the girls stimulative abilities.

Vegeta had started panting by the time she started bobbing her head up and down the length of his erection. The solid mass filling her mouth, teasing the back of her throat - through his foggy brain he did noticed her lack of gag reflex. God, she really was perfect. His hips longed to push the entirety of his length down her throat, rutting gently under her hands in time with her pumping rhythm, but Vegeta never let himself lose on her. Then she really took him by surprise, she deep throated him. While Vegeta wasn’t as big as his soldiers, he was thick enough to spread her jaw. He didn’t see it coming. He didn’t even have to push, he felt her slide his massive girth over her tongue, all the way to the hilt. The slick sucking of her throat and mouth ripping a loud moan from his gaping maw, shoving his head back into the seat.

At that point she could probably get away with anything and he’d let her, like asking her question. If Vegeta wasn’t flushed in the face enough before, his bronze features were burning now. His knitted gaze fell on her, sucking in breaths; gently turning his head away with a lowly, “... _no_ ”. He focused back on the slow bucking of his hips. Spreading his fingers out over the armrests and melting under her touch. Keeping her in control. ...He was slowly learning that he liked it, despite any former beliefs he may have held. He liked the stimulation brought on by watching her take the lead, of pleasuring him for her own gain. It was edging him closer to orgasm. He could feel the winding and heat tensing and flexing his body, keeping him on the rim on a slow build up, rather than fucking into her face and releasing whenever he felt ready. It was slightly torturous, but that was what sent jolts of pleasure up his spine and through his thighs. The ability to hold back.

The thick head jerked, bobbing just before her with need. Her jerking hand felt good, but he needed more friction. Faster, harder. The prince was growing restless, the threat of precum bubbling from the bulbous tip. Moaning aloud again, giving into a string of groans that bordered on growls, his body quaked and muscle quivered, asking for more. His eyes fell over her again, soaking up the image of her handling his cock, noticing that her shall had fallen away too. Leaving her round breasts exposed. Her big blue eyes staring up at him, her own face flushed from sucking and panting for breath. He wanted to come all over her. Needing a little contact, he shifted in his seat. His right thigh had given in to rubbing against her upper arm, his left hand dragging his fingers over her left shoulder. It wasn’t an act of ownership, he was admiring.

* * *

Her POV

She’d never seen him act that way before. In a way, he was submissive. He answered a question she didn’t think he’d actually answer, and his face was a deep red both from the natural flush of stimulation and from, as far as she could tell, embarrassment. She couldn’t resist a slight smile at the sight. The noises, too– he was much louder now, moaning and groaning loudly. It echoed gently from the cushioned walls of the pod, making it the only thing Bulma could hear. He was clearly, clearly enjoying his thank-you gift. And he gave her a thank-you back in the little contact he gave her, from rubbing his thigh up against her upper arm to pressing his hand to her shoulder. She was quietly conscious of the fact that he could end up putting too much force into his grip at any time, but it didn’t seem to happen.

She looked down at his cock again to see precum dribbling out from his cock. Her hands moved down to his base again, with one slipping down to pull his balls and tug them gently from the place they wanted to travel up to. She leaned her head down again and ran her tongue in a swirl from the base to the tip, before spending no time at all taking him in again. It wouldn’t be long now, from how he was making noise. She’d be ready for it when he finally came. 

She bobbed her head more rigorously, flicking her tongue across him for more stimulation and humming on and off just as a bit of a tease. An eye peeped up at him just to watch his expression; she always enjoyed that when she was with Yamcha or the few other men she’d been with– at least consensually, and not something she repressed and pushed to the back of her mind to never think of again... There was something so fantastic about driving a man so insane that he didn’t care how silly his face looked. While the contortions of a man’s face when orgasming or close to it were never attractive, it was just another way she got to feel in control.

It was most surprising, however, that he had let this happen. He hadn’t forced himself on her or turned her away when she took such control over him. He wasn’t angry about her trying to push him into a submissive position. Maybe it would have been different if Nappa or Raditz were around. But as the moaning and groaning and twists of his body suggested, he couldn’t give a damn. He was appreciative. Just like she was for what he’d done, even given what he’d done before that. Would she run away again after this? Who knew. Maybe he could be convinced to bring her to Earth, at least to bring everything back to life. She’d already decided that she didn’t want to stay, anyway. She didn’t belong there.

* * *

His POV

He was beginning to lose sense of his surroundings. There was no more dim light of the cabin, or the depths of space past the safety of the pod. It was only himself and the girl. Turning and twisting his swollen length with exquisite skill. This may of been his first time experiencing a real blow job, but even Vegeta knew that this was hardly the woman’s time toying with a male. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she was plucking his strings perfectly. He’d given up trying to retain some form of composure. His body humming with the promise of ecstasy to notice anything other than the electricity snapping through his build. ...But she wasn’t allowing him to come - she really was in control. The prince’s back arching, groaning involuntarily when she pushed his testicles back down. The sensation causing him leave a deeper imprint of his fingers in the metal. He’d never been manipulated before; it was strangely exciting.

His gaze cast down on her from where he’d pushed his shoulders into the crevasse of the chair, where it’s back met the armrest. Her eyes sparkled, her lips pursed and curved up whenever she slid the strong girth from her mouth. She looked far too happy about what she was doing to him. That’s when he realized, she looked pleased; she was actually enjoying it. It wasn’t just a routine she was forced to move through, the earthling was taking some sort of pleasure out of forcing his muscle to rattle from his bones. It confused him at first, but the prince couldn’t hold a steady thought for long. Too busy churning thunder from his chest, attempting to keep from writhing in his spot. He’d never seen her anything but angry when it came to sex. He’d thought he’d loved it above all else, nothing could out rank her fiery pout. But he was suddenly aware of just how rapidly his heart was beating, every time he stole a glance from the female. Aware of every fingertip and breath that ran over his cock.

He couldn’t grow much thicker - the velvety skin stretched to its limits, turning a deep red. The heavy member pulsing whenever she dragged her tongue over its ridge. A part of him wanted to take on her challenge, the prideful part of the prince that wanted to outlast, out do any and every one. But he couldn’t, she was driving him over the edge, and then some, with that talented mouth of hers. Every inch of his skin was overstimulated, aching under every subtle brush of her skin pushed against him. He’d brought back his hand from her shoulder, unsure of just how well he could control his strength. For a moment his hand had brushed through her hair, and Vegeta had the instinct to push her head down ...but he didn’t. Running it through his own thick mane instead. It had been force of habit, but it wasn’t what he truly wanted. Enjoying having her lips wrapped around his cock at her leisure, far too much, but it was more than that ...he respected her, trusted her to finish him.

The tensing of his thighs told him it wouldn’t be long now. If she denied him again he may fall apart under the pent up pressure of his own dick. And as much as he’d hate to admit it, boy had he been pent up. Did she know how well she’d manipulated him? She’d been stimulating him since their time in the tub. Her scent never allowing his blood to rest, craving to push inside of her. Something he thought he wouldn’t get again. Her gift was lulling him into a warm state of euphoria. His ears deafened, uncaring to just how loud his growls were growing. His body felt hot, flexing every muscle, until he felt the burst of release light up his body like live wire. He’d never admit it, but the onset of orgasm had been so strong it curled his toes in his boots.

Vegeta wasn’t looking at her, unaware of whatever she thought, did, in his moment of climaxing. Straining his neck and wincing his eyes close, the muscle of his jaw clamping back a moan that begged to roar out. If she wanted a rare expression, she was about to get one. His maw ripped open and bellowed out a steady roar; his quaking brow flushed helplessly. His little earthling sure as hell was in charge. There was nothing he could retain in the moment. Pumping wave after thick wave of sticky white into her mouth, or wherever else she’d allow it. He was shivering, sweaty, and heaving breaths. And he didn’t give a single fuck. It felt amazing, and he damn well wanted to drift in that strong afterglow as long as possible. It seemed there were still a few selfish bones in his body, yet.

* * *

Her POV

Just when she thought his face couldn’t get any more red. She watched him in entertainment as she bobbed her head, until finally he tensed and made it known that he was going to cum. His expression seemed like he was trying to hold it back, but with a roar–something she was used to hearing by now–he finally came. lt came in a steady stream that shot down her throat, and if only so she didn’t make a mess, she took it all. Gulping and holding his cock in place with a firm grip.

He finished cumming and his cock began to soften in her mouth. She sat up and wiped her lips before taking another look at him. He was focused in the afterglow. He wasn’t looking at her, but it was still fun to watch him. He was panting and sweating like she’d never seen before, even after the times he’d relieved himself. Better yet, he was shivering. Had it really been that good for him? He’d really had nothing like that before? It was a weird prospect. He certainly wasn’t a virgin, and she knew that first-hand, but to think he’d never so much as had a real blowjob before…

She climbed back up onto his lap and set her hand on the shoulder across from her. Sure, he’d cum, but she wanted at least a little relief herself. She was slick, both from the act and from the lasting effect of the eyes of the people on the last planet. So she leaned a little closer to him, and took his hand to place it on her ribcage, just below her breast. Her mouth came to his ear just so she could whisper to him a few little words to show that his thank-you gift may last a little longer than was initially expected.

“Vegeta, do you want to touch me?” It’s something she never expected to willingly ask him before. But she couldn’t help herself. She wanted him. She wanted… She wanted attention, the warmth of being held. Release. She’d gotten pent up too. Sure, she may have had sex with that one muscular water alien, but he was hardly satisfactory. And that was days ago, or at least it seemed like it. Alien planets very rarely seemed to have a day/night cycle similar to Earth’s. It was hard to keep up with how much time had passed considering that.

“You can touch me if you want, as long as you don’t hurt me.” She shifted herself as close as she could get to his warm body and pulled off the white fabric completely, letting it fall into a messy pile at Vegeta’s feet. She was completely nude, and just for him.

* * *

His POV

The prince was so far lost out at sea, drifting in his own endorphins, that he barely registered the girl moving about the cabin. That is until she began crawling up in his lap. He may have gone soft, but he was still acutely aware of her existence. The weight of her legs and knees pressing into his thighs, or the curve of her torso leaning up against his armor. His eyes slit open, trying to gauge what she was doing. It wasn’t like her to find his company so freely. Sure, she’d just sucked him off, but even she said she had reason for that. He’d expected things to return relatively back to normal once it was all said and done.

But it didn’t ...in fact, he was fairly sure he was witnessing a side of her he’d yet to see. The earthling almost sounded ...sultry. A prickling sensation running up his neck when her lips brushed his ear. His attention focused on her as soon as he realized where she was leading his hands. He resisted another groan that meant hunger and possession. He may not have viewed her as an object anymore, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t still lust over her. Never in a million years did he suspect the girl would ever be willing to let him feel her up.

“I want to do more than just touch you.” his voice purred a breath away from her lips; but the softness promised her safety. The prince retracted, biting his fingertip and sliding his glove away, then the next. It was the moment of truth. Normally, he would have taken whatever he wanted, finding no restrictions in going right between her legs and opening her up. But he didn’t. The prince’s hands remained gentle. Steadying against her rib cage, right where she’d first placed him, now that his gloves were missing. 

He handled her like delicate glass. The memory of watching her break so easily in his fingers had remained with him. He now knew just how fragile she could be. Sure, he was aware her body could take it rough, but he was gauging, exploring her soft curves with new inquisitiveness. The hand at her side sliding around, cupping her breast before rounding his thumb over the nipple. His second hand gliding up the sway of her back; lingering, back and forth at the dip between her shoulder blades.

He knew she needed it, he could smell the want budding between her legs. Could feel it every time her thighs shifted and her natural lubricants dampened his suit. He wasn’t quite sure how go about it without being intrusive. The hand at her back smoothed down and around to her hip, then further to the beginning of her lower lips. Brushing the back of his knuckles against her hidden clit. Flicking his gaze up at her, he searched her eyes for permission. He’d learn the action from her just moments prior. In way, he was mimicking her. He’d never cared to pleasure another before, but she was right, he _wanted_ to touch her.

* * *

Her POV

He whispered back to her, but seemed to promise he wouldn’t hurt her. By now, she trusted him not to, at least for the time being. She doubted that after what she did for him, he’d turn around and hurt her. He pulled his gloves off with his teeth and held her with a gentleness she wasn’t used to Vegeta having, but it was pleasant. His hands slowly running over her bare skin, letting her know he had no intent of harming her. His hand cupped her breast and ran over her nipple, and the whole time Bulma watched his eyes, even as she squirmed and murmured at the enjoyment of the feeling of being touched.

“Vegeta…” She mumbled again as one of his hands snaked lower. His knuckle rubbed over her clit, and Bulma greeted it by the rock of her hips over the bump of the bone. It felt too good, good enough she wrapped her arms around his neck to give herself some steadiness. She was all but giving him permission to touch him more, while her face leaned in. Her cheek brushed up against his own for some extra bodily contact, and she again whispered into his ear, wondering aloud what kind of things he’d been thinking of when he told her what he wished to do so vaguely moments ago.

“What else was it that you wanted to do to me? Maybe I’ll allow it,” she told him, her breath bordering the line of panting but not quite. Her cheeks were pink, and she kept her hips rocking gently and slowly to keep stimulating her clit. She wished for more, this wasn’t enough. He could do some kind of vibration with his fingers, and she wished he’d get back to that. She recalled it from however long ago, and while at that time it felt violating, it would be more than welcome as they were now.

“Are you nervous? Don’t be nervous, I want you to touch me. I want to be close to someone. I want to thank you. I want to feel how warm you are.” She kept whispering in his ear, while one of her hands slowly snaked down his arm to find the hand that wasn’t against her clit. She pulled it from her body to lock fingers with it, and simply hold. She’d remembered how nice it felt when he held her hands before, back in the cave. It was the same now, but with the extra pleasure of his hands being bare and free of gloves. He felt so warm. It was relaxing, comforting. 

“Touch me more, Vegeta. Do what you want. I’ll let you for now; I want it.” For once, she was allowing him to touch her on her own terms. To tell him ‘yes’ and for him to respond accordingly, rather than for her hoping that a ‘no’ would be enough to ward him off. That feeling of being in control didn’t stop when she finished sucking his cock. She could feel it even now, and it made her feel confident again. When was the last time she’d really, actually felt confident?

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t quite sure where this new level of comfort with one another was stemming from, but the both of them seemed to have the same reaction; finding it comforting, strangely welcoming. It was new and uncharted territory for the prince, but the further he dipped into it, the more he was finding it appealed to him. Everything she did was new and unexpected, from the gentle rocking of her hips against his hand, to her arms wrapping around his neck. It seemed the further either of them explored the other, testing the waters, the more a new found trust budded between them.

She whispered in his ear, and Vegeta felt a groan roll from his tongue, as if he were masking a heated purr; pressing his mouth into the crook of her neck. Her words made his eyes roll back in his head. There were oh so many things he’d want to do to her. He’d had plenty of time to fantasize about it, thanks to the many times she’d fought and denied him before. But this, it was different. His eyes shifting to her warily when she mentioned his new cautious attitude. Was it so noticeable? He pulled back, and for a moment he wondered again if she was under the effects of some unknown drug. Perhaps she’d gazed into the eyes of the nymphs too long - hypnotized. The idea of her being a clone came back, too.

He recognized the fire in her eyes, this was no clone. It couldn’t be - this girl was far too in control, even if he was the one petting his fingers deeper and deeper between the folds of wet skin between her thighs. It was his stubborn earthling, maybe more than ever before. Making her demands, only in a softer essence this time. He unleashed his caged confidence, meeting her own. She was right, he was holding back, but if she wanted him to touch her, to do as he pleased, he wasn’t about to skip the offer. Not a chance.

“First, I’m going to watch you squirm on my fingers,” he promised, slicking a dirty smirk across his lips as he leaned closer, “...then I’m going to make you come on my hand, then my cock, and maybe in my mouth.” his voice trailed. There was only so much the Saiyan could hold back. He may of been gentle, but there was promise of a caged animal pacing, waiting to fill her up. He was already half hard, and only growing harder. The steady rocking of her hips joined by the subtle thrusting of his own. The hand between her thighs slipping out, only to guide her legs further apart; just enough to give him free access to her center.

Both of his palms roamed her body; pressing one into the curve of her waist and holding her frame steady, as the churning of their bodies intensified. The other fondled her eagerly. Pressing the blunt end of his thumb over her clit, while his fingers petted and pawed at her sticky entrance, threatening to dip in. She was more than ready for cock. His hand thoroughly coated in her nectar, but he wasn’t going to give it to her yet. The arrogant look in his eye was back, the one that always promised trouble. She’d kept him on the edge, and he was going to return the favor. Kneading his palm against the sensitive clit, while his thick fingers finally dug into her, pumping in and out. That was for her, what was for him, was the taking of her chest into his mouth. Flicking his tongue over the hard nipple before sucking the flesh. The hand that held her side squeezing a slow handful of her backside, guiding her into the rhythm of fucking his fingers.

* * *

Her POV

His nervousness slipped away. He leaned away and they stared at each other for a moment, both with similar expressions. He seemed to be trying to figure her out, and she watched and wondered what that expression was for. But then he quickly got serious. He stared at her with the smug, troublesome look she had come to know, and then promised her exactly what he planned to do. This flirting– It felt different. It was the kind of flirting she used to do that she loved so much, rather than the threats he used to give her. She liked this. She even gave something of a grin at his response, excitement growing in her stomach.

He forced her legs further apart and for a moment she thought he’d forget all about the first parts of what he said he’d do, but then he moved his hands to touch her again. She was allowed to lean back comfortably with the hand that she’d been holding now holding her up, only letting her enjoy his other hand more. He rubbed up against her clit and fingered her opening gently, teasing her till she was nearly begging for more. But she didn’t have a chance to before he gave her exactly what she was hoping for.

“Ahn– Mn…” She resisted moaning outright, but she didn’t resist showing how much she loved it. Her eyes closed and she ran her hands up and down his shoulders as he fingered her, causing her to squirm in pleasure. But he still hadn’t done what she’d been wishing for so much. Every gentle touch was more than welcome at this point, but something was missing. In between tiny little pants and sighs of pleasure as he sucked on her breast and stimulated her, she opened her mouth again.

“Ahn… Vibrate your fingers, like you did that one time,” she murmured, another of those soft demands. She ran her hands up his shoulders and neck until she curled her fingers through his hair, the squirming of her hips continuing. That was all she needed to get over. Just a little vibration and warmth, and orgasm would follow behind shortly. She was already steadily and slowly getting close enough to it as she was, with how he moved her body by the grip on her rear end to follow the rhythm of his fingers rubbing her clit and going back and forth inside her. She stopped resisting the moans and voiced her pleasure as she felt necessary, coupled with little pants as they continued.

* * *

His POV

it was getting more and more difficult to keep his promise of making her squirm on his fingers, the further her body begged for stimulation. Vegeta had half a mind to flip her onto the console and eat her out right then and there. But he resisted ...the desire to watch her climb to ecstasy in his lap was far too great. Besides, he was enjoying lapping his tongue over her chest so freely. Drinking in the scent that’d tormented him for so long, to his greedy hearts content. She’d never let him before, and with the added moans filling his ears, it was making his own stomach tighten with growing want.

Then she mewled a new request, and Vegeta answered with a barreled growl right between her breasts. She’d enjoyed his ability to ignite her nervous system so much that she still remembered it. Needless to say, it stroked his ego. Of course he was ready to do as she so softly demanded. Her ordering him around, begging for his abilities, was only making him hornier. His muscular hips rolling under her with more vigor, rocking her clit steadily against the base of his palm as his ki slowly focused into his hand. He’d been enjoying fingering her. Rubbing against the soft squishy walls, teasing his hardening dick with the promise of next round, but the added buzz of ki intensified it.

It was only a small amount, a subtle humming warmth radiating from his skin, releasing into her sensitive flesh. His buzzing fingertips tracing her entrance in small circles. He was teasing her, and the way his smug gaze flicked up at her said it. The phrase _‘you like when I touch you_ ’ written all over his chiseled face. But once he’d had his fun, the prince’s fingers plunged in, down to the knuckle, again and again. He leaned back to watch, still wearing that egotistical grin - but there was a hidden softness to it. This was only for the two of them, he may of been a bit of a bastard, but he was doing this for her. 

The hot buzz grew steadily, sure to light up her sensitive nerve endings, only to tame back down again. Hoping to bring her near the edge of an orgasm, only to reel her back in. He wasn’t going to let her come until she felt ready to explode. His hips still rutting heavily under her, forcing the thick flesh of her thighs to rub back and forth over his blue suit. His hard member resting against the base of his built abdomen. The hand that wasn’t dipping in and out of her, drew from her back and traced up her arm. He’d enjoyed her fingers digging into his scalp, untangling one from his hair and pressing her palm against his mouth; growling into it lustily. His eyes were burning; watching her rock in his lap. He let her fingers slip from his own, finally giving her one more intense shot of ki. 

* * *

Her POV

He growled between her breasts as a response to her request, and the vibration against her sternum made her shiver. She’d never been too huge of a fan of puff-puffs or motorboats, but she was so in the moment as it was that she didn’t mind. He gave into her request, as well; vibrating his fingers with that warm buzz of ki, but with a hint of tease. He didn’t give it to her all at once; he only fingered around her opening and let a steady, gentle wave of ki hit her. She grumbled in annoyance, but it came out as a begging moan instead. Her eyes opened, and she gave him the furrowed brows and pout when he stared up at her so smugly.

It was after that quick exchange that he finally pressed his fingers inside her again and she could yet again close her eyes to focus in on the pleasure he gave her. Her insides vibrated as much as her clit did, and the movements of his hips only exemplified it all. She shivered and shook with pleasure, and her moans grew louder and more needy. She was getting close to orgasm; she could feel it. But just when she hit the edge, his vibrations died down. Her eyes opened again to look at him, but not irritably this time. The pout was still there, but her brows were turned upward as if she were begging. Why did he have to tease her like that?

Her eyes closed again as soon as the vibrations started again. But every time she was going to orgasm, he did the same thing– he cut off the vibrations. Each time, she’d squirm and whine as the amount of pleasure he was holding back from her grew and grew, and as soon as it became overbearing, her hand reached down to grasp Vegeta’s wrist and hold it tight, trying to physically beg and prod him for more. Her other hand was unraveled from his hair so he could growl against her palm, and she was left holding his wrist tighter for support to keep her up.

God, it felt good. She needed more, more. Her moaning had reached a peak the next round of her orgasm getting closer and closer, but this time, Vegeta didn’t hold her back. She hit her orgasm hard, leaving her shaking and shivering and unable to think other than about how amazing it felt. Her moans were stuck in her throat and came out as breathless gasps for air, and her free hand quickly found Vegeta’s shoulder to hold it tight while the grip she had on his wrist only increased. Even after seconds passed and her orgasm died down, she was still shivering, if only just a little, and fairly covered in sweat. Those vibrating fingers were a godsend.

“Hah… Give me a second before you do anything else,” she told him, her grip finally slackening. Her muscles relaxed and she collected her breath bit by bit, but her eyes stayed on Vegeta. …She was doing this. With him, of all people. She didn’t look regretful, but it was still so strange to think about. When did that hatred for him disappear? When did she decide she trusted him, and when did she equate his name with ‘protection’ and ‘safety’?

* * *

His POV

it was worth prolonging the inevitable if it meant watching her face plead and beg for more from him. He’d dreamed about situations like this. Not in this time or the next had he ever imagined them coming to pass without him forcing it on the woman, in some way or another. She didn’t fear him like she once had, why was that? He questioned as he watched her pant and writhe on his fingertips, but it was hard to keep a line of thought. There was an exotic scene playing out on his lap, and he didn’t want to miss a moment of it.

When the rush of climax finally hit her, Vegeta felt his own back arch in response, stifling a rumbling groan. She was so tight around his fingers, pumping her til the last shiver of aftermath raked down her spine. Kami, he really wanted inside of her now. Watching her curvaceous body bounce and flush on top of him was perfection. Now that she was limp and sweaty on top of him, he truly couldn’t drag his gaze from her. He hadn’t stopped staring since she’d started pleasuring herself, but now he wanted to lap every bead of sweat from her heated body.

She asked for a moment to breath and Vegeta responded with an amused roll of his eyes; cocking a wry smile. It was difficult knowing the boundaries and obligations of consensual sex, so he was only going by what he felt, what he knew. He knew he didn’t want to harm her, and he enjoyed this new level of confidence in her, so he agreed to comply. It was an odd sensation, listening to another, trying to assume what she wanted, or allowing it at all. ...but it wasn’t so bad. He didn’t know what this was, but maybe if he knew better, he’d think he was treating her like an equal.

In the stolen moment, only alive with the soft breaths of the girl on top of him, he found it the perfect opportunity to admire her body in afterglow. The hand between her legs slipped free from the over sensitized skin, trailing his fingers and gaze up and down the length of her thigh, slowly. It was difficult not to give into the temptation of stroking himself over the image of her, but he’d rather touch her for the time being. His thick girth still primarily solid near her resting thigh in the lazed moment. His eyes roamed higher, noticing a bead of sweat as it rolled down her belly, it looked like she was still catching her breath. His second hand started tracing up her side, following his gaze over her breasts, collar bone, and finally her eyes. As soon as he caught sight of her expression, his brows lifted as if asking ‘ _finally ready?’_. His dark voice murmuring, _“Don’t tell me I tired you out.”_ It was a tease, his dark flirtation.

* * *

Her POV

He listened to her. He may have rolled his eyes, but he didn’t ignore what she told him. Instead, he waited patiently while she caught her breath and basked in the after-feeling of her orgasm, and gently ran his hands over her body. It was a nice additional stimulation, to feel his warm hands on her. Soaking up the sweat of her body and caressing her tired muscles. She stared at him as he looked over her body with such admiration that if she hadn’t had flushed cheeks already, she would have then. And slowly his eyes came up to meet hers. When did he get like this? He used to be so aggressive and forceful. She used to cry under him and inwardly tell herself she should feel lucky that he wasn’t as violent as Nappa and Raditz. 

She’d tried to kill him multiple times, or at least herself, to get away from him. But now things were different. She felt like a bad person for doing something like this with someone who had raped her, but maybe it was just the simple fact that rape had become normalized to her. She’d witnessed it enough times, both having seen other women go through it and having gone through it herself. …Maybe she shouldn’t feel guilty. She was a bad person now, anyway. There was a reason she no longer wanted to stay on Earth when she finally revived it. She didn’t belong there anymore. She was different now.

She finally caught her breath and opened her mouth to speak back to Vegeta. “…Well, not everyone’s like you Saiyans,” she replied, crinkling her nose just a little. “But… Look. I’m going to lay down ground rules.” She let go of his shoulder to hold up a fist, before popping out her index finger to signal ‘one.’ “Number one: This is me… Thanking you. Don’t expect this to happen again.” Her middle finger rose. “Number two: You will not cum in me. I had birth control before, but that’s gone, and I’ll be damned if something happened.” Her ring finger rose. “Number three: You have to promise… That you’ll take me to Earth after this.” It wasn’t what she had in mind when she initiated all of this, but as soon as the idea had popped up, she’d latched onto it. Now was the time to convince him, so she didn’t have to run away and get into more trouble.

“There’s these balls on my planet called dragon balls.” She’d had enough trust in him for the time being to even risk telling him all of this. What would he do? Drive her to run away again by destroying them? He didn’t seem too keen on her running away constantly, after all. Besides, those things didn’t look to be destroyed too easily. “You gather them all, and you can summon a dragon that will grant any wish. They’re sturdy, so they should still exist. I think so, anyway. I want to wish my planet back to the way it was. So after this, you’re going to take me to Earth.”

* * *

His POV

So, she was going to lay down a few ground rules, was she? She’d already stroked his ego nicely by commenting on his stamina, so the prince was in a fair enough mood (especially from all the sex) to allow her to name off her demands. Besides, he often reveled in listening to her order him around. He’d always thought she had the mindset of a queen, and time and time again she proved it with her stern words and stubborn pout. He was even enjoying watching how she was going to go about doing it. Lifting her hand, as if she was about to start numbering things off. Vegeta’s smirk pulled back into a devil’s grin. Amused, waiting as if this was going to go in his favor. It wasn’t.

Number one, his smile dropped, adding an off look to the side. He didn’t like the sounds of that - that this was a one-time deal. It felt too good to only go about it once. As if he’d believe her, or wanted to. Number two, his brow dropped into a hard line, shooting her a deadpanned grumble. He wasn’t a pull out kind of guy. Wasn’t that the whole point? To come inside of a female? She was taking all the pleasure out of it. His hands ghosted away from her body, crossing leisurely over his armored chest. It was difficult to be angry with the smell of sex and female ovulation hanging in the air, but the prince managed an irritable twitch of his thick brow.

Number three, number three was a little odd, reigniting a spark of life in his gaze. A brow dared to arch, making sure he was understanding her correctly. She wanted him to take her somewhere. Well, not just somewhere, to her home planet. Was that where she kept trying to run off to? To that burning rock? There was nothing left last he saw it, he should know, he killed it. The girl must have still been in denial. Vegeta had no interest in returning to that mud ball. Whatever there was sure to be dead. Wait, did she say, wish granting? His curiosity peeked, forgetting the majority of his previous irritation.

“It sounds like a legend.” he murmured, but there was still the glint of interest in his eyes. The girl did sound like she’d seen them first hand, perhaps made a wish before? It wouldn’t surprise him with her history. If these ‘dragon balls’ did exist, maybe it was worth checking out, if just to state his own curiosity. The fact that she’d entrusted him with such valuable information didn’t go unnoticed either. She trusted him, which called for a softened glance. He couldn’t figure out why she’d rely on him of all creatures, but knowing that was making it difficult to displease her pretty, demanding face. He was thinking about it, though his sensitive cock was begging him to make a quick decision. Finally, his nose scrunched, tilting his head at her, roughly giving in, “... _I don’t pull out_.” he made his own one condition. It sounded hard, but it was his sneaky way of saying, yes, he’d take her to her home. For some reason, he just couldn’t tell her no.

* * *

Her POV

At the very least, it was entertaining to see how he reacted to each demand. He certainly wasn’t happy with most of it, but she needed to lay down ground rules. She wasn’t about to have him constantly demanding sex from her until she got pregnant, with no hope of getting home. She had rules she wanted to set in place, and if he wanted to go further, he’d have to follow them. When she was finished, she crossed her arms in front of her chest as well and waited for an answer from him. He seemed to deliberate for a moment, but finally he gave her an answer– that he doesn’t pull out. He had at least agreed to the other two. He’d bring her to Earth being the most important. IT was enough to get her giddy.

She returned her hands to his shoulders and leaned in to give him a kiss on the side of the mouth in thanks. She was glad. She’d get to see her planet again, get to wish everyone back… Even if she didn’t want to stay on Earth with how much she’d changed, she’d at least be able to say goodbye to everyone in person. And slap Yamcha a few times for ignoring her… Well, ‘calls.’ She glanced away and pressed a few fingers to her lips as she imagined it, a smile widening across her face. Finally. Finally! She was so glad. All this time she’d been trying to get back home, and she didn’t even have to run away from Vegeta to do that! And all it took was a round of sex. She was so impure by her own standards that she didn’t even mind anymore.

Her head turned back to look at Vegeta with that wide smile, and she decided she didn’t mind if he insisted he didn’t pull out. There were ways of getting around that, anyway. She’d pull away at the last minute, and then she’d be safe. So she wrapped her arms around his neck again and steadied herself closer to him, close enough that their noses just barely touched. The excitement was still written all over her face, her eyes wide and gleaming. Just out of pure happiness, she landed another kiss on his lips, this time dead-center. More little ‘thank you’s for everything. That’s all she’d wanted and thought about for so long! Going back home, getting to see everyone again– she had a hard time thinking about anything else now, knowing she was so close to that goal.

“Alright, I’m ready.” Her legs drew upward with her shins pressed against the back of the seat as she pressed her hips forward, only in an effort to rub herself along Vegeta’s length. Her lower lips pressed along the sides of his cock, but Bulma’s mind kept wandering off, even if it did feel good. Her eyes kept wandering around the pod, and the smile wouldn’t leave her face with her imagination running wild. Maybe she could even capsule her room before she left! She’d get to keep it with her! And… And… In case of a worst case scenario, she could build something so that they could always stay in contact when she needed them, even if she thought she was no longer deserving of the life she used to have.

* * *

His POV

He was debating over the agreement he’d gotten himself backed into. All because of sex. She’d manipulated the situation; he was onto her ...but he sort of liked that about her to his own demise. Why was it so damn difficult to be 100% angry with her? He wanted to be angry with her, but then he kept picturing him riding his cock and all of those thoughts fled. He was so busy brooding; he hadn’t noticed her incoming kiss until she’d planted it on him. Instantly his scowl dropped into bewilderment, taken off guard by her affection.

His gaze darted in her direction, trying to grasp the situation. Wondering what in hell’s glory that beaming smile was about. It was so big ...and bright ...captivating. It was making him exceedingly uncomfortable. With sex, he had no problem getting close, sultry even. When it came to domination he was a professional. But he had no notion of how to handle excitement or affection. He watched in amazement as she hid her cheery smile behind her hand; obviously thinking about something. The Saiyan had never seen that gleaming expression on her before. She looked ...happy. No, happy wasn’t the word. Ecstatic. Did her planet really call for such imminence show of emotion? What was more confusing was why he found her joy inciting to watch in the first place.

She came forward with that sparkly look in her eyes, and Vegeta leaned back defensively. The arms around his neck he could handle, welcomed even - he wanted more sex, but her beaming smile was causing his face to burn red. And then she kissed him, and the prince felt his body stiffen, and then slack. He really hoped she couldn’t feel how hard his heart was thumping against his armor, with how close she was getting. Her unusual display of contentment had flustered him. Vegeta was used to getting scowls, pouts, and rude comments. He was nowhere near accustom to this kind of praise. Especially from such a pretty female that could suck his cock like no other. 

After a few tattoos, he calmed and collected himself. Grunting and calling up his steely expression. He’d only had a half hard on only moments ago, but after her bouncy display, the man was upright again. The slow rolling of her pussy over his growing cock coaxed him back down into a familiar place. He liked that, very much. Though, he did shoot her a look when her attention kept fluttering away. Maybe he could use her lack attention span to his gain. He took the moment to strip his armor over his head, taking with it his blue suit top. The clingy fabric slowly peeled from his arms, revealing his bronze body beneath. He’d lacked physical contact the last two rounds, he wasn’t going to miss it again. Especially if she was so damned stubborn about ‘rule number one’. He was going to take what he wanted to the fullest, and his selfish nature wanted to feel her writhing body rubbing against his bare skin.

* * *

Her POV

Could she be blamed for getting so excited? She’d finally get to see her loved ones again! With how excited she was, she’d have no problem bouncing on Vegeta’s lap in just a moment. Hell, she was nearly doing it right now with how her hips were moving. It wasn’t until Vegeta began moving that her attention was finally bought back to him. Her hands left his body so that he could pull off his armor and his shirt, and as soon as they were off, she wrapped her arms around his neck again and pulled her body up and away from his lap, though she doubted Vegeta could complain much- her breasts were all but smothering him.

She looked behind herself and pulled Vegeta’s pants down further with one of her feet, playing along with Vegeta’s insistence on being nude. Hell, she had thought about adding it to one of her rules; it did feel nice to be close to a man like that. It didn’t feel the same when there was fabric between two bodies. She pushed the pants down until they were around his knees and no longer a real problem, before plopping back down on his lap. She gave him another look and really bounced this time, just reminding herself about how she’d finally get to go home. God, she could just kiss him over and over for that! She was just so happy!

She tried to contain herself instead, though, and lowered her hands to start rubbing Vegeta off to get him harder. The glimmer still stayed in her eyes as she looked down at what she was doing, and a loud, excited breath inward signaled just how excited she was. She just couldn’t stop thinking about it. But she had a feeling he’d get annoyed at her not paying attention and shirking what she promised, so she finally put a hand back up on his shoulder and used the other to hold Vegeta’s cock steady as she tried to place her hips right. She lowered herself onto him, a feeling that caused a blush in her cheeks and a quick inhale, and quickly began bouncing softly on his lap.

She wrapped her arms around his neck again to pull him closer, if only to layer his face in no particular spot with kisses. His nose, his cheeks, his mouth, wherever her lips happened to reach. The more she thought about how she was going home, the more affectionate she got. She couldn’t help herself, and it wasn’t long before she started blabbering out just how thankful she was for his actions.

“Thank you, Vegeta! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! That’s all I’ve wanted since I was forced to leave! You don’t know how happy I am! I’m– Agh! I can’t wait!” 

* * *

His POV

It appeared that the girl was going to strip him of the rest of his clothing, something Vegeta was hardly against. He went as far as to kick off his white boots, maneuvering his pants the rest of the way down his legs, until they joined his clothing in the floor. They were finally stark naked. Rubbing up against one another; and for the first time without a fight erupting between them. The prince was eating it up, scooping handfuls of her flesh into his rough hands, then roaming his splayed fingers around her shoulders and back. She was so soft, softer than anything he could imagine.

And then she pushed her full chest just under his chin, and the prince had to beat down a purr. He did not purr, not by consent, he was no pussy cat. She was so damn wiggly! Sure, he’d enjoyed the burst of excitement from her at first, but he was growing impatient. He shot her a look just as she came to her senses, but then her hand found his length, and the consuming heat that hid between her legs sucked him in. He forgot anything prior to that, too busy enjoying the moment of finally having her wrapped around him. Good, it looked like she could put that energy to good use.

Her affectionate kisses didn’t startle him so drastically the second time around, finding them odd but not too troublesome. He was too distracted by the incoming rub and grind of hard muscle against soft flesh, causing his strong hands to knead into her backside. As much as he loved her spirited nature clawing at him, the prince had longed to fuck her full force without interruption. He was going to enjoy this. At least, he thought he was. Her shower of affection was slowly growing distracting, taking away from what he truly wanted - to have her breathless in his lap. He shot her a dark glance once, making sure she was keeping with her promises, but was met by her beaming smile. Honestly, as annoying as it was, it was growing on him.

The prince leaned up in silence. Taking her bottom lip gently between his lips, softly nipping the edge. His heavy gaze then fixed on her, calling for her to focus. It was his way of trying to bring her back to the moment, to discipline her for not focusing on pleasuring him. The selfish Saiyan sunk deeper into his seat, giving her a better angle to ride his length. Helping her lift steadily up and down the thick mass by thrusting his own hips; smacking into her whenever she came back down. It felt good, it felt damn good.

Once he could coax her into a steady beat, his hungry hands pawed up her torso, grabbing handfuls of her breasts, before smoothing back down - all the way down the surface of her thighs and back. Meeting her gaze, he searched for any lingering enthusiasm with his mocking, teasing expression, as he normally did. It was no lie he’d enjoyed her brightness, it was new and beautiful, and her bouncy nature gave him one hell of a lap dance. But he was growing a little jealous, possessive even. Something inside of him wanted to grab her, to push her against the console and mount her until they were both a writhing mess, but he tamed it down - for now.

* * *

Her POV

He kept glaring at her and trying to get her attention, to stop her giddy little act. She noticed it especially when he bit her bottom lip gently and stared at her with narrowed eyes, and she reminded herself that she had to try to stay serious or this might have been for nothing. He could easily change his mind if he so chose, after all. But it was just so hard to focus. So instead, she at least tried to get out her feelings in the movements of her body. She bounced her body on top of him, and when he shifted his body, she pressed her hands to his pelvis to give her extra lift.

She began to gasp as he thrusted his hips up into her whenever her hips would lower, and it wasn’t long until she was letting out tiny, short moans. It felt damn good. She bounced harder, her breasts bouncing to more of an extreme as she moved. She accepted his touches across her body, from her breasts down to her thighs, and her eyes drifted toward his face to see his mocking expression at her delight that she was still trying to withhold. Her nose wrinkled as she looked down at him– how dare he look at her like that! Hrmph. It wasn’t like she could be blamed for being so excited!

She pressed her hands to his face to cover his eyes and force his face to look away from her in response to that stupid expression, as some silly form of punishment– the punishment being to annoy. She may be happy with him for what he had promised her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still the same old Bulma, easily annoyed and stubborn. If he was going to mock her, she was going to irritate him right back in response. She had enough of a right to, given that he refused to agree to at least one of the rules. She still planned on pulling away herself before he came, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Be... Ah… Be nice, you jerk,” she grumbled, though it came out somewhat sweet and gentle. Her hips changed their movements as well, beginning to rock back and forth beyond just the boring bounce. She closed her eyes to focus in on the movements on her hips and that skin-tingling feeling of every time Vegeta forced his hips upward into her, and one of her hands let go of his face to reach behind her body and fondle his balls. The other hand reached upward, with her hand pressed up against the soft padding of the pod’s wall above her just to give her extra help when dropping her body back down each time and to keep herself steady.

Her breath was picking up again, and her heart was beating like crazy. In her mind, she couldn’t help but think about Earth again and again. She bit her lip in excitement as she otherwise tried to focus on her task, but– Agh! She just couldn’t get over her excitement!

* * *

His POV

He was just getting use to the consistent rhythm of her taking him between her legs, allowing himself to fall into panting; enjoying watching her lithe body jump up and down on his lap. It may have felt unconventional compared to the usual aggressive fucking he was used to, but watching her face flush and her rounded flesh wiggle was worth it. It was equally as strange having her do most of the work, and his instincts were clawing at him to give in and take the lead, but he wasn’t having it. Not this time. For now, she was in control - as long as he said so, of course. It paid off to mock her, too, if it meant seeing that pout twist up her face again. That’s all he wanted, a little pay back for making him wait so long for her to calm down long enough to ride him. The prince was feeling pretty damn good, egotistical even, and then she pressed her hands to his face…

His lips pulled back into a snarl and his hands found hers over his face. There was a dark scowl burning behind her blinding fingers. A threatening growl rumbled from his chest, though there were undertones of playfulness. His grip found her thighs, rushing up to hold her hips. Bucking abruptly up into her, smacking her down into his lap. She’d retaliated ...he should have expected that from her. He was still the same Vegeta, too. He may of been submissive for the time they were enjoying one another in the pod, but the vicious animal still lurked behind his self-control. His punishment was mild, however, and his hips flowed back into the steady rhythm they were both clearly enjoying before. Her hands left his face and his wicked smirk found her perfect pout. Slipping small moans from his voice, too.

“ _Make me_ ,” he purred, enjoying the crinkling look of her nose. His dark voice and deviant gaze bordering on flirtatious. Her attitude had aroused him, filling his body with a greater heat and calling his body to writhe under her with more vigor. His tail had even come out to flop beside them, excited in his own way. He was just about to prod her again, when she did indeed make him play nice. She reached behind her and started playing with him. The prince arched his back; the girl was in full control once again. A long groan thundered from beneath her, vibrating his body right between her thighs. His pace steadily increasing from the new stimulation.

He could hear her breath heightening, feel the gentle quaking of her legs against his torso. She was enjoying it, and something about that erupted a pleasant thunder from his chest. He could tell she was still drifting in thought, ecstatic about the promises that hung just out of her reach, and for a moment he watched. Watched her flushed face, her sliding hip tugging him in and out of her slick hole. It felt so good, he began to groan a little louder. The way she rolled her hip along his cock was much better than her bouncing - as nice as it’d been to watch. It felt much different from his usual pin and rape scenario. It was more like a slow tease; and he was falling subject to her push and pull. That’s when his hands found her hips, and one of them slipped between her thighs, pressing against the sensitive nub that she loved him to vibrate so much. It was just as satisfying to know he was the cause behind her moaning. He needed more, though, and the top of his thighs began beating against her backside, jolting both of their joined bodies. 

* * *

Her POV

“Ahn–!” The sudden shove of his hips inside her took her by pleasant surprise, and her eyes quickly widened at the intense force of it. She blinked and looked down at him to see that he mocked her again. She gave him another narrowed stare before he quickly shut up at the feeling of her fondling his junk. Or rather, he went from mocking to moaning. She gave a little eye-roll before she closed her eyes again and tried to ignore his stupid face and focus on the physical arousal she felt. Ah… It did feel damn good, for his body to vibrate like that with his animal growls. Her hips rolled slowly to savor it in response, before going back to her normal pace. 

He pressed his finger against her clit again and started rubbing, and her mouth formed a little ‘o’ as she began to moan a little louder. Ah, that was good. That was really, really good. She moved her hips faster, and faster yet at the feeling of that vibration. Her toes curled at the feeling, and the hand fondling his balls moved around so that her arm could wrap around his neck yet again. She pressed her body against his, and she finally began getting sidetracked from what had been promised to her as the feeling grew too big to ignore.

“Vegeta,” she murmured, getting close enough she could press her cheek against his head. She smoothed down his hair to rest her head properly, her grunts from her hip movements steadily increasing with her moans and gasps. It felt so good to be this close to another person on her own terms again. He was so warm, and he knew how to touch her in ways she hadn’t been touched in a while. Regardless of their past, all she wanted was to bring him closer to her and ride him until she couldn’t remember her name or feel her fingers.

She was alerted by the top of his thighs hitting her butt, forcing her to go more into the air before coming down more roughly. Now that she thought of it, he hadn’t been this slow before. Was he getting impatient? Maybe he was starting to not be able to hold himself back. But if he took control, it’d be far harder to squirm away before he came inside her. Her mouth pressed into a sturdy pout for a moment, before a leg snaked into a kneeling position with her shin against his thigh, trying to force it down every time it rose up. She wanted this on her own terms, and she’d be damned if he decided to start taking control.

* * *

His POV

It was worth giving the female’s clit a little stimulation if it meant seeing that priceless expression on her face. It was amazing how he could take a seemingly selfish act, like pleasuring someone they way the liked to be touched, and turn it in for his own gain. He’d never suspected she’d so freely let herself go while on top of him. From the beginning, he’d expected little more than a few pouts and angry scowls. He’d longed to watch her squirm in ecstasy since he’d witnessed her little show at the brothel, but he’d begun to think it’d never happen. This, this was much better then he’d thought it’d be. While the prince still loved to dominate, he was finding that letting the girl find her bliss had its strong points, too.

The woman he’d lusted over was wrapping herself willingly around his neck, and Vegeta’s hands rushed up her back, following her movements. He’d shot her a stern glance at first, wondering what she was doing, but then she muttered his name and Vegeta fell in line with the rotation of their bumping hips. At first he’d found the new position of her resting on his head a little awkward. The prince had been with many woman, but he’d never allowed them to move about his frame freely. However, as they melded together, he was finding it exceedingly stimulating. Their meeting flesh searing together, the gentle weight of her sweaty body smashing the soft curves of her body against his build. He was practically smothering in her divine essence. Drowning in the pleasure of having the woman in his lap, uncaring to the outside world.

He was getting into it, how could he not? His thrusting length growing unbearably hard inside of her, beating into her from below; stroking his sensitive girth greedily against the walls of her tight insides. He was getting faster, growing more handsy. The warmth of his lips vibrating lowly growls at the base of her neck. Tracing his hand around the curve of her backside, rubbing the stretched opening of her entrance from behind, that was so fervently taking his dick. He may of been playing the submissive role, but Vegeta was an alpha male, and the inciting instincts in his head were begging him to take control. Stirring him up and turning him into a lusty, selfish animal. He wanted to dominate.

He’d been so caught up in enjoying himself, Vegeta was taken off guard when the girl tried stripping herself somewhat away, just in order to attempt holding his thigh in place. Instantly, he turned his anger on her. Ripping a growl from his bared teeth and burning his gaze up at her. It was a natural reaction, like a dog protecting its meal. But after a moment he realized what she was doing, even if her attempt was hardly working, he got the message. She wanted to remain in control. The pent up prince had to tame down his dominant nature, releasing his frustrations through soft growls from his throat. The glance he gave her said he was trying to comply. Eventually, he movement in his hips steadied into a more mellow stride. His erection still insanely stiff, but he was controlling himself. The soft way he held her hips, closing his eyes and resting back in the chair, meant he was surrendering - she was free to use him as she wished, for the first time.

* * *

Her POV

He made a noise at first that scared her into thinking he may just pin her down and do as he pleased, but after a moment he quieted and stopped using her thighs to push her up so roughly. He kept pushing back inside her, but she didn’t mind that so much. Just so long as she still had control of herself and her own movements. He complied, obvious enough by how he leaned back and closed his eyes and moved his hands to rest softly on her hips. She was allowed to do as she wanted. Some part of her even hoped that his eyes stayed closed, if only so he wouldn’t notice before it was too late when she pulled her hips away to avoid him cumming inside her.

But she was growing needier, and she needed more. A hand went down to grip his shoulder tightly, and another went down to let her arm coil around the back of his neck to get a better grip. Her cheek pressed against his temple and she started rocking and bouncing her hips faster, furrowing her brows in concentration with little grunts as she kept going. Her body was begging for more, begging for release that wasn’t quite there yet. 

Her breath picked up and kept to the rhythm of her hip movements, though the moans mixed in meant that she had a tinge of need to the way she spoke, the pitch of her noises increasing with every few thrusts inside her. She was getting close, or at the very least was finally managing up the hump that was necessary to glide down into orgasm. Her grip on Vegeta only got tighter as she kept going, and her face turned just enough for her lips to press against his skin and her war breath to hit it in waves as she gasped and huffed.

“Ha– Tou– Touch me,” she demanded of him in a gentle voice, her eyes squeezed closed. She had too firm of a grip on him to let go and rub her own clit. She needed the hold on him to easier move her hips so aggressively. What she needed were the hands on her hips to move elsewhere. “Rub– Nf… Rub my–hah–clit… Squeeze… mn… my breast– hah– touch me… Touch… nng… Touch me…” She needed it. She needed to just get a little stimulation to help her get over the hump and get to reach her orgasm. It was so close she could feel it, frustrating but causing her hips to move all the more in an obsessive want for climax. 

* * *

His POV

Though the world was shrouded in darkness around him, he could sense her movements. She was needy; her grip felt desperate on his shoulders, and he could feel the helplessness in the way she rocked her hips. It was kind of a turn on. Especially when she pressed her cheek to his temple and began panting in his ear. He was growing to like this new position, if only to appreciate it for what it was worth. It allowed the girl to unwind her lusts as delicately as she needed, giving him the opportunity of exploring her body, while getting his dick rubbed in whole new ways. 

While Bulma may of been fucking him a little faster, to the prince she was still moving at a relatively mellow speed. Well, compared to his usual rampant style. It felt somewhat like how she’d lapped at his cock before. Slowly building him up, only to deny him satisfaction, and instead forcing him to writhe to the edge of his limits. The prince’s back straining, arching, rolling his lower half under her in hopes of causing a little more friction. Wincing his eyes shut and gripping her supple hips. He’d begun moaning, too. If she kept this up, he was going to have a strong orgasm all over again.

And then she started making her demands against his cheek bone, and the prince nearly came undone. It was the best kind of foreplay, her making demands, heating him up. He found himself gazing at her. The rosy flush of her cheeks so close, her panting mouth so near he could bite it. It made his eyes roll back in his head, giving into beating into her a little faster, rougher than before. The satisfying suck and pull of her quivering insides better than before - he could tell she was close. He did as she commanded, and began smoothing his hands up her soft belly to find her plump breasts. He squeezed them, jolting his erection deeper into her from the lusty stimulation. God, she was so touchable, the sensation tightening his own belly, tingling down his thighs, tensing muscular frame and pulling him closer to climax.

“ _Tell me you like it when I touch you,_ ” he purred as smoothly as velvet. His mouth so close to her parted lips that their hot and heavy breaths mixed. His warm palms massaged her flesh in his hands, gliding up around her slender neck to pull her hair, only to slide back down to fondle her again. One hand stayed on her breast, while the other slipped away, coming to rest between her legs. She was so wet, her movements on his torso had dampened his happy trail nicely. He slit open an eye, if only to watch her clit kiss at his abdomen. Ki lighting up his fingertips, he began to rub her. The igniting focus of ki stimulating his own nervous system, since he was already buzzing with sensitivity. His bronze body was sweltering, buzzing beneath her. A slew of moans began pouring from his mouth the more he pleasured her. God, if he had known allowing her to take control could feel the amazing, he might have tried it sooner.

* * *

Her POV

He’d moved his head so that she could feel his breath against her lips. Their foreheads were pressed together, and normally Bulma might be disgusted with this kind of closeness to him, but for now she only thought it felt like the best thing she’d felt in a long time. She rocked her hips desperately as she felt his breath, gulping and licking her lips to stop a line of drool that had fell from them down her chin. She was so close, she could feel the ticklish sensations beginning in her toes. He made his demand of her, but rather than oblige, she shook her head. It was something she didn’t want to ruin the moment with, thinking of– but it reminded her of Zarbon and the things he demanded she say.

Then came the touches. Unlike Zarbon, they were gentle and meaningful. He ran his hands up her body to send sparks flying, along her aching breasts and up to her hair to pull gently. One hand kept playing with one of her breasts in a way she so desperately needed, and the other traveled down to do exactly what she had been hoping– making a vibration against her clit. She visibly shivered when his finger touched the piece of skin, and a gasping moan came with it. That was it, that’s what she needed!

Her grip on him was tight enough to make her knuckles turn white, and her body was going as fast as she could manage, though she felt no pain in her muscles from all of it. Only pleasure, slowly taking her over and making her moan louder and more dramatically until her body was shaking enough that she relied on Vegeta’s thrusts and touches to keep her going because she could no longer keep up with the proper rhythm. Her orgasm hit her, and hard enough that it left her gasping and breathless and shivering, nearly convulsing in pleasure. She’d pressed her body up against Vegeta as tight as she could, and her grip slackened only when enough seconds passed that it finally died out.

She was sweaty and shivering still, and her legs felt weak, but she had to remind herself– she couldn’t let Vegeta cum inside her. She bobbed her hips shakily a few more times as she tried to gauge his expression, thankful for those closed eyes, and moved her hips up and to the side as soon as he looked as though he was about to burst.

* * *

His POV

She was being stubborn; refusing to stroke his ego by means of telling him how good he was making her feel. Not that he had to be told, he could feel it, see it in the way her body was shaking, but it’d only heighten his enjoyment. It frumped her mouth into a little frown, instead of her usual glare or fiery pout. It was different, he noticed that, so didn’t reprimand her as he normally would. Such as with a nip or a growl. Letting it pass. There were far too many other pleasures to focus on, anyhow. The closeness of their bodies, how tightly she wound around his cock, the whines of her mouth nearly brushing his own. All he could focus on was the moment at hand, and he hungrily let it over take him again.

She was getting faster. Ripping a groan from his maw, the added heat of the quick movement very welcome. She was taking the lead nicely, and it was pushing him closer to the edge. His own torso bucking up into her, twisting and straightening his spine up off the seat, catching her in the crook of his lap pleasantly. The hand that’d been pleasuring her trapped between their joined bodies. His eyes shut and his shoulders rolled; the tension in his body was growing too big for him to contain. In a matter of moments, he was going to have to release. He could feel her body shivering against his sweaty skin. His own muscles were jerking, flexing, straining his head back and burning up in the pleasure of her consuming his girth. Damn, she was so god damn good on him. The prince could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his ki snapping in his build like wild fire. And just when he thought he couldn’t resist any longer, he felt the exquisite sensation of her coming all over his lap.

It was too good to pass up, and maybe if he hadn’t acted so greedily and came when he’d felt the need, he would have come inside of her. But he’d selfishly wanted to ride out her orgasm. Pawing and pushing his palms along her writhing frame. Soaking up the constricting orgasm that squeezed his thrusting cock to the point he felt he was going to burst. Small licks of ki lifting from his skin whenever he pushed into her again. Her orgasm was beautiful, the sound of her voice ringing in his ears. He was sure he had claw marks on his shoulders, too. And when he found no more satisfaction in stroking up into her, when her climax was finally beginning to fall, the prince couldn’t hold back anymore - he came, and it was incredibly intense.

His muscles straightened and his mouth gaped open, unleashing a heavy roar. It was so intense, when she pulled herself away all he could do was growl, which quickly turned into a whimper. She’d pulled away just in time. The first heavy stream of come shooting up between her thighs, coating her lower lips. A second shot splattering against her stomach, then again over her leg. He was gripping her hips with one hand and pressing his other arm over his head, rather than trying to hold her in place. Not that he cared for more than a second’s worth. Vegeta was still drowning in wave after wave of climax, it still felt salaciously good despite being pulled out. His sensitive member finding refuge against the warmth of her inner thigh until he began to soften. Coming down from the high. His flushed chest was heaving and the place their waists were once combined, was covered in bodily fluids. His eye slit open, trying to shoot her a dirty look, but it was difficult when his body was tingling. Besides, he couldn’t complain, she looked kind of appealing covered in his orgasm.

* * *

Her POV

She’d pulled away just at the right time. He came hard, and she felt the shoot of cum hit between her legs. Still panting, she looked down with slightly furrowed brows as he kept coming, managing to get all over her leg and stomach. It was a mess. But she was thankful that Vegeta hadn’t gotten too angry. He grumbled, but that had been all. Not even the typical growling or bites he’d given her over lesser things.

He loosened up when his orgasm ended, and Bulma turned her attention elsewhere; she was going to clean herself up, obviously. She dropped her butt down back on his lap just to calm her shaking legs, and turned her body to the fabric lying on the ground. For a moment her hand hovered over Vegeta’s blue suit, but instinct told her not to. She might think it was amusing, but… She didn’t want to make him angry when he could refuse to take her to Earth whenever he so chose.

She grabbed the white fabric she’d worn over her naked body instead, and wiped off her stomach and legs, and was especially careful to clean up around her lips. She wished she could cover up with it, but she wasn’t about to hold the dirty sheet around herself anymore. Besides, it was only her and Vegeta. He’d seen her naked enough times. And when she looked out the window, as far as she could tell, they weren’t close to their destination yet.

She shifted around in his lap so that she could lean her side against Vegeta, and rest her head on his shoulder. When she’d lay with Yamcha like that, he was tall enough that her head would rest on his chest, but she supposed this was good, too. It was still being close to someone. It still satisfied what she wanted following sex, regardless of who it was with. Besides, she was too tired to care much. She closed her eyes and got herself comfortable to try and take a little nap, but the fact she was going to Earth again popped into her head. Her lips turned up into a smile.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments during this hiatus, everyone! It was a nice Winter break. I'll try to be posting consistently, but for the time being it seems like the chapter-making is just my job, so it may be a little stressful to be once a week. We'll see how this semester goes! We also run the risk of slowly catching up, because we haven't been roleplaying too much lately thanks to life getting in the way. .. 
> 
> This chapter's a really smutty one to set us off nice. Both parties consent this time. This is something of a first step for Bulma to cling to something she used to like and refuse to have it destroyed by so many bad experiences as of late. Whether or not things happen between herself and Vegeta, she deserves to be in control of her own body. and to do with it as she pleases.
> 
>   
> 


	27. Change/Adjustment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma adjusts to her new role as someone who is no longer a slave.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

He was just coming up out of his nice dazed state, when he noticed the girl tugging the sheer white fabric from the floor. What was she doing with it now? Surely she still wasn’t persisting against the notion of being nude. The prince shifted his shoulders, finding himself comfortable in his place, and watched her strange habits. It didn’t appear as if she was going to attempt to cover herself again, however. She was cleaning off his residue. What a shame; he grunted, tugging the corner of his mouth down. Though there was still the hint of curiosity in his stare. It didn’t matter if she wiped it off, she smelt heavily of him, and that was the important part.

He was taken by surprise when she rejoined him on her side. Vegeta’s brows lifting, watching her tuck herself against the warmth of his body and rest comfortably on his shoulder. He wasn’t expecting that. Once they’d finished, he’d suspected that’d be the end of their closeness. When there was no more pleasure to be had, the prince usually pushed whomever away, focusing once again on only himself. Though, he had let the girl sleep on him before, many times in the seclusion of the pod. But this was different. There was a certain closeness that came with it, and he couldn’t recognize it. He watched, puzzled, but soon found that it wasn’t so bad. In fact, he made himself comfortable too. Propping one foot up on the console, sitting off to the side leisurely in his chair.

She was smiling. It was gentle, but it was there. As a creature that rarely smiled, unless it was dark or arrogant, he couldn’t figure out why she looked so blissful in sleep. At least, he suspected she had passed out. Was she so happy? Perhaps a side effect from being over sexed. His thumb brushed over the corner of her mouth. It wasn’t meant to be affectionate, he was exploring, but his hand did travel up further; smoothing into her hair. Ah, that didn’t feel so bad. He was kind of liking being able to navigate her without a fight. The arm she rested against caught gently around her, holding her closer for a better look. Falling into the slow petting of her hair, all the while watching her rest. It wasn’t long before his head was resting atop of hers, he too falling asleep.

It wouldn’t be too far now, and they’d be landing once again. The beep of the pod telling them they were coming up on their set destination. A large moon, big enough to hold its own atmosphere, which happened to always be angry and churning. The surface of the moon was almost always raining. It looked like one giant pine forest, dotted with purple lakes. If it wasn’t raining, it was misted over. However, as the moon rotated into view, it looked like they’d be landing during a massive thunder storm. They were headed right through the massive clouds of a fearsome storm. Sheets of rain blowing sideways, bellowing like curtains. The only large city on the moon was a good place to pick up supplies, like a pit stop among the galaxies, but getting there from their crash site meant walking a little ways in the pouring rain.

* * *

Her POV

She hadn’t fallen asleep quite yet when Vegeta had begun… Caressing her. She felt it, and it felt nice. She relaxed into the sweet feeling of having a man’s hands brushing her hair and his arms holding her against his frame, a protective act she hadn’t felt in what felt like years, even if it had only been a little over a month by now. Mixed in with the after-feeling of her orgasm and her thinking about how wonderful it would be to get back home again, she felt warm and fuzzy inside. Sleep came quickly, and it wasn’t long until she was snoring from how deeply asleep she was. Dreaming of a home she hadn’t seen in far too long.

She awoke however long later to the sound of beeping. Vegeta was holding her down in the position she’d gotten used to to signal they were about to land, and it was then that they hit the surface of whatever planet they’d landed on. Gn… Shit. She was still a little sleepy. She rubbed her eyes and squirmed away from Vegeta to look out the window. The planet was filled with pinks, purples, and blues. The grass was a dark blue, almost purple, and the glassy ground that had cratered around the pod was a silvery pink, with bits of deep pink dirt falling from the top of the crater. All of the trees had silver trunks and a myriad of colors for leaves, from pastel pink to a color purple that reminded her of space. The sky was rose gold, and even the dark clouds that passed overhead had a purplish hue to them. The only thing different was the massive golden planet one could see in the sky, with bits of red cloud covering its atmosphere. 

She opened the pod’s door, but only a crack. The loud ‘woosh’ of cold air and rain attacked the pod and stung her feet and shins with their freezing temperature, and Bulma quickly closed it back up. Her brows furrowed, and she got back to the end of the pod, pressing her back to the wall beside Vegeta. There was no way in hell she was going out there, especially while naked. She didn’t even have shoes anymore! She’d get muddy and wet and probably catch a cold, and she wasn’t about to deal with that. 

“I’m not going outside,” she proclaimed to him in a stern voice, shaking her head. “You can’t make me. I’m not about to get muddy and cold and dirty and wet because you just had to land on this terrible planet. If you want to get anywhere with me, you’re going to have to leave me in the pod and carry it, because there is no way I’m getting out. And don’t even tell me to just use my capsule, because I’m not going to get my entire pile of clothes wet because of you!”

* * *

His POV

Vegeta was awake by the time the girl stirred from her dreaming. He’d already pushed in the landing code and was holding her securely against his frame. In all honesty he half wondered if she was going to wake, even with a crash landing, with how she’d been snoring. But she stirred and fled to look out of the pods large round window. Vegeta took the opportunity to dress. Pulling his pants up in the odd seated position he was in, followed by his top, boots, gloves and armor. Not caring to her opening the pod door. He was growing use to her opening it for his exit by now; that is, until she snapped it back shut. That’s when he noticed, she wasn’t getting dressed. He knew the girl was adamant about clothing. Often pulling it seemingly out of nowhere thanks to her capsules, so what the hell was she complaining about now?

He was pushing the fabric of his glove down between his fingers, as she ranted and raved about not wanting to face the storm outside. Vegeta’s eyes narrowed, turning his lip up into a snarl. Since when did she expect him to care if she got a little wet? Rain was hardly as threatening as snow. Just because he may have given into her demands while she had him pinned under her, didn’t mean his way of doing things, in his meaningful and fashioned order, had changed. This was mission time, and he wasn’t one to heed to being side tracked or bargained with. Let alone ordered around... Especially once that door opened and his high status was once again in the outside world.

“Open the damn door, woman,” he barked, but once he’d righted his suit, he pushed the door open himself. Holding it up with one hand, he turned back around to glare into the pod at her. The heavy rain rushing behind him like a windstorm, pelting the pod loudly despite its padded interior. A crack of thunder lighting up the tree line, the shadows of Raditz and Nappa coming up behind him quickly.

“You’ll get out if you want anything to eat.” he tried to threaten, but he had a strange feeling he wouldn’t be getting anywhere with the female this time. She could be so difficult! After a contemplative growl, the prince slammed the pod door shut once again. At first, it didn’t look like he was going to be giving into her demands of being carried, in a pod no less. But after a few moments ticked by, the pod began to shift, move, and obviously rocked from being towed along.

Eventually the clattering sound of rain hitting the metal pod came to a sudden stop. They’d made it to a covering. The local city shops were prepared for outsiders who weren’t so use to the blinding storms their moon was capable of. Awnings that covered large portions of the streets providing much needed relief from the blowing winds. He’d sat it down in an abandoned lot, putting its old awning to use. The three Saiyans waiting impatiently for the girls exit. Vegeta in particular, who was standing with a firm scowl on his face. He was soaked to the bone with his arms crossed, just in front of the opening pod door. She couldn’t say no to him this time, at least his stubbornness said so.

* * *

Her POV

He tried to yell at her, but this time she was holding her ground. There was absolutely NO way in hell she was dealing with that! She’d gotten passed being forced to walk around naked! She wasn’t going to get dirty just because he decided to land on this awful planet! It was beautiful from the pod door, but she wasn’t getting out! Luckily, after a short glare match, he pushed passed her and got out of the pod without forcing her out with him. She covered her body and shielded herself from the pouring rain rather than acknowledge him, and soon enough the pod door shut again.

She thought maybe he’d leave her, and maybe she’d regret it– she was hungry, after all. But then the pod started to shake, and within a few seconds it rose above the ground and began to move along as Vegeta carried her. Good! That’s what that jerk got. She settled down comfortably and grabbed the cum-stained fabric and used the clean bits to cover herself just for anyone looking in, and dug through the console’s compartment to pull out the capsule that had her clothing in it.

After some time, the rain stopped battering down on the pod, and Bulma deduced that they were somewhere with cover. She looked out the window to see plenty of people passing by, and a dry ground. …Sure, it was probably still dirty, but this was alright. So she didn’t mind when the pod was set back down on the ground and the door began to open. That didn’t mean she went with it completely, though; as soon as she felt the door opening a little too far, she held it steady and instead kept it just open enough for the arm of the hand that held her capsule to reach out of the pod and toss the capsule. With a pop, her clothes dropped into a pile on the ground.

“Okay, give me some clothes. I don’t care what they are. Just a shirt, panties, and a pair of shorts. I’m not coming out naked, so hurry up. And don’t you dare let them get trampled on!” Her demands came from the pod while her hand made a grabbing motion, waiting impatiently for her call to be answered with the weight of clothing in her hand. “Hurry up, I’m hungry! We’re going to go and get something to eat after this, right? We’d better! I haven’t eaten in hours, and even that was just some unseasoned fish I caught!”

* * *

His POV

She wasn’t getting out of the pod... The earthling once again possessed the irritating ability to get under the prince’s skin. This time in the form of prolonging the inevitable. When the pod door stopped short, and the capsule flew out, all three of the Saiyans attention drew into the appearing pile of fabric. Then, when her tiny hand waved out for clothing, Vegeta felt the hair on the back of his neck stand. She was just full of demands, his pride biting at the notion of kneeling and searching through the items for her specifics. Like underwear and shorts. It felt as if he’d be lowering himself, which was something he just wasn’t comfortable in doing, especially in front of his men. Hadn’t he done enough by carrying her here?

“Go stand watch,” Vegeta snapped an order, and Raditz and Nappa created a natural barrier from the oncoming crowd, with the wall of their physique on either side of the pod. Their backs were turned. Vegeta finding himself in a tough spot. He kicked the pile of clothes, overturning the fabric until he saw what he needed. Quickly, he scooped up a shirt, shorts, and pair of panties and shoved it into her waiting hand. He was obviously annoyed, and he let her know it by huffing out a stern breath, His boots then walking away, giving them some distance so that his prickly temper could cool down.

“Why’s she naked?” Raditz asked, as soon as Vegeta joined his men. Vegeta obviously shot his soldier a rotten look, because Raditz followed up with, “Ohhhhh.”

“Were you dumb enough to leave her things behind? Or should I order you back to go get them.” Vegeta’s voice ground out, taking a sarcastically dominating tone with his soldier.

A few moments later, the tapping sound of knuckles against glass filled the pod. There was no one there, if she dared to open it, swiftly disappearing out of sight. But they did leave something behind beside the round door frame of the ship. It was her pair of earth shoes. She’d need them in a place like this, if she was going to keep from getting herself sick. That was the last thing he needed, her sniveling all over the place while he was trying to get things done.

By the time Bulma emerged, only Nappa would be left standing guard. Vegeta had begun to wonder the lines of the glassy shops and Raditz was not too far behind. The soldier starving, and hoping that Bulma was right when she’d blabbed that she was hungry. Raditz was hoping their first stop would be for food.

* * *

Her POV

“What’s taking so long?!” He sure was taking forever! But eventually his ordered his men to go stand guard, and for a split second Bulma thought he’d drag her out and clothe her himself. But instead, he shoved clothes into her hand. Great! She retracted her arm and quickly clothed herself, though she did make a little ‘huff’ when she realized the clothing didn’t match. A yellow t-shirt with a pink pair of shorts? She’d look silly. She guessed it had to do. She threw it on, and just as she finished pulling the shirt down her body, there was a knock on the pod. Vegeta being impatient?

She pushed open the pod door, ready to yell at him for his lack of patience despite how impatient she had been just moments ago, only to find her pair of shoes sitting on the ground. She blinked and after a moment of hesitation, grabbed them. She really thought that she’d never see them again. She had gotten over it, given that she felt she wouldn’t stay on Earth anyway, but… It was pleasant to see. She smiled and pulled them on before finally pushing the pod door all the way open. Nappa was standing guard, and Vegeta and Raditz were already walking off somewhere.

She didn’t bother capsuling her clothes again; she was in far too much of a hurry to catch up to them, and it was too cold to stay outside any longer than she had to. She piled the clothes into the pod and shut the door before running in the direction of the two Saiyans, not paying any attention as to whether or not Nappa followed. She caught up and slowed to Vegeta’s pace at his side, her head searching around to take a look at everything as she rubbed warmth into her cold arms.

All the buildings were made of glass. Or, that’s what it looked like. You could see everything going on inside them, from families buying groceries at a supermarket to middle-aged men having beers at a bar to, disturbingly enough, a brothel with women dancing and showing their clients a good time. Her nose wrinkled at the sight and she stayed close to Vegeta, knowing that as long as he kept an eye on her she wouldn’t end up in trouble again. That’s when her eyes landed on a restaurant. It looked like a steakhouse, with every costumer she could see eating only meat. It looked delicious.

“Vegeta!” She elbowed him and pointed, though she wasn’t sure if he had already seen or smelled it. It definitely looked like the kind of place that a Saiyan would enjoy, and while she enjoyed more variety in her diet than meat, she’d take anything that would fill her belly at the moment. “I’m hungry, let’s go there.”

* * *

His POV

If the girl wanted food, she’d fall in line behind him. It’s what Vegeta always expected. Never giving an order, rather preferring his men to know their place, including the girl. What had happened behind closed doors may of been a softer encounter, but it didn’t change things. Not too drastically at least. Though the sexual experiment may of been swimming odd questions in his head; questions like why he enjoyed it, or why it left him with the nagging sensation to turn his gaze over his shoulder and check in the girl’s direction. The prince pushed down the irritating buzz, and instead focused on what was most important to him - himself.

The rain was coming down hard. Blowing in steady sheets against the clear awnings that lined the street sides, managing to blow the colorful droplets in at their feet. It was unexpected when the girl caught up right alongside to the prince. Normally he wouldn’t have given her the time of day, now that he was going about his business, but the surprise of being elbowed did cause him to side eye her. Not a few steps behind like Raditz, right along with him. She was walking at his side, chatting at him as if she were now comfortable with him - that caught his interest too, turning his head with slight attention. She either didn’t know proper educate, or she didn’t care. Vegeta suspected both.

Raditz was watching with scrutiny, just as Nappa caught up alongside him. Raditz wanted to grab the girl by the shoulder and bring her back to their level. It wasn’t right for a female to walk along side, let alone in front of warriors, but before he could land his hand on the girl’s frame, the group stopped just in front of the massive steak house. Vegeta tossing a dagger of a glare over his shoulder at Raditz, but silently turning his attention away from the Saiyan as if he didn’t give a damn after all. He’d known what his soldier was up to, and instinct had kicked in, but Vegeta had rejected the urge. Focusing on getting them something to eat. The girl was right; they’d been headed towards the smell of cooking meat. It was something the starving prince couldn’t pass up. He hadn’t eaten since the space ring, and his animal side wanted to sink his teeth into a nice hunk of flesh. Luckily for the rest of them, he was hungry.

The place was beautiful. Glassy and glossy, the smell of meat making all three Saiyan bellies rumble audibly over the clinking sound of fork and goblet. But the bottom floor just wouldn’t do. “ _I do not take my meals with commoners._ ” was how Vegeta put it to the pretty host, who was more than a little nervous when climbing the stairs, showing the guests to the elegant tables and bars above. The high rise made for a spectacular view. The tops of the windblown trees were just at their feet, the colorful thunder head rolling in the distance, lighting up the sky with a prism of sparks. Vegeta, however, didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he was busy taking his place at the head of their given table, just near the window like wall. Silent, uncaring, not giving a glance towards the high clear ceilings. Raditz and Nappa doing the same; talking between themselves about what breeds of meats this place might serve.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma hadn’t noticed Raditz’s hand, and even if someone tried to tell her she was not walking in the proper spot, she wouldn’t have cared. She wasn’t Vegeta’s sex slave; she could do as she pleased. And that included standing or walking wherever she wanted. Just as soon as Raditz tried to reach out for her, Bulma hurried to the inside of the restaurant with her stomach rumbling too much to ignore.

They were led upstairs after Vegeta was insistent on ‘not eating with the commoners,’ and Bulma was actually glad about it. It was more beautiful there. Not only was it interesting to be able to see everyone right under their feet, but she could see passed the treetops and into the dark sky when she looked out passed the wall. It was cold and rainy when she was outside, but when she was inside and had the chance to look at everything, she could fully appreciate the beauty without having to worry about how ugly anything was.

She sat down on the table on the opposite side of Raditz and Nappa, with the spot closest to Vegeta, if only for a bit of safety– she was still paranoid over everything that had happened recently. She trusted him not to hurt her at the time being, so it was the safest bet to be at his side. As long as she kept talking badly about him and still had her personality, she didn’t feel like she was really at his beck and call or anything, either. She was just using him for her own gain. Simple as that.

While the three men were all talking nonstop about the food, Bulma kept looking around at the scene around them through the glass. All the people walking down below, the sky above them, the trees shaking in the wind near the building’s walls… It wasn’t until someone came with an entire… _something_ (it looked like a turkey, but it had three legs, like a tripod!) that her attention turned away. The man was there to cut it up and give them portions, but she knew well enough that the Saiyans would end up grabbing the entire thing before he could blink, so just as Nappa and Raditz reached out, she grabbed a leg and ripped it off as quickly as she could. She ripped off a piece and savored the taste– it was moist, and had a tint of sweetness to it, with a bit of saltiness likely from the constant rain. It tasted like duck, but with orange sauce already mixed in.

* * *

His POV  


Vegeta didn’t seem to pay too much attention to Bulma, when she planted herself in the seat next to him. Tapping his fingers impatiently on the table, resting his angular jaw in his other fist, and glaring towards the staff as they passed in the distance. He’d demanded, rather than ordered, “the best proteins on the menu”, which meant a lot. He didn’t care what they brought him, but they’d better hurry if they knew what was good for them. Well, that is until he glanced in the girl’s direction. She looked enthralled with the world around her. He hadn’t thought to notice it until he saw her gleaming towards the horizon. He glanced towards the roll of clouds, trying to understand what she was so captivated with, but then look back towards her. She was an odd creature.

The prince had been so lost in his own train of thought, he hadn’t noticed the odd looks passed between his men, after Bulma took her seat and began to glance around. Sure, Vegeta had let her sit near him around campfires and in caves, but he’d instigated it, never the other way around. The men shared a glance, questioning inwardly if the girl was finally accepting her place as ‘belonging to their alpha’. It was the only culturally acceptable reasoning they could come up with, before diving back into chatter about food and woman.

The moment the meal arrived, both of the Saiyans looked like starving animals ready to pounce. …but Bulma beat them to it. They knew what they could take, the lesser meats. The legs, the wings, leaving the good stuff for Vegeta unless he tossed it away. But Bulma had acted fast, and both of the men growled across the table, ripping the rest of the bird in half between themselves. The servant that’d tried cutting the fowl for them stepped back, startled. Vegeta however didn’t seem to give a damn, and reached for the massive rare steak on the rolling cart. It’s meaty juices dripping all over the glass floor before ripping his teeth into it. That’s what he’d had his eye on, he couldn’t care less about the bird.

“Did you see that brothel?” smacked Raditz, “We should head there next …some of the females looked really good,” and by good, he meant he’d already seen them in action, thanks to the glass buildings, “...I wonder how many girls I could take at a time.”

“Depends on how big your dick is,” answered Nappa in the form of a joke. His foghorn like laugh filling the room, slamming his hand down on the table, finding himself hilarious. Nappa followed up by smacking a passing waitress’s ass, then pulling her down to sit on his lap while he ate. Very obviously feeling up the nervously shaking girl. The sound of meat tearing from the bone came next. The first servant had abandoned the food filled cart, but not before Vegeta had demanded seconds. The Saiyans were all but dominating the top floor with their outrageous auras and fearsome attitudes. Vegeta, lounging back in his chair, already chewing his way through a second steak. The expensive silverware on the table ignored.

* * *

Her POV

She was surprised to see that no one snatched her leg away this time, like many times before. They let her have it, and she dug in. The other men tore apart pieces of whatever was left, and Vegeta grabbed a steak on one of the carts rolling by. They ate much faster than her, and the turkey leg was so massive that it took her a while to eat through it all. It was only by the time Vegeta had already finished his second steak that Bulma finished the leg and decided to move onto a bowl of shrimp that was left untouched. It tasted far more like lobster than shrimp, but she ate it anyway, figuring it was smart to fill herself up as much as possible– she didn’t know when the next time she would be able to eat was, and she didn’t want to lose all the weight she’d finally gained back.

Nappa pulled a poor waitress down into his lap and began to feel her up just as she began dipping the shrimp into the sauce it came with and eating it with little bites. His hands squeezed her breasts and he bounced her on his lap, even going so far as to stick his dirty, greasy hand down her skirt to feel her up. It was disgusting, but she couldn’t stop looking. That used to be her. She ate slowly and kept her eyes on Nappa, her eyes narrowed as the waitress struggled and shook with fear. Bulma wasn’t sure why exactly they didn’t both even trying to grope her anymore, but she knew she wasn’t happy seeing them do it to another girl, either.

Her eyes darted over at Vegeta but only for a moment- it’s not like he’d help her. But she wanted that girl to be safe. …Well, Vegeta wouldn’t want Nappa turning his anger toward her, or at least she thought so. So all she had to do was get Nappa to forget about the waitress and focus instead on being angry at her. She grabbed the bone that was left over from her turkey leg and shifted a little closer to the table, getting herself ready. Then she threw it, straight at Nappa’s face. It hit him in the forehead and the grease made it stick for just a moment before it slowly slid down his face and dropped down into his lap, leaving a slimy trail behind.

* * *

His POV

None of them were watching the girl. Bulma may of initiated meal time, but beyond creating a grab for all, the two Saiyan across the table had steered relatively clear of her. They may have passed her an insulting glance once in a while. Watching the girl eat so freely at the side of their leader, but it’d been so long that any of the Saiyans had eaten, they really didn’t care what anyone was doing around them, as long as there was food being shoveled into their smacking maws. Including Vegeta, though he was the most relaxed of the three. He didn’t have to fight for food, the food was meant for him.

That is, until a bone went flying across the table. Napa stopped short of gnawing on a bone, crossing his eyes up at the turkey leg that’d stuck to his forehead. The girl he’d been fingering wriggled and squirmed until she was free of his hand, and quickly took the opportunity of Nappa’s distraction to flee from the table. Vegeta still didn’t seem to care, he only gruffed at Bulma on a short glance, then return his gaze elsewhere - anywhere but the table. Raditz picked up on the fact that his prince wasn’t about to back hand the girl, his face in shock. Nappa, however, wasn’t so nonchalant about it.

“Why you little bitch!” it was Nappa. He was always a do first, think later type of man. And his brash actions and lack of thinking were about to get him in trouble. The large man’s hands rushed for Bulma, flipping the table over and spilling the food everywhere. The table cloth tore apart, plates and dishes shattered across the clear floor. By the time Nappa shot to his feet, he had Bulma strung up in the air; both of his meaty hands gripped around her fragile neck.

Fragile. She was fragile, Vegeta knew it firsthand. His instincts kicking in faster than he could account for. While the crash of his dinner at his feet had royally pissed the prince off, standing to his own feet and clenching his fists, it was the sight of the girl being lifted into the air that set him off. Vegeta moved quicker than Nappa could regret what he’d done. The prince roaring through bitten teeth, ripping the man’s arms away from the girl’s being, and throwing him right through the glass window. Nappa landing on the rainy forest floor below. Whether Vegeta was furious about the table, or towards the hands around the girl’s neck, it was difficult to tell. In the end it didn’t matter, the soldier was punished either way.

* * *

Her POV

She was relieved to see the girl manage to squirm away and run out of sight, and her eyes on her made it so she didn’t see Nappa coming at her until it was too late. In all honesty, she thought he would keep his hands off of her for fear that Vegeta would retaliate, but at the sudden outburst of his, her head snapped in his direction to see his big, greasy hands lurching toward her. The table flipped and plates and silverware and food scattered everywhere, and just as she was trying to scurry away from his over-sized stature, his hands locked around her neck and lurched her up into the air.

She grabbed onto his wrists and tried to gasp for air as she struggled, trying desperately to kick him to let her go. It wasn’t working, and her lungs begged for another breath– she’d gasped right at the moment he grabbed her, and it’d left her with no air to hold. Was she going to die like this? Oh, oh god. She didn’t want to die. Not yet. Things had finally turned up for her! She was going to be able to go back to Earth again! She didn’t want all of that taken away! Not now! Her eyes squeezed shut and tears began to roll, but just as they did, something yanked his arms from her neck.

She dropped hard onto the ground and rubbed her neck as she sputtered and gasped, and a second later she could hear the overpoweringly loud noise of glass breathing. She turned her head to see Nappa falling hard into a line of thick trees, squashing them under his weight and the velocity at which he had been thrown. …Vegeta had saved her, just like she’d been hoping. But that didn’t mean it hadn’t been a terrifying experience. Her neck sported red marks from his hands, and much like the girl had been before, she was shaking.

She slowly stumbled up to her feet and wrapped her arms around herself as the cold air that seeped in from the hole in the building hit her skin, and her eyes wandered down to the broken table and all the food strewn about. The other customers were all horrified, but what could they have expected, when a gang of Saiyans visit? After a few moments to collect herself, standing for minutes in the cold, her eyes turned to Vegeta to quickly put aside what’d just happened; she didn’t want to dwell on it.

“…It’s freezing; I need to go buy a jacket.”

* * *

His POV

The cold wind blew in, and the last soldier standing, Raditz, looked down through the hole in the glass and into the darkness. He could see Nappa getting to his feet, but didn’t seem bothered by it. He was more interested in the nice cut of meat that’d previously been on Nappa’s plate. Raditz sitting himself back in his chair, even with the lack of a table, and bit into the leg of meat that he’d scooped up off the messy floor.

“He had it coming.” murmured Raditz, nibbling into the bone. He really didn’t seem concerned about his comrades wellbeing at all. Vegeta didn’t either. The prince had pulled out a chair from the next table over, and taken a seat. His glare shooting at the horrified staff, as if he were waiting for replacement food. It didn’t take long for the servants to scramble, setting a new table for the prince. Allowing him to enjoy the rest of his meal.

And then the girl spoke up, and Vegeta paused mid bite, turning his vision on her. He hadn’t seemed to notice her since he’d forced Nappa’s hand. No trying to help her up, no seeing to any cuts or bruising she may of attained. Just going back to his selfish, ill-mannered behavior of solitary dining. The truth was, he’d noticed. He’d felt a rush of rage the moment the girl had been harmed, ridding her of the impending danger being the only urge in his mind. But once the rush had simmered down, he brushed it off, retaining his cold, superior attitude.

He grunted in her direction, answering her with a shrug of his shoulders, followed by, “I’m eating,” meaning if she wanted anything, she’d have to wait and see if he felt like giving it to her by the time he was done. But then something caught his eye. It was a servant, one of the classier ones that was trying to quietly pick up the pieces of broken dinnerware without being noticed. Vegeta signaling to Raditz with a nod of his head towards the servant. Raditz understanding, and ripping the finely tailored suit jacket from the young man. The servant crawling away as fast as his knees could scoot him, as soon as he dropped out of the fabric. The suit jacket was then tossed at Bulma. There, she had her jacket, she couldn’t complain now.

* * *

Her POV

The two Saiyans sat back down as if nothing had happened, much like she had tried to. They didn’t seem to care, they just carried on as normal, even eating the food that had fallen. Bulma, however, didn’t just sit in her chair. She stood and held herself to warm herself up and waited for Vegeta’s response, making a mental note to also force him to buy her a new shirt now that the buttery sauce that had hit her when the table went flying was caked onto the front of her shirt. But he just told her that he was eating and continued as normal, and Bulma’s lips pursed.

She hesitated but slowly pulled her chair up from its knocked over position and sat down in it again, before turning to look at the food on the ground. She wasn’t about to pick up any of the dirty food. She wasn’t a dog. …She ate scraps off the ground when Zarbon’s servants were done with her after she’d been raped by Zarbon’s soldiers, and Zarbon and his friends before that, but she didn’t want to get even close to stooping that low again. She furrowed her brows as she thought about it, becoming lost in thought and losing her appetite by thinking of all the things she’d went through. Two whole weeks of that. Two whole weeks… She might have dealt with horrible, horrible things since the Saiyans came to Earth, but nothing could top what Zarbon did to her.

The broken pieces of table were taken away and a new table was scooted up in front of them, and with a bunch of plates of meat placed on it. Even when she finally came out of her trance of thinking about what had happened, she just stared at all the food. She was mostly full, anyway. She didn’t have the appetite to eat anymore, not after being reminded of–

Raditz threw a jacket at her. A thin one, the kind that waiters wore. It took her a second to realize what it was, and she pulled it on without caring where exactly it had come from. It was thin, but it did help warm her up, if only a little bit. But she still had the sauce on her shirt, and she was still cold. When was Vegeta going to finish eating? She wanted to get out of this place, and she wanted to go get new clothes to wear. …Maybe she could convince him to buy a washing machine too, just to keep in a capsule. And a dresser, like what she used to have. Before… Before … Zarbon.

* * *

His POV

The top floor of the fine restaurant fell silent. Once the Saiyans were settled back in their seats, subdued with new platters of food, the wait-staff felt that they could finally take a breath. It was terrifying tending to the needs of the Saiyans, no matter what race was serving them. This place was no different. The locals here may have never witnessed Saiyans in the flesh, but they’d heard rumors of a band of terrible planet destroyers that ransacked institutions throughout their path. It looked like the rumors were true. The servants hoped they wouldn’t be serving the warriors again, once they finished their meals.

Vegeta was already on his fifth course when he noticed the odd behavior of the female. She was staring, apparently in a daze when the jacket hit her. At first he didn’t give it a second though. Deciding to shrug it off, but his attention kept wanting to pull back in her direction. She looked to come back to her senses, tugging on the jacket he’d demanded stolen for her, but she still looked somewhat lost in a daze. He watched her, pausing before taking the last bite of his meal. Vegeta hadn’t taken his quiet gaze off of her since he’d looked at her. She looked uneasy, that was his signal it was time to go. That, and he’d already finished off his plate.

“Woman,” he snapped, standing to his feet, trying to snap her out of her daze. They were leaving. Nappa had already flown back up through the broken window and scavenged a meal from the freshly set table during the girls trip down memory lane. The two soldiers were already headed back down the stairs and out the door. Vegeta, on the other hand, had signaled them ahead. He was waiting for the girl to follow him.

Once he’d gained her attention, he didn’t bother waiting any longer, and strolled away. Paying the bill, striding back out into the windy weather, and wherever else he needed to be. By the time he’d made it to the covered streets, he could already see Nappa and Raditz some distance ahead. Headed towards the brothel they’d passed up before. It wasn’t a bad idea. The prince had had some wonderful sex with the girl in the pod, but he couldn’t deny it sounded inciting. They’d need to find a place to bed for the night, but that could wait. Vegeta also started in the direction of the brothel, the street lights flickering colorfully against the windowpanes as he passed shop after shop by.

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta called on her, and she looked up with a blink to see him standing and staring at her expectantly. …They were done eating? When did that happen? She’d been thinking about Zarbon again. She’d lost time doing so. She got up to her feet and quickly followed him as he walked away, wrapping the jacket tighter round herself. He walked down the stairs and out the building, but didn’t follow Raditz and Nappa. She watched them had to the brothel and furrowed her brows at the sight, wondering if either of them would end up severely injuring a girl that night, like they’d done to her so many times. 

Vegeta kept walking, and she tried to take her mind off of it. Think about going to Earth, she told herself. But that was hard. Even when she thought of Earth, she began thinking about what used to be, and how much she had changed. She wasn’t the same girl she used to be. Sure, she was still loud-mouthed back then, and sure she had showed men her panties or let them touch her butt in exchange for a favor, but it wasn’t the same as what she’d dealt with. She had been all but forced into sex trafficking, and had all but prostituted herself for Vegeta in exchange for going to Earth– and enjoyed herself while doing it. She protected the waitress from a worse fate with Nappa, but what was done with her was already done. She was dirty, and she wouldn’t be surprised if half the universe had seen her naked body by now. And if half of that percentage had been inside her.

Despite the turmoil in her head, her eyes were all but dead. The tears that had rolled down her cheeks when Nappa had tried to strangle her had dried up, but she still had hints of tears with her eyes looking a little watery. But that was when she realized… It’d been a while. And yet, Vegeta kept walking. She wasn’t sure where he was planning on going, but she knew she didn’t want to follow him much longer. They passed shop after shop after shop, until she finally came out of her daze enough to furrow her brows at him and question him.

“Where are we going? I’m cold, I don’t want to be outside any more. …Are we going to a clothing store? This jacket is thin. I want a better one.” She may have been demanding things like she usually did, but her voice was softer thanks to the looming negative thoughts hurting her psyche. It wasn’t so much that she was purposefully trying to sound like a slave, but she didn’t feel like being as loud and demanding as she usually did. The only reason why she was demanding now was because the cold was nipping so badly at her skin, causing her face to flush and her fingers to feel like they were burning off.

* * *

His POV

The girl was unusually quiet for some time. She was following, too. Not trying to dart off, no attempt of heading for a crowd or hiding in a building. It was odd, but it was welcome. Vegeta could focus on what he was doing. That is, until she started spouting more orders. He may have turned a rough glare on her if it had been in her natural tone. But it wasn’t. The female almost sounded, tired, worn down. How could she? After such a big meal. That’s when his vision turned towards her, taking in the sight of her clinging to the edges of the thin jacket, it draping over her shoulders. Her fingers and cheeks were red. She must of been cold. That’s when he paused, answering under a soft breath, “ _We’re headed for the brothel._ ” 

“First a walk...” he awkwardly added, “...to learn the city.”. He wasn’t quite sure why he was revealing his thought process to her, but he was, and it was easier to spit out then he’d thought it’d be. Some part of him must have trusted her. Explaining to her that they were taking the long way around. Staking out his new territory and memorizing the in’s and out’s of the city streets. He often did in solitude when he arrived on a new planet. It wasn’t unusual for the prince to seek out a lone walk - the walk itself was nice. What was unusual, was having the girl tag along.

“You’re welcome to join me this time,” he purred, shooting her a hooked grin, but it was gentler then his usual cocky smile. He was subconsciously flirting. Vegeta definitely wouldn’t mind having the girl on top of him again, and while in a brothel setting. Truth be told, he found having her ride him again more appealing than being touched by a random slut. He was actually looking forward to it, enough that the end of his tail began to flick.

But then came the brothel, and Vegeta stopped in his tracks. Nappa and Raditz visibly being toted towards the back by a heard of females. The brothel slaves welcoming their money and towering muscles, if only they knew what the Saiyans were capable of, as Bulma did, perhaps the slaves wouldn’t have been throwing themselves so readily at the two men, behind the walls of glass. Vegeta glancing back towards the girl, and the state of her shivering self-urged him in a different direction. The memory of her nearly dying in his lap due to hypothermia hanging over his brain. One side of him wanted the brothel, another more primal voice pulled him away. Eventually, after a heated grunt, the prince walked away, much quicker this time too. They were headed back towards the shops, and he swooped into the first one that looked half decent. A clothing store.

* * *

Her POV

…He wasn’t going to the clothing store. She frowned. She’d hoped that that’s where he was going, but he seemed to think that the waiter’s jacket he’d given her was enough. At this point she wasn’t sure if she’d even get to see Earth again. What if Vegeta forgot, or decided he didn’t feel like it? …Then she’d feel even dirtier. …What if he decided to bring her back to the brothel for some ‘fun’ and he ended up knocking her up? She wished that he’d killed her when he first found her. Then she’d be with everyone else in Otherworld. With Yamcha and her parents and all her friends, and she would never have gone through all of this. The one gang rape would have been awful enough to deal with on its own. But since then…

She glanced in his direction when he purred his words out about her joining him, and she grumbled without meaning under her breath and held her jacket tighter around herself. He led her to the brothel and stopped, and Bulma had a good enough mind to keep on walking thinking he’d catch up– maybe she could go sit in the back somewhere? She’d risk getting kidnapped, but at the same time she didn’t want to watch Vegeta in the act. And she didn’t want to be pinned down and coerced into another round of sex, either.

…But he wasn’t following. She turned around with a raised brow, wondering what he was doing, to see him head into a nearby clothing store. She ran after him to catch up without even thinking, and was soon greeted by the warmth of the building’s heating. She closed her eyes to the gust of warm air and quickly caught up to Vegeta’s side, having a little easier time of forcing out her negative thoughts now that she had something in particular to focus on. She always did love shopping; it helped her get her mind off of things. It was a problem she used to have whenever she and Yamcha would go through rough spots– she’d go shopping.

“I need good clothes for this weather,” she told him, her head up as she eyed the signs to see which one was labeled ‘women.’ She headed faster toward the section, and glanced back to look at Vegeta. “I need a good shirt, too! I left all the other clothes in the pod, and this one’s dirty! I don’t match, anyway. I want to pick a cuter outfit than this. I really like shorts, but maybe I can find a cute pair of jeans…” She was blabbering off, eyes wide. Clearly it had become easy to force the thoughts away now that she was in her natural element.

* * *

His POV

At first he wasn’t sure if she’d follow. The girl could be stubborn, and it looked like she was keeping with her storming away, after she’d passed up the brothel. At first he’d debated pulling her back by the hair, until he’d made his decision to enter the brothel or not. But that was the thing, he couldn’t decide, not until she stepped out of his reach. That sealed the deal, he’d be buying her clothing instead. But the prince was just as stubborn, and he headed in the opposite direction. He wasn’t about to make it appear as if he were following after her like a lost mutt. He was the prince of all Saiyans. He kept his head high and did as he pleased ...though that did include buying the female clothing, at the time.

But as soon as he stepped into the clothing store, the prince wondered if he’d made a huge mistake. He’d seen these types of shops many times throughout his travels, but he’d never dared enter one. There was no reason for him to. All of his clothing was purchased at armories, and the idea of a jacket felt weak and useless. Far too much clothing. But as soon as he took a step back, debating retracting his decision, the girl appeared by his side.

Well, the notion to purchase her clothing certainly did the trick to make her reappear. She looked different, too. He noticed fairly quickly; following cautiously in whatever direction she needed to go. The once dismal and gloomy aura that had been hanging over her shoulders, since she’d given the odd look back at the restaurant, slowly dissipated. Turning into a sparkly smile. A smile that reminded him somewhat of the expression that’d lit her face back in the pod, at the mention of earth. So, this made her happy, too? How odd... and since when did he take noticed to such trivial things? ...but he had noticed, and that fact curled his lip in embarrassment of his own self. Growling, darting a few steps away from the woman as she searched the racks of clothes.

This place was making him exceedingly uncomfortable. While she may have very obviously been in her element (even he could notice that), the prince was completely out of his. His arms folded defensively over his chest and his stance was that of an unapproachable animal. But, he was waiting for her. Allowing her to pick and choose the things she needed. Listening to her ramble about what she wanted, which he couldn’t understand the logic behind. He’d even mentioned “…a suit would be much more reasonable…” he really didn’t understand her need for fashionable clothing, “…why the hell do you need more than one piece of clothing?”

His attention turned to her on that note. He really was a little curious, despite his grumpy aura. He even loosened up a little, the longer he watched her stroll the isles. It was by luck they’d landed on a planet primarily populated with humanoids. The clothes should fit her if she browsed long enough. Though, that really wasn’t what had the Saiyans attention. It was the girl’s attitude, she seemed to completely change into a different creature since they’d entered the shop. He couldn’t keep from noticing her.

* * *

Her POV

She found the space for women and started weeding through it, digging through the clothes to try and find her size. The sizing was a bit off– these were humanoids, but they didn’t have the same proportions as a human. Shorter, and with stubbier arms. But there were sections with bigger sizes that seemed like they’d fit her pretty nicely. She gathered up clothes she thought looked cute while Vegeta pouted a bit away. She was promptly ignoring any kind of input he gave her– he clearly didn’t understand clothing. Why would she want to wear some ugly one-piece? His piece of clothing could separate into a shirt and pants, sure, but she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing it.

That didn’t stop her from occasionally chatting with Vegeta, however. Telling him how cute a certain shirt was, or how she wished she could find a certain pair of pants in a different color to match something else. She also seemed to be grabbing a lot more than just a coat– sure, she’d be at Earth soon enough and could collect her old wardrobe, but when she saw so much cute clothes, she couldn’t help herself. Besides, the things here had a certain charm to them. The planet was clearly going through a fad that made them look almost retro. When was the last time she’d worn a turtleneck?

Eventually she went for the changing rooms, though she was surprised to see that existed for it was a sectioned-off area so one wasn’t changing in the middle of the store. There were no separate stalls or even a curtain, and it seemed to be made so multiple people could use it at a time, given the amount of hangers along the furthest wall from its opening. She huffed at this realization and hung up all the clothes she’d picked out save for ones she planned on trying on.

Her clothes came off, and tossed in a pile on the long bench that covered the entire wall that had the opening in it. She faced one of the walls to avoid having anyone staring at her given that she lacked a bra, and soon was dressed– wearing a tight pair of pants that had the elasticity of yoga pants but the thickness and feeling of jeans, a tight black turtleneck, and a large, puffy green coat.

“Vegeta, does this look cute? It doesn’t make me look too big, does it? I think it looks so cute, I’d be annoyed if it did. You wouldn’t believe it, come here. Feel how soft this fabric is.” She blabbered on as she walked up to him, and as soon as she was close enough, she grabbed his hand and led it to the inside of the coat. “Have you ever felt anything softer in your life?”

* * *

His POV

This was torture. He had had no way of knowing it’d take more than a quick grab and pay, when it came to Bulma and shopping. For the prince, it was always the same suit, the same armor. This just seemed to be color coordination. He kept up, though. Dragging behind her wherever she went. He was somewhat listening. Turning towards her whenever she seemed particularly needy of his interest. Maybe it was that spunky aura of hers that was keeping his anger at bay. It was fascinating, after all. Her banter and sparkle eased him much more than her gloom and crying ever did.

And then she headed for the changing rooms, and everything changed. Vegeta was cautious when following her. Not due to courtesy, the shameless bastard couldn’t give a shit who was naked or where (he probably barely noticed it was supposed to be for females), but it was a new uncharted territory and he didn’t know what to suspect her to do next. And then she began changing, and he stopped in his tracks. The Saiyan was definitely staring, in his quiet, steely manner. She didn’t seem to notice his watch, though it might of been due to his distance of standing at the doorway. 

But then she called his name, and the beastly animal felt himself gravitating towards her. He didn’t look amused, though. Stalking quietly closer until he met her half way. Kami, she had on so many layers of clothes. While he preferred her naked, there was something about the way she wore them that was making his blood race. The turtleneck fabric stretched teasingly across the swell of her chest. Taunting him with what hid beneath. She almost looked flushed in the warmth of it. What was the word she’d used, ‘cute’? ‘Cute’ hardly covered it. ...and then she grabbed his hand, and Vegeta felt a wave of excitement rolled up his spine.

“A few things,” he lowly answered after a long moment. She was letting him touch her, well close to her, of her own free will. The fabric was indeed soft, but it wasn’t what he was focusing on. His dark stare flicked to hers, and his fingers moved from the coats lining, to her warm chest. His hand didn’t stop there; after cupping his palm under her warm chest, his hand slipped behind her and into the depths of her jacket. Pulling her closer by the sway of back.

“I don’t think you need to worry,” he purred suggestively, giving her a once over, “...though I do prefer you without it, then you can thank me for it properly.” his staring heated and his grin hooked, his tail swishing with anticipation. She’d thanked him once with sex. Sure, she’d stated ‘rule number one’, that it was a one-time thing. But who would believe that, after it’d felt so good? She’d obviously enjoyed it, as did he. What was stopping them from having a little fun again? The way he was closing in on her, snaking his hand down her back, suggested he was steadily getting hard up for it.

* * *

Her POV

She let out a tiny huff in response to his words and rolled her eyes. Whatever those things were, she’d like to feel them. This coat was softer than anything she had on Earth. Just as she was about to turn away, however, Vegeta distracted her. He moved his hand to her chest and squeezed her and then snaked it around to the sway of her back. Her brows furrowed and she stared at him with her angry look, and then he had the nerve to go a step further by flirting with her and telling her she should thank him ‘properly.’ She narrowed his eyes at him, and he should have known what was next.

She slapped him. Hard as she could manage, enough for her hand to sting. She then pushed him away and walked back to her pile of clothes, grumbling under her breath. She told him not to expect sex again, but apparently he hadn’t listened. She wasn’t just at his beck and call for sex now. She happened to want to think him that one time out of the kindness of her heart. He should be thankful, if anyone!

She shot him another glare as she pulled her clothes off again, but this wasn’t to get naked for him- it was just to change and try on more of her clothes. She picked out this time a baggy white sweater that showed her collarbone and had stars across the front, dark tight pants that seemed remarkably similar to yoga pants this time, and a purple and blue coat that cinched at the waist. She took a look at herself and then at Vegeta, wondering if she should even bother asking for his opinion, before letting out a huff and quickly tossing her clothes off.

She was so forceful with it that she ended up getting the clothing to pull at the stitches under her arm, and after a wince she pulled her shirt off completely and checked her arm. The stitches were loosened but it seemed the wound was closing and healing. It still left ugly-looking bruising, and was still a deep shade of red at where her skin had been opened up. Would it scar? …No, she shouldn’t care about something like that anymore. It’s not like it mattered, anyway.

She pulled on the shorts and shirt she had been wearing before walking into the store and put on her shoes again. She grabbed her pile of clothes and began to walk toward the exit of the changing room, taking another glance at Vegeta.

“…Come on, we can pay for all of this and I can put it on. Then we can go to the pod and I can put the rest in my capsule.”

* * *

His POV

He had truly been looking for another quick bang, right there in the woman’s dressing area. The dastardly prince was sure, that with just a little incentive, she’d be ready to mate with him again. But she wasn’t. Instead, she slapped him. The ringing sound of fingers smacking across his hard cheek filling the room. He hadn’t expected it, he should have, but Vegeta had really hoped she’d be willing to give in a second time. But by the time his fingers found his stinging cheek, rubbing it angrily, he knew he should have expected no different. This was Bulma, his little fiery earthling, after all. He shouldn’t have expected anything less.

For once, the prince didn’t retaliate. There was a hint of annoyance, but no threat of aggression. It had somewhat put him in his place, actually. Making it blatantly clear that she was in no mood, or manner, to be sucking him off any time soon. He was sticking to his promise. Then, after a grumble, he retreated back a few steps. Returning to his natural state of crossed arms and scowling look. Was she trying to tease him? Trying on new clothing, one after the next, right in his line sight. He’d grown half hard from their little encounter, but it was minimal. Though he did have to shift his stance once in a while, watching her strip over and over again.

And then something caught his interest. She was seeing to a wound under her upper arm. Any irritation he was holding in slowly dissipated. Where did that come from? It looked like an old wound, how had he missed that? He could probably thank his overly sex driven mind when handling her, for not noticing sooner. When she passed him, he followed, but not because she told him to. The prince already had it in mind to catch up and inspect her wound for himself. Which he did, as soon as they met at the counter. The clerk bagging up her mound of clothes.

Vegeta couldn’t give a damn about what the clerk, or Bulma for that matter, had to say. His hand found her arm, and he forced her short sleeve upward. Turning her arm gently in hand to give him a better view; his thumb delicately brushing over the healing flesh. He wasn’t handling her suggestively like before. The way he stared at the cut, he looked concerned, if not a little protective. The stitching looked irritated, there was a good chance it’d scar over soon. His brows knit and he shot his glare at her, “ _...when did this happen …who did this?”_ his voice boomed stronger, his agitation growing.

* * *

Her POV

At least he wasn’t bothering her anymore. She eyed him plenty by the time they got to the counter, worried he’d try to force himself on her, but he never did. When she finally dropped her clothes on the counter, though, he grabbed her– but not to try and force himself on her. He flipped her arm over and pushed her sleeve up to inspect her stitches protectively, and even demanded to know what had happened. It was… Odd. She knew she could rely on him for protection from immediate threats, but she didn’t think he was that concerned about her well-being.

“Ah… It’s from back at that other planet. I told you before, they took out the chip I had that prevented pregnancy.” She glanced over at the clerk, who was minding her own business. It felt weird, saying this kind of stuff in front of a stranger, even if they didn’t really care. “That’s where I had it. That’s why I’ve never gotten pregnant. But they wanted to… Well, you know. So they removed it and stitched it up. I don’t think they have any of that healing water there. They seemed pretty sectioned off from any other planet.”

She retracted her arm from him when the clerk finished bagging everything and awaited payment. She grabbed the bags and began walking back to the changing room, finally thinking about the rejuvenation water. Maybe she should prod him to go get some, if only for the wound. She knew she shouldn’t care about a stupid scar, but it did bug her a little. Even if it was so silly. She was screwed up far beyond just a scar on her arm.

When Bulma reached the changing room again, she switched into the first outfit she’d worn before and tossed the clothes she had been wearing in the trash bin– they were dirty and weren’t even that cute anyway, and she had plenty more clothes. She had no reason to keep them around. But it did remind her about getting a washing machine. …No, they’d be going to Earth soon, so it was pointless. She could wash her clothes then, and then take a house capsule that included a washing machine. That’d solve her problems. And then she could make a proper space ship and leave to go on her own adventures without those damn Saiyans. …She didn’t feel like she belonged on Earth anymore, but she could keep a radio to talk to her parents, and maybe she could still be worth something by creating an intergalactic version of the Capsule Corporation.

* * *

His POV

A chip? That’s what the fuck this was about? Vegeta glared at the line of stitching in her soft skin. The memory of her capture bringing out a rumbling grumble. He vaguely recalled her speaking about her contraception being removed by the bastard race that’d dare to touch her. It was why he had the displeasure of being pulled out at the last minute, during their last round of sex. As much as he wouldn’t have suspected it’d have been located in her arm of all places, it was kind of brilliant. He wouldn’t have found it without thorough investigation. It explained a few things too. Like how she’d avoided pregnancy so far, and her new ‘rules’ about sex.

He’d followed her back to the dressing rooms after paying off the clerk, quietly contemplating his thoughts as she dressed. He was staring intensely this time, shrewdly staring. Thinking. He really didn’t like the thought of her getting pregnant, especially with something that wasn’t his, and he surely wanted more romps in the sheets with her in the future. Maybe getting her a new implant or some type of birth control wouldn’t be a bad idea. The stubborn prince still wasn’t letting the idea go, that she may let him touch her again. She certainly enjoyed herself last time. He just couldn’t believe she wouldn’t want it again, if just for her own selfish gain, which he didn’t mind one bit.

“We have a few more stops,” he groaned, leading them back out into the chilled, rainy streets. Never bothering to help her carry her things - that was hardly his job. Who did he look like, Raditz? At least he was making sure she was keeping up this time, glancing towards the girl; until he finally rounded into a shop front. It was the planet’s equivalent of a drug store, or medical outlet. Every packaged contraption was another quick way to rid the body of all those nasty ailments. Bone splints, gauze, breathing apparatus. The shop even sold the medical cream that Vegeta had once rubbed on her, that smelt of chocolate. They had everything, including a whole wall of contraception …that happened to be behind the counter.

“What the hell do you need, woman?!” Vegeta snapped, running his hand back through his hair irritably, “…I am not letting you get pregnant. Not in my ship.”, his teeth were showing, his gaze searching for her desperately. There was no way he was lugging a pregnant woman around the stars with him, it was just too much of a hassle! Not that this wasn’t a hassle. He didn’t have the slightest idea what he was doing, let alone what he was looking at. All these boxes the clerk was pointing to. He was feeling more and more restless, agitated. Telling himself it was worth it if it kept her from reproducing with some random male if she got herself caught again. He wanted her for the fun of the fuck, not for procreation, even if a part of him did feel slightly protective over the idea - he pushed that down, severely. Besides, if it meant not pulling out again, it was worth it.

* * *

Her POV

Eugh, he was dragging her on his own supply run, now? She didn’t care about what he had to buy. She pouted as she gathered her bags and followed him out of the store, not looking forward to it. When would they be going back to Earth, anyway? That’s all she wanted. Then she’d be away from him for good. She could do as she wanted. She could even hire bodyguards when her intergalactic branch of the Capsule Corporation got popular enough. Good bodyguards; bodyguards that wouldn’t rape her or threaten her.

He dragged her to what looked like a pharmacy, but she was just thankful it was relatively close by. The bags were a little heavy and even with her warm clothes, it was still incredibly cold outside. She didn’t like the idea of being out any longer than she needed to. She entered the pharmacy and was again welcomed by the warmth of the heating in the building, much more preferable to the freezing chill of outside. She glanced around the store and began browsing as Vegeta headed to the counter. It was such a large selection, and a lot of the things sold she recognized from her journeys so far. She grabbed what she could tell was a vial of rejuvenation water– her father would certainly be interested in figuring out the chemistry of such a thing. That’d be her ‘welcome back’ gift when she brought everyone back to life.

Just as she grabbed it, Vegeta yelled for her. She turned her head in surprise and walked over to see what he was yelling about, only to realize he was looking at contraception. He made this trip specifically so she couldn’t get pregnant? …She didn’t want to say she hated the idea, because she definitely loved the fact that he wasn’t actively trying to knock her up with some monkey baby, but she still had to glare at him if only for the fact that he had had the nerve to do this. This wasn’t just for her safety– this was him assuming that they’d have sex again. This was him ensuring he didn’t have to pout at the rule about him pulling out.

She puckered her lips in annoyance and gazed at her options. There were plenty of things for alien genitalia that she couldn’t figure out, including something that literally looked like a ball gag for… something. But there were things that applied to them. Condoms. Normal condoms for normal penises. She wouldn’t be staying around Vegeta for much longer, so she was in no threat of being raped again, so this would do. It would put him at peace, even though she had no plans to actually have sex with him. She pointed to it for the clerk to take from behind a plate of glass and set on the counter, to which Bulma set her vial right beside.

* * *

His POV

What felt like ages for the woman to find the counter, was probably mere seconds. Of all the times he’d ventured into a medical shop, he’d never thought he’d ever have the need to buy …contraception. Dear Kami, he was glad Nappa or Raditz weren’t around to witness this fall from grace. What was contraception for? It was for the protection of the female. Vegeta had never dared to care about whom he fucked, or its outcome. Hell, he’d snapped a few necks on accident from time to time. But as the predicament stood, it was the most logical option.

He shot her his own sour glance, but at least it looked like she was helping. Giving little regard to whatever box she pointed towards, Vegeta glanced at the vial she’d placed on the counter. As soon as the condoms were slid over the counter, he was ready and willing to pay, including her vial of healing liquid. He hadn’t paid much attention to what type of birth control she’d picked out - trusting her decision. He may regret that later, but for now he shoved the small paper bag containing their medical supplies into her hands. Marching out the door with purpose.

“If you’re done shopping around...” his droll expression and sarcastic tone mocked, as if it had all been her fault. Which to him, it was. This whole trip had been for her betterment; even if the shopping for birth control hadn’t been her idea. He’d passed up a night of pleasure from a brothel to tend to the girl’s needs. As far as the prince was concerned he’d done more than his fair share. It was his turn to ‘shop around’. Though, he wasn’t exactly going shopping. He was itching for a new mission. He had promised to take her back to her planet, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t pick up a new destination or see what was currently on the charts for demolition or extermination. Thinking of a fight would get his mind off of what he just had to go through.

As soon as both of them were back outside in the dark city streets, he headed for the local Planet Trade Post, which thankfully was only a few doors down. Damn, it was closed. The glass doors blacked out with darkness and not a soul inside to speak of. The frustration on the prince’s face said it all, he’d have to wait until morning to get anything productive done. With no more drive to visit a brothel, and having the girl drag along beside him toting all those heavy bags, the prince figured the only real thing left to do, was to find a place to bed for the night. Luckily the nearest hotel wasn’t too far off. Blinking brightly in sight, and it just so happened to be right across from the pod he’d carried into town.

* * *

Her POV

He paid, and then have the nerve to pretend like she was the one that demanded they go to the pharmacy. He had some goddamn nerve! She huffed and followed him, irritated that he had made her even carry the bag the condoms and water were kept in. If she wasn’t so scared of him just deciding not to bring her to Earth, she’d be yelling in his ear right now about how stupid and useless he was. Sure, she could be happy that he actually paid for everything, but did he have to be so rude?! She had only wanted to get back to the pod to put all this heavy stuff away, and now it seemed he was going elsewhere!

He dragged her out to some stupid trading post, and got angry when it turned out to be completely closed. She was angry too– what a waste of a trip! When would she be able to put her stuff down? But they kept on walking, and Bulma was steadily becoming more irritated. And to think that he assumed she’d let him have sex with her again. Ugh, no way. She could resist Yamcha when he was being an asshole, there was absolutely no way she would ever, ever, EVER have sex with Vegeta again. At least not willingly. And if he took her by force, that made it even less likely to happen again.

They kept walking, and Bulma was moments away from just tossing the bags into his arms and forcing him to carry them, when the pod was in sight. Thank god! She ran over to it and forced it open, to see that big pile of clothes still sitting on the seat. She took it all and placed the pile on the ground with all her bags (including the pharmacy bag), and immediately capsuled it. She pocketed her capsule just to be safe and closed the pod before she turned around and searched to for what had happened to Vegeta. He was heading into a hotel.

She followed him quickly and looked around at the hotel– it looked fancy, like a five-star hotel. It meant she’d be getting a good sleep. But something was bugging her. She nudged Vegeta and raised a brow at him upon entering and voiced her concerns.

“When are we leaving for Earth? Tomorrow? You promised that we go, so I’m impatient. I want to go as soon as I can. I miss it, you know.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot I was supposed to post today until I noticed comments, haha. Remember that when you guys think about whether or not you feel like commenting! They're always fun to read.
> 
> This chapter's not as eventful as previous ones, but it does show a turning point in Bulma's life. Of course, she's getting a little antsy.
> 
>   
> 


	28. An Eye For An Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are never easy.

  


His POV

The hotel was indeed on the ritzier side of things. The building was still true to the local’s way of doing things. Made of glass from wall to wall, and ceiling to floor. However, the deeper interior walls were smoky, like rose colored glasses, and some like intricate stained glass windows. Perhaps to add a luxurious atmosphere, or perhaps for a little privacy, it was hard to tell on this planet.

As soon as the girl spoke up, Vegeta took the key card for their room from the front desk. He’d not bothered following her to the pod, but had kept close tabs on her. Aware of her movements, up until he found her back at his side. His normally grumpy face huffed at her in response to her questioning about when they’d be leaving for her planet. One thing at a time, he thought. Vegeta wasn’t one to talk about his plans. Whose business was it but his own? They’d go whenever he damn well pleased. Though... he knew how much that damn rock meant to her - if only by a fraction. The memory of her bright smile plaguing him annoyingly. It was growing hard to ignore.

“Why do you care so much about that god damn rock, anyhow? It can’t be any different from the rest of the damn worlds you’ve seen...” he spat, stepping into the glassy, gold trimmed elevator. He really didn’t see the beauty in the universe as she did, it was all one big fight to him. “...and what if those wishing balls of yours don’t do the trick? What then?” he paused, then revealed, “...there’s a good chance something as valuable as that would of been harvested by now.”

It was a cold truth, but truth none the less, and the girl needed a hard dose of reality. As much as he’d enjoyed her odd behavior whenever the term ‘earth’ came up, he was beginning to feel she was going a little overboard. It was annoying. Not to mention ...he may of been growing a little jealous. What did she expect, that she’d get to stay there? That he’d allow that? Though, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of leaving her there before, before she’d willingly fucked him. Before they’d fucked, Vegeta was losing reason to keep her around. She cried when he touched her and she ran from his side at first chance. But things were changing, and he couldn’t grasp what was happening in his world. He didn’t want to harm her, he wanted her safe, but he wanted her for sex, too. Willingly. ...but she’d demanded it wouldn’t happen again. No, he wouldn’t leave her there, if only for the principle of the thing, and that was that.

The elevator door dinged open, and Vegeta stalked towards their room. Passing stain glassed walls that barely hid its occupants. Some residence visibly sleeping behind the glass, others primping, some fucking. And then there was their door. It was just as lavished as anything else in the hotel. The furniture fit for a king and the view of the forest breathtaking. But there was something else. There were four beds. It wasn’t the first time there had been a solitary place for the girl to sleep, but hammocks came in pairs, so it could have been a fluke. This was very obviously not a fluke. One of the beds were meant for the girl, but Vegeta didn’t seem to notice. Going about his routine as usual - stripping his armor from his chest and tossing it on his preferred sleeping spot.

* * *

Her POV

She was taken aback by the response he gave her, but she came back angrier than moments ago. Even as she followed him, she yelled at him for his horrible, horrible words. “It’s my planet, you jerk! It’s all I’ve ever known until a month ago! That’s why I care so much! Besides, you don’t know anything about it, or the dragon balls, so why are you talking like that?! Huh? Huh!? You’d better not go back on your promise! That was the only reason I agreed to have sex with you! I would never have done it if you didn’t say we could go back to Earth!”

“If you went back on your promise, you’re a horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE man!” By the time they entered the elevator, she was fuming. Her eyes burned into his, and she was literally shaking in anger. How dare he! She’d been so hopeful, and he was just going to talk so badly and rip away he dreams, after he’d promised?! She couldn’t help but continue mouthing off, firing words rapidly to voice her feelings.

“The dragon balls are still around! You need all seven, and you need to know what to say! It’s not like any of you dumb aliens that can’t even figure out how to make a capsule would know! They’ll still be lying around across Earth, and then when we’re there I can make a new tracker, and we can collect them, and I’ll get my family back, and I’ll be away from you!” As soon as the elevator doors opened up onto their floor, she hurried to get a good distance away from him. She didn’t even care about all the people fucking or walking around their rooms naked, sights that would have otherwise disgusted her. All she cared about was her planet.

“You’re a terrible man, Vegeta! That’s why I’m not staying with you! Even if you don’t let me get there, I’ll get to Earth somehow, and when I do, I’m packing my stuff, I’m kissing my parents goodbye, I’m breaking up with Yamcha, and I’m heading off on my own wherever I want, without any stupid, ugly, mean Saiyans to follow me around like lost puppies! I’ll make capsules and I’ll get rich and I’ll hire people stronger than you so that if you ever do track me down, they can give me your head on a pike! I wish I never let you have sex with me! You’re horrible!”

Even in her fuming state, she had to wait for Vegeta to come and unlock the hotel door. Sure, she wanted to run away, but she still had a better chance of not getting into trouble if she stayed close to him, even despite all her outbursts. She was so angry that she hadn’t even really registered the fact she’d been given her own bed, but as soon as the door was opened, she went straight to it, flopping down and pouting like a child. 

“I’d rather die than have to spend another day with you.”

* * *

His POV

She was ranting, and raving, and screaming all the way up to the top floor. Surely every occupant could hear her intrepid ferociousness. She was a viper, spitting her venom all the way to the hotel door. But then Vegeta was given the chance to shoot her a look, before eventually opening the door. Such an ungrateful wench, he thought in passing, curling his lip. Though a part of him was also enjoying watch her spit fire. She was beautiful when she was angry. Like bright blue gem, one that you couldn’t touch for fear of having your hand cut off. It only turned him on, reminding him why he kept her in the first place.

“And what makes you think I’ll let you go off on your own?” his voice roared, breaking the silence of her muffled pouting into the thick mattress she’d landed on. “Better yet, when did I ever agree to helping you with this idiotic quest in first place?! I’m not doing a damned thing.” she’d assumed that, it was never part of their deal, and she’d probably need him if the earth was lacking technology, let alone transportation. But that wasn’t what was digging at his temper. She’d dared to assume he’d go back on his word. He may of been a bastard of a prince, but he’d meant what he said. Now he truly was debating taking back his promise. He couldn’t care less about being named monster, or horrible man - he knew he was, but how dare she spit on his honor like that. It damaged his pride.

“So that’s your big plan is it?” he finally added, “You wouldn’t last one day on your own...” he shot her a glare, “...I think experience has proven that.” How many times had he rescued her ass now? And not to mention all of the clothing and food he’d provided ...and no longer forcing himself on her. He was beginning to question his sanity. His frustrations murmuring out, “... _ungrateful wench_ ”, under his breath. All of this because he forced her to turn around and take a hard look at reality. The reality that she may not get what she wanted. That the universe was a terrible place, after all. Just like him. 

His armor was tucked away under his lush bedding, and his gloves, boots, and blue top were folded military style beside it during his own tirade. It was his routine, he was going through the motions, though his mind was miles away. He looked at the girl on the opposite bed, then stood to loom over her. Shooting her daggers and exhaling an audible hot breath that surely blew back her hair; more of his animalistic nature showing itself. Despite all of her penetrating words, she still held the ability to stop him in his tracks when he looked at her. As angry as he was, he was searching for that fiery expression that so often took her features. To any outsider, the pairs screaming of threats and hateful speech may of been frightening. But to Vegeta, it only perked his interest, hoping for her counter attack. Yearning to see her reaction, whatever it may be.

* * *

Her POV

Feh! As if she cared whether or not he would ‘let’ her leave! She’d leave if she wanted to! If she got back to Earth and wished everyone back… They’ve all been training! They could totally beat him up! She could be the one in Otherworld, or burning in hell! Ha! That’s what that asshole deserved! She stuck her tongue out at him and promptly closed her eyes with that pout, trying to think about something else. How nice it’d be to see her family again, rather than listen to any of the pointless stuff he told her. 

But there it was, a few moments later. His hot breath blowing against her skin, gently brushing away her hair in the light breeze. Her eyes opened and she glared up at him with a stare that quite clearly asked _‘what do you want?’_ He never just left her alone. It’s like it was against his nature or something. Ugh…

“Before we had sex, I told you that I’d do it on a few conditions. One of those was that you’d bring me to Earth. So you’re going to do that. And then I’m going to tell you to rot in hell. That’s the last we’ll see of each other. I don’t want anything else to do with you, ever. You don’t have to help me get the dragon balls, you don’t have to help me find somewhere else. But I’m getting away from you. It’s not like I’m completely useless on my own. I’m capable, it’s just that I keep getting in trouble because I get dragged by the hair back to you.”

Even though she was no longer screaming, her tone somehow felt more venomous than before. She glared him down before pushing him away so she could sit up. She forcefully removed her coat and tossed it at Vegeta’s face and a moment later did the same with her pants. That left her in her panties and shirt, and she followed it up by scrambling under the covers with the intent to try and get some rest. But her eyes stayed open, and she stuck her middle finger up at Vegeta.

“You wasted money on that contraception, you’re never going to get to be inside me again. Go to hell, I wish I could go to Earth right now so this is the last time I have to see your stupid face. I don’t want to be with him anymore, but maybe I’ll have a night where I fuck Yamcha senseless and send you the video just so you can see what you’ll never get again.”

* * *

His POV

She was pushing her luck. The prince may have made an oath to himself not to harm the woman again, but his violent tenancies could only be pushed so far before even his honor snapped. Though he may of been enjoying her threats, along with her creative use of vocabulary such as her previously threatening to ‘put his head on a pike’. She was only riling him up, taunting forth that animal that he’d been penning up for her fortune. And it showed, too. As soon as her eyes snapped open, his face was nearly nose to nose with her own. It looked like he was trying to decide something - and he was. Whether or not he’d pin her down right then and there, and bite her venomous tongue.

But then she shoved him away, and the prince felt the heat that’d been rising up his body somewhat simmer down. But not completely, he was still fiery enough to toss her a deadly look. As if she could survive without him. Honestly, he was the only one not trying to bed her anymore. The entire universe seemed to find her attractive - something he himself found bothersome time to time. He wanted no one else fucking her but himself, he couldn’t deny those feelings, whatever they were. …and then she had the gall to mention she’d mate with someone else just to spite him, and his jealousy boiled back up.

“I think you’re forgetting that I can take whatever the hell I want.” his voice was dark and smooth, foreboding. It wasn’t the spiteful speech that may of been expected from his ravaging anger. His palms sank into the bed on either side of the girls hidden frame, slowly lowering his furious features over her own big blue eyes. His knees followed, pinning down the fabric of the bed sheets she lay beneath, seeing to it that she couldn’t easily wiggle out. The prince was crawling right over her, staring her down. She’d been using up her chances with him.

The intense glare he wore steadied on her features for a drawn out moment. Nearly nose to nose; he was asserting his dominance again. He was tired of being pussy whipped, and for what? So that she could deny him, so that she could order him around and make plans to run off. It was trying his will power, and it appeared it was about to snap. ...but then his dark eyes flicked over her face, down towards the outline of her pinned body under the sheets, and the malicious expression began to fade. Would she call his bluff, or would he go through with it? The truth was, he wanted to. The monster did indeed want to force himself inside and take her again. It was his instinct, his sexual drive, but at the same time something nagged at him to stop while he was still ahead. Maybe it was the memory of her tear stained face, it really had burned irritably into his brain. Making his growing hard on both want and reject attention.

* * *

Her POV

Her eyebrow twitched nervously when he came a step closer. He put his hands on either side of her, and then his knees. Her anger was fading faced, replaced with horror. …He wouldn’t actually–?? Had she pushed him too far? She gulped at his words of taking whatever he wanted, and despite the fact that there were sheets between the two of them, she was still terrified. That he’d rip them off, rip her clothes off, rape her as brutally as she’d been so many times before. So many that she’d lost count. 

But would he really go through with it? He’d avoided doing it before. He’d even protected her from being raped by other men, for some reason. …She stared up at his dark eyes, but decided that she couldn’t just roll over with her tail between her legs in defeat now. Her thin brows furrowed as she stared up at him, and she rolled her body over so she didn’t have to look at him a second longer. Fear couldn’t overtake her. Maybe if she angered him enough, he’d leave her alone for good. If she was lucky.

“Even if you take what you want, I’ll still moan his name like I’ve done before. I’d never be able to get myself off to the thought of you. The last time we did it, I imagined him the whole time.” She said it so matter-of-factly, but it was a lie. It was only to get under his skin. Her heart was thumping like crazy, terrified of what he’d do next, but she didn’t show it. Her eyes were closed as if she was the most relaxed she’d ever been in her life, and her arms crossed on the pillow so her head could lay between them.

* * *

His POV

He watched her intently, locking eye contact with her. Watched her fiery passion strike into sudden horror. She was afraid of him, again. Not like back in the pod, when she stared up at him with that sparkle in her eye or her face contorted in pleasure. She looked terrified that he’d actually go back on his promise... and in the moment he thought he would. She was so close; he’d only have to move his chin in order to brush his features against her skin. Her scent was still laced with that alluring aroma, albeit it had seemed to loosen with time; it wasn’t nearly as detectable as a few days ago. Still, he was watching her. Aware of her inner battle for determination and control, and in that, a part of him respected her for her display of strength.

She turned over, and her hair brushed his cheek. It sent his tail whipping behind him, ready to mount her at any moment, with or without the sheets. In fact, his hips had even begun to gently move. Stroking his hips down against her rounded backside, gently - just enough to let her know what he was doing behind her. She may of been playing it cool, but her scent told him otherwise. He’d lowered a few inches, into a push up position. Allowing his nose to trace along her neck and ear, and gradually bury into her soft hair. The soft roll of a predator’s voice rumbling from his hot breath. She was attractive, everything about her lit up his senses, including their banter just moments before. In fact, it had initiated his need to take her.

“It wasn’t his name you were moaning.” his baritone words purred into her ear with confidence, snaking a hand down, following the curve of her side. She couldn’t tell him she hadn’t enjoyed his cock. She’d used him selfishly. It had only been the two of them in that pod, without the notion of the outside world. It was something he was craving again. ...but taking her wouldn’t give it to him. Reality hit him hard with that fact. If he wanted her to pleasure him like that again, it wouldn’t be through force. No, all asserting himself ever got him was a face full of sobs and a belly full of regret.

“You can’t tell me you didn’t like it...” his dark voice murmured again, brushing his sharp cheek against her neck one more time, as if scent marking her, but his movements had stopped atop of her, “…you’re getting off easy, woman.” he bit out the last word, but then rolled off from atop her. His weight leaving the mattress and disappearing completely. There would be no raping the girl tonight, or ever again if this kept up. Though there was still one big problem, the erection she’d given him that was being pinned against his hip in his tight pants. If that didn’t warrant a growl, nothing did.

* * *

Her POV

She was breathing hard. She could feel his breath against her skin, and how he’d lowered himself so his body was pressed up against her. His lips brushed her ear, her neck. Her lips tightened into a thin line when he mentioned that she’d been moaning his name. He really loved tormenting her, didn’t he? She gulped and squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that he’d let her off and just go do something else, but instead she felt his hips rubbing against her butt. It was going to happen again, wasn’t it? Her breath caught in her throat.

His hand ran down her body as he spoke to her about just how much she’d enjoyed their time in the pod, and soon enough he was rubbing his cheek against her skin. He was too close. She could smell his sweat and his warm breath, and feel the heat radiating from his body even through the covers. He was too close. She tried not to shake in fear, but it was hard when she was faced with what she was. But then he whispered that she got off easy, and slid off her. Slid off the mattress. 

She turned her head slightly just to peek in his direction, before quickly turning her head the other way. She was free. He wasn’t going to rape her. He was rocking his hips against her butt just moments ago, but he hadn’t raped her. Still, she couldn’t calm her thumping heart, still terrified that he’d do something else. That he’d change his mind and toss the covers off her again. She didn’t dare speak up, scared that he’d change his mind on his decision and rape her despite his decision. 

The person in the room across from them had been staring. A creature with skin that looked like mold spores and hair that looked like coral. It was fondling itself, doing something with itself– she didn’t know what it was, but she knew it was disturbing. Her head turned to press into the pillow to avoid looking at it but still avoid turning her head in Vegeta’s direction again. Why did she have to be stuck? She wanted to go back home. She wanted to see her family again. Why did she have to meet Vegeta? 

* * *

His POV

Her body wasn’t responding like he’d hoped. No lifting of her hips, no heightened breath, only the digging of her face into that damned pillow. Perhaps there was some small part of the Saiyan that had anticipated her return of lusty caresses. If only he initiate it, then perhaps she’d drop the wall she’d put up between them that was her ‘first rule’ and give into what he was sure she wanted. Another round of fucking. How could she not? He certainly did. The idea that sex was anything else other than self-gratification was beyond him. Even his rebellious, fiery earthling must want that; in fact, he knew she did, she’d shown that part to him.

But she wasn’t responding, and Vegeta eventually found the grounding within himself to tug his being from her blanketed form. He wasn’t about to rape her, but it didn’t mean the desire wasn’t still pounding through his head - both of them. If only for the sanity of the female, he’d keep his hands to himself. But that was the thing, what if he didn’t have to touch himself after all? She did let on that’d she’d wanted to find her wishing stones as soon as possible. ‘Not another day alive with him’, or something to that nature, is what she’d said wasn’t it? Maybe he could use it to his advantage. Maybe he could take what he wanted from her after all.

“Touch me, woman..” his deep voice poured from above, he was standing near her shoulder now, “..touch me, and I’ll not only take you to your idiotic planet, I might even help you gather these dragon balls of yours as well.” his voice purred through the sadistic smile on his face with new interest. It was a proposition. The prince wasn’t about to jerk himself off again if he had a woman he could take advantage of so close in his range. A woman he’d wanted mount in the first place. He’d already done that once in front of her, and having her nearby only teased him senseless. No, he wanted what she’d given him in the pod. He craved that type of pleasure again.

His hips were angled towards her face, the outline of his thick girth trapped against his hips and peaking past the blue hem of his pants, begging to be freed. There was no way he’d be doing anything himself, even releasing his member, if this was going to be an arrangement. It was all on her, her job to touch him. His arrogant and challenging attitude radiating from above her, his serious disposition staring down his nose at her, watching in silence. He could hear his heart rushing through his ears, but he refused to move. Paying little to no attention to the creature across the room from him, obviously getting itself off from watching the free porn show, that was the prince and the earthlings sexual tension and aggressive banter.

* * *

Her POV

She thought he’d finally left her alone. She kept her face buried in her pillow and tried to calm down, to let her heart stop beating so quickly so she could gather enough courage to turn over and go to sleep. She couldn’t exactly breathe well in the position she was in, but she was scared to look at either side. To see Vegeta, or to see that alien on the other side staring at them and touching itself. She had no clue which sight was the more disturbing and terrifying– the alien might be harder to look at, but at least he was separated from her by a glass wall.

Vegeta called to her to bring her from her thoughts, and seemed closer than he ought to be. Telling her to… To touch him. She opened her eyes and glanced to the side to see the tent in his pants right in her face. Disgusting. She turned her head back and tried to ignore it, but then he spoke up more to tell her that he’d take her to her planet if she touched him. H… How dare he?! She jerked herself upright into a kneeling position, with her blankets falling down her back, to give him a hard glare.

“You agreed to take me back before! Back in the pod! You agreed to the rules I laid out! That means you have to take me back! I can find the dragon balls myself, you just need to take me back, and you already promised to do that!” There was a hint of desperation in her voice– why wouldn’t there be? She felt like she’d been betrayed, even though she knew better than to actually trust Vegeta. He was a way to protect herself, nothing more than that. He’d done too many terrible things for her to have interest beyond that. He may have saved her many times, but she would have never needed saving if he hadn’t ruined her life.

“Get out of my face, you jerk! I’m sick of it! I want to go home! Just– Just let me go home already! I miss home!” There was no hint of desperation anymore; that’s all there was. Her voice trembled and she bordered on tears, her patience beginning to wear thin from so much yelling and stress. How long had it been since she’d even gotten to talk to Yamcha? She couldn’t even quell her homesickness with him anymore! She just wanted to see her loved ones again, even if only for the last time.

* * *

His POV

What the fucking hell had gotten into her this time? To Vegeta, it felt as if they were running around in circles. Why was she screaming about him taking her back, now? Hadn’t he already agreed to that? Sure, he was an untrustworthy bastard, but he’d said it himself - he’d take her back. Granted, he’d only said so once, and that was to gain a sexual upper hand at the time, but didn’t she trust him? No, he could see it in the way she glared at him. The glassy hopelessness of desperation in her eyes. She’d never trusted him, and he couldn’t blame her for it. Well fuck.

“God damn it, woman,” the prince finally roared, his tail swinging to life, “..I’m going to take you to your worthless rock..!” he finally confessed, pressing his palms into his eye sockets - he really didn’t like doing that, either. It felt weak, lowering his defenses and revealing that some part of him was offering her aid. As if he were giving up the upper hand. That’s what this was all about, wasn’t it? Keeping his dominant place, still being able to threaten her without forcing himself on top of her. He wanted to bring her back to her planet to gain something himself. He offered her his assistance in tracking them down, only to earn a sexual gratification. This wasn’t about her, this was about him. And the selfish prick was completely oblivious to the girls trapped feelings of contention for him.

His hands clenched into tight fists at his side. Every muscle of his bronze build was tensing under the furious retaliation he was holding back. Making sure to lock eye contact once more, burning his gaze down into her from her kneeling position on the bed, the prince jerked his stance away. Heading for the door. He was done, if he made another move he knew he’d have her pinned against the wall in no time. She’d rejected him again, and after he’d offered her something in return. It felt like a burn, but there was more than that ...she didn’t trust him - the thought returned to him again - halting him in the glassy doorway. His searing vision turning over his shoulder, muttering on a hateful note, “When we get there, you’re on your own. Don’t come crying to me when a gang of harvesters rape your sorry ass. You can have the pleasure of knowing it was your own damn fault!”

The door slammed, and he was gone. His angry silhouette storming past the rosy glass and towards the elevator shaft. The loud bang of his dismissal had cracked the sturdy glass door, a chip of it pinking to the clear floor. He was furious, he was pent up, and for some reason he was beginning to feel a chill bubble up in his cold heart. In his selfish way, he’d offered her some form of protection, for just a little thing like a jerk off - at least it seemed simple to him - unaware of the girl’s perspective. But after his temper tantrum, he was beginning to recall the repercussions of the promises he’d just spouted off. He wouldn’t be helping her, and something about that didn’t feel right. Maybe it was due to the fact that he knew what fate that left her with. That she was likely to be caught, raped, beaten, and most likely killed by whatever miscreants were on her home planet now. He couldn’t care, and he didn’t! The prince was far too gone in his own seething vexation. He needed to get his mind off of things, and that’s why he was headed for the flashy light of the nearest brothel. Passing his two men up on quiet footed steps, just as Raditz and Nappa were heading out.

* * *

Her POV

He was just as furious as she was, even if for different reasons. But to Bulma, her concerns made complete sense– he was trying to get her to prostitute herself for something he’d already promised. That’s how she saw it, at least. He could jerk himself off. As for the protection… Was there much difference? She didn’t consent to jerking off Vegeta, and she wouldn’t consent to any man that tried raping her on Earth. It was her being stuck between a rock and a hard place. There was no winning. She would much rather take her chances alone.

She watched him stomp away and slam the door behind her, leaving it cracked and chipping. He yelled at her about how she couldn’t cry when she ended up raped, and it hung with her the more she thought about it. She hadn’t bothered yelling anything back at him and had instead hid under the covers again, curled into a little ball and positioned so she didn’t have to see the odd neighbor, but… She remembered what the summer she went looking for the dragon balls was like. If she didn’t have Goku with her, she would have already gone through the same events that had hit her over the past month. How many times had men tried to force themselves on her?

She was so focused on her own thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed that the door was half-open thanks to the lock no longer working from getting chipped. It was pushed a little further open, and the alien from the neighboring room slithered in with the intent to pay a bit of a visit. It didn’t have feet, and so there were no footsteps– a perfect way to sneak up on Bulma. She hadn’t even realized anyone was there until the sheets were slowly pulled off her with one of its slimy, moldy limbs, but even then she assumed it was Vegeta trying to come onto her again.

“Fuck off!” That was the only thing she yelled before grabbing the sheets and promptly pulling them back up over her body. But they were pulled down more forcefully, and Bulma rolled over to yell at– Shit!

A limb shot out from its chest to press into her mouth and get her to shut up. It had the consistency of jelly but with some kind of rounded texture that may have kept everything together, and it tasted horrible. She could feel a drip run down her throat. She struggled and tried to shove him away by the shoulders, but her hands were sucked in and held in place. Even when she tried to pull them out again, they seemed to be stuck. Another limb popped from his side and pulled down her panties, slowly and yet forcefully.

It had human eyes, despite its hideous appearance. That’s what scared her the most. It had been hard to see at first with the rosy glass between them, but it became much easier now that they were so close. It had clear blue human eyes, complete with tear ducts and eyelashes and a pupil and everything. It got closer and slid its way up the bed. Between her legs. Bulma hadn’t started crying or try to scream (as if she could) yet, but when it pushed its body up against hers, that’s when she tried. 

Tears came flowing in a thick stream, and she began to try and force muffled yells out of her mouth. Whatever it was doing, it was horrifying. It hadn’t grown a penis or anything; instead, its body had gotten as close as possible and it was almost… exploring her. She could feel the jelly-like skin that looked so much like mold push her labia apart, and make some kind of rocking motion against her clit. It invaded inside her, while one drip leaked down between her cheeks and into her anus. Her legs would be kicking, but her shins were enveloped into the alien by now. And all through it, it kept staring at her. 

* * *

His POV

The heavy rain had drifted into a light mist. The outside world beyond the hotel room was coming back alive, now that the storm had begun to blow over. It was still simmering though; it’s traveling thunder still rolling in the distance. It mimicked all too well the events of that night. Vegeta was still stewing. He’d pushed past his men in the doorway of the brothel. Never giving a glance in their direction, despite their surely puzzled faces. Hadn’t he been with the female? She wasn’t entering the brothel with him That could only mean she was left on her own somewhere, most likely at the nearest hotel. That fact struck a core with Nappa, particularly.

The hotel wasn’t going to be the pair of Saiyans first stop, however. It looked like this night was Nappa’s night. He’d been looking forward to his ‘up and comings’ as he thought it. To the big bald man, he was due a night of pleasure and pay back after all of the shit he’d been dragged through from the last few weeks. Getting pummeled by his leader whenever he went near the ‘blue eyed slut’, her manipulating his prince into giving into tabooed instincts, and last but not least, her taking away his chances of raping a girl on his lap while he enjoyed a fine meal. It had been one shit storm after the next, but things were finally looking to go his way, tonight.

Raditz, on the other hand, was leisurely going along with Nappa’s insistent behavior. It was always fun kidnapping a girl, but he’d already had several rounds of sex and booze at the brothel, and was feeling the need for a long nap. Still, he followed the bald man to the back of the steakhouse, the direction of the servant’s scent that he’d fondled that night, until they found their prey. It was the waitress, digging through the bag on her shoulder - probably looking for a smoke after her long and terrifying shift that night. No one would know she was missing. She didn’t even have time to gasp before a pair of massive hands were on her, blotting out her screams.

As much as Nappa wanted to get off with the girl right there in the alleyway, he knew better. Vegeta was busy, but he wouldn’t stay out all night. If he wanted to take his revenge on the earthling, he’d have to take his prize with him and head for the hotel. All they’d have to do is give the front desk their name, and they’d be given a key, despite the whimpering girl hung at Nappa’s side. Really, who was going to mess with him at this point?

The glassy cracked door was already opened, and it looked like Nappa was going to have to wait his turn in humping the earthling, if he didn’t pull the massive moldy blob off of the girl, and quick. Both of the soldiers had to take a double glance to make sure as to what they were witnessing. It was trying to fuck her, wasn’t it? Or eat her, one. No, it was definitely sexual in nature, and surprisingly, Nappa was the one to grab the oozing monster and rip it off of the smothering girl. The creature fought, wiggled, but it only took a ki blast to its moldy head to make it stop squealing. The goo from its cranium raining like gooey bits all over the floor.

“Egh, Farkquads, disgusting,” mentioned Raditz. The name he’d mumbled being whatever species the creature had been. The long haired soldier was holding the waitress by the hair. Keeping the tear streaked girl from running out of the opened door. He’d been ordered by Nappa to keep her ‘for seconds after he dealt with the earthling’. Raditz didn’t seem to care about Nappa’s plans one way or the other, as long as he wasn’t involved in the punishment that came along with touching Vegeta’s blue female.

“Looks like you owe me one,” piped up Nappa, who was now eyeing Bulma with foul intent. His mustache twitching over his dirty smile. “I’ve been looking forward to this, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut to Vegeta. Or I’ll kill you myself, girlie.” it wasn’t an empty threat, and it was only going to grow worse. The doorway was blocked and they knew it’d be a while before Vegeta returned. It looked like they’d be having a bit of fun with the two captured girls until then.

* * *

Her POV

God, why couldn’t it stop? She couldn’t look away, but the more it continued, the more she felt the need to puke. She couldn’t even do that much, in the position. She cried silently, trying to disassociate herself. It may have been minutes, but it felt like hours before Nappa finally pulled the creature off of her. The pieces that had dripped down shot back into the creature like one of the sticky hand toys she used to play with as a kid.

She scrambled upward and toward the bed’s headboard, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. She had thought that it’d be Vegeta coming to save her, but she was stared at Nappa with Raditz standing a little behind, holding the waitress from the restaurant by the hair. They had actually gone to stalk out the girl to harass her some more? She curled in on herself, gulping as she watched Nappa blow the alien into a million pieces. …Why was he looking at her like that?

…Oh, no. His threatening words made everything clear. He planned on getting revenge. She’d gone from being violated from a blob monster to being close to being… Who the fuck knew what Nappa had in store for her. And he was always so rough. He wasn’t like Vegeta, who at least never truly harmed her. Maybe Nappa would kill her if Vegeta even figured it out by her injuries. …She just wanted to go home, why did she have to go through this?

She glanced at the doorway, blocked by Nappa and Raditz. Besides, there’s no way in hell she’d be able to get passed them. It was impossible. She was trapped. Out of fear alone, she quickly nodded her head. Maybe if she actually followed along this time, she’d get by without too much injury. She didn’t want to end up dead. Vegeta wasn’t around to save her this time, and as far as she knew he was angry enough to not even care this time. She had to deal with this herself. …Maybe she could at least get the girl free.

* * *

His POV

Good, it looked like the little runt was finally complying for once. And to think, it only took threatening her life to get her to take her punishment. Nappa had spent a few nights imagining this, that’s for sure. The Saiyan didn’t possess the level of pride that his leader did, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t felt the sting of conflict after so many rounds of being beaten in the name of Bulma.

Surprisingly though, Nappa never touched the frightened earthling. It was all thanks to what Vegeta had ordered of him ‘not to use the female, not to harm her’ or something to that regard. But if he wasn’t the one touching her, and it was ‘of her own free will’, could he really consider it using the girl? It was a manipulative move, and one that could get him in a world of trouble, but it seemed Nappa was willing to take that chance. Perhaps what Vegeta had told the girl all those weeks ago, the night they’d shared his dinner at the android hotel, had been true. Maybe Nappa’s instincts were finding his leader to be weak, something not meant to be taken seriously, if he was so easily subdued by this girl. It looked like the big bald man was going to have to take matters into his own hands, and see to it that the girl was treated ‘properly’.

“You’re going to be doing all the work,” the big man boasted, curling a finger at Bulma, gesturing her to come closer, “..and yer’ going to enjoy it, arn’t ya, girlie?” Nappa’s brows twitched, instigating that he wanted her to agree with him, _or else_. He needed her to at least pretend she was into it if he was going to cover his tracks and build a sturdy alibi. If worse came to worse, he could always blame the goo monster that was quickly covering his shoes, every time he took a step closer. The whole room had begun to smell of innards and mold, but it didn’t seem to stop the big man from getting a hard on. The growing length was already pitching a tent in his unsightly underwear style suit bottom. His obvious hard on facing the girl when his weight sunk onto the side of the bed.

Raditz had stopped paying any attention to whatever Nappa was doing with the earthling by now. The further he distanced himself from them, the less likely he was to lose an arm when Vegeta returned. He wasn’t as trusting of the girl’s loud mouth as Nappa was; skeptical of the whole scenario - but still… the long haired male couldn’t rest a little fucking when it was put into his lap. The alien girls squirming was turning him on. The girl was mewling, whimpering, and feebly attempting to push Raditz hands away the further he pushed her face into the mattress - facing Bulma from the opposite side where Nappa sat. Her pink skin was soft and grab-able; she was a blonde of course, being Nappa’s first pick of the night. 

* * *

Her POV

How was she supposed to enjoy it? This big idiot, she could never enjoy something like this. She didn’t dare open her mouth, though, and instead just nodded her head to avoid getting into more trouble. She didn’t want to be killed when she was so close to finally being able to go home. She didn’t want to die. She… She just had to deal with being ‘used’ again. Then she’d be okay. She could go to Earth and wish everyone back and then live on her life from there. She came closer when Nappa gestured for her, and looked down at the growing bulge in his sorry excuse for ‘pants.’

She pressed a hand to the top of his thigh when he pressed himself against the side of the bed, but just then Raditz shoved the waitress down onto the mattress. He forced her head down and looked intent on raping her. She was crying and trying to fight back, all but begging him to stop. How was she supposed to let that happen? For another girl to go through what she had to– There was a reason why she had stopped Nappa from fingering her in the restaurant. She didn’t want to see that.

“I’ll do whatever you want,” she said, her head turning back to look up at Nappa. “But you have to let her go. I don’t want her hurt. I’ll do anything, but you need to let her go back to wherever you got her from and not bother her again.” It seemed like a reasonable request to her– no fighting back. She’d do absolutely anything, just so long as another girl wasn’t put through the same kind of hell. She didn’t want to see her get used like that. The sounds of her crying and begging for mercy tore at her heart and made her feel sick.

* * *

His POV

At least the earthling was complying. As much as Nappa wanted to punish the girl, and maybe rough her up a little, he didn’t want to do anything that’d make it completely obvious her fall from grace was all his fault. One big hand print on her thigh, and the jig would be up. He was glad to see her crawling into his lap, so ready to do as he commanded in order to keep her pretty neck in one piece. He really wasn’t kidding about killing her if she said something to Vegeta about what he was forcing her into, and the glare in his big ugly mug said it.

He was just getting hard up, bobbing his thick erection in front of the girls face, when she had the decency to try and get the second girl out of it. The waitress was crying into the messy blankets, her work skirt already around her ankles, while Raditz jerked himself in one hand and held the girls head down with the other. It was a terrible scene, and it was only going to get worse. Bulma may have tried to save the girl, but Nappa had come to punish her. What kind of punishment would it be if the earthling felt like she got something out of it? If anything, it was giving the big lug terrible, terrible ideas.

“I think not, girlie” Nappa groaned, tugging the whimpering waitress from under Raditz, much to Raditz dismay. “You’re not costin’ me a fuck a second time, not when I could have ya’ both.” That was what he was planning, a threesome. Or perhaps a foursome, if Raditz had anything to say about it - he’d already made himself nice and stiff by the time Nappa pulled the girl away.

The man’s lap as plenty big to seat both of the females, and that’s exactly what Nappa was coaxing them to do. Sitting on the edge of the beg, he dragged the blonde on his left thigh and began fingering her now exposed genitals. While he expected Bulma to lay across his other large leg and suck him off. Nappa may have said he wanted the girl to do all the work, but he couldn’t resist a grope or two. The hand that wasn’t fondling the waitress went straight to Bulma’s frame. Rubbing his big thumb over her breast, tugging her closer to the massive head of his cock, gruffing out “Well, get started, and don’t forget to pretend like you enjoy it!”

* * *

Her POV

He refused. When Nappa grabbed the other girl by the hair, she at least had to hope that she hadn’t gotten her into more trouble. She at least saved her from her immediate predicament, however, as she was pulled from Raditz’s control to being placed on Nappa’s thigh. But he promised that he’d have them both, and began fingering her like he had been doing before. How was Bulma supposed to even pretend like she was enjoying herself when she had to see that girl crying in dismay like she was? It brought back images of all of what she’d had to deal with before. What she was dealing with still now. She thought she had finally gotten over this. But every time she thought she’d been in this situation for the last time, it happened all over again.

She glanced away at the feeling of him feeling her up. Even through her thick sweater it was disgusting. His hands always felt so grubby. Her lips pursed, and she glanced over at the other girl again, being helplessly fingered against her will. Her skin was as pink as the rest of the planet, and her hair was smooth and shiny and filled with fluffy curls that reminded her of clouds. Even her tears were cute- a sparking translucent purple. With her skirt removed, she could see that she had a tail- a cow tail. She was enduring a hell she didn’t deserve. Their eyes met, and the mutual sympathy was obvious.

Bulma’s hand pulled Nappa’s underwear away from his cock, and she began to slowly jerk him off. She wasn’t sucking just yet, despite what Nappa had commanded of her. She really didn’t want to, even though she knew she’d be forced to. …She was risking death, and unlike when Vegeta threatened it, she knew Nappa would follow through. Nappa was enough of an idiot to follow through. Her eyes glanced up at him to check his expression as she moved her hand a little harder, still refusing to suck him off. Where was Vegeta, anyway? God, she hoped that he’d walk in on this and kill Nappa himself. The big bastard deserved it.

She spit on him, but in a way she may get away with– she spit on his cock and pretended like it was just her adding lubrication. Her hand tightened, and while he was probably sick enough to enjoy it, she did it as a means to get out her anger. …The girl was still getting fingered. She didn’t deserve what was happening to her. No one deserved this. Except for Nappa himself. He was the one that deserved to be humiliated. But if she could at least take his attention off the girl in more subtle ways…

“Why… Why don’t you touch me instead? I won’t tell Vegeta. I’ll like it.”

* * *

His POV

The big man was already beginning to moan, a loud sound that filled not only their hotel room, but traveled down the hall as well. Nappa always had the biggest voice when it came to any creature, and he was already starting to use it. How could he not? He had two beautiful women on his lap, and one of them were already jerking him off. And sure, while it was nowhere near his first threesome or more, he was taking his revenge, and that was the real cause behind all of his disgusting grunting and slow bucks on the subtly bouncing bed.

“You better not… if you know what’s good for you...” Nappa answered Bulma, eyeing her suspiciously. The hand that had been feeling her up took grab of the sweater that was hiding her figure, and pulled it right off of her head. The earthling could fight it, but he wasn’t giving up until her head popped out of the turtle neck. There, that was better, now he could get a look at her. And boy, had she always been that curvaceous? He wasted no time in feeling up her naked chest, even if all of the struggling had meant a momentary lack of someone jerking his cock, it was worth it. Bulma wasn’t the only one stripped, and soon the girl silently crying on his thigh was stripped of her clothing as well.

“Why don’t you just both touch me instead? I can touch you plenty then!” the bald man laughed horribly, shoving Bulma’s face closer to the head of his now spitty cock. She was right, she wasn’t getting out of sucking him off very easily. And as far as Nappa was concerned, she’d already agreed to it from her very own mouth. How could he get into trouble with Vegeta now? The woman needed ‘to be used properly’ he kept telling himself. Nappa was only lucky Vegeta had yet to return, or else he may not get a chance to use his dick ever again.

The hand that’d been rubbing the pink alien’s thighs moved to her hands, guiding her to help Bulma jerk one out of the giant Saiyan. She looked too frighten to realize what was happening at first, until Nappa bounced her on his leg once, then she quickly began fondling the man - if only to keep herself alive. The little alien’s hands were jerking his shaft, and Nappa’s giant palm was making sure that Bulma had little to no wiggle room when it came to taking her face away from his big intrusive cock. He was determined to have them both at once, much to Raditz dismay. Really, Raditz knew Nappa was dumb enough to touch Vegeta’s female, but did he really have to take his? The long haired Saiyan couldn’t resist getting involved much more, and began jerking himself to the sight of them; close enough so that if he did climax, it was sure to land all over the blonde alien’s backside - though Raditz lusty gaze may of been on Bulma.

* * *

Her POV

He grabbed her sweater and forced it up her head so forcefully that she let go of his cock and her arms sprung upward. It was pulled over her head and she thought she might have heard the hem stretching past its limit, but either way it was discarded, and she was completely nude. She squeezed her eyes shut and grimaced in disgust when his fingers squeezed and rubbed her bare breasts, enjoying them like they were his to fondle. It was gross to feel those large, sweaty palms on her soft skin, greedy in the way that they pressed their fingers into the flesh. It made her want to puke, and her eyes only opened when he finally let her go. For the time being.

The other girl was next. Her shirt and bra came off, and again Bulma winced in pity for her. She was only given a second for her eyes to linger, however, before Nappa grabbed her head and forced it close to his cock with no room for her to lean away. She tried to fight, but he had much more strength than she had and kept her in place. He was large and veiny. Hairy. It was intimidating enough of a sight with his foreskin bright red and obvious even pulled back like it was. Just as disgusting a sight as she remembered the last time she had to look at it this close.

Gn… She saw the pink hands of the other girl slowly wrap around Nappa’s cock and start rubbing him off like she’d been doing, and her anger and hatred only grew. How did he get his rocks off, forcing women to do this for him? Didn’t he feel the slightest hint of guilt? She knew Saiyans were capable of it– Vegeta seemed to feel guilty the last time he tried to force himself on her. Well, not this most recent time, but in the planet with the beaches.

She stared down at his cock, and her brows furrowed. She leaned in a little more and opened her mouth, just enough to get close to the tip, and her hand got close to Nappa’s balls. She hesitated, but then in a quick few motions, she pinched his balls and bit his foreskin as hard as she could, both with an effort to tug away and pull skin off. She might have been terrified of being killed, but in the heat of the moment when her anger grew and grew, she only knew that she wanted to take revenge. To teach Nappa a lesson.

* * *

His POV

It was almost like falling into routine by now for the big man. He’d taken so many females throughout the years, and there had been too many times to count where he’d cornered four or more. Two girls were easy to handle, as far as he thought. It was nice feeling up the pink alien too, once she was removed of her clothing. The skittish girl had four breasts instead of two, and Nappa was putting his hand to good use as she helped Bulma pump him. Kami knew he was plenty big for the both of them to share.

But then instead of pleasure, Nappa felt the tingling sensation of mild pain. Right in his ball sack, too. It wasn’t enough to cause him great threat, but it sure as hell did the trick. Bulma’s quick thinking had earned the two captive women a little time. Nappa roared and spat curses, smacking Bulma’s face away from his throbbing cock and taking a bit of his foreskin with it. His massive dick was bleeding, but just a little. It was nothing to stop his disgusting, hairy erection, but it certainly pissed the big man off - not due to the pain so much, however, but because he knew what she was up to. She’d had the balls to, well, try to rip off his balls.

“You ain’t good for nothin’, are you girlie?!’ he snorted, glaring down at the girl he’d shoved into the bed. The pink girl in his lap was shaking in fear, her body frozen, terrified to move. She’d obviously never been in a situation like this, and judging by her sweet features and young skin, may have had few sexual encounters to begin with. The innocent alien was horrified, and the way she looked at Bulma screamed for help. Nappa, on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice the state of shock the girl was going through, and instead grabbed for Bulma by the hair. Dragging her upward to stare him eye to blood shot eyes.

“If your mouth’s no good, you can ride me instead,” he insisted, positioning the head of his bloody cock between Bulma’s thighs, “...and if Vegeta asks, it was all your idea, wasn’t it? …or else the girl hear gets it ...and I’ll be sure to let you watch me rape her lifeless corpse.” his brows twitched, waiting for Bulma to comply. Lowering the earthling onto his cock by the hair of her head. The girl on his thigh was tearing up again, but not only because her life was on the line, but because the big sweaty hand that’d been squeezing her multiple breasts was now clamping around her throat. Slowly cutting off her air supply. If Bulma didn’t start riding him, the girl would surely suffocate right there beside her.

The scene was nothing new to Raditz, other than Nappa using the girl as a hostage, that was new. Normally the big man just pounced on whatever moving body was the closest. However, even Raditz could tell Nappa had been stewing over this level of revenge for a while. It was downright manipulative, but that didn’t stop Raditz from beating one out. His attention had been momentarily taken off himself when Nappa started pushing the two girls around, but it didn’t take him long to get back into the rhythm of pleasuring himself. Maybe he could even leave and join Vegeta back at the brothel, if Nappa hurried up. He’d enjoyed the girls under the flashing lights. Not having something soft to push into was starting to feel a little torturous.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t expect to actually rip any foreskin off! She spit it out when she realized what was stuck between her teeth, but just about as soon as she did, she was grabbed by the hair and held up to Nappa’s face to face his wrath. She glared at him as he roared at her, until she realized just what he was saying. He would– Her eyes traveled to look at the other girl. She was crying again, and choking with a big, thick hand around her neck. …She’d been there, too.

She didn’t hesitate this time. It didn’t matter if it was bloody or disgusting or over-sized, she started to ride him immediately. It was painful, but if it were between her displeasure and the other girl’s life, she’d pick her displeasure. Bulma could be angry enough that she forgot that she cared if she died, but when another person’s life hung in the balance, it was much different. She connected with the girl. She wanted her safe– she didn’t want her to endure the same horrible hell that Bulma’d gone through. Much less have that hell ended by a cold, gruesome act by a monster.

“Ng– Ah–” It was hard to act like she enjoyed it. It hurt. She felt like she was stretched out to the max, though in situations when under Zarbon’s ‘ownership’ that she’d like to suppress, she had been forced to take multiple cocks inside a single hole. …Maybe it’s better that she be the one that take Nappa rather than the other girl being forced to. She was doing her a justice, and not just by saving her life. She’d try her best to make sure she didn’t have to get raped.

“Na– Nappa,” she murmured as she rode him, one of her hands digging into his right thigh, the other gripping the girl’s thigh if only just to give her more support. “You can let her go now. Gn– Please… Let her go…” Her eyes glanced to the waitress, at those poor, watery eyes. It was just like she used to be. How many other girls had to go through what they were going through now? There were so many other women and even some men that dealt with Zarbon’s abuse. Why were there so many horrible monsters in the universe like Nappa? Of all the Gods in the universe, from the God she knew to the Lord of Gods that her loved ones were now in the company of, were none of them able to help? Were Gods really that powerless?

* * *

His POV

Finally, it looked like Nappa had found the earthlings weak spot. She had a weakness for victims, who would of thought? He should have tried bringing back a hostage weeks ago. It was even better having two females at his sides, how could he complain? Especially when Bulma agreed to ride him. And boy, was he enjoying taking his vengeance out on her. He moaned, he gasped, he bucked up into the tiny earthling until he filled every inch of her. He didn’t care if it hurt, if she was a little dry (he may of been thankful for his own bloody dick now), it felt good, and he was planning on riding her out to the end.

The girl on his thigh didn’t get off as easily as Bulma may have hoped however. Nappa’s hand had fallen away from her bruising neck just in time to allow the girl a much needed breath of air. But he wasn’t done there, he was still greedily feeling her up. Groping the girl around by the waist and squishing her front to his side. He had the three of them jolting on the bed. The squeaking sound of its springs mixing with the pants and moans of the threesome.

Nappa wasn’t listening to Bulma’s pleads for him to release the whimpering waitress. She may have saved her from Nappa’s cock, and from certain death, but not from his fondling. His grubby mouth was all over the poor girl. Biting at her easily marked skin, licking at her neck, and then flipping her onto her belly beside him on the bed, in order to better get a look at her ass. With Bulma bouncing on his lap, he began slapping the poor girl’s ass, until the soft pink flesh was a bright painful red. That’s what got Raditz attention. The girl was so perfectly exposed, ready to be filled - as far as he was concerned, and wasted no time in positioning himself behind the now openly crying girl.

“Come on Nappa, at least let me have this one,” Raditz groaned, his cock painfully hard in his hand. Nappa grunted, giving Raditz the go ahead. The long haired male quickly shoving the head of his thick cock into the waitress from behind, causing her to squeal. They were both going at it now, and both coming up quick on their climax. Nappa was getting rougher, quicker, handsy with Bulma now that his only focus was on her. Not even caring if Raditz was practically moaning in his ear. The bald man was close, just a little more and he’d bust one in the earthling, all over again.

* * *

Her POV

That fucking asshole was using her like it was no big deal. It hurt so badly. He didn’t even listen to her words; he kept fondling the girl, and even forced her over onto the bed so he could start spanking her. Hard enough for her to whine in pain. Hard enough for Bulma to be reminded of Zarbon doing the same thing. Bent over and humiliated. She stopped moving for Nappa, though he continued to thrust up into her. She stared at the sight, and slowly processed Raditz coming up to her and… 

…She couldn’t even save her from being raped. He started bucking into her and making her squeal and cry in pain, just like Bulma had gone through before. Bulma had tried so hard to get her off with minimal torture, but there she was, getting raped. Right in front of her eyes. She couldn’t do anything for the girl in the end. Tears stung Bulma’s eyes, and her blood began to boil. Her head turned so she could face Nappa, even as he thrusted up into her over and over and had her bouncing in his lap. As she stared up at him, the angrier she grew. Her teeth bared, and a few tears overflowed from her eyes and slid down her cheeks to collect at her chin.

He was getting close. She could see by his ugly, stupid face. His eyes were losing focus. Those stupid eyes. Dark, just like his heart. He deserved to go through the pain he put through others. And she’d be damned if he raped her to completion; she wasn’t about to let this man ejaculate into her and get her pregnant. She wouldn’t have the child of this hell spawn.

In a single swift movement, she forced herself up ward onto her knees–away from Nappa’s cock–and reached her hands out. Her fingers clenched onto the sides of his head and her thumbs drove into his eye sockets. She’d gouge his eyes out; then he’d never be able to see a pretty girl in front of him to be able to rape her. That’s only the beginning of what this asshole deserved, but it’s the only thing she could offer.

* * *

His POV

The big bald lug was going to climax soon. Nappa was moaning like a dying animal and gnawing at his already chapped lips. Every muscle in his body tensed up. So much so that his eyes were rolling back in his head. There was no way of knowing that it’d be the last time he’d ever laid eyes on anything again with depth perception. He felt the press of something small and hard force its way into his eye socket. His right eye more than the left, and suddenly the man was screaming because of furious pain rather than pleasurable release.

Nappa’s blood curtailing voice ripped through the entire hotel. It wasn’t the sound of agony; it was the roar of fury. The moment he realized what was going on, he ripped the girl away from his body, tossing her against the headboard. The little bitch had the audacity to gouge out one of his eyes. It was so terrible, so brutal, so grotesque, that he actually respected her for it; on some horribly angry level. It had been a turn on, too. The sick breed, Nappa had actually gotten off on the sheer act of violence from the female. It was too closely relatable to what one of his own kind would have done, and it’d given him an explicit orgasm, splattering all over his empty lap. 

The effects of his climax didn’t last for long though. How could it, with a massive hole where his right eye once was. The rich gooey blood bubbled and dripped down to his chin. Nappa was still panting, trying to open his one good eye to grasp his surroundings. But he knew it - his eye was fucking gone. Raditz was staring in awe of what he’d just witnessed. Lucky for the long haired Saiyan, he’d gotten off inside of the waitress just before Nappa had had his face maimed by Bulma.

The waitress was still shaking, now curled up in a ball on the mattress now that the two soldiers seemed to be done with her. Their eyes were on Bulma, and what she’d do next. Her hands were covered in Nappa’s blood, and Nappa was trying to feel around his now empty eye socket to make sure that indeed there’d be no getting his eye ball back. Of course not, it was probably smashed all over Bulma’s hand by now. At least she seemed to accomplish her task, neither of the men looked interested in tackling her a second time. If anything, there was the hint of respect in the smelly room.

* * *

Her POV

When Nappa ripped Bulma off of him and smashed her against the headboard, she’d taken his eye with him. Her thumb curled in just the right way that rather than just being forced out from his eye socket like the other thumb, it scooped his eye out with it. When she hit the headboard, it had ricocheted off and onto the ground till it rolled to a stop, but she didn’t pay it any mind. Her eyes were on Nappa, still burning as bright as the moment that she shoved her thumbs into his sockets. He’d deserved it. She’d managed to partially blind him, and she was damn proud of it.

After a few moments of silence where it became obvious that neither of them were touching her, Bulma crept closer to the girl. She crawled along the bed slowly, inching closer by pulling herself with her arms with her body still facing the two men. When she got close, her hand pressed to the girl’s arm protectively. If they wouldn’t mess with her again, they wouldn’t mess with the waitress again. She’d make sure of that, or Nappa would be completely blind. Her body language said it, as she pulled the girl up and wrapped her arms around her. Still glaring at the two Saiyans.

“If you do anything to any girl in my sight again,” she murmured, her eyes mainly on Nappa, “You’re going to be completely blind. Even if you don’t think I can trick you again. There’s one moment you’ll be off guard. When you’re eating… When you’re cumming… When you’re sleeping… I’ll find a moment and then you won’t be able to see anything at all.” Her cheek pressed to the girl’s forehead as she comforted her, but even with how gently she treated her, her voice dripped with venom. She couldn’t even think that it was her words. She’d changed so much. She was different now. A little over a month ago, and she would never even think of acting this way.

This is why she felt like she couldn’t belong on Earth and at her own home anymore. Too much had changed. She was different. She’d been corrupted from all the things she’d dealt with thus far. She’d been corrupted by those three. They hadn’t just destroyed her home and raped her and ruined her innocence (what little she had when they found her, anyway); they’d completely changed who she was as a person.

“You’re not touching her again. You’re not touching me again. You’re not touching any girl ever again, unless she decides that it’s okay for you to touch her.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep almost forgetting about the chapter!!;; I did get it all together, though. As I read these, I kind of think about how this starts to get a tiny bit repetitive. Of course, at this point it wasn't being posted on Ao3 and it was just for ourselves, to fulfill some interests of ours. 
> 
> Things do change pretty quickly in the future, though, when I think about it, because the perspective of the characters change a little and Bulma truly becomes free and no longer a slave. So there's a vague little hint for things to come, without spoiling.
> 
>   
> 


	29. Home No Longer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma gets the one thing she's wanted for a long time.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

The two men weren’t touching her. Nappa and Raditz weren’t daring to lay a hand on either of the naked girls on the bed. While Bulma’s fearless display of boldness and self-defense may have struck into the hearts of the two Saiyan men, down to a primal level, it didn’t stop them from directing their anger at her. Nappa in particular, with his now bloody, one eyed, crumpled glare waiting to pounce with retaliation. His hands like claws at his sides, and his teeth grinding together - both from pain and from stimulation of a fight. But neither of the warriors ever moved a muscle, they were standing their ground, and it was all due to how Bulma handled the situation. At the time, she’d asserted herself as the dominance in the room - the one not to fuck with.

“Now listen here girlie, you’re going a bit too far!” Nappa roared after Bulma listed her demands. Sure, he knew he wasn’t going anywhere near either of the females now without the wrath of a tiny earthling, but it didn’t mean he’d have to agree with what she was dishing out. He hadn’t forgotten the pain in his eye though, and it was that pain that was holding him in place. That, and the fact that the girl had one some level of respect with the big bald lug. He was starting to see (no pun intended) why Vegeta insisted on treating her more than a slave, why he kept her around. She really was showing herself to be a warrior in her own stride.

“What… Happened.” the rough voice ground out like angry thunder. Both of the jaw-dropped-Saiyans heads jerked towards the doorway, realizing their leader was standing there …watching. There was Vegeta, as unyielding as a mountain, staring the scene down - waiting for answers. From the way his tail swung, to the way his narrowed glare burned from under his brow, they knew torture was promised to whomever put the room in the fucking shit storm it was now. Guts smeared the floor, Nappa’s face looked like a bleeding dick hole, and last but certainly most importantly - the girl he’d left just a couple hours before was naked and clutched to a young female. If they didn’t start talking, both of the Saiyans would get the story beaten out of them; prompting Nappa to be the first to try and cover his tracks.

“N-N-Nothin, boss! ...we were just having a little fun with the waitress,” Nappa cringed, Raditz nodding behind him wide eyed, “...just the waitress, then your blue bitch gouged out my eye!” Nappa roared that last part, still furious over it. Vegeta’s eyes rolled over the two woman clutched together on the bed. Meeting eyes with the fiery blues he’d come to trust, then down at the bloody eye ball that was just a few steps from the toe of his boot. Nappa’s story sounded fishy, and the prince knew there was more to it than that. But whatever had happened, it looked like the female had taken care of it herself. He knew she was strong. There was a hidden look of pride behind his eyes, rather than punishment, when he flicked his gaze back at Bulma. But it was only visible for a heartbeat.

“Is that true?” Vegeta’s cold question wasn’t directed at his men, he was solely speaking to Bulma. It caught both of the men off guard.

“Prince... Vegeta! You’re not going to believe that whore over your own men, are you?!” choked Nappa.

“I am, and I will.” barked Vegeta, much stronger than before, snapping his teeth. “So you better hope she’s on your side, Nappa, or it could mean more than your ugly mug.” he turned, stating his terms with confidence. He’d taken a few steps around the bed, too. Making the men uneasy with the way he stalked close, until his gold toe rested right over Nappa’s dislocated eye. It was still salvageable. If it was taken to a medical bay soon enough, and left in one piece instead of turned to useless mush. Nappa was exceedingly worried. Not only was his eye on the line, but his very life, depending on what words came out of the female’s mouth. His one good optic turned to her, silently burning her to keep her mouth shut if she wanted the waitress to stay unharmed.

* * *

Her POV

She may have seen Vegeta coming if she’d bothered to look down through the glass walls, but she wasn’t alerted to his presence until he demanded to know what had gone on. All turned to look at him, even the girl that was curled up against Bulma. The girl was horrified until she saw Bulma physically relax at his sight. Sure, he may have been furious with her the last time she was around him, but by how he sounded, he had forgotten. He wanted to know what was wrong, and went to her for answers rather than blindly believe Nappa’s crap. Good. She opened her mouth to spill the beans– until Nappa gave her the expression he did behind Vegeta’s back. He’d kill the waitress. 

Part of her suspected Vegeta wouldn’t give him the chance to before murdering him, but just to be certain, Bulma’d have to play on the safe side. She was now a threat to him regardless. And all she had to do was deal with one more day. Then she could get Yamcha and Goku and the others who had all been working hard on King Kai’s planet to destroy those idiots and seek revenge. She’d just have to hold out a little longer. Her lips pursed as she plotted out what she’d say, and her eyes glanced away.

“When you left, that disgusting thing that had been staring at us from the other room snuck in and attacked me. It pulled my clothes off. Nappa pulled it off me, but then he tried doing things to this girl even when I kept telling him no. So I snapped and attacked him to teach him a lesson. That’s what he deserves. He deserves more, if you ask me.” She pressed her hands to the girl’s forearms and sat her up straight to gaze at her expression for a moment. Still terrified, but at least not quite as terrified.

She scooped up the clothes of hers that had piled onto the ground and started helping her get dressed again, shooting another look at Nappa. What a piece of shit. She wished she could have scooped out both eyes. That would have been brilliant. She could have made him eat them and then laugh at him if he started to cry the same way he made all the girls over his lifetime cry. The same way he made her cry. How many times had he wounded her? He’d raped her in a pile of her own vomit before. This was not a man that deserved sympathy.

When she finished clothing the girl, Bulma put her own clothes on. The space between her legs still hurt, but she managed. She felt victorious– not only had she ripped off a piece of Nappa’s foreskin, but she’d gouged out one of his eyes. What wasn’t there to feel victorious about?

* * *

His POV

He listened; internally deciphering the truth against omitted truths. There was something else that had taken place in that room, the prince could see it in the Nappa held his stance and the way Bulma took the time to carefully pick and choose her words. She was being clever, narrowing his gaze at her in discretion. He looked away, taking her word for it. It was no skin off of his back. She’d taken care of the problem, obviously by the state of his men - and he couldn’t be anything but proud about that; but that didn’t mean he’d let it completely slide.

“Did you hear that Nappa? She thinks you deserve more.” it may have sounded as if Vegeta was siding with the earthling, but he was using it as a tool to teach his soldier a lesson. The lesson to not try and pull one over his leader again. Vegeta was showing Nappa that he was onto him, too. He could smell something rotten, and it wasn’t just the gooey guts all over the floor. Vegeta picked up the eyeball that’d he’d been holding captive under his boot, and suddenly fear drained the color out of Nappa’s face. Silently, his men watched as Vegeta turned the bloody eye between his fingers, then in an instant, it was gone. The clear liquid under the lens spurting from between the prince’s fist. That was Nappa’s punishment for lying to him.

His eye was gone, Nappa had been defeated, maybe now he’d think twice before messing with the female again, or trying to pull one over his alpha. The best he could hope for now was a glass eye, or maybe one of those fancy built in scouters. Never the less, it was never easy saying goodbye to a body part. The prince wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to his underling’s remorse, however. Vegeta’s fixation was on the girl, and her tending to the teary eyed waitress.

She looked ferocious. A true black widow, especially in that sweater. It was even nicer watching her pull it on when she was this level of vengeful. The venom in her mind was obvious, only outweighed by the victory that was beaming from her body language; and the price was eating it up. Just what was she planning on doing with the waitress now? She was going to take her from his men, no doubt, and the prince felt some level of amusement in that. It was so outrageous to him, they’d raped thousands of girls, why was this one any different? He couldn’t help the smug look he was giving her; fists on his hips and a brow arched, watching her try to move on her achy legs. A look that asked, ‘ _what the hell are you planning?’_

* * *

Her POV

She slowed putting on her clothes as she watched Vegeta pick up Nappa’s eye and crush it in his hand. She resisted a smile. Yes, that’s what he deserved. Though she wouldn’t hold back the next time she was given an opportunity to gouge out the other. Maybe she’d do something similar for Raditz. These men only understood violence, so she’d answer to them with violence. That’s how she’d come so far with Vegeta, hadn’t it? She’d tried to kill him so many times that he’d grown respect for her and no longer tried raping her.

She finished pulling her clothes on and stood off the bed, making the effort not to step in the pile of sludge from the moldy monster’s remains. She helped the other girl off the bed just as she saw Vegeta giving her a quizzical look. She responded by sticking out her tongue at him and turning her head to ignore him as she led her out of the room. It was a no brainer to Bulma, to take care of her. It wasn’t that this girl was different– it’s that it shouldn’t happen to any girl. She’d seen the look in her eyes and felt the same way she used to feel. Still did feel. But it was different, seeing someone else’s innocence ripped away.

She led her out the room and out the hallway, ignoring the eyes on her and the doors peeping open just to take a look. She was still covered in blood, after all. Her hands were filthy. And they’d all witnessed it from the glass walls. No one bothered her, though there was sure to be one or two people on the phone with the planetary police force. Not that they’d get involved with Saiyan affairs– there was no reason to go off to die so fast. They’d just make a report. They’d had to make a lot of reports as of recently from the Saiyan hijinks. 

She brought her down to the lobby and had even murmured to the girl about where her home was so she could walk her herself. Just for safety. It took her about thirty or so minutes to get there and come back, and even when she returned to the hotel, upon opening the cracked door to the apartment, she just stared at Nappa and Raditz with a stern expression. She’d like to see them rape another girl. See what they’d do when she hurt them some more. 

“…Vegeta, when are we going back to Earth? I want to go back to Earth already.”

* * *

His POV

The three Saiyans watched Bulma escort the waitress out of the hotel room, but didn’t dare try and stop her. Especially not while under the watch of Vegeta. The prince himself didn’t try and stop her, rather he couldn’t give a damn what she did with the girl now. He’d stated himself for the time being, and couldn’t give a shit of the state of his men’s needs. The girl had won her rights to do with the waitress as she pleased, even if that meant walking her home. Again, something Vegeta didn’t give a second glance about. He knew Bulma could handle herself, she’d proven that time and again.

After the girls were out of sight, the prince nodded towards his motionless men. Giving them the go ahead to do as they pleased - that all was as it should be. Vegeta’s focus was solely on himself, though he did wish he had arrived back at the hotel a few moments later, if only to witness firsthand the girl popping out the big bald man’s eye. It must of been a sight - a thought that might of put a crook of a smile to his mouth as he readied himself for bed.

By the time Bulma arrived back at the hotel door, the floor had been cleaned of any sign of alien guts. Blood an entrails Vegeta could handle, but the stench of mold was something difficult to stomach, especially with his acute sense of smell. Room service was just leaving with their cleaning cart when Bulma stepped into the room. Raditz was stretching and yawning, free of every bit of his clothing other than his poor excuse for pants, and sitting on the bed nearest Bulma’s. Nappa’s big body was hunched over the bed next to that, closest to the wall. His head was now nicely bandaged, the strips covering his empty eye socket with gauze. He was digging through the medical crate they so often brought with them, only shooting the girl a single solemn glance when she entered the door. He’d obviously learned his lesson.

Vegeta on the other hand, was missing. Well, sort of. His figure blatantly obvious behind the rose colored wall to the bathroom. The water cut short and steam bellowed out into the bedroom. Glancing a dull ‘ _oh it’s you_ ’ look, once Bulma started spouting off again about when they’d be leaving for earth. He didn’t answer, only grunted a ‘ _hunf_ ’. Whipping the towel from his waist, he used it to ruff up his hair. Shaking the black silky feathers out like a dog before discarding the towel completely. He was ignoring her, sauntering casually to his bed in the nude and plopping right down onto it, onto his side. The lights clicked off and he faced the wall. A gesture that meant ‘ _go to bed_ ’. He wasn’t telling her anything. Hadn’t he spoken enough for one day?

* * *

Her POV

The two Saiyans didn’t bother her, but she wasn’t looking for them, anyway. She looked around for Vegeta until her eyes landed on him walking out of the bathroom, with a towel around his waist. She scowled at his refusal to answer, even when she crossed her arms and expected him to open his mouth to tell her. But he wouldn’t. He wasn’t holding back on his promise, was he? Sure, she was tired, but couldn’t they all just sleep in the pods instead? She wanted to go home! Ergh… She averted her gaze when he so casually became naked and grumbled under her breath as she headed into the bathroom instead.

Her throat hurt from all the yelling, she couldn’t do it anymore. That didn’t mean she was happy with the current state of affairs. Why wouldn’t he just let her go? She already had the sneaking suspicion that even if he took her to Earth, he’d still decide to kidnap her and take her away. Her family would be in one piece, but she’d still be with him. With them. All three of them. That wasn’t something she wanted. She had dreams. Even if they ruined her life, she had a feeling she could still build from the rubble and create great things.

She walked to the bathroom, but even if the glass was rosy, she still would not be bathing. She had to go to the bathroom after it being so long since she last did, but that she kept to a minimum– She did it as quickly as she possibly could and focused on washing herself off. Cleaning the gunk and the blood and the dirt from her body without getting nude to do it. The three Saiyans had already had enough of a show; they weren’t getting an encore.

She left the bathroom, but she didn’t go to her bed straight away. Instead, she went to Vegeta’s. Not to crawl into bed and snuggle with him, but to hover over him much the same way he had hovered over her earlier. This time, however, this wasn’t about touching or sucking a cock. This was about the one thing she wanted above everything else, that was outside of her grip just barely. She was almost there. How could he expect her to take silence for an answer? She demanded something.

“When are we going to Earth, Vegeta? When are we going back to my home? Tell me.”

* * *

His POV

Things may not have been going the earthling’s way, but everything was going according to plan, as far as Vegeta was concerned. He rarely left worlds at night unless it was really needed. He had a military upbringing. Sunrise was routine and nightfall was for rest. Days were filled with battles and anything in between fell to that schedule. Taking the girl back to her home world was no different. Especially since the prince still had some unfinished business on the pink and rosy rainy moon. He’d yet to pick up a mission from the Planet Trade Post. It’d been closed, much to his detesting. He wanted a mission to go straight into after returning to her mud ball planet. That way he could drown his thoughts in blood and war and not have to think about the fact that he’d given into her whimpering demands. With or without the girl. He knew there was a chance he’d let her stay, and he was pushing that disgusting realization down like warm vomit.

The bathroom door crept open, and he heard the girl’s footsteps stop at the head of his bed. He didn’t turn around though, even when she began muttering about ‘when they’d be going to Earth’, again. He remained silent, still, refusing to give in. Though he could feel her hot blue gaze burning into his bare shoulder blades.

He waited, maybe she’d give up. Maybe she’d take a hint and let him fucking sleep. She wasn’t, was she. After a horrible grumble, the prince pierced a glare over his shoulder, scowling horribly up at her hovering face. Did she have to fucking pout like that? It made it difficult to look away; to return to his ignoring her. Then, after a quick desiccation, he sat up, almost bumping head to hard head with her. His mouth crumpled into an angry line and his knit brow brushing her own, staring up at her.

“Did I not say I’d take you back, woman? Maybe you should learn to trust your leader.” his mouth hardened into a pessimistic line, giving her a heated look. Then, he shoved his open palm into her face, his large hand shoving her away from his personal bubble, then laying back down. He’d had enough of her, and he still wasn’t handing out any details. It felt too much like putting himself on the line. Didn’t she trust him? That was the underlined meaning, the reason he wouldn’t openly tell her what she so desperately wanted to hear. He’d given her a level of trust, and shown it tonight. It felt vulnerable, he’d be giving no more unless she gave some form of trust in return. He needed to keep something for himself to keep him on top. 

* * *

Her POV

He glared at her, but he still didn’t answer. Did he really think she was going to tolerate that? She pressed her knee onto the bed and was about to climb over to harass him when he suddenly sat up, quick enough she almost knocked her head into him if she had not moved away in a stumble quickly enough. She opened her mouth to speak, but was promptly given a hand to the face to shove her away. She stumbled back onto her own bed, but it didn’t take her long to get back up again.

“When are we going to Earth?” Sure, she at least knew he didn’t go back on his promise. But he never really said when he would bring her back, did he? For all Bulma knew, he could have decided he’d take her back a month from now. A year from now. Up until the day she died, maybe. Maybe that’s why he was avoiding talking about it– he knew she’d be furious if his response was anything other than ‘tomorrow’ or ‘right now.’ Too bad for Vegeta, that she wasn’t going to deal with anything but a real answer.

“Hey! Tell me when we’re going to Earth!” She climbed onto the bed and grabbed Vegeta’s arm now that he was back to how he was laying. She demanded to know, enough that she had even begun to shake Vegeta to try and get the answers out of him that way. Anything that she could try to get to stick to the wall, really.

“Tell me! Tell me when we’re going back to Earth! Is it tomorrow? Today? Next week? Next month? Next year?! You’d better tell me that it’s within the next twelve hours, or you’ll be sorry! I plucked out Nappa’s eye, what’s stopping me from plucking out yours?” Maybe she was going too far. But Raditz and Nappa had responded so well to the violence she’d inflicted that it felt as if it were a viable thing to get what she wanted. After all, these Saiyans responded so well to threats and violence. 

* * *

His POV

There was no getting a moments peace around this woman, was there? Vegeta debated pressing his pillow over his head as soon as she began ranting and raving again, but to his dismay, he didn’t have a chance. Not only invading his territory, but having the nerve to put her hands on a creature that could kill her within a heartbeat, and begin shaking him. He couldn’t believe it, but that wasn’t what was making his heart thump. She’d crawled into his bed, touching him so openly - as if he wasn’t a threat. No one did that! Not to mention …she was being so authoritative, dominant, demanding ... almost violent with her words. The girl was about to get herself into serious trouble.

The moment he turned his quick shoulder in her direction, she was already pinned down. His swift movements had pinned her back to the bed, hovering over her much like he had in the past. With his knees on either side of her and her wrists pinned beside her head in the soft mattress. Vegeta was staring down at her, but not in his usual smug way. It was like an animal, a predator fascinated by the odd behavior of what it had previously perceived as prey, but now didn’t know what to do with.

His head tilted slowly, one way, then the next. Screwing up his brow and gingerly curling his lip over his teeth. His pearly whites and eye shine catching the flashy light of the world outside the hotel. Maybe he was stalling, somehow, in his own fucked up way. The prince didn’t want to tell her when they’d be leaving. He’d spent too much time trying to collect her. Time trying to convince himself that there was no way he’d be letting her go again. But then why was there a sickening, volatile sensation in his gut whenever he thought about it. Maybe ignoring her was his way of rejecting the thought. ...but it looked like he could only keep from telling her for so long. She wasn’t going to give up, was she.

Plus, she trusted him. She didn’t say it; she didn’t mean to show it - most likely. But she’d crawled right into bed with him, even now, as he had her pressed onto her back, rolling his thumb over the palm of her small feminine hand, he could rape her, kill her, but he didn’t - and some part of her must have known that when she started demanding he tell her. But that didn’t mean his asshole nature couldn’t fuck with her.

“You already tried, remember how well that went,” he mocked, then slowly let go of one of her wrist. Tapping his free hand to the bottom of his left eye lid. A nice light colored scar dipped from his lower eye lid. It was where she’d stabbed him in the eye with the scouter when they’d first rode together in the pod. He didn’t look phased by it, if anything amused by the mark. Then he leaned down, so close that he could of bit bottom lip off. And by the subtle growl vibrating from his chest, there was a chance he just might. But he didn’t, he rolled off of her completely, giving her the warm wall of his back. It was a few drawn out moments later that he finally murmured, “... _tomorrow._ ” She’d earned that much of an answer, besides, how else did he expect to get any sleep.

* * *

Her POV

Stupidly, she had not anticipated him pinning her down like that. She had wide eyes by the time Vegeta stared down at her from their new position, but they quickly settled into a bloody glare. He was trying to control her again. Why couldn’t he just answer? Her nostrils flared while he looked her over like he was attempting to figure her out. Her eyes narrowed at the shine of his teeth, and all she could feel was impatience. Come on. Just answer her already. She knew he wouldn’t rape her by now, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t irritated. She wasn’t particularly fond of being pinned down, even if she wasn’t struggling.

Finally, he spoke to her, but not about when they’d be leaving– he spoke to her about what she’d tried last time to blind him, and coupled it with him letting go of her wrist to point out the tiny, pathetic scar she’d given him from when she’d stabbed him in the eye. She rolled her eyes and jutted her bottom lip out, thinking to herself that she wished she were a little more violent back then. She did have a chance to kill him at one point while in the pod with him, if she remembered correctly. But she was hesitant and she ruined it. There were plenty of situations like that. She’d gone from hesitant, however, to acting like a snake. Waiting for the perfect opportunity and then striking when least expected.

He leaned in and she turned her eyes away out of irritation rather than subjugation. He spent so much time trying to intimidate her, but it wasn’t working at the moment. She was too fed up to be scared of anything. …That’s when she got her answer. He let her go and rolled over, and she was left with her answer. She was more than pleased. Tomorrow.

She glanced at Vegeta and debated just lying in the bed there, but she didn’t want to be any closer to any of the Saiyans than absolutely necessary. But then what had happened before had come to mind, with the capsule hotel. She’d been kidnapped while Vegeta slept. The door was still broken, and it wouldn’t be hard for someone to sneak in if they so choose while they were sleeping. …Besides, she was tired, and the bed was big enough. So despite the fact she had her own bed, she closed her eyes and nodded off. The best she could, anyway– it was hard to fall asleep when you knew you were so close to something you’ve been dreaming about for so long.

* * *

His POV

There would be no intimidating her, the prince knew it the moment she flashed him that wicked stare of hers. The one that burned him down to his bones and heated him up inside. Honestly, how could he be angry at her when she was pinned under him in his bed, and jutting out her bottom lip like that. Was there any other reasoning he needed for letting her off any proverbial hook? She’d gotten away with lying, eye gouging, ordering his men around, and now demanding details. As angry as he could look, meeting her glare, dagger for dagger, he was enjoying himself.

That is until he rolled over. Vegeta was sure once the girl got her answer that she’d be hopping into the closest bed as soon as possible. ‘Would rather die than spend another moment with him’, wasn’t that what she so often spat in his face. He didn’t care, but he did remember. That’s why it surprised him when he noticed her weight settling into the mattress behind him. Getting herself comfortable against the wall of her back. Sure, they’d shared beds before, and slept in pods, but this was just odd.

Maybe she was seeking protection - he figured that out quick enough. By the time an hour or so had rolled by, the prince carefully slid from one side, to the next; as silently and skillfully as the shifting sand. Now facing the supposedly sleeping female, he took his time to watch her rest. The glow of night hit her hair wonderfully, like silver lace. At one point he was tempted to touch it. After glancing and making sure both Raditz and Nappa were snoring asleep, he brushed the back of his finger down the girl’s head, tracing the flow of her hair to the line of her cheek, down to her soft jaw line. It could of been taken as affection, and maybe it had, but the prince would never know it. To him, he was investigating, touching her while he still had the chance, before he let her walk alone on her home planet.

What the hell was he thinking? Of course he’d be touching her more, much more, after they visited her home planet. What idiotic dribble had gotten into his head? She’d given him sex, and he wanted more, it was only a matter of time - he told himself. Choking down his intuition that told him otherwise. Of course he’d demand she come back with him. That was the end of it, he’d have no other outcome. He’d decided.

His thoughts were interrupted when something passed the cracked door. The tall lanky creature pausing outside of their room once it noticed the hotel door was cracked. Bulma was right to stay in his bed. It looked like this planet wasn’t as peaceful as it appeared. The prince’s arm resting protectively over the girl at his side, watching the doorway until the creature got the vibe to move on or face death. The prince remained in that position the rest of the night. Buckling her in safely, so that he too, could get some peaceful sleep without worry of someone snatching her from under him. The bridge of his nose buried into her hair until the moon faced its sun, bringing daybreak. Vegeta did always rise with the sun.

* * *

Her POV

She felt him touching her. She had half a mind to slap him, but something drove her not to. She was too tired to bother stirring when she was so close to sleep, and… It felt nice. It was pleasant. It made her smile, if only faintly, and brought memories of Yamcha caressing her to sleep. Vegeta may not have been Yamcha, but it was just a little reminder of something nice. When he wrapped an arm around her protectively with all those caresses, she ended up nodding off for real. Completely oblivious to the danger Vegeta was protecting her from.

She woke up to Vegeta holding her tightly. His face was pressed into her hair, and the way he held on felt as if he was scared she was going to blow away. Some part of her appreciated it– it meant that she was safe. The same way it did when he held her in place before crash-landings in the pods. She didn’t have to worry. But at the same time, she was both impatient and slightly disgusted. She didn’t want to cuddle with Vegeta, with all he’d done to her. She wanted to go home, that’s what she wanted.

She pulled away from his grasp and shook him violently, the pout appearing on her face. “Vegeta! The sun is up! It’s morning! It’s tomorrow! I want to go home now! It’s time to get off this horrible planet and go back to Earth! Hurry! Up!” With that final outburst, she climbed out of the bed and took her clothing capsule to switch into a different, more clean pair of clothes as quick as she could. A pastel pink sweater, baggy white pants, and a puffy scarlet jacket. She’d certainly bought a lot of stuff when shopping with him yesterday.

“Vegeta! Hurry up! Let’s go to the pods so I can finally go home and get away from all you horrible men!” She stomped her foot a few times to alert them and try to prod them into action, clearly more than a little impatient.

* * *

His POV

He’d been awake for some time. It wasn’t like Vegeta to stay rooted in bed past sunrise, but something held him to it. Maybe it was the girl in his grasp, or maybe it was the stiff morning wood between his legs. Honestly, how could he not wake up a little hard? He had beautiful earthling tucked under his arm, suffocating him with her hair, and sharing his bed as if he weren’t a creature to be worried about. Every instinct he possessed told him to top her. Such easy prey, right there, sleeping soundly in his bed.

While he was no shy creature when it came to jerking himself in her company, they both knew that fairly well, something kept him from rubbing against her through the sheets. He didn’t want to disturb her. Vegeta knew it’d only take a little suggestive movement to have her skipping out of bed, and, well ...he sort of liked things how they were. He liked having her so comfortable and helpless there by his side. There was something about it, perhaps a level of trust, that he reveled in. No one ever trusted him, not like this, it was new and he was exploring it; soaking it up. Much like the morning rays that were pouring through the glassy building.

And then she jumped out of bed, and the serenity of early morning crashed to a halt. Kami, she even woke up demanding things! Give the woman an inch of power, and suddenly she was ordering the prince himself. And out of bed, no less. Vegeta pressed his hands to his face, trying to blot out the reality that a female shaking him from his slumber. That was a new one. Usually they were whimpering and clawing to get out from under him, whenever he collapsed on one. His fingers wedged open, peeking with one foul, angry black eye, only to see that pout of hers fuming down at him.

“God damn it, you insufferable woman, I’m awake!” Vegeta roared more than spoke, planting his footing on the floor. All of Bulma’s ruckus had woken up Raditz and Nappa, too. They were steadily getting ready as Vegeta got dressed. They may not of liked taking orders from the earthling, or her rude wake up call. But honestly, anything to get her to shut up. Besides, between Nappa and Raditz, they were hoping this trip would be the last they ever had to see of her. Nappa especially.

Their next stop wasn’t going to be the pods though, much to Bulma’s regret. Vegeta lead them right out of the hotel (without paying for damages) and into the city streets. No more rain, only a mist hung over head. He was leading them towards the Planet Trade Post. He’d been waiting since the night before, after all. Luckily it didn’t take him long, and the prince finished his business as quickly as possible. Next, was to find their pods. That’d mean splitting up. Nappa and Raditz in one direction - back towards the outskirts of town. But Vegeta had left his pod not far from the hotel. It may blast a hole in the side of the nearest building when taking off, but who was he to care?

* * *

Her POV

All her complaining got them moving fast enough to ease her complaining, but she was still impatient. She was out the door before anyone else was, and trying her damnest not to just start hopping on her feet and dragging them along. The pod was in sight as soon as they left the lobby, but to her dismay and anger, Vegeta walked the other direction. It was met with a lot of complaining and yelling all the way to the stupid trading post, but thankfully all that complaining seemed to put his butt in gear. It wasn’t long until they finally got back to the pod, while Raditz and Nappa continued off to their own pods.

She waited impatiently for Vegeta to climb into his seat before she followed after him and closed the door. Her body turned to face Vegeta, but she didn’t bother resting on his lap this time. She already spent a night with him on his bed, she didn’t want to start snuggling up with him the whole ride back to her planet that she so dearly missed. She pursed her lips at him and watched him with burning eyes, to the point where she didn’t even have to say what she was thinking– _hurry up and get this pod moving!_

“When I go home and wish everyone back, you’re going to leave. You’re not going to touch anyone; you’re not going to do anything. You’re going to go back into these dumb pods and go off on whatever stupid mission you decided to go on next, alright?” she huffed, blowing a gust of air from her nose. “I’m going to do whatever I want. I’m not yours. I’m my own person, and there’s no way in hell I’m staying with you any longer as soon as I’m on my planet again! I have a plan set up for what I want to do next, and you have no part of that!”

* * *

His POV

If the girl thought she was going to get any pity coming from the prince, she had another thing coming. He met her fiery glare, eye for eye, as soon as she faced him in the security of the pod. Bulma could complain to her heart’s desire, but that wasn’t going to make Vegeta care any more towards taking her back anymore then he already did. It was amazing he had agreed to go this far. The mocking smirk he shot her telling her who was still in charge. His fingers pressing the coordinates into the console. Let her wear herself out, he thought to himself, maybe she’ll be less of a hassle on the way there. He really didn’t know how much more of that yelling he could take without snapping. The vein above his right eye brow had begun to twitch.

“Is that so?” his sarcasm mocked her further, he did enjoy their banter, even over trivial things like this, “And you expect me to do that with my tail between my legs? I’m only taking you to see if these things work, for myself.” that was a half lie, “I’ll do whatever the hell I want with your sorry excuse of a planet. Maybe I’ll blow it up a second time, since it was so easy the first go around.” he probably shouldn’t have said that, but that’s exactly why he did. The prince couldn’t resist pushing her buttons, especially when she was pursing her lips like that. His coy smile and devils glare burned into her own, bumping foreheads; challenging her. It was hard to tell where his teasing ended and where the truth began. After all, he’d burned it up once already.

Then his eyes trailed down, and he noticed something. It was pink today - her sweater. When had that happened? Vegeta wasn’t one to notice clothing let alone style or wear, but he did notice that. After all, he’d enjoyed the first one, but pink was good too. It was softer looking, he was tempted to run his thumb across the front of her chest; where it hung just in front of his finger tips from her position. But he didn’t, his eyes flicked back towards her. Burning at her with just as much intensity as before. Now if only she’d take off that god awful jacket, the pod was cramped enough as it were. 

It’d be a few hours before they arrived at her wasteland of a home. Only Vegeta knew the current state of the planet now. He’d made a note to check out Earths status when he’d picked up a new mission from the Trade Post that morning. She may not have known it, but Vegeta was withholding information from the girl. Her planet had already been bought, and was currently in the process of being terraformed for a new species to use as a second ‘home away from home’. One half of the planet was beginning to grow green again. But the second half, her home land, was still burned, untouched, and probably crawling with scouters that were rummaging through the rubble for anything of value before the terraforming began.

* * *

Her POV

The pod burst into the air, and Vegeta spoke back to her. She should have expected those kinds of words, but that didn’t mean she was happy with them. He expression contorted in anger, and her hands balled into fists. How… How dare he. If he dared do anything like that, she’d kill him. She hadn’t thought about killing him in a while, but if he had the nerve, she’d do it. She’d find a way. He’d begun to lower his guard around her– all she had to do was pretend she was sleeping until he decided to snuggle up to her, right? If she could kill all the men she had, and if she could pluck out Nappa’s eye like she did, then she could kill Vegeta. She risked being killed by Nappa and Raditz soon after, but it’s not like it mattered. She’d have to wait a full year for the dragon balls to come to life. What would she do for a full year anyway? She’d rather die and be with the people she loved. Maybe she’d feel more like herself in death.

“I’ll make sure you don’t,” she finally replied, after what seemed like forever. she’d been thinking so hard about how she’d kill him, after all. “And if you do, I’ll make sure you feel sorry for it.” Her body turned and she stared out the window, eyes narrowing. It bothered her, what he’d said– that she was only bringing her to see how the dragon balls worked. …Did that mean she had to kill him anyway? Who knew what he’d wish for if given the chance. For her to be his little slave, forever and always? The idea made her shiver in disgust. No, she couldn’t let that happen. Even worse than anything else. 

It was hours until they got to Earth. When it came into sight, she almost thought he had lied to her and sent her somewhere else. It didn’t look like Earth. …Though, wait, no, it was. The bodies of water were all the same. And there was Mars, Venus… She looked back at Vegeta quizzically before she figured it out in her head and turned back to the window. They were terraforming. Like planets did to other planets they colonized in the sci-fi books Tights wrote. That’s what was happening to her planet. Someone was taking it over, and it seemed like it was already halfway terraformed. The other half just reminded her of how badly Vegeta and the other idiots had destroyed her planet as well as her life.

She didn’t want to sit on Vegeta’s lap. She’d rather bonk her head again, she decided, as they got closer and closer to Earth. She’d survived it enough times. It was worth the brain damage to keep her pride.

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t giving into her rebellion, not this time. If anything, the bastard prince was getting a bit of a kick out of watching the woman try and brace herself against the side of the pod, as she had before during a crash landing. It hadn’t turned out well then, and as amusing as it was, Vegeta wanted control. And as soon as the landing system was in gear, the beast wrapped his arms around her. His eyes met her own, the phrase ‘ _not this time_ ’, piercing through his expression. She could fight, she could bite, but he was determined to buckle her down this time. It very well may be the last time he had to put up with her in his pod, he wasn’t about to have her brains smashed against the window as a tacky memento. 

The pod crashed somewhere between the terraformed and wasteland strip of the world. Luckily it wasn’t too far from where he’d originally picked her up (he’d refuse to admit that was on purpose, if asked), but they were in the middle of nowhere. That was fairly noticeable from the moment the pod door hissed open and Vegeta allowed the girl to leave the safety of his chest.

Nappa and Raditz pods had landed fairly close to Vegeta’s. Three nice big craters. Grass was beginning to sprout from the soot that covered the ground, and as far as one could see there was nothing but sky and earth. Blue sky. Desert in one direction, planes of newly terraformed fields in the other. Her home town couldn’t have been too far, but what direction? It was certainly her planet, but it was in the process of change and renewal. Not to mention the crewmen and blue-collar-level workers that dotted her home world now. They couldn’t be friendly faces if met along her quest for the dragon balls.

“Well, princess, what’s your master plan now?” it was Vegeta, mocking her with the tilt of his head and arrogant witty grin, his arms crossed over his chest in a leaderly stance. Raditz and Nappa were falling in line behind him, both of the soldiers looking towards their leader for their next command. However, Vegeta’s sour expression was on Bulma. It wasn’t that he was looking for her to lead, he was waiting to see how she’d planned to get herself out of this mess. He told her he wouldn’t help her, after all. And while the brute may of had secret desires to help her out once he’d made his point - the point that she’d need him, that he again was in charge, he wanted to see what she’d try first. She was clever, and he was curious. Besides, like he’d ever help without giving her a chance to prove herself first.

* * *

Her POV

He forced her up into his arms, despite her protests. She kicked and bit and hit him, but ultimately he kept a buckled hold on her until they landed on the planet. Maybe secretly she was happy about that, but she didn’t show it. She didn’t want him touching her. She fought him tooth and nail until he finally let her go, and as soon as she was out of his grasp, she burst open the pod door and scrambled outside. At first, she was met with relief. Her body hit the grass and she buried her face in it, letting herself get a big whiff of the smell she’d come to miss so badly. 

…And it wasn’t the smell that she was expecting. It wasn’t a bad smell, but it certainly wasn’t the smell of grass and dirt as she knew Earth’s to smell like. After a blink, she pulled herself up and looked around. At first, it looked like Earth. Same blue sky, same white clouds, same green grass. But as she looked closer, it all looked off. The trees were wrong. Their bark looked more like fur than anything else, and the leaves sprouted from the bark itself rather than from branches. They had… No branches. The bushes were giant bundles of fuzzy material, and there were no flowers, as far as she could tell. Even when she looked down at the grass, she realized the dirt below it looked… Yellow. 

There was a field of crop nearby, colored a deep red and looking like nothing she’d ever seen before. A dark-skinned alien with elephant ears was tending to it, and when she turned her head all she could see was desert. But even there. The sand was a strange color. A brighter shade of the yellow of the dirt under her. She got up to her feet and looked back at Vegeta when he spoke, but only for a moment. Her body turned again and she focused her eyes on the sight in front of her. He wasn’t tricking her. She saw Venus and Mars and Jupiter and all the other planets. This was the Earth she knew. But at the same time… It wasn’t.

“Didn’t you say you weren’t going to bother watching me? Screw off,” she replied, stripping off some of her clothing as she realized how hot it was under the beating sun. She pulled out her clothing capsule and realized her other capsule was still in the pod, but she did nothing more than look back at Vegeta and huff. She dropped her capsule on the ground and dug through the clothes for something more revealing to wear, and after a few moments of using her big coat to hide her body as she changed, she was left in a pair of trouser shorts and a tube top. Everything went back in her capsule and she was off on her way into the desert, even without the second capsule. 

* * *

His POV

He always did love it when she fought him; when she showed her fiery blue spirit. Vegeta was all too ready to let the woman flee from his lap the moment the pod door hissed open. The world was revealed, her world, or at least her planet. Everything had changed, down to the type of soil under their boots, but Vegeta never knew it. To him, this was just another rock, another mark along the circle of life. Planets were destroyed, bought, and renewed. It was the way of things, so why was the girl so desperate to renew her planet to its former state? The prince just couldn’t wrap his head around it. He’d let the death of his planet go, long, long ago.

For instance, the way the girl practically rolled in the grass the moment she was free of him, confused the star struck prince. Tilting his head and side stepping around her like an agile feline inspecting a mouse. She appeared happy, then confused; the expression on her face after that, the prince couldn’t decipher. Was she possibly upset? After the long bloody trek, she’d gone through to get here? How was he supposed to know her odd behavior was due to her realizing that her planet was not what she hoped. To him, she was the hopeless one. Though, her trying to change her outfit from her appealing pink sweater, through the cover of her jacket, was somewhat amusing. Honestly, he couldn’t grasp the idea of shame.

And then she told him to screw off, and the prince’s dastardly cocky grin was back in place. Scowling a hole through her. He was more than pleased to let her go on her own way. Both Raditz and Nappa standing just behind their leaders shoulders as the woman angrily stomped off into the direction of the burning yellow sands. All three of them stood there, amused, laughing at her rouge decision to go barreling into the unforgiving sun by herself. None of them trying to stop her, in fact, it was Vegeta who was the first to pipe up about it, rudely.

“A thousand credits says she makes it to a week.” barreled the prince.

“A week?” both the men blinked in their prince’s direction. It wasn’t like Vegeta to place bets, but it didn’t exactly feel like Vegeta was speaking directly to them. More, prodding the females pride, seeing as he said it loud enough.

“The sun will burn her before that,” murmured Raditz, “…a day, maximum.” it felt strange betting against his prince, but the long haired male wasn’t about to pass up a thousand credits. Crossing his arms, shifting his stance, warily watching the female trudge out into the sand all alone.

“Nah,” boomed Nappa’s big voice, “...three days. She’s got no water.” he eyed her person, seeing no means of supplies on her. He actually had a little faith in her. The earthling was the reason behind his patched up eye. He’d seen her kill a man with a bone shank before, too. He knew now that she was worth considering.

“A week...” growled Vegeta, again. It wasn’t so much a bet he was placing, but a time limit he was setting for himself. He did say he wasn’t going to help her. And kami knew both he and the female were too stubborn for their own good, to offer or ask for help. He’d watch her, from a distance (he did want to find out about the dragon balls), but he wouldn’t offer his assistance until it looked like she really needed it. The bet was his sneaky way of keeping tabs on her while still remaining his arrogant, selfish self.

* * *

Her POV

She glanced back once, to see them all watching her from their place at the pods. They actually didn’t follow her? …She wasn’t sure whether or not to be happy about that. Her capsule– …Whatever. She didn’t need their help. She’d survived in worse deserts than this. She’d get through this. And then she’d get to her house. Her basement had a dragon ball; she’d find it in the rubble and could get off from there. Maybe she could find leftover supplies to help her build a radar.

Damn, though, the heat was sweltering. It felt good at first, when she didn’t have to worry about how freezing it was. She was raised in a warm climate, after all. It didn’t snow in the Winter at all, so she was for the most part used to it. But the further along she got, the more the heat bothered her. She began to sweat, and after what felt like hours–and actually probably was–her legs and feet ached and begged her to stop. Now that she thought of it, she hadn’t even eaten yet. Or had a drink! Gn… Shit.

She pressed her lips together and eventually found a rock formation that reminded her of Yamcha’s hideout (he’d brought her to it a few times in their first year or two of dating). She found her way inside and was pleased to find that… Yes, it did seem like his hideout. What was left of it, anyway. The calligraphy on the wall, the stove he’d managed to create, and a few supplies and capsules here and there. And after some scavenging, she even found a container of water.

She drank it up and dropped her butt on the ground to look out the window. …It was nice that at least this was still intact. What else would be? Maybe she’d get luckier than she thought. She’d relax for a little while here– just until the sun began to set, and then head out. And when it starts getting cold, she’d wrap her body up in more clothes before the temperature dropped too much. Maybe he had a vehicle capsule here she could use to get her back to West City. She at least knew where she was from here.

* * *

His POV

It was exciting to see her march off, so head strong, into the blistering desert sands. She was bold, but she was stubborn, and Vegeta couldn’t wait to see if she had another round of survival skills hidden up her ass that he’d yet to know about. The prince had seen her in action in forests, jungles, the unforgiving cold, suburban life, deadly oceans, and now it looked like they’d be adding ‘desert’ to the list. It wasn’t even meant to happen this way. The girl just seemed to have a knack for getting herself into survival scenarios, and Vegeta was all too happy to see how far she’d get.

Besides, as if they’d ever help. It was survival of the fittest in their rough and brutal society. As cruel as it may have seemed, even the prince held the same pattern of thinking as his men. That being - if she survived, she was strong, if she died, it was nature weeding out the weak. Pity, too, that was something he was hoping wouldn’t happened. In his odd, fucked up way, Vegeta was showing his faith in the girl. He did want those dragon balls in the end, after all. If he suspected she’d just end up dead in the heat, he wouldn’t have allowed his only lead to march to its death. …plus, it was fun proving his point. That she’d need him eventually.

The trio of Saiyans split up by mid-day. Raditz had gone south to scout the nearby terraforming outpost; checking up on just how many civilians versus crewmen were on this dusty rock. While Nappa was instructed to head north; scouting out the initial damage of the major cities they’d burned, once upon a time. That left Vegeta on his own, and with a scouter fixed to his face, he trailed the girl into the blistering desert. Remaining out of sight, out of range, until her ki signature blinked in and out of the range of his scouter. Just to insure she couldn’t keep an eye on him, too.

It looked like he was right; he knew he would be. She’d found shelter. It put a crooked smile on his face, brushing his thumb over his lips in quiet contemplation. Kami, the earthling really was resourceful, wasn’t she? While Bulma did have the home field advantage, there was a good chance even the most familiar earth native would have died in that desert. But it was nightfall already, and she was tucked away safely in the shadow of a small desert den. The prince had the strangest inclination that she knew the hole in the rock was there. Very suspicious. He risked closing in on her territory. Sitting himself on top the large rocky formation, while a sea of stars shown from above.

* * *

Her POV

When Bulma was satisfied from a little R&R, the moon already hung in the sky, coupled with a breathtaking amount of stars. She dug through Yamcha’s things and was successful in finding a few capsules. She went to the window and began tossing them- cooking ingredients like salt and pepper (useless), a machine gun (not so useless), and a run-down truck (perfect). She took her capsule of clothing and bundled herself up, but not before noticing that the capsule was beginning to break apart. Its button was getting loose, its parts getting jingly from screws no longer being in properly. …This make-shift capsule wasn’t working well to stand the test of time. She’d need to make some real ones. She just had to hope she had the supplies in the lab.

For the time being, she picked all her clothes up and everything else in the capsule, including the pelt and her present to her dad, and went outside with it. She tossed them in the passenger seat of the truck along with the machine gun, and… Well. The seasoning could come in handy, she guessed. When she found food, anyway. She was starving, and the only thing that would help her there at the moment was getting the truck to somewhere where she could get some food.

It was freezing now that the sun had set, but with her clothes, it wasn’t a big deal. She set off in her truck–which surprisingly ran even with how old it was–and got started in the direction she thought West City must be. To the West from here, obviously. She just had to keep going and eventually she’d at least find something familiar enough other than the miles of sand to lead her home. How destroyed could this part of Earth be? Sure, it hadn’t been terraformed yet, but there’s no way it could be that bad.

As she drove, she got a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. Something sitting on a rock. Was that… Vegeta? …She shouldn’t be surprised. Of course he’d be following her, like some kind of disgusting vulture. Maybe if she ignored him, he’d eventually leave her alone. That’s what she was hoping, anyway. She was fine by herself, why would he still be following her around like a lost puppy?

* * *

His POV

It looked like the girl was planning on traveling by night. Not particularly a bad idea, actually. The prince, perched on his rock, was actually impressed with her eagerness to move on. She was always determined, nose to the grindstone, the will to survive greater than that of a wounded animal. From his stand point, it appeared she possessed her magical ability once again; the ability to pull whatever she needed out of those damned capsules. The truck was a surprise. Now he was sure she must have known this territory from before. Somewhere in the back of his brain, it made the brute wonder of her past prior to leaving earth.

The prince’s vision trailed her until her speeding truck was nearly out of sight. The dust trail its tires kicked up in the sand, leaving proof of her existence. He’d follow her easily enough. Moving from rock formation to mountain side whenever he felt the need to shorten the distance between them again. Always keeping the girl within range of his scouter, but keeping his silhouette shrouded under the cover of night. His shadow darting from one place to another, like a black figure moving among the backdrop of stars. The earthling was doing all the hard work for him. Collecting these ‘dragon balls’ and showing him now they worked, if they worked. Not to mention, it was always interesting to see what the girl would think up next.

For instance, how she’d handle the incoming threat, watching from the side of a nearby cliff side. Vegeta stopped short on a high rock formation. Close enough to watch the girl trail along the shifting sands without much trouble. His scouter was picking up traces of ki. Several of them ...but, he said he wouldn’t help. Let her deal with it, he grunted to himself. Making himself comfortable on the high pedestal, watching the scene unfold below.

The first thing that came, was a bang. The sand next to Bulma’s truck exploding from the shot of a distant rocket launcher. Again! This time it aimed for her rear tire, but missed. The incoming fire was coming from a jeep armed by two men. One driving with a knife bitten between its big ugly teeth, one holding what looked like a grenade launcher. And they were speeding right towards her, flying over the dunes with the intent to ram her truck. But that wasn’t all… There were two vehicles trying to overtake her. One incoming from her left, another revealing itself from behind a second rock formation from her right. Desert bandits, and not the friendly human kind. These were aliens, terraforming crewmen that’d gone rogue and were now living it out as thugs.

* * *

Her POV

It was a decent trip, at first. The truck actually had air conditioning. She managed to forget about her worries and pretend that nothing was wrong as the sand rolled by, all the way until she was spooked some hours later by the sudden explosion right next to her truck as she sped through. At first she thought it was a landmine. Then there was another hit, just behind her rear wheel. She glanced back into the rear-view mirror to see a gang of cars getting closer and closer, with a group of freakish aliens in them. Three cars in total. …Damn, she really just couldn’t have a break?

She grabbed her machine gun and kept her foot pressed to the gas. Her leg came up to help steer the car so she could hold her gun with both hands– it wasn’t the kind of pistol she could fire with one arm. She needed both for this big thing. How unlucky. But it also did the trip much, much better than a pistol did. She began firing out the right window at the car until it stopped– presumably from the driver dying. Next the left car. There was a bit of a shoot-out, and he’d blasted her back window open. All the while, the car behind her was getting more accurate. She’d nearly lost balance when a close explosion lurched the back of her car upward.

When the left car was dealt with, she sharply pressed the steering wheel down with her leg to force the car to the left. It wasn’t a very precise method of steering, but all she had to do was get a good shot at the stupid jeep. And as soon as she could see them out her window, she began firing. There was no way in hell she’d give them the opportunity to take her car. Or anything in it! She’d come too far. She was too close to what she wanted. She wasn’t about to get grabbed and abused by aliens all over again!

“GO TO HELL!” She yelled at them as she shot the gun, up until it came up short. …Shit, did she ever even bring ammo? …Maybe they’d have something. She dropped the machine gun back at the passenger’s seat and grabbed the steering wheel with both hands again to swerve around. She’d have to ram into the car. Hell, maybe she could even wrestle the man’s grenade launcher from him. Though he hadn’t shot it in a while. Had she killed him?

* * *

His POV

It was a good show, and Vegeta had the best ring side seat to watch the little earthling defend herself on her own home planet. As he watched, the prince leaned forward on his rocky perch. The explosions and car chase like his version of a decent action scene. There were a few times where he felt his palm itch, the need to burn the beings chasing _his_ earthling to a smoldering crisp. But he had to remain calm, to remind himself to allow her to handle this. She’d gotten herself into it, she damn well needed to get herself out, without any help. How many times had she proven herself to the Saiyan? Enough that his instincts perceived her as a decent class of warrior.

He licked his top lip, much like a nervous feline watching a mouse. He was waiting in suspense, for the time to interfere and strike down her opponents, but it never came. It was difficult not to join in a fight, the roar of the engine and the smell of blood causing his muscles to flex and his mouth to water. But it was even better watching her mow them down the way she was. Honestly, it was turning him on, full speed ahead. It was a damn shame he probably wouldn’t be able to top her after this. He’d remember this scene if he was ever given the chance.

It looked like the girl had managed to stop one truck, and the one to her left had flipped at the last moment, drifting over a sand dune. It left a massacre of a scene. The flipped jeep was on fire, while bodies littered the sands, soaking the dry earth. The last enemy car was still rolling, and it was tailing Bulma at ramming speed. Up until she swerved around and rammed it, head on... The two men in the car yelled, or rather squealed like pigs, shielding their faces for the inevitable impact. Lucky for Bulma, the jeep had been going uphill, up over a sand dune, and it couldn’t aim much higher without turning upside down. The head on collision forcing their jeep back onto its rear wheels, flipping it completely over until its roof crumpled in, trapping the men inside.

The man with the grenade launcher, however, was not dead. He was a gurgling, bloody heap. In the face he looked much like a pig, only green and fuzzy. His shoulder and fat neck was sputtering blood, clenching his dead partners knife in his mouth, and aiming the grenade launcher right at Bulma’s truck. The grenade launcher went off, and the man spit up more gooey blood. It was just up to who had better control over their aim now - the pig with the bloody face, or the girl in the wrecked truck. Vegeta stood on edge, feeling the tug towards the scenario, though he’d yet to move a muscle. As silent as the rock himself, though he hoped she could get herself out of this one.

* * *

Her POV

She smashed her truck into the jeep. Her plan had been to hit it on the side and bust a tire, but it was hard to steer in the sand and ultimately she ended up hitting them head-on. Her belongings went flying and she almost had too, if not for her seatbelt. The jeep flipped in front of her and the destroyed truck began moving forward immediately, albeit slowly, now that the path was cleared. She took a moment to gather herself and was about to press on the break, but then the pig came out from the jeep, pointing the grenade launcher at her. She sped up.

He set it off. It burst right in front of her vehicle, and the truck suffered the same fate the jeep did– it flipped. The truck turned on its side in the air from the angle of the dunes, and before Bulma could process what was happening, she was hanging from the seatbelts of her seat with a bad case of whiplash and a bloody head from smacking it on the dashboard at some point. She blinked a few times and looked around, before her eyes landed on the passenger window. Between all the sand was the bloody, crushed, barely recognizable face (brains, morelike) of a pig. The parts of the window that had burst from gunshots caused disgusting scenes of where his face had oozed in. It looked like play-do being shoved through holes.

She gulped and undid her seatbelt carefully, slowly lowering herself down to stand on the passenger side window. She shivered at the sound of the pig’s squelching flesh, but she had bigger things to worry about. The machine gun had been stuck under the seat forcefully from the impact, but she managed to get it free. She held it firmly and used to butt to break open the back window. It took a good amount of hits, to the point her arms ached from tiredness, but eventually she succeeded.

She grabbed up all her things, even with how dirty they were, and threw them through the shattered window onto the side of the bed, at least the best she could to avoid it getting in the sand. Next she climbed out, but managed to get cut up in the process. …Ugh. Nothing ever went right for her, did it? At least she had that other car. The one that had stopped rather than flipped. She bundled her stuff up in her hands and headed out into the sand to the jeep, to find two dead bodies in it. She dropped her things in the back and proceeded to pull both bodies out from the car with a bit of difficulty. She debated going back and looting, but figured it wasn’t worth it. She was close enough to getting her Earth back anyway. So she climbed in the driver’s seat and began driving.

* * *

His POV

It was like watching a hatchling trying to break out its shell. It took a few drawn out breaths, but eventually Vegeta witnessed the girl pull herself free from the burning wreckage. For a moment after the car had flipped, he’d wondered if she’d survived. The prince could smell the perfume of her blood lifting into the night air. The scent of guts and burning, twisted metal making his heart beat. Longing to join the fight, but he never moved. Her ki signature blinked on the thin rose colored screen of his scouter, but it could only be a matter of moments before it blinked its last. He watched and waited, knowing he could be watching her last few moments. No, he wouldn’t give up on her strength that easily.

Crouching down on the high rock, too cold hearted to help, Vegeta allowed her to rely on only herself. She’d wanted to do this on her own after all, this was the earthlings mission. Whereas any normal person would have tried to free her from the three car pileup. But she didn’t stop there, hijacking one of the dead alien’s jeeps and continuing on her journey, despite her wounded state of being. Vegeta knew she’d lost a bit of blood pulling herself from the wreckage. He’d dropped from his high place and hovered just inches from the burning tires of the over turned truck. The sand was thick with her scent, and her tracks staggered in the sand. Just how far could this female push herself? Sometimes she really did remind him of a Saiyan herself.

“Vegeta, are you there?” the static of the prince’s scouter stopped his thoughts. It was Raditz, butting in with an update, “...the southern Hemisphere is still pretty bad, but it looks like they’re using the lack of population to build up a military base. Nappa informed me the North is being used as a port to bring in the population.” Raditz tone turned vile, “Care if we have a little …fun?”

“No.” Vegeta answered with a grunt, “Hold your positions until I give the command. Or you’ll be paying with your hides.” the transmission cut short after that. Vegeta had nothing more he wanted to say to his men, or hear their raspy voices in his ear. The prince darting off into the sky, far ahead of the girl’s truck. He’d beat her to the nearest city, where West City once stood. That had to be where she was going, he deducted from the direction she was going. This wasn’t a purging mission, he was after the dragon balls, and the girl. Destroying anything felt too much like aiding her - something his pride still wouldn’t allow.

West City. It was just as the Saiyans had left it, only the fires had long died out and things were beginning to rot. It looked like the terraforming hadn’t begun this far west just yet. The buildings were crumbled, burnt remains, and the streets were littered with debris and soot. It was quiet, too. Dead quiet, as if the apocalypse had come and gone. Which, in its own way, it had. It was all too clear that there were no human survivors left. Bulma had been the only earthling, besides the two girls, who had escaped the carnage. The struggles and horrific last few moments of West City’s inhabitants were few and in between, but they were there. Burnt remains, charred bones, and body parts that’d long since rotted, dotted here and there under the ash and wind swept trash.

* * *

Her POV

It took her by sunrise to reach the city, and when she did, she really wished Vegeta had killed her. It was a mess. It was disgusting. It brought her back to the memories of what she’d gone through. Of hearing screams and smelling fire, of telling her parents to get out but them not listening. Of hiding in the bushes only to be pulled out by Raditz. Being tossed and thrown and chased like a cat’s toy, and finally being captured. Having her clothes ripped off. Being bent over. Her breath was stuck in her throat as she drove through the decrepit streets. Her brows tightened every time she drove over something blackened and charred. Another body.

She could still navigate the streets from the remainders of her city. She could still tell what one building was supposed to be and how it differed from another, and it wasn’t long before she was back at the Capsule Corporation. There didn’t appear to be any looters around here. Had she gotten lucky? She shouldn’t say that. This was in no way ‘lucky.’ It was factually incorrect to use the word to describe this. This was hell. This was just… Hell.

She climbed out of the jeep and stared up at her house. What remained of it. The roof had fallen in and the windows were broken. Her stomach knotted as she stepped inside. Some things were destroyed, somethings were just plain missing– taken. She saw bodies of her parents’ pets, and there was something small lying there in the middle of the lobby. Half of her father’s head.

She retched the moment she realized what it was. She puked on the dirty, blackened floor, and after a moment of queasiness that made her think she was going to pass out, she continued on. She had to get to the lab, where the dragon ball was. Her hand grasped her head as she walked, a slight teeter in her step. That’s when she heard something. A… A voice. A familiar voice. Yamcha?

_“Bulma! Bulma, you got back to Earth?”_

“Y….Yamcha? Y… …How come you didn’t talk to me before? You’re such an asshole. If I didn’t feel so horrible, I’d be angry with you. As soon as I get the dragon balls, Yamcha… I swear, that’s it…”

_“Bulma, listen to me. You have to go do something else. Anything else. I just– I didn’t want to say anything…”_

“So that’s it, then? You ignore me and now you’re going to tell me you don’t want me to wish you back? I could care less. Screw off, Yamcha, I don’t want to be with you anymore, anyway.” She climbed up some rubble that blocked the path to the stairs, given the elevator wasn’t an option. She walked down, and soon enough she was in the lab.

_“Bulma–”_

“Fuck off, Yamcha!” She huffed and continued on, ignoring his words telling her to stop and that he had something to tell her. Then he spat it out–

_“There aren’t any more dragon balls!”_

“Feh! Stop lying! Of course there are! What, do you think those idiots managed to kill a God? I’ll show you, I have one in my lab! I’ll pull the dragon ball out and it’ll be perfectly shiny, just like new!” Her voice got louder and she ransacked the half-destroyed lab, until she came across it. A drawer. Her drawer. Where she kept the radar and the ball. She had to pry it open with some force, but it came out and fell to the hard ground. Tumbling out came her capsules, a wrench, her dragon radar, and… A stone.

A regular stone.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I don't actually remember much of what happens here, haha. To give you a good show of how far back this was written, this chapter starts with the first reply posted in December... of 2016.
> 
> I dunno how many of you are disappointed Nappa didn't get outright killed, but I hope the trip to Earth satisfied you. I'm pretty excited to see how you guys will feel about the characters in the future.
> 
> Also, you guys! I was thinking, since we first published this on AO3 on Febuary 13th, I'll make a bonus chapter that day! Rather than it being a continuation, I think it'll be a bonus that can work as a preview. It'll be a more recent scene so you can see how things change further on.
> 
>   
> 


	30. Death/Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma tries to grapple with her grief.  
> 

  


His POV

The Earth sunrise was just like any other planet’s sunrise that he’d seen. The rays slowly stretched over the horizon, blazing its star’s light across the valleys and city remains, until the glow of it warmed his bronze face and made his pearled armor sheen. It was just like any other planet he’d destroyed. Worth nothing more to him then another tally mark on his battle record and a sum of credits in his pocket. Its fighters hadn’t been able to defeat him, so why would he give a damn about it? Why would he care, if it couldn’t give him a worthy fight? Why was the carnage beginning to sink the pit of his stomach, the further he ventured into the heart of the quiet city streets? The place he knew the girl once called home.

The smell of dead earth and decay invaded his senses. The aftermath of war, something he was never around to witness. Always long gone and looking for another fight by the time the planet quieted into a hollow corpse. After he’d beaten and stripped the life away, selling it to the masses. Vegeta had always known the aftermath, but it had been a while since he’d walked among it. Crunching twisted metal and brittle bone under his boot. Not that it bothered him, the man’s constitution was as sturdy and calm as ever. His hard gaze roaming over the charred remains of his victims as easily as ‘people watching’ from the side lines.

The only thing he seemed to notice, was where the girl had gone to. The prince had stopped just outside of the fallen structure that was once Capsule Corp. It looked vaguely familiar, perhaps where he’d met the girl, if he recalled correctly. The fallen dome structure reminding him of their time on the beach, and the way she went on about her past. She did that a lot, come to think of it. The earthling was so ready to return to her burnt rock, that she’d been unable to eat, sex, or sleep since he’d agreed to return to this hunk of space junk. Had she found what she was looking for, down in the rubble of her ruined home?

He was a little curious stepping inside. Was this her home? How could he not suspect; she’d ranted on it endlessly after all. The prince’s defense system was perked, rounding the corners of the broken home like a stray cat inspecting a new alleyway. As silently as stalker invading her safe place. Tracing her scent all the way down the decaying stairwell, down into the flickering labs, until he found her standing before a desk. His gaze falling on her blue hair first, then following down to the round stone, and the contents spilled all over the dusty floor.

“Find what you were looking for?” his voice broke the silence, hinting with sarcasm, but the prince could tell something was off. There was no jumping for joy or odd vibes of happiness coming off of her, as there was so often when she talked about returning home. Something felt unpleasant, but the prince couldn’t place it. He could only stare; watching from a narrowed glare. His arms crossed, standing in the doorway like an ominous force himself. Which, he was. The prince was the reason for all of this death and destruction, after all.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t know what to do with herself. She could hear Yamcha telling her that he was sorry and how he didn’t want to tell her, but she didn’t reply. She just stared at the ground for a few minutes. She eventually reached down and grabbed her radar, switching it on. It turned on, but there were no lights. Nothing. No matter how many times she pushed the button. Over and over, until she began to sob. She couldn’t stop when she started. It was at first quiet and discrete, but as soon as she heard Vegeta’s voice, she broke into a loud, obnoxious cry.

She dropped down to sit on the ground and roll herself into a ball. She threw the radar across the room and heard it shatter, but she didn’t care. This was awful. She’d never get any of them back. They were all gone. They were all somewhere she felt like she’d never see them. Sure, she may go there after death, but who knew if she’d ever get there? She’d tried before and failed, because of the horrible man standing behind her.

“Why? Why did you have to do all this? Why do you have to be so evil? I– Why couldn’t you ever just kill me?! Why?!” She didn’t turn to look at him, only continued to cry and ball herself up tighter. She really wanted to die. She truly did. She debated bashing the rock against her skull until she lost consciousness, but she knew Vegeta wouldn’t let her. He wanted her to be her pretty little slave; he’d never allow her to kill herself.

“I’m never going to see any of them again! Why couldn’t you have just killed me back then? I wish that I’d been burned alive in my house! I wish I’d never tried to escape, so that none of you would have found me! This is hell! I didn’t do anything to deserve this! I’m a little bratty, but I don’t deserve this! I don’t! This is pure hell!” Her cries got louder, and suddenly when she tried to blabber, it just came out as incomprehensible whines. She couldn’t string a sentence together anymore, and her face burned red from her stinging tears. 

“Just kill me now! I don’t want to live anymore! I don’t have any hope of bringing any of them back, so just kill me! I’d rather be with them than have to suffer with you anymore! Just do me a favor and kill me!”

* * *

His POV

He winced. It wasn’t due to the sound of shattering glass, it wasn’t the horrible slurs she was calling him, nor her pleads for death that shook him in his place. It was due to the piercing sound of her sobs. The wails of pure helplessness pouring from her mouth couldn’t be ignored. He really did hate that god awful sound. Somehow it made him feel as if he’d failed somewhere - which only awoke his aggressive nature. As if she’d been wounded or harmed. Igniting his instincts into high alert, urging him to take action to defeat his chosen female’s enemy. But how could he defeat it, when he didn’t even understand the situation to begin with?

Vegeta was at a loss. Staring down his nose at her, hiding any concern that may of been turning over his cold black heart. She begged him to kill her, and the prince actually considered it. His teeth grit and his hand gripped at his side, tightening into a white knuckled fist. This is why he never took prisoners. It always ended badly, but he’d been selfish. Lured in by her bright eyes and fiery spirit. He couldn’t fulfill her request. She’d wanted to resurrect her planet, and like a fool he’d let her attempt it. He’d given her this fate. This was his doing, and he wasn’t denying it to himself. Though, a part of him felt unworthy to touch her. Knowing that in that, he was the enemy that was making her cry now. The enemy he couldn’t get rid of for her. Maybe he could gift her this last request, to kill her quickly. It wouldn’t be the first mercy killing he’d performed.

The white hot glare of death burned down onto the girl from above; from Vegeta’s dangerous scowl. He was going to fulfill her request. His hand opened, revealing his deadly palm. Vegeta’s constitution had always been high, able to do anything he needed to without remorse. But maybe that’s what was stopping him now. For the first time in his god forsaken life, Vegeta held regret for something he’d done. He felt remorse. And it finally started to show through the cracks of his hardened expression. The darkness of guilt seeping through his rough face. Everything inside of him screamed ‘ _don’t do it_ ’.

“No.” his voice ground out, as twisted as the devil’s himself. The prince’s hand lowered, and with it, so did his gaze. “What do you want from me, woman.” his words snapped like angry fire. Oh, he was angry, but not at the girl. He was horrifically aggravated at the whole damn situation. Vegeta had caught on that the stone was what she was after, that something had gone wrong. He’d suspected it might. Maybe there was a small glimpse of hope in him too, that she’d get what she wanted. That he wanted to give it to her, like some dog bringing its master gifts. He had been meagerly letting her go in his mind, after all. Now he couldn’t, and he had the sensation it was his fault.

A part of him scolded himself, tsk’ing at the fact that he wasn’t claiming ‘ _I told you so’_. He had told her the planet was a lost cause, but instead of it stroking his ego as he’d suspected, it just made the pit of his stomach sink. Then, he did something truly unexpected. The prince knelt right before the weeping woman. On one knee, his gaze refused to make eye contact. Roaming over the dirty floor, anywhere but up to greet her. Her presence felt poisonous, he knew he was unwanted. He may not have possessed the ability, or even inclination, to say sorry. ...but maybe he could give her something, anything else, since it seemed he couldn’t even grant her death. If only to stop her crying.

* * *

Her POV

She stopped even paying attention to Vegeta. After her outburst, she curled back in on herself and cried. Cried, and cried, and cried. That’s all it felt like she could do. She was so helpless, doomed to live a horrible life of carrying on without anyone she ever knew and loved. To do what? Vegeta’d surely kidnap her again and force her to stay with him. The person who was responsible would never let her go. And she had to stare him in the eyes and know that he was the one that did it. He was the one that destroyed her planet. Raditz may have been the one to make them go out of their way, but the man that she’d kissed. Had sex with…

She hated herself more than she hated any of them. And she hated them plenty. She hadn’t tried hard enough to kill them. They’d humiliated her, violated her, make a joke of her, destroyed everything she ever knew and then told her to get over it… And in return, she followed them around like a lost puppy. She’d kissed Vegeta when he had asked about it. She had willingly had sex with him. She felt disgusting for it. She was horrible. How could she have done that? She was so disappointed in herself. And now she was a sputtering mess in front of him.

She turned her head to look at him when he growled that he wouldn’t fulfill her wish. Her brows furrowed, though she had expected it all along. Of course he wouldn’t kill her. She was still useful. What if he wanted to rape her? ‘Mate with’ her, impregnate her… She let out another sob at the reminder that she didn’t even have the chip under her arm anymore. If she was raped again, she could now end up pregnant. …Then he asked her what he wanted from her. What a stupid question.

“I want you to kill me,” she replied as she switched positions. Her weight shifted, and she knelt down and pressed her face to the ground. She might have looked silly, but she was so stricken by grief that her body dragged down to the floor like a heavy weight on her shoulders. She wanted to die. She wanted to see everyone again. She wanted to apologize to Yamcha for everything she’d done– in person. She couldn’t be in this world a second longer. Each second that ticked by, she just felt more grief and sadness as the sobs continued to come. She couldn’t move. All she could do was cry.

“Please, please just kill me… Kill me like you killed everyone else… …Do you even remember anyone you killed? My father’s brains… Are lying in the lobby. Does his face even look familiar to you? Just… Just kill me… Like I told you you would have if I had been pregnant. Like I keep telling you that I wish you had. Just do it. I don’t want to live anymore. I haven’t wanted to live in a long time. The only reason I continued… Was so I could go back to Earth and get the dragon balls…”

* * *

His POV

He knew by now that it was better just to let her cry. Cry to her hearts content. Honestly, there was little other he could do, or rather, hadn’t he done enough. For the first time in his existence, he knew he deserved it. Her sobs were like whip lashes, and what was worse, were the pleads and accusations murmuring out of her mouth. When she spoke of her father it felt like a slap in the face. He flinched, turning his gaze away; ah, so that’s who’s head was in the lobby. She’d slapped him plenty of times, but that one, that one stung. Mostly because he knew she was correct - he didn’t remember, he never cared to remember the faces of his victims. In fact, before coming across the female, he’d always enjoyed the cruelty of the kill.

Her words returned to him like a faint echo. _Monster_. The prince had once taken pride in that title, but now it felt like ash in his mouth. He really, truly, was a monster wasn’t he. If he could cause an indestructible, beautiful creature, such as herself, such pain. To him, she was indestructible. Worthy as an opponent but also, somewhere along the line, noted as an equal. And now, here she knelt before him, begging for death. Pleading for him to slay her. Kami, couldn’t she ask for anything else? She was asking for the one thing he knew he wouldn’t give her, couldn’t ...give her. If anything, he was the unworthy one.

“I won’t,” he finally bit, but never lifted his gaze. This was proving difficult to say, though she deserved a better explanation then that. He took a deep inhale, his chest rumbling in frustration, “…God damn it woman, I can’t.” he finally admitted, pounding his fist into the flooring, cracking the tile. God, did it make him feel weak. Burning his chest with anxiety. What a fucking perfect time for him to lose his killing streak. Maybe it was how hooked his instincts were into her, or maybe it was just the prince’s own desires. Whatever the cause, he couldn’t bring himself to end the woman’s life. The one thing he’d always been fucking good at. He really was her curse.

“ _I can’t._ ” the words weakened, muttering out, “. _..I fucking_ _tried._ . _..I can’t kill you._ ” finally, his heavy gaze lifted. Weighted with the darkness of defeat. There, he’d admitted it, was she happy now? His gaze searched her, looking for some form of reaction. Little known to him, was the look of sorrow on his own face. He didn’t know, he didn’t care. He was lost. The prince was only aware of one thing. How completely powerless he truly was. Unable to give her what she wanted, unable to fulfill her request. His hands were tied, and it was forcing him to understand her. Between the new sensation of remorse, and the knowing of how powerless he was, his throat grew thick and it was difficult to swallow. The sensation of being trapped was never good for Vegeta’s ego or need to be in control. Normally, he lashed out in anger. Not this time.

* * *

Her POV

She was so tired. There was not a thing she’d like more than for it all to just be over. But Vegeta wouldn’t even do that for her. She swayed and rocked on the ground, but the finishing mercy blow never came. He just… Told her that he wouldn’t. He… Couldn’t? She looked at him when the ground rumbled under their bodies from him punching the ground. She saw the tiles splinter, and she choked back more sobs as her eyes slowly drifted up the body of her tormentor. To his face, contorted with… Sorrow? Guilt?

A tear ran down his eye. For a moment she dismissed it as being sweat. But that couldn’t be. His expression was that of someone regretful. It did not make her feel better, but it made her feel something. Strange, perhaps. She had seen him act so merciless. To her and everyone around him. And yet here he was, crying. But why? For letting her come here? For making her cry? For doing something to upset her? Or because he truly knew what he had done was wrong? What did it matter, if he was just upset because it had hurt her feelings? He didn’t comprehend what was wrong. Not really.

“You’re horrible. I… I don’t want you to be around anymore. Why can’t you let me just die? I get to be with all of them then. But you… You ruined it. You ruined me. You ruined every piece of me. I’m… I’m just tired of it. Why can’t you just kill me? Why…? Kill me like you killed everyone else. It’s only a step up from rape. You did that to me plenty of times…” It took her a while, but she staggered to her feet. She held onto the edge of the counter to keep her balance, and her legs shook like a newborn deer. That had been her one plan. There was nothing else for her. There was no point.

“I hate you,” she told him, wiping her eyes. “What do you want me to do with myself now? I can’t… I can’t do anything. You ruined my whole life. I miss my planet. My real planet, back before you sold it to aliens. I miss my family… I miss my friends… Goku… Goku had a son that I never got to meet, or even hear about. And you killed him. You killed a child. A lot of children. You couldn’t even be kind with how you killed. I’m… I’m sure you let him watch you kill Goku. What did you do with Chi-Chi after? Did you rape her? Did you let him watch that, too?”

She felt sick. She leaned completely over the counter as she tried to contain her stomach contents, with her head swimming the more she thought of it. “What did you do to Yamcha? Did you make him suffer? Was it a single blow, or did you rip his limbs off and make him beg for mercy? I know you hunted down and gang-raped and kidnapped his girlfriend after that. Made her hate herself so much that she couldn’t possibly stay with him even when they finally reunite… You had to ruin her life…”

* * *

His POV

This was different from the last time she’d cried for her planet, that’s what he was thinking. Vegeta hadn’t noticed the burning liquid from his eyes until it was too late. The unfamiliar peppery sensation prickling his nose and eyes forcing his eyes closed, bringing up rare droplets. Just when he thought he couldn’t fall any lower, he realized she’d seen. God, he really didn’t want her of all people to see him in such a pathetic state, like some weakling. However, it did cause him to gather his composure out of the mental mess he’d gotten himself into. Blinking away the last of the blurriness and taking his tongue lashing in silence. He deserved this - he wanted _no_ pity. Filling his chest with new control, new pride; trying to withhold what dignity he still claimed to his royal name. 

He refused to stand, even as she pulled herself to her feet and leaned on the nearby counter top. Letting her question, him was the least he could do after what he’d put her through; holding back his aggressive nature. The names she spoke of were laughable to him. None of the dead held value for the prince. He only valued the woman whom was listing the names of the dead off. The prince had known what he’d done to her, but it wasn’t until she pushed so much raw passion into her words that he somewhat began to understand her. Somewhere along their journey he’d let her in, and now he was paying for it by seeing the universe through the eyes of the only one he’d ever given a damn about.

“…god damn, woman.” he ground out, “...I’d have to give a shit about their worthless existence if I was to remember something like that.”, his teeth grit and a rumble lifted from his being, lifting slowly to his feet. The prince was growing tired of her sobbing. His new concern was how sick she was making herself. His instincts telling him to control the situation before she fell ill. He may have allowed her to take her wrath out on him, but he was still a warrior, a proud one at that. Even if he regretted what he’d done to her. Only her.

“I don’t give a damn.” his voice shook through the lab, clenching his fists at his sides and gnashing his teeth. His tear stained scowl searching her own beautiful, soppy face. Who was he trying to convince more though, her or himself? “Why the hell do I have to care? ...who the hell are you to make me care!” he stepped closer, aggressively. “... I don’t care about them,” he only cared about her he meant to say, shown by the remorseful look on his face. His shoulders dropped. “…I should have never taken you to this god awful place…”, his voice dipped down, simmering into silence. He knew that wasn’t true though, the woman’s headstrong nature would have brought her here one way or another. At least he was the one to do so.

“What I want doesn’t matter,” he admitted factually, after she asked him what he wanted her to do with herself. Blowing out a warm breath, his temper subsided, side glancing the female. Now what? He’d never been put into this situation before; he was at a loss. “What the hell do you want from me?” his voice strained, “...do you want your own planet? Your own solar system? Do you want Nappa and Raditz heads?” It wasn’t an empty offer either. His dramatic gaze begged her, waiting for direction. All the girl would have to do was nod, and the prince would behead his own men without remorse. All for her. He’d give anything to fix this. Damn, did he feel shitty. 

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t remember. He didn’t care. He wasn’t crying because he felt remorse for his actions as a monster. He was crying because he felt sorry for hurting her. It made her angrier, and the images of the things that could have been done to her friends burned into her mind. He was a monster, but that wasn’t why he felt guilty. He felt guilty just because he’d hurt the feelings of his little slave. her fingers gripped the countertop forcefully enough that her fingertips turned white.

“Burn in hell,” she mumbled to him as he got closer and declared how little concern he had for her dead loved ones. Calling their existence worthless. Her stomach flopped into knots, and it took her some time to get herself under control. She breathed slowly and turned to look at him with a fire in her eyes. That horrible man. “The only person whose life is worthless here is yours. Your life, Nappa’s life, Raditz’s life… You’re all terrible. You’re all monsters. It’s not that you should never have brought me here, it’s that you should never have come to my planet. You should never have ruined my life. But you did, and now you’re acting like you have a reason to cry over me.”

She gulped down bile that had rose in her throat, and turned to face him on shaky legs. “I’ll tell you what I want, Vegeta. I want you to burn in hell. I want both your stupid friends to burn in hell, too. I want the pieces of shit that bought and are ruining my planet to burn in hell. And then I want to die so I can see my loved ones again after everything I’ve been through. The universe outside my planet is awful. It’s filled with horrible people like you. I don’t want to be there anymore. I just want to die.”

She slowly moved her feet to back away from him, her eyes rolling around to observe what was left of her lab. It held so many memories, now painful, of her and her father. She’d been helping him in here with his experiments for as long as she could remember. It hurt to think about now. A lot of things hurt to think about. She was no longer the cute young girl she was even up to about a month ago. She was becoming a monster, too. Their influence was rubbing off on her. She did terrible things now, when only a month ago she cried because she couldn’t bring herself to kill Vegeta. To kill anyone. But now…

“…You know when I gouged Nappa’s eye out, it’s because he raped me. The same way you’ve done plenty of times. He told me he’d kill me and the other girl if I didn’t ride him. He let Raditz rape the other girl, and I got so angry that I tried to gouge his eyes out. I half-succeeded.” She gulped, and fresh tears ran down her cheeks. “That blob was raping me before that. I don’t want that life. I get abused nearly every day. Back when Zarbon kidnapped me, he’d let so many men do it that I lost count. Thirty? Forty? Fifty? And then they’d give me to his guards. And then his servants… I just want to die, Vegeta. I don’t want any of this anymore. I’ve been through so much. I’m exhausted. I just want to be killed.”

* * *

His POV

She was calling him out. Listing out every time he’d wronged her for both of them to see. He had to accept that. Vegeta could take her tongue lashing, she’d even refused his planetary offers (that was a hit to the pride), but her calling out his crying pierced him right through the heart. He stiffened defensively, burning a new grimace onto his rough features. God damn, did she really have to say that out loud? He grumbled horribly under breath. It wasn’t bad enough that’d he’d stooped to that level of vulnerability, she had to air dry it. So bluntly! She was right, though. His tears were for her, not the damage he’d caused. He only possessed the capacity to feel for her. Though as far as the ruthless prince was concerned, that was far more than enough. He’d had his fill of feelings for one day, it was wearing him out.

But he was still listening, allowing the girl to take the lead. He was still waiting for her answer. Anything other than her own death, he inwardly begged. And then she said it, she wanted everyone to burn. Not only himself and his men, but the whole damn planet. There was more ferocity and venom in her eyes then he’d ever seen before. Vegeta had suffered her wrath a few times, but never to this degree. This was something tainting his pure little human.

But... it was a request he could give her. Vegeta looked down his nose at her once, thinking that’d be the end of it. That they could finally be done with this whole vile mess. Then she spoke up and muttered something that lit a new flame into his dangerous gaze. He’d known something felt off the night he’d stumbled upon the girl, the waitress, and his men. But he’d heeded the girl’s words and let them off the hook. Kami, did he regret that now. Regret, it seemed to be the theme of the hour.

“Fuck it, Bulma, why didn’t you tell me?” he roared, stepping closer. Her fresh tears lighting his anger on fire. Oh, he was pissed. He was beyond angry. He didn’t even give a shit that his men had gotten away with it - which was a big deal - what bothered him more was that Bulma had been harmed right under his very nose. She spoke of the many times she’d been forced under a man, and it was starting to make his skin crawl. His snarl revealed his teeth and the hair on his body and tail stood on end. He was furious.

“Did you think I’d let them get away with it?” he felt betrayed, she didn’t trust him again? The horror of it all sinking into his face; gripping the sides of his head. Not that it mattered, it happened with or without the punishment of his men. It already happened. It already fucked her up. Just like Zarbon. …just like, _himself_. Ki licked off of his shoulders, personifying his turmoil. But he knew he still couldn’t kill her. Not her, he couldn’t raise his hand to her. He couldn’t ...he wouldn’t. It was a choice. He’d never harm her again, and she’d just have to live with it. Literally. His body stopped shaking with growls, becoming sturdy and calm. His heaving breath calling his cold hearted composure back into place.

“We’ve wasted too much time in this hellhole...” he groaned, fixating his glare over her. It was his way of saying ‘the discussion is closed’. He stepped forward, knowing full well she’d probably reject him, but he didn’t care. It was time to move on. That was one thing the girl never seemed to do, move on. However, when he moved closer, his hands lifted gently without his consent. Stopping just short of where she stood against the countertop; his face softened for her. If he wasn’t so socially retarded, he may of recognized that he desired to embrace her. That’s what that tugging was at his chest. To scare off all the wrong he’d done, and offer her something since he couldn’t fight his way out of this one. It was his instincts calling out to take care of what he saw as his. ...but he didn’t. His hands tightened, and he looked away. Taking the girl by the wrist instead and tugging her towards the stairwell.

* * *

Her POV

Why didn’t she tell him? Ugh. Like he’d understand. If she told him that she had been worried about the well-being of the girl, he wouldn’t understand her. He couldn’t comprehend the idea of empathy or compassion. He may be obsessed with her, but he didn’t care about anyone else. It was just her, that he obsessed over. Her lips pressed tightly together as he blabbered and looked so worried, and she debated slapping him. How dare he? How dare he…

He came closer to her with uplifted arms, looking like he would try to hug her. She was certain she’d puke if he tried, so when he instead grabbed her by the wrist and began dragging her away, she was somewhat relieved. But only somewhat. That only lasted for so long before she was screaming like a banshee and jerking her body to get herself free from his grip. No! She didn’t want to be back with him! She didn’t want to deal with him anymore! She didn’t want to be taken into space again to be raped over and over!

“LET ME GO! I WANT TO STAY HERE! I WANT TO STAY ON EARTH AND DIE WHERE I BELONG! LET ME DIE! IT’S YOU AND THOSE OTHER PIECES OF SHIT ON MY PLANET THAT NEED TO LEAVE! LET ME GO! LET ME GO, LET ME GO, LET ME GO! GO TO HELL! I DON’T WANT TO BE WITH YOU A SECOND LONGER! LET ME GO!! LET ME GOOOOOOO!!” She screamed so loud she was hurting her own ears, not to mention her throat. But she didn’t care. If she was with him a second longer, she’d kill herself by gouging her own eyes out if she had to.

She dragged her feet as he tried to force her up to stairs, her lungs still going. “I HATE YOU! I’M NOT A SLAVE! LET ME GO! I’LL KILL MYSELF EVEN IF YOU WON’T KILL ME! AAAAAAAGHHHHHH! LET! ME! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” She hadn’t acted quite like this before, but she always knew there were the dragon balls. If they didn’t exist anymore, what else was she to do but scream for mercy and cry in sorrow and anger? Her emotions were all she had anymore. That and those dumb shoes.

* * *

His POV

God, if her insensitive screeching was hurting her own ears, could she imagine how it was effecting his own sensitive hearing? His ears had begun to ring by her last note of skull cracking demands. It was times like this even he wondered why he kept insisting on keeping her alive. Honestly, the woman had a pair of pipes on her greater than any super power he’d come across. it went on until he’d had enough of it. Enough of her demands and far too much of her fighting his lead.

“GOD DAMN IT WOMAN.” he turned, yelling right back at her, face to face, his nostrils flaring. “NO ONE IS GOING TO LAY A FINGER ON YOU. DO YOU HEAR ME.” the vein next to his widow’s peak pounded. If she could scream, so could he, and the prince had his own pair of baritone pipes. He wasn’t kidding, though. He was going to see to it that no one ever harmed the woman ever again. It was his new obsession. But that did mean taking her off her home planet. It was littered with thugs and new species of selfish alien. It was destined to turn into one of the worlds that disgusted her so greatly. No, she couldn’t stay here. She’d end up raped or worse. He’d fulfill her original request and burn it. Everything. His men too, if they were dumb enough to stick around.

There would be no tugging her along, however. After narrowing his glare at her angry blue hues, the prince lunged his arms right around her waist and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. An animalistic growl quivering his top lip. He wasn’t being as gentle as usual, though it was hardly as bad as when the other Saiyan handled her. He was being forceful, determined …stubborn. Stomping right up the stairwell and right out of the lobby. The outside hair hardly fresh, however. It was still coated in the scent of dying flesh.

The pods weren’t too far off. Just a short flight, for a Saiyan. Vegeta still hadn’t let the girl down, however. His warm hand planted firmly on her backside. But for once not to grope her, he was just keeping her locked on his broad shoulder. The scene around them was a desiccated wasteland, but it looked like something was coming. A car bellowed through the distance, it was more crewmen coming to plunder what remained of West City. Vegeta lifting his free hand and aiming at the incoming vehicle, planning on blowing it away.

* * *

Her POV

If she had a gun, she’d have shot herself by now. Rather than go through with the one thing Bulma demanded of him, Vegeta yelled at her that he’d keep her safe (as if she believed that) and dragged her up the stairs and out of her decrepit home. She caught another glimpse of her dead father’s body and gagged. God, couldn’t he just kill her? That’s all she wanted. She wanted to be dead. He killed everything else around them, why couldn’t he just kill her? What was the difference? What made him so obsessed with her that he couldn’t simply let her go?

Whatever it was, she had to take matters into her own hands. He tossed her over his shoulder and insisted on keeping her in place, despite all her sobbing and screaming. Fine then, she’d kill herself. She went silent. Sure, it was a clear red herring, but she had to try. She didn’t want the life Vegeta was trying to force her to accept. Instead, she began shifting. She pulled her jacket off her body- not too odd an action, given the sun was up and the desert was back to being burning hot. But that wasn’t why she was doing it. She’d suffocate herself.

She was only distracted by a sudden burst of wind from an explosion Vegeta had created. He was killing the looters. Her brows furrowed and she returned to what she was doing. He’d kill others so easily, but not her. Ng… She shook her head and rolled up the jacket in as tight a ball as she could, before shoving it into her mouth. She pushed it in as far as it would possibly go, down her throat till she couldn’t breathe. She expected Vegeta to notice at any moment, but she tried to force herself to be silent even with all the rustling of the jacket. Just a few minutes. That’s all she needed, and she’d be dead.

* * *

His POV

The blasting of the cars was giving her an unwelcome distraction. Unwelcome by Vegeta’s standards that is. There wasn’t just one of the four wheeled mongrels, there was an entire fleet funneling into the dirty city streets. One after the next, the prince blew them mercilessly into the sky. The men never stood a chance. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Bulma was right, he could kill so easily. Everything and anything but her.

Through all of the carnage, Vegeta hadn’t noticed the girls contorting with the jacket, or what she was planning on doing with it. He’d felt her shifting on his arm, sure, but he’d chalked it up to her trying to escape again while he was distracted. The prince grip tightened on her body, expecting her to try and run away again now that the few seconds of battle were over, but she never wiggled. She’d stopped moving. Completely.

At first he’d suspected she was trying to fake him out. Jutting her up into the air once from a jerk of his shoulder, but still ...no reaction. His alarm system was starting to go off. He couldn’t see her face, fuck, there was nothing but jacket in his view, but he knew something was wrong. His broad hands were feeling her up and roaming her over without so much as a slap. He started to panic. The vibe he’d gotten just before he’d darted into the bathroom that fateful night, setting in. No, no no, fuck no, she wasn’t giving in that easily! He wouldn’t allow it, not a second time! Not on his watch!

“Bulma!” the name ripped from his maw like an angry roar, flipping the girl from his shoulder and into his arms where he could see her. God damn, her jacket was everywhere. He knew what she was attempting. She was suffocating. The prince lunged into action. The girls back hitting the broken street, the jacket ripped from her face; pulling the stuffy fabric from her mouth. He was angry, he was helpless, and he was trying to get her attention. Was he too late? No, he couldn’t live with that. Crouched on his haunches, he smacked her cheek a few times, then traced his rough fingers down her jaw line, down to her long slender neck. His breath heightened and his brow braced with worry.

* * *

Her POV

Panic set in while he was busy. She struggled but managed to avoid ripping the jacket out of her mouth, but by the time that Vegeta had finished with the gang of looters and realized something was wrong with Bulma, she had passed out. She had slowly drifted out of consciousness until she laid limp on Vegeta’s shoulder. She wasn’t dead yet, just unconscious from the oxygen deprivation. If it had gone on for another couple minutes, she’d be dead. Disappointingly, however, Vegeta noticed.

When he ripped the jacket out of her mouth, her body sucked in all the air it had been deprived of. She wheezed and, after a few little slaps to the face, her eyes focused in on Vegeta. She met his face with a scowl as she realized what he did- he refused to let her die. Even when she begged for it, even when she tried to take it into her own hand, he refused to let her die. For some reason, he insisted on selfishly keeping her alive to torture her. Again, and again, and again. She would attack him, if she wasn’t so woozy.

She rolled over so she didn’t have to look at him, and wondered what else she could do to kill herself. She bit as well just try to bite her tongue, though she wasn’t sure if she had the willpower for that. She was certainly too tired to attempt it at that moment. She took another glance over her shoulder and spoke up in a hoarse voice to him, though her voice managed to sound as dangerous and venomous as ever.

“You’ve taken everything I ever loved. Why can’t you just let me die? It’s the one thing I want. You won’t even give me that. You’ll pretend to cry for me, but you won’t do the one little thing that I want most of all. …It’s only a matter of time before you rape me again. Maybe you’ll even get me pregnant with some hellspawn. I want to die. Just let me die, Vegeta.” She curled into a ball, and her eyes squeezed shut. “Just let me die, Vegeta… Let me die… It’s all I’m asking for anymore…”

* * *

His POV

She was alive, that was all that mattered. Vegeta didn’t know why, but every time the woman fell into danger it felt as if she were ripping the muscle from his bones. It was unbearable, and undeniable. Every subconscious and instinctual voice he had screamed at him to make it stop. Drowning out all reason until he found her safe again. It was an endless cycle, one that he himself felt trapped in. After all, who was he - a killer - if he couldn’t bring himself to kill. What did that make of him?

Relief washed over his face, gasping with her when she inhaled her deep life giving breath. But that look of gratitude was quickly over taken by his dark, angry scowl. What the hell?! So, she was at this again. To kill herself. She was curling up right under him on the concrete, begging him for death again. The woman looked so pitiful, and for once he really truly wanted to grant her her wish. It would be a text book mercy kill. His mouth screwed into a hard line and his hand tightened, again he tried to end her life ...but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. She looked so helpless, calling his name over and over; wrenching his gut whenever she looked up at him. It burned him with a new kind of pain. That’s when he came to the deduction; she was out of her mind. She had to of been. The girl wasn’t thinking straight. Stress from seeing her home planet in such disarray.

“I’m not going to hurt you, so stop asking.” he huffed, rolling his eyes at her. The girl obviously wasn’t made for the brutal visuals of war. He needed to get her out of here. There was plenty of life still left burning in her gaze, he just needed to get her off of the battle field. Thought out like a true soldier, Vegeta hadn’t the slightest clue what he was dealing with, or how deep it could run. At least he was trying. He’d picked the woman up again, taking advantage of her fetal position. Scooping her right up against his armor this time, vising her into his strong arms. He could keep an eye on her like that. He felt in control.

“Burn it, burn everything. Leave nothing standing this time.” his raspy voice bit out, barking commands through his scouter. Raditz and Nappa, they were going to burn the earth. Not even ruins were to be left standing. Vegeta, however, wasn’t going to be leading the assault on her planet this time. He was on suicide watch until the woman came back to her senses. He knew she was capable of pulling herself out of this. She had before, back at the hotel. And he’d seen her live through much worse ...though, the thoughts of what she’d revealed to him crossed his mind as he headed back towards the pods. For the first time, his imagination could hear her screaming, pleading for death from her captors, like Raditz and Zarbon. It forced a frown, what a terrible feeling. He shook off the strange ghostly echoes. Lifting into the air, gripping the girl tight, and taking them back towards their crash site in the desert.

* * *

Her POV

Of course he’d never listen to her. She knew that well enough by now. That didn’t mean she had to be happy about it. She yelled out in emotional pain when Vegeta grabbed her and picked her up, and began to struggle. Why couldn’t he at least just leave her somewhere? She could kill herself and she didn’t have to deal with him ever again. Why did he have to have that obsession with her that made sure that she was stuck with him forever? She wanted to die. She wanted to die… Why couldn’t he just let her already…? She sobbed and cried and tried to shove away from his strong chest, but it looked as if it wasn’t happening. She’d have to stay with him.

But then he said something unbearable. He told his men to destroy everything. Bulma didn’t care if they destroyed the terraformed pieces of her earth, but the rest?! No! No! Not again! She wouldn’t let it happen again! She fought against Vegeta and yelled again, acting far more irrational than before with her chaotic movements. She didn’t want everything to be gone. She may be upset, but destroying every last bit of what she used to know as her home wasn’t going to make things better.

“NO! STOP! DON’T! DON’T DESTROY MY PLANET! DON’T DESTROY IT ALL OVER AGAIN! I can’t– I don’t– I won’t be able to deal with that! Kill me if you’re going to destroy it! I don’t want everything to be gone! There’s too many memories! The– The bodies! The… Don’t… Don’t destroy it… Please don’t destroy it…” She wiped her eyes and began sobbing all over again, loudly and pathetically as always. To imagine even the remnants, she saw around her being gone was just too much. She couldn’t deal with a reality like that.

“I want my earth back; I don’t want it completely gone! Please, don’t destroy it. Please, Vegeta, I’d do anything! I can’t bring everyone back like I wish I could, but don’t destroy it, I can’t deal with that… I’ll die if you do… I’ll stop eating, or drinking, until I finally die and go where I belong. Please, don’t… I need everyone… I need my family…. I don’t want even the memories to be gone… At least like this, maybe the grass and the trees will come back. But if you ruin all of it, it’ll be completely gone for forever. Don’t do that to me…” Her loud cries had turned into sobbing begs, her demands turned into requests. She just couldn’t let him. If they ruined everything all over again, she really knew she wouldn’t be able to survive.

* * *

His POV

He was getting accustomed to her kicking and screaming, but not to the sound of her sobs. That was something the prince was beginning to realize he may never grow use to. The loud sound rattling right in his ear, causing his nose to scrunch and his lip to curl. It was a terrible vibration, clawing its way through his brain and making him feel more like an animal then a man. It was frustrating and subduing all at once. Forcing his focus on her, on the girls pleads. Anything to shut her up, anything to please her.

“God damn, woman. Make up your fucking mind!” the prince stopped midair, baring his glare down at her - trying to make his point through his grumpy stare. She’d just told him she’d wanted everyone to ‘burn in hell’. Now she wanted to spare the ruins? Sometimes he swore he couldn’t understand the woman at all. He let loose a loud irritate grunt, shaking his head gently. They were both still hanging in flight, but it looked like Bulma’s pleads were getting to the monster. It was when she said, ‘Don’t do that to me’. As if burning the remains of her loved ones would be harming her in some great way. Vegeta knew she needed to let it go, the girl was holding too tightly onto a deadly past, but …if it meant keeping her alive, or end her crying, he’d oblige. Besides, he’d noticed something through all of her screaming. She still had the will to live.

“If I spare their remains...” his voice bit out demanding her attention, but then softened - softened very lowly, “...you better stop trying to kill yourself. Are we clear?” a gentle rumble followed, nearly nose to nose. Staring at her with seriousness. It was always a deal with Vegeta. It was a language he understood. And it seemed more then fair to him. Not that he’d let her off the hook that easily, though. He’d still keep her under a watchful eye from then on. Even with his hardiness, the prince wasn’t sure how many times he could witness her trying to kill herself without killing something else. It drove him insane.

His boots touched down in the blowing sands, just beside the pod. It’s door hissing open, but Vegeta still hadn’t given the orders to his men to spare portions of the world. It would all burn, unless Bulma heeded to Vegeta’s demands this time. His hard eyes searched for her though. His lips tugged down into a frown, letting her legs slip from one of his arms so her feet could meet the sand, but the arm at her shoulders kept a gentle hold. He was waiting, watching for an answer. He may of been a prince, but he’d do whatever the woman asked. He wanted her to survive.

* * *

Her POV

As far as Bulma was concerned, she hadn’t said anything contradictory. She wanted Vegeta to die, she wanted Raditz and Nappa to die, she wanted the people that were wrongfully on her planet to die, and SHE wanted to die. So why was he acting like she’d said something stupid and just couldn’t make up her mind? She glared at him through her burning tears when he shifted her position to stare at her nose-to-nose. Not only had he tried to burn the remains of her planet… He was forcing her to stay alive if she wanted the remains to stay untouched. Why did he have to be so cruel? Why couldn’t he just give her what she wanted?

“You’re a horrible man,” she told him, giving him a solid slap for forcing her to have to be that close to him. She gulped and rubbed her eyes as he led her to the ground, but even then, he wouldn’t let her go. He kept holding her. if only by the arm. She wanted to die. Why couldn’t he just let her die? He had to torture her again by putting the only other thing she wanted on the line. Her arms crossed and she stared down at the ground, at the sand that was whipping around her feet with the breeze. She could keep her promise now. And then she could kill herself when he wasn’t looking.

“Fine,” she murmured, before her eyes drifted back to the pod. She didn’t want to go in. Why would she? She’d finally gotten back to her home. It was nothing like she wished it would be, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be lightyears away again. She sat down on the sand and curled up into a ball with her legs pressed to her chest, with no intention of going anywhere else. He’d have to drag her into the pod, because she didn’t want to go anywhere with him anymore. Or go to space at all.

“You’re a monster,” she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut. “You can’t even do the one thing I want so I’m not suffering anymore. You like my suffering, I bet. That’s all you do. You torture me and make me suffer until I beg you to kill me, but you refuse to even do that. I hate you. I’ll always hate you. If you expect me to become your… Your ‘mate’ or something, like Raditz mentioned… You’re going to have to rape me again for that to happen, because I’ll never be anything to you willingly. I hate you.”

* * *

His POV

Another slap. He probably deserved that, though he wasn’t sure why this time. He let her have it, not giving in to putting up a fight as she took her anger out on him. Striking at him with her vicious tongue next. It hardly phased him, the prince even had the nerve to roll his eyes at her when she called him ‘a horrible man’. Well, that was a well-known truth, Vegeta was hardly going to deny it. He’d admit that himself in mixed company with pride. At least through all of her venom spitting, she’d agreed to his terms. She’d not try and take her life again. Though, the prince felt suspicious. Narrowing his gaze at her, judging the weight of her words.

He allowed her to slip away from his grasp and drift into the shifting sands. It only made it easier to give the orders to Raditz and Nappa not to burn the remains. Kill the living, burn the terraform, leave the west as it was. That’s the orders he barked into the scouter, with no explanation to his surely confused men. Though, there was a good chance they both knew the strange orders had something to do with the female.

Vegeta was looking down his nose at the girl, finding this whole mess ridiculous. Clicking his tongue behind his teeth and reaching down to pick her up once again. Then she called him a monster, and the prince stopped in place. For all the terrible things he’d ever been called, for some reason, that term held some worth to it. Maybe because he believed it himself, thanks to the girl. But it didn’t stop there. She called him out again, this time about his inability to give her what she wanted. Her death. It was such a bitter reality that he didn’t react to what she said about Raditz as dramatically as he may of any other time. Though, it did shake him, snapping his eyes wide and growling through his teeth, turning sarcastically defensive.

“As if I’d want some weak creature like you as a mate... don’t flatter yourself, woman.” he chutted a hardy breath, blowing off the subject once and for all. What a time to be stabbing at her ego, but that was Vegeta. He picked her up out of the sands. It looked like she wouldn’t be going so willingly this time, but he could handle her with little trouble. Especially if she kept balling up like that. They were in the pod in no time. It’s round door closing in on itself. Leaving her burning planet behind, for what Vegeta hoped, would be the last time.

* * *

Her POV

He claimed he’d never want someone as weak as her as a mate, but then, why? He didn’t really treat her like a slave anymore. So what was the point? Was it just a sick form of entertainment, to see her suffer? He just liked torturing her and watching her wallow in self-pity and cry in sorrow? She’d never met anyone as cruel as him. Why couldn’t he just kill her already and find someone else to torture? She didn’t want to deal with it anymore. She dropped her body down into the hot sand only to be picked up, to which she let out a cry. He still wasn’t letting her go.

He pulled her into the pod with her, but as soon as he did, she clawed at the pod’s door to try and get out, her crying getting louder again. She wanted to be home. Why couldn’t he just leave her there, destroy everything else? She didn’t have the will to continue on knowing that everyone else on Earth was dead. Except for those poor girls at a brothel somewhere. Those poor girls… That could have been her, if Vegeta hadn’t become so obsessed with her.

“Let me go,” she cried, sniffling. She sounded more pathetic than before. Even if he decided not to destroy her planet, that didn’t mean she didn’t still want to die. There was nothing she could think about that she wanted more than death. She could be with everyone again, and she never had to look at his face. But he was keeping it from her. …She couldn’t help but question him as to why.

“Why? Why are you doing this to me? If you think I’m so weak, why can’t you just kill me? Why? It’s because you like seeing me get tortured, right? It hurts to close my eyes because I think of everything that’s happened to me, but you continue to torture me. I can’t take it anymore. Why do you have to do this to me? Why can’t you just let me die, Vegeta? Why?”

* * *

His POV

It was a bit of a fight getting her into the pod, but once the door shut there was little she could do about it. Vegeta held down her hands just to make it a bit easier for him to press in the new coordinates. On second thought, he typed in the code to lock the console controls while he was at it. The last thing he was going to let her do is get creative and blast them both into the vacuum of space. Finally, it looked like they were making some progress …despite her continual sniffling and whimpering. Dear kami, couldn’t she just give him a moments peace? He had done everything she’d asked of him to this point. What did she want from him now?

And then here it came, more questions. Very, very personal, intrusive questions. If there was one thing the prince hated more than showing affections, it was talking about his feelings. That territory was off limits, even for himself. His nose curled, his hard face looking repulsed by her list of inquiries, muttering, “ _why do you have to ask so many god damn questions?_ ” Leaning back from the girl in his lap, his rough expression stared at her, as if he were trying to distance himself from the questions themselves. His palm found his cheek, and he looked away. Resting his elbow on the far armrest. He was doing his best to pay her no mind. But that was pretty damn difficult when she’d be sitting in his lap for the next few hours…

“ _You’re wrong_.” he finally muttered after some time of silence. Still refusing to look at her, finding the padded wall much more interesting. “...I ...I don’t ...can’t see you suffer.”, his jaw was so tightly clamped, the words had to grind out between his teeth. This was difficult to admit, even unto himself, but he felt the girl deserved an answer. The thoughts were plaguing his mind, too; he was giving in to expressing them, for once.

“That’s the whole god damn problem...” his tone strengthened, and he finally turned his gaze on her, “...don’t you think I want to kill you, woman? You beg for death and I am unable to give it! What the hell does that make of me? It makes me weak!” after his moment of aggression - filling the pod with thunderous growl, his tone softened as did his features. Vegeta looked sorrowful. ...defeated. 

“. _..I’ve never been unable to kill before_.” he murmured admittedly, pressing his chin back into his palm and turning away. Killing was easy, it was everything he’d ever known - this was more than confusing to him. He really didn’t want to look at her. To look at her would to be to face reality. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t kill her. There was more to it than that. The very opposite. Even if it remained platonic, for the first time, Vegeta met something he wanted to protect. The desire to save rather than kill. It was new to him, and the big brute didn’t know what to do with her.

* * *

Her POV

His words didn’t help her. She didn’t truly believe him, not with how he acted. He seemed to do anything he could to torture her a little bit more; how could she believe anything he had to say? He did nothing but torment her. He occasionally reached out in a way that kept her safe, but even with him around, she had constantly been met with violence and pain. He didn’t help her as much as he seemed to think. Much of the time, he made things worse for her. If he hadn’t come to Earth in the first place… She had to remember that. Before she learned the dragon balls couldn’t be used, she was getting too friendly with him. She needed to remember the kind of man he was. Someone that could not be trusted.

“Then why can’t you let me kill myself instead?” She got off his lap and laid curled up in the small piece of space at his feet. She hated how cramped these pods were. She couldn’t get sufficiently away from him. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him, but she was forced to by being in this stupid, awful pod. …At least she couldn’t get attacked by anyone else, she supposed. But was that a good thing? If she couldn’t get attacked, she couldn’t die. And she really, truly wanted to die.

She curled in on herself and laid motionless on the ground, wishing that he’d just give her what she wanted. He killed all those clones so quickly. So then, why not her? He could kill them so easily… It would only take a quick hand movement on his part. She saw personally how quickly he ripped that other version of her in half. She let out a sigh and squeezed her eyes shut, slowly beginning to break into sobs again. She just wanted everything to be over. Everything… Everything…

She couldn’t bring it in herself to argue with him anymore, or even just… Be alive. She stayed motionless on the foot area of the pod, only occasionally opening her eyes to stare at the padded walls. Just wishing that she would wake up at any moment and end up in Otherworld. She used to dream of that, except to wake up in her bed with everything being just a dream. She knew now that this was not just a dream. She was stuck in this hell. There was no going back.

* * *

His POV

He couldn’t answer her final question. He didn’t know how to. Was she expecting him to admit more of his private thoughts? She didn’t even seem to trust him. Instead, he stared oddly at her. Silent. Watching her curl up in on herself in the floor of the pod. The prince wasn’t about to stop her. Give the girl space, even a Saiyan could come to understand that with how the girl was acting. Though, he did notice the absence of her warmth in his lap. Something that, despite how angry he was with the whole situation, he realized he missed once she stripped it away. He went back to facing the padded wall. Grumpy. Grumbling, knitting his brow and refusing to look at her for the duration of their trip. They may of been stuck together, but that didn’t mean they had to acknowledge one another.

It was a long awkward journey from then on. The prince refused to sleep. Not allowing the earthling a window of opportunity to come up with some new and inventive way of ending herself. The prince was stuck with his thoughts, alone with his new opened feelings. Forced to mull over everything that had happened, and think about what he felt, and why he felt it, for the next few hours. It was tedious, it only confused him more, and towards the end he was more than a little irritable. He wanted out of that damned pod too.

Vegeta didn’t bother touching her until the landing systems came online. He’d glanced on her now and again, checking on her, but had no choice now but to try and pick her up and pin her back into place. Knowing her new suicidal tendencies, she’d try to use the crash landing to snap her own neck. He had to be one step ahead of her at all times now.

The pod began its shaky decent onto the rose colored world below. It was a beachy planet, but it was difficult to tell from above. Its sands were a light oranges and silvers and its trees more like cherry blossoms then palms. The rolling lavender waves lapped at the sand, the shore lined in the rustle of floral trees. But at least there was a beach. That’s why they were crashing here. Vegeta remembered how the beaches before effected the girl. She’d wanted to stay, to live on that bird infested planet. Maybe heading somewhere like this would clear her mind once and for all of the past he’d given her. Besides, he could use a breather himself, after losing so much time with useless missions like the ones before.

* * *

Her POV

She was left alone for the majority of the journey, thankfully. That’s all she wanted– to be left alone. She was shivering and shaking and occasionally broke out into crying again when she thought of everything- sometimes about her past life that she had taken for granted, sometimes about the destruction she saw as well as the aftermath (her father’s splattered brains would stay with her in her mind forever, she knew that much), and sometimes of what had happened to her over the past month or so. All the violence and abuse. She had thought that she could deal with every rape because she’d eventually get home.

But it had all been for nothing. Every time she was grabbed, slapped, and beaten, it was for nothing. Every time she was slobbered on by some disgusting alien, raped until she felt like she’d been ripped apart, violated until she was sure her cervix itself was bruised deeply amid all the tears… It had all been for nothing, and she was forced now to come to terms with it. She missed her family. She missed her old life. She missed when what she knew about sex was only the positive experiences she’d had with Yamcha and the occasional angry one-night-stand she had with other men when they were broken up.

Vegeta grabbed her again, and she’d been so lost in her own thoughts and so sickened that when he lurched her upward, she nearly puked. Not that he did so quickly or roughly; it was just something she’d been holding back for so long. And when the speed of the pod increased, she knew she wasn’t going to hold it back another time. They were quickly approaching the planet, and she knew what was to come.

As soon as the pod hit the planet’s surface, she puked. It hit the window of the pod, and Vegeta was lucky she’d waited that long so it didn’t end up getting completely everywhere. But as soon as it happened, she crumpled in on herself again and rested, exhausted, against Vegeta’s body. She hated him with every fiber of her being, but she was too tired to fight against him at the moment.

* * *

His POV

He expected a fight, but it never came. Nothing, not even a shove. Vegeta was a little concerned for the girl’s mental state, until her stomach contents splattered all over the window of his nice clean pod. Great... so that’d been the problem. His lip turned up into a snarl as the bile dripped from the opening door. Egh, at least it hadn’t gotten on him, though he still wasn’t happy about it. The girl still must of been suffering the aftershock of the battle scene. That’s how Vegeta was seeing this, which he may not have been too far off. Some soldiers couldn’t hold their own when it came to witnessing the cruelties of war. She wouldn’t be the first. It was something, as a warring prince, he had to watch for in his men. Though, she was getting off easy. Soldiers were normally killed for such show of weakness.

At least her puking seemed to of robbed her of her strength. It made it easy for him to carry her out into the new pastel world. His gaze trailed over the fragile female laced across her arms. Aware of how slack her muscles were. Hoping that it was due to her drained strength rather than her lack of will to live. The prince knelt down, a few steps from their pod. The soft blow of the oceans breeze at his back, playing through his upright hair. Gently, cautiously, he laid her down onto the bed of sand. As if she’d break apart if he moved too quick. Which in some ways, he’d already broken her. He knew that now, now that he could properly look down at her in the soft glow of the pastel world of pink and orange.

“ _I did this,_ ” he muttered more to himself then to her. Sitting next to her in the orange cream sand, he never took his eyes off of her. His rough expression trying to hide the genuine remorse that was seeping through. Searching her perfect face for some sign of that fire he’d come to love. His words were both a statement and a question. Trying to figure himself out, trying to figure out the mess he’d caused her. Bulma wasn’t the only one having to come to terms with reality. Vegeta was learning what it meant to strip away someone’s right to live. And it happened to be the only creature he felt was worth saving. Ironic.

The world around them was silent. Aside from the rustle of vegetation or the roar of the purple ocean, the world seemed to be barren of life. He’d sit there with her for hours if that’s what she wanted. Waiting for her to say ‘I’m hungry’, or fall asleep entirely. They’d crashed some ways away from the nearest site of civilization. The pair would be alone for some hours, too. Raditz and Nappa had been routed their next destination, but it’d be some time before they rejoined them on this world. Still carrying out Vegeta’s orders, until the last alien standing on Bulma’s ruined world had breathed its last.

* * *

Her POV

He took her out of the pod and dropped her down in the warm sand. It was welcoming, if only for a moment. But then Vegeta murmured what he did, and she was reminded of her surroundings. She was not on Earth. Earth was miles and miles away by now. Instead, she was suffering on a planet that looked like Earth, but wasn’t Earth. And Vegeta was mumbling about this being his fault, as if she didn’t already know it. Of course it was. This was completely, utterly his fault. She wished he’d just die. After killing her, of course.

She rolled over in the sand and covered her eyes, the images and memories still plaguing her. There was nothing in her stomach and she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten, but she still felt nauseous. Even if she put something in her stomach, even just water with how dehydrated she was, she’d probably just puke it up anyway. Maybe she could starve to death, or die of thirst. It was an uncomfortable and painful kind of death, but it beat the horrible torture of living.

“I thought…” she murmured, her face still pressed into her arms in the sand, refusing to look at him. “I thought I could keep up with everything if it meant getting back home and wishing everyone back. I dealt with so much, but it was okay, it was for a cause. But it wasn’t, it was all for nothing. I’m nowhere better than I was a month ago. Nothing’s coming back. I’m doomed to live like this forever. Even worse now. It’s only a matter of time till I end up pregnant with some disgusting alien. I don’t want to live like that. I want to die.” 

She turned her head to look out at the horizon. Like Earth’s, but with different colors. It was wrong. And the sun was too far away. This wasn’t Earth. She had to remind herself that, and she didn’t like it. She wanted her home back. “You never got to see how beautiful my planet was before you destroyed everything. And now it’s all gone, and I’ll never see anyone again. I’ll never do any of the old stuff I used to do again. I’d rather die than deal with that. I’d rather die. I don’t even care if I end up in hell for everything I did. I want to die.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always end up doing this so late... I also realized I forgot to do my online class's homework this week... orz. I'll try to remember to do the fun little bonus chapter this week, though. I'm hoping to not do much this weekend just to try and catch up on stuff... College life is easy as long as you know when to not waste time with friends and video games, but sometimes that gets difficult.  
> 


	31. Fasting.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma continues to struggle with what she saw had become of her planet.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

There was a rift between them, the prince could feel it. A wall between where they sat together in the sand. When the girl turned her back on him, Vegeta was sure that she’d cry herself to sleep and he’d be left alone once again. He welcomed it. Sleep meant he’d have his solitude and she’d be undoubtedly safe. At peace. But that wasn’t the case. It startled him when she began to speak to him so freely. At first he suspected she’d ramble on more nonsense. Her demanding he send her back to her burning home, or more pleads for her death. That was really growing tiresome to listen to. So when Bulma started talking to him, as if he were someone to confide in, the prince was ready to listen. It was the first conversation they’d had since this fiasco began.

She spoke of the fate she thought she had to now endure, how she missed her planet, but what stuck out to Vegeta was how she’d been surviving all along. She had a goal to meet, bringing back her planet. Now, without that, she was lost. He understood that. Being driven insane by a goal was something Vegeta could relate to very well. It’s how he felt most of the time. So when she began to mutter about wanting to die, for the first time, he began to grasp what she meant by it.

“Why would you want to die, when you’ve come so far.” his voice was stern, and his brows knit. He was serious. She may not have seen it, but he could see the things she’d gone through. How strong she’d proven herself to be. No, if anyone deserved to live, it was this strong creature. Even now, as she begged for the afterlife, death refused her.

“…you’ve always been strong; it’s why death hasn’t touched you. The strong survive, the weak die.” he spat, “...planets die every day. You need to let it go, woman. Then it won’t be _‘all for nothing’_.” he grumbled that last part. It was a hard slap of reality, and maybe ill-timed, but it was the only way Vegeta knew how to handle things. Cold hard facts. Though, he could feel some sympathy for the woman. To not have a path was to be lost, he always had an obsession. And currently, his new drive was keeping her alive.

“You asked me what I wanted, back on your home world, I want you to survive.” he kept going, it was difficult to shut the man up once he began speaking. Tangent was his style. “…do you honestly think I’d waste my time on a lost cause? I’ve traveled from one end of this miserable universe to the next,” he finally turned his vision on her, giving her a dangerous expression, “...you’re right about one thing. It’s a fucking hell hole, full of rapist and lunatics alike, but.” he paused, debating admitting what was to come next, “You idiot, you’re the first thing I’ve come across that’s worth a damn.”

* * *

Her POV

He spoke back to her. She didn’t look at him, but what he said made her angry. Telling her that she needed to get over it, and that she should live because he decided so. Who was he to decide? Who was he to tell her what to get over? Everything she ever knew was gone because of him, and he had the nerve to tell her that she should get over it? She struggled into a sitting position and glared at him with puffy, red eyes as he continued to speak. Maybe he thought he was being romantic. He did things like that a lot. He’d bring her a pelt, a head, promise not to rape her… None of it was truly romantic. He didn’t know what romance was.

That’s why she grabbed one of her shoes and tossed it at his face. She pulled off the other one as well, and used that one to slap him and continue to hit him with as much force as she could muster– which was not much; she was exhausted and her muscles were weak. But she got across how furious she was at him. At everything, but especially him, for having the nerve to tell her things like they were some stroke of wisdom. 

“GO TO HELL!” As soon as she yelled that, she realized she didn’t have the energy in her to keep yelling. Her tone lowered. “Don’t you dare tell me… That I need to get over it. My planet is only dead because of you three. It isn’t like it was an accident. You all willingly came and destroyed everything and then raped me and took me away. That’s what happened. Why should I not forget that? If I don’t want to live, then that’s my business. That’s not the business of the man that’s responsible for all my torment. How dare you. You… You monster. There’s nothing else I can call you but that.”

She struggled to her feet and turned to walk to the ocean, though she wasn’t sure what she’d do. Try to drown herself, maybe? “You told me I was weak just a while ago. Now you’re telling me the opposite? I’m weak, I’m fine with being weak. Just let me die so I can see everyone again. I know what the afterlife is like. That’s all I want. I want the afterlife…” She stepped close enough to the shore for the water to lick her ankles, and she kept walking. Even with her heavy clothing. How painful could drowning be? …. A lot, but no more painful than living itself.

“Go to hell, Vegeta. It makes me sick to say your name. Just let me die. And maybe follow in my footsteps and die too, so you can rot in hell, where you belong.”

* * *

His POV

Here he was, the prince of all Saiyans, spilling his guts (to him at least), and she had the nerve to smack him for it. Actually, it was the best reaction Vegeta could have hoped for from the woman. It was the first time since landing on her brunt world that he’d seen that fire return to her face. She smacked him with her shoe, and he grumbled and grunted, trying to shield himself with his palm. It wasn’t working, he was only growing irritated, but it didn’t stop the obnoxious grin from spreading across his tanned features. His tail even flopped in the sand from the sudden burst of excitement. She was fighting him again, what more could a Saiyan prince ask for.

His arrogant smirk wasn’t to last, though. His face pouted up and his brow narrowed into a wicked scowl, yanking the other shoe right out of her grasp. Her earthling shoe, wasn’t it. That fact calmed him down enough to listen to her next round of verbal bashing. He didn’t like what she was saying, either. She was still clinging to the afterlife. The prince was so stubborn, so fed up of her ranting and raving about her dead loved ones, that he had half a mind to let her kill herself. That is, until she actually stood up and walked towards the ocean front.

Suddenly, all that aggression and rebellion that wanted to push the girl into the ocean himself, disappeared. His primal side reared its ugly head and Vegeta jumped to his feet. His fists firmly clutched at his sides, he wasn’t about to let her drown herself. And right there in front of him. Did she really think he’d just stand there and watch? Let her tell him to go to hell, he already knew it’d be his final resting place. But unlike her, he didn’t care when he got there. He shot daggers at her back, but it still felt as if she wasn’t taking him seriously.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he protested, marching right after the woman and catching her around the waist for the umpteenth time. It was time for him to take the lead again. To be his alpha male self. She could fight him, but he wasn’t allowing her near the water, not until he could trust her again. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he was marching along the beach line. Dominant, determined, and directionless. Maybe he’d take her to the city limits that wasn’t too far off. Anything to get her away from another suicidal situation.

* * *

Her POV

She took a few steps closer into the water, and her feet had begun to tingle. Not pleasantly, either. The water must have had a chemical makeup that was toxic to the skin of a human, because it was beginning to get painful. …Though, at the same time, wouldn’t this be better? If she swam in the water, she could waste away to nothing. It’d be good. She began to quicken her steps until it was up to her shins, but that was when Vegeta seemed to draw the line.

She wasn’t surprised when his arms wrapped around her waist and he forced her to safety. She was unhappy about it, but she wasn’t surprised. She wrinkled her nose and pouted as he began carrying her off to who-knew-where, and began to think more strongly about what she could do to make herself be… Well. Be done with. She nearly caught him off-guard plenty of times when she was still trying to kill him. She could always do that something, except kill herself. She was sure that’d work.

She eyed Vegeta, namely his scouter. She could use that, like last time. Without warning, she grabbed it and smacked it over Vegeta’s shoulder to break it. She forced it toward her throat, her heart beating faster than she’d ever felt it before, even in her previous suicide attempts. It was so much different when one tried to physically harm themselves like she was trying to do now, rather than setting up the work for some other force to kill her for her.

* * *

His POV

He didn’t know where he was headed, just that he was headed away from their current predicament. Away, far away. The prince was good at disappearing whenever he was met with anything that made him feel uneasy. Such as …emotions. It was the only time Vegeta ever obeyed his ‘flight’ instinct. Whenever an emotional upheaval showed itself, he was sure to act out in one way or another. This time it looked like he was taking them into town. Maybe the hustle and bustle of different life would distract them from each other.

But no, it looked like he couldn’t get away from her drive to kill herself, even while carrying her in the safety of his arms. Kami, was she safe anywhere? He’d need to attach a bell to her, or something. The moment the scouter ripped from his face, Vegeta knew exactly what she was up to. She’d tried this trick before, and while he didn’t know if she’d be aiming for her or him, he knew he had to get that makeshift weapon away from her. And quick. She was a deadly creature. He knew that first hand.

“That was my best scouter!” he roared, slamming the girls back into the sand. Aiming to knock the wind out of her in order to give him a moments distraction; either to end her attack, or to stop her from taking her own life. He went for the broken scouter next. Ripping it from her grasp and tossing it to the side. Though a ‘gentle toss’ from Vegeta, meant it went flying out of sight for miles over the open ocean.

“You’re damn lucky I have a spare one back in the pod,” he snapped, his teeth bared at her, “...did you forget your promise so easily? Did you? Nappa and Raditz are still on your damnable planet. One word and I can order them to burn everything. Is that what you want?” he barked, angrily. Though his anger was quickly controlled (somewhat) once he’d realized how cruel he was acting. He realized... that was new too. Normally he didn’t give a shit. ...but, the girl was fragile. The last the he needed to do was give her more insensitive to try and die. His fangs his behind his lips, turning his gaze away. If he was to have to start controlling his temper around her it might prove to be tricky.

* * *

Her POV

The breath was indeed knocked out of her when she hit the ground. She was sure there’d be bruising on her back with how forceful the toss was, and she was only upset that he couldn’t have thrown her a little harder in order to sever her spine. He was upset that she had ruined his best scouter, after all. But instead, he seemed insistent on keeping her alive. The scouter was taken from her and thrown leagues away, and then came the threats. The reminder that Nappa and Raditz were not with them; they were on Earth.

“You… You’re horrible!” She spat at him and curled away, tears beginning to fall down her face even when she was so dehydrated she couldn’t think straight. He’d threaten to destroy the planet after everything? She wanted to die. Maybe, if it meant dying, she’d let her planet die! Eugh… But knowing him, he’d refuse to let her die still. Her planet would be gone, but he’d force her to continue on.

Her stomach rumbled from hunger as she sobbed on the ground like a child. Whining and crying in a way she just couldn’t stop herself from. It wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair! Why was she stuck in this hell? If she had to go through everything, why couldn’t she just get to end it so she could continue on as she wanted? Why did she have to stay around? Why did he have to be so obsessed with her that he couldn’t just let her go, like he demanded she let the destruction of everything she knew and loved go?

She sobbed and cried, and eventually… She stopped moving. Not because she had suffocated herself this time. This time, it was because she’d fallen asleep. She was that exhausted that all her body could do was pass out. It must have been nice for Vegeta, but it was a sign of something bad– she was exhausted, starving, and dehydrated. If things went on like this, maybe Bulma’d get her wish and she’d die an early death without Vegeta being able to stop her.

* * *

His POV

The girl was throwing another fit - he should have expected that from the way he’d just treated her. And partially, he did expect it. Vegeta took her lashing out, it was better than her trying to harm herself, anyhow. Luckily for him it looked like she’d wear herself out this time around. Asleep once she’d used up the last remainder of her energy. But that’s when Vegeta realized, he need to find her food and shelter for the time they’d be staying on this planet. Forcing her to camp out never ended well for the girl, if memory served correctly.

He waited her out until he could scoop up her unconscious body without a fight. To tell the truth, he was glad she was asleep, no matter what state of unrest it put her in. It gave him a chance to notice her legs, too. Turning red from the shin down from when she’d waded into the purple waters. Great, just great, he’d have to figure out to get her medical attention too while he was at it. The girl was one trouble after the next, and the worst part was he didn’t mind it all that much. If anything, it was starting to make him feel a little useful; when his life of treachery had always left a dry hunger in his mouth.

The nearest village wasn’t too far off. A little more sophisticated from the last beachy planet they visited, but not as up to date as he would of preferred. The prince’s gaze turned down to the limp girl in his arms, checking to ensure she was asleep, alive. She appeared fine, so he stepped right in to the nearest hotel. Or rather ‘motel’ was more fitting. It was a shabby little place. Old, filled with the smell of beach and sea air, but at least it was clean.

After demanding medical supplies and something to eat from the front desk, Vegeta stepped into the city front room. The hustle and bustle of the village outside, but the room quiet and still. It even appeared to have an old screen, perhaps the planets version of a television, only it was bolted to the ceiling rather than the wall. Apparently these people preferred to lay on their back while they watched the universal news. That’s where he laid the girl, on the soft mattress; just as the door buzzed. It was house keeping with his order.

* * *

Her POV

She awoke to the smell of the sea after a dreamless sleep. And thank god it was dreamless; she didn’t need to torture herself with dreams of her dead family. But then it all hit her again. The dragon balls were gone. There was no making a wish to make everything as it was. She was stuck in the world she found herself in, and her kidnapper and rapist (ex-rapist? It didn’t make much of a difference) was refusing to let her kill herself to be with everyone she once knew. Instead, he was forcing her to stay with him.

She immediately felt sick. She couldn’t help but sudden urge to puke that came with the memories of what she saw of her planet. Her father’s brains, the bodies of people she was just… Rolling over in her car… It was sickening. She rolled over and puked on the floor next to her bed with no warning, though it was at least mostly bile. She had nothing to throw up besides that. It burned her mouth and throat, and she just rolled back over onto her back and stared at the screen that looked like a TV.

Maybe it would fall on her and she’d finally die. She rolled over onto her stomach and pressed her face into the pillow, hoping that she’d suffocate herself. She covered her body with her blankets, just another half-assed attempt to suffocate herself. She wanted to die. Was it so much to ask? The gods in this world were useless if they couldn’t even do that much for her. She’d gone through too much. 

It was becoming physically painful to live, anyway. Her stomach ached from no food, her mouth was unbelievably dry and her lips cracking, and her legs up to her shins were tingling painfully- it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was from the water on this planet. Maybe it’d poison her bloodstream and she’d die that way? It was more painful of a death than she wanted, but she’d take anything at this point. Anything to be back with her family again, and away from Vegeta and the other Saiyans. 

* * *

His POV

Vegeta didn’t notice the girl stirring, too busy answering the door. Or rather, harassing the wits out of the poor servant that’d dared to bring him his meal and medical supplies. The prince sounded villainous, vile, barking about something the servant had brought him. “This? What the hell do you expect me to do with this?!” the prince roared, then something was thrown at the poor, small spotted man, a water bottle by the looks of it; it went bouncing off the man’s head. “...I need off-world!” he snapped. Something was murmured by the servant, something about cost, Vegeta answering by shouting, “I don’t give a shit! Now get off your ass and get it right this time!”

The door smacked shut and the prince rumbled. Slowly, he turned his attention back towards the room. Where was the girl? He’d probably woken her up, come to think about it. Damn. It didn’t matter, he’d be tending to her wounds whether she liked it or not. Dead or alive. Asleep or fighting him the whole way through. There had been a tray left against the wall by the frightened servant. it was littered with fruit, something that resembled fruit cake, and lots of shellfish, among other various types of things to shove in one’s mouth. And then there was a small jar of medical cream. That’s what he was going for.

The tray landed on the small table next to the girl’s bedside, and Vegeta sat on the beds edge. He didn’t waste time, he pulled the blanket right off of her, tossing it to opposite bed (there were four beds total). He wouldn’t be allowing her to suffocate herself right under his nose a second time. His scowl traced down to her body, down to her burned legs. They needed treatment sooner than later. That couldn’t feel good.

But just as soon as he’d cracked open the jar, the door buzzed again. After a very, very annoyed grunt, the prince set the jar down and went for the door. Only back glancing the girl once over his shoulder before tending to the servant again. At least the damned servant had gotten his request correct this time. The servant had brought him water, several bottles of it. Crisp, clear, expensive off-world water. The water here may of been filtered once it went through the cities pipes, but that didn’t make it drinkable. Not for a human, at least. The water was for the girl. The crystal clear bottles set next to her tray when Vegeta returned, sitting back on her bedside.

* * *

Her POV

Just as she was starting to feel her lung beg for oxygen, Vegeta pulled the blanket out from over her. She turned to look at him and involuntarily breathed in what her lungs had been begging for, before giving him a nasty look. Why did he have to force her to keep living? What an asshole. Ng… No matter. She’d find a way to kill herself. She shifted to sit at the side of the bed and stood up, but immediately when her weight pressed to her feet, she realized it was a bad idea. She yelled in pain and dropped back onto her but again.

The chemical burns were horrible. Maybe she was in so much pain otherwise that it had dulled, but now she realized just how painful it was. If only she’d dropped her head in the water. Maybe she’d be dead. Or so disfigured Vegeta wouldn’t want to bother with her anymore, so she could go off somewhere and die. …If she died with a disfigurement like that, would she be an ugly ghost? She hoped not.

Her eyes drifted toward the tray with a jar of medical cream and plenty of fruits. Her stomach rumbled, and her body begged for attention when Vegeta came forward again holding a tray with a ton of different bottles of water, all looking clear and not like the purplish water that had burned her skin before. She needed it! But– But no. If she refused it, then that meant she’d get to die. It might be torture to be on an empty stomach and with no water, but if she went without it, she’d die. And that’s exactly what she wanted.

She turned away from Vegeta and crossed her arms tightly, not saying a word. She wouldn’t accept any of his help. He could try to make her, but she’d put up a fight- what pathetic fight she could make, anyway. Then she could die in peace and not have to worry about him following her anymore. Even if he died too, there was no way he’d get to Otherworld. She’d killed men, but she’d certainly still go to Otherworld, right…?

* * *

His POV

He knew that look, the moment he sat back down on the bed Vegeta knew that this was going to end in a fight. Bring it on, he thought to himself. He could use a good fight, even if it was just a little rough handling with a particularly feisty female who’d refuse his services. Oh, how far he’d fallen himself. A prince of his blood thirsty heritage playing servant to a suicidal puffy eyed human girl. Some part of him hated her for it, but in the long run, he didn’t care. Unfortunately for Bulma, even with her tear stained stare, he found her more inviting to look at then anything he’d come across in the universe.

He gave her a side longed look, arching one of his thick brow at her equally pouty face. It meant ‘are you going to cooperate?’. He knew the answer to that, of course she wouldn’t. That’s why when he pushed her back onto the bed and went for her legs, he instinctively tried to keep his junk and his face out of her kicking range. All he needed to do was to pin down her legs into his lap, then he could spread the cream over her calves. She could shove and scream, but he was fixing her damned legs. Would she really refuse once she felt the tingling sensation of relief? He could only hope not.

“You should be eating.” he huffed, glancing her a second time once he’d successfully trapped her legs under one of his arms, and began spreading the cooling cream onto her shins with the other. The tray of food was close enough, and he wasn’t about to give up on her just yet. Even if he had to force feed her. That’s when he got a nasty idea... If she wouldn’t fend for herself, he’d just do it for her. She certainly wouldn’t like that.

“…if you don’t eat …I can always feed you mouth to mouth.” his words purred out. He was prodding her, teasing her, knowing she always hated it when he got sultry with her. Maybe the threat (which was by no means empty) would force her to feed herself, rather than him do it for her. The food looked good to him, too. It’d been a while since he’d eaten, and with his Saiyan sized appetite, his stomach growled loudly. Loud enough for it to be unreasonably noticeable. But he wouldn’t eat, not until the girl had forced something in her mouth. Or he’d forced it into her, either or.

* * *

Her POV

In one quick motion, she was forced down against the bed and her legs were wrestled into a pinned position. She couldn’t do anything. She scowled and simply let it happen, considering he was only saving her legs. It didn’t matter to her if those were healed or not. She wouldn’t die without treatment as far as she knew, so she should just accept it. But when he mentioned eating, that was a different thing. She shook her head and looked away, even when he brought up the idea of force-feeding in that disgusting tone of his.

“No.” That was her simple response. She shook her head again and closed her eyes, planning on refusing to swallow anything he forced into her mouth by mouth-to-mouth. She wasn’t a baby bird; she didn’t need to be fed like one. How stupid. He’d have to shove the food down her throat if he wanted her to eat it, and even then, she could just puke it back up. This was one way she was in control. She’d die, even if it took a month or more to make it happen.

She eyed the water again, and her nose wrinkled. Why’d he have to go do something like that? Get her water. It reminded her of Zarbon. When he’d bought… …Then again, had it been Zarbon? It might as well have been Vegeta. Either way, any needless reminder of Zarbon was not welcome to her. He was long dead, and yet when she was reminded of what he did to her, her blood boiled with hatred.

“I’m sure you have no problem with doing terrible things to get me to eat, though. You have no problem violating me in any other way you can imagine. I wouldn’t be surprised. You’re a monster. I hate you. I wish you’d die. So that you could let me die.”

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t listening. The girl could bitch at him all evening long, and he wasn’t giving into letting her go. If anything her blabbering was becoming a welcomed distraction. It was keeping her from kicking and screaming, as far as he could tell. While Bulma denied his orders and refused to eat, telling him the many ways he was a cruel creature, he tended to her legs. The left leg first, stroking his fingers up and down the reddened skin until he’d coated the irritation with the numbing, healing cream. Then the other, going as far as massaging it into her skin, rolling her calf muscle in his large palm.

“If that’s what it takes.” his dark voice teased her, shooting her a dirty look. Vegeta just couldn’t take her seriously, not to the point that it’d offend him. He knew he was a monster - they both knew that. But he wasn’t about to allow her to die - they both knew that, too. If anything he was enjoying the much needed banter. He released her legs, letting them rest across his lap, and reached for a piece of the fruity cake. A lump broke off into his fingers, and he shoved the whole thing into his mouth. The prince was actually going to do it. The stare he was giving her - it meant he was going to go through with his threat.

But then his chewing slowed, until he paused completely. His face contorted with confusion, and then quickly he stood up. The tray went flying across the room, Vegeta had swatted at it as soon as he realized the food wasn’t fit for her to eat. Get it out of her reach as quickly as possible, that was what his instincts had forced upon him. That’s why the tray hit the wall and the food rolled across the floor.

“God damn it...” he growled, but then his vexed glare turned on the girl, “…you missed your chance, you won’t be eating that food after all.”. The food was poison, for her at least; his stomach could handle it. The prince could taste the same chemical traces that he’d smelt in the water. This whole damn planet was poison. What a wonderful destination for someone who was suicidal. Kami, he just couldn’t catch a break. His hand raked through his upright hair, pacing the room. He needed to get her food, but he couldn’t leave her alone. The woman was a Rubik’s cube of trouble.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t mind the cream at all. It soothed her pained skin, numbed it even, and Bulma was left feeling comfortable. But then her eyes turned to look at Vegeta when he was finished with both her legs. He grabbed some of the food and shoved it in his mouth, and the look in his eyes told her everything. He was doing to do it. He was going to mouth-feed her. Her lips pressed tight, but… Something was wrong. In a moment, he spat out all the food and explained that she’d missed her chance at death.

Damn. Though… She didn’t want to die like that. It wouldn’t be immediate. It’d be painful. She didn’t want to be killed by chemicals slowly burning her insides. Her nose wrinkled even more at the idea, and some part of her was disappointed she wouldn’t be getting any food. Even if that’s what it meant to starve. The water was still sitting there, begging to be drunk, but she didn’t want to do that, either. She just wanted to die.

“Good, I’ll just starve to death,” she replied, staying in place in bed. She wasn’t about to walk around on the legs that had hurt so bad when she tried standing up. As far as she was concerned, she was happy to die in her place. Wither away. She’d lose her cute figure, but maybe if she asked Kami nice enough, he’d even her out. Maybe even make her boobs a little bigger. That’d be nice. All the better to taunt Yamcha with when she told him that they’re over for good. 

…Or maybe Kami could make her forget this past month? Then she wouldn’t have to break up with Yamcha. As far as she was concerned, she’d be the same old Bulma. That’d be… So nice… Maybe if she wasn’t so dehydrated, she’d be crying again at just the thought of it.

* * *

His POV

At least she wasn’t making a grab for the mess of food on the floor. That was something. Vegeta wiped his fingertips over his mouth, roaming his gaze over the room, deciding on how to handle this new situation. He’d have to bring her with him if he was going to retrieve proper food. Eatable food. That was the only answer left for him. His firm gaze fixed on her, and he marched right back towards the bed with new determination. She could sit there and look perfectly pouty all she wanted, like some queen on her throne, and he’d just be the one to dethrone her.

“Woman...” he grumbled, getting serious, “…that is not going to happen, and you know it.” he shook a stern finger at her. He was just as stubborn as she was, and it looked like they’d be butting heads until one of them gave in. Vegeta was determined not to be the defeated one this time. There was too much at stake, like her life for instance. It was going to come down to a battle of wills, and some part of the prince was looking forward to that. He rarely got a worthy adversary, and that was only in battle. It was a rarity to have someone to battle his will or his mind against. As much as he knew he should hate the predicament he was forced into, he certainly wasn’t denying it.

He dethroned her, right off of her comfy spot on the bed. His arms scooped her up under her knees and cradled her shoulders, carrying her right out the door. This place had to have something worthy of eating. A packaged meal, a space treat, anything at this point would do. It looked like the prince was going to get his wish, too. There was a small shop with the bright words ‘Out of this World’ flashing above the rotating door. It was equivalent to a gas station. And it sold equally pathetic gas station style food. But at least it was food, and it was from off-world, as the store name suggested.

They had everything, including Space-Puffs, for an equally out of this world price. The prince didn’t seem to care what he grabbed, as long as he grabbed something. Which wasn’t so easy with the girl in his arms, but it wasn’t exactly like he was ready to put her down after he’d seen her stumble on her wounded legs. She really was a mess, which he didn’t mind commenting on by saying, “You know, you look like shit.”

* * *

Her POV

She turned away from Vegeta when he tried to argue with her that her death wouldn’t happen, but it was all for nothing. He picked her up and carried her away, much to her irritation. Hey. Maybe she’d die of thirst on the way to the store. Her stomach was already cramping from the lack of water in her system, after all. So she stayed still rather than fight him, and just looked pouty all the way to wherever he decided to take her. Which, as it turned out, was a gas station.

He had trouble carrying things with her in his hands, and she made every attempt to make things harder for him. She grabbed the food from him and dropped it on the ground, pushed and shifted in his arms, and was overall a nuisance. He couldn’t carry her over his shoulder anymore, because he risked her suffocating herself with her own clothes while he was busy doing other things. It was only a matter of time before he had to just give in and let her kill herself, right?

She slapped Vegeta across the face just because, though the slap was rather weak. Not because she intended it to be weak, but because her strength was nowhere to be found. Mentally and physically. She was physically exhausted, thirsty, starving, delusional, and suicidal. It was only a matter of time before she started having hallucinations too, with in such a bad state as she was. But even through all her trouble, he still had the nerve to insult her. His tone suggested it was meant to be taken as a worried comment more than anything else, but that didn’t stop her from taking offense and glaring at him. 

“Of course I do! The only thing that’d make me look worse is if you rip my clothes off like you’ve done before and have your way with me. Are you going to go ahead and do that? Since you seem so excited about me looking so awful. Maybe you’ll do it so hard you’ll break my neck. That’d be nice. Just make sure you break it enough I end up dead and not just a vegetable. Though… I’m sure you’d love for me to be some lifeless vegetable, wouldn’t you?”

* * *

His POV

He fought her the entire way. Down every isle of the little convenient store. Every time he’d managed to fumble something into his hands, the woman graciously smacked it out of his grasp. Vegeta was fuming by the time they’d made it towards the counter, the store now proficiently scattered in every manner of merchandise the little shop sold. By the time the woman finished her ranting at him, the prince smacked her butt onto the clerk’s counter top. Vegeta wasn’t paying attention to the little alien that ran the place, however. His hands grasped the counters edge beside her knees, facing her, burning his white hot fury at her. Leaning in further and further like an incoming threat.

“No. I wouldn’t,” he spat, shaking his head and huffing out a breath he was so furious, “...what I want you to do is eat the damn food.” he growled. Then, after grabbing the nearest bag of Space-Puffs, Vegeta ripped it open. His temper causing the cheesy bites to go flying everywhere, bouncing all over the counter top and the girls lap. At least there was a few left in the torn bag. He dished out one of the little round puffs, then tried to force it between her lips.

“EAT THE DAMN FOOD. WOMAN. YOU NEED NOURISHMENT.” oh, he was so angry the vein in his head was throbbing, but his heart was in the right place. He needed for force her to eat. And if that meant right there in public, so be it. She was his new challenge. The situation had bumped up from ‘save the girl’ to ‘new challenge accepted’. And the bastard prince could never back down from a new challenge. Besides, despite his fury, this was the most lively thing he’d done in a while. That he could remember, if he took the time to remember. His life was ‘kill, fuck, kill, sleep’ before he met Bulma. Nothing was beautiful, nothing was worth saving. Nothing was worth remembering. Now here he was, trying to force feed a girl on a counter top, and it was somehow burning up his blood in new inexperienced ways.

The store clerk had slowly backed away. A second couple had dinged the front door, but quickly and quietly shuffled right back out of the door once they saw the man yelling at the woman at the front desk. There was no way anyone would disturb them, not that Vegeta noticed. He was too busy trying to cram his finger down the woman’s throat. One cheesy puff at a time; until she decided she’d had enough and was able to feed herself.

* * *

Her POV

He dropped her on the counter, and it was obvious that she’d made him furious. Not that she cared. If she pissed him off enough, maybe he’d just kill her. That’d be nice. She welcomed his anger and even tried to make it worse by trying to grab the stupid bag from him as he ripped it open, and went a step further to push all the puffs she could out onto the counter. But then, with a vain bulging in his neck, he began trying to shove them in her mouth.

She kept her lips tightly shut at first, but that only worked so well. Eventually he managed to open her mouth and shove them in, and down her throat. The moment he crammed one of the disgusting-tasting pieces of junk food down her throat, though, she coughed. Violently. Not because she was refusing to eat, either. The reaction caught her off-guard, and her eyes widened.

Her throat was dry. She hadn’t realized how dry her throat had been until then. It couldn’t force down any food, especially the dry little cheese puffs. She gagged on his mouth as she coughed, coughed until the puff was forced back up her mouth from her throat refusing it. She hadn’t drank any of the water from back at the hotel, after all.

She grabbed onto Vegeta’s shoulder as she coughed, unable to stop. It still felt like there was something stuck in her throat. Maybe it was just the bits of cheese puff just irritating her throat because it was so dry, but it almost felt like she couldn’t breathe. God, she couldn’t stop coughing. 

* * *

His POV

Feed the girl, that’s all he kept thinking. To the point that her sudden bout of coughing caught him off guard. At first, he suspected she was just trying to refuse the food, or finally, FINALLY, he’d triggered her gag reflex by shoving something down her throat (though he really doubted that, he knew how much she could take). Then she grabbed onto his shoulder, and suddenly the prince realized ...she was dehydrated. That was the cause behind her coughing. The woman looked helpless to it, as if she couldn’t control herself. He needed to find water, and fast.

Vegeta grabbed for the first thing that was bottled. Luckily there was a cooler just to his side at the cashier’s counter. He’d grabbed mineral water. The logo a happily dancing bird - it was probably from that beachy planet they’d gone to before. Quickly, he unscrewed the top and steadied the girl onto his shoulder, letting her balance and rest against his armored chest. Murmuring, “ _...drink_ ,” as he tilted her head back with one hand, and placed the cool bottle to her lips with the other. 

He could only hope she’d accept this time. Maybe her instincts would kick in, since she was in such a coughing fit. He may have looked his arrogant self. His stance protective and his aura daunting. Keeping anyone and everyone that walked past the doors of the shop at bay, but the look on his face was different. The prince was truly concerned for her well-being. Tending to her like a fine tuned medic, refusing to leave her side. Hoping she’d take the bottle from his hands and drink it down for herself. He’d forgotten the scattered bag of food completely. If anything, she needed the water more then she needed the food.

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta seemed to catch on quick, and within moments there was a water bottle in her face. He unscrewed it and tried forcing it in her mouth for her to drink, with his free arm holding her protectively to his chest, and while she wanted to refuse it so she could just die of thirst, she couldn’t help it. She drank, or at least attempted to with all the sputtering. God, it felt like nothing else. Her mouth begged for more to satisfy all her thirst, and she clung to the bottle like a baby to a bottle of milk. In seconds, the water was gone.

“I want more,” she told him, as if her wits were finally coming back to her. She wanted to die, but not by thirst. Besides, now that she had a taste, she needed more until her belly sloshed and she couldn’t take a single drop more. But for the time being, her chapped lips and dry throat and cracking tongue demanding that she have more. Her eyes must have been sunken by now, and her stomach was almost in more pain now that it was reintroduced to the water, suddenly cramping. But she needed more.

She didn’t care about the food, but she did drop the water bottle to the side and badger Vegeta further. Her hands dug into his shoulders and she stared at him with a fire she’d been missing recently, her instincts taking over her lack of will to live. “Give me more! I need at least five more bottles! I’m thirsty, I didn’t realize how thirsty I was, I need more!”

* * *

His POV

He watched her drink. Watched her throat bob and her mouth struggle to take in all the water she needed. But it wasn’t enough. No sooner had the bottle been drained, Vegeta found himself face to face with the girl he’d missed. That fiery stare that he was beginning to fear wasn’t coming back. There she was, staring back at him and demanding the rights to live. Demanding water.

The prince silently and softly nodded his head once, staring bewildered at the female, but then quickly righted himself. He grabbed two, then three, then four more bottles. Sitting them onto the counter top next to her thigh. He never let her go, though. The warm press of his gentle palm keeping her steady on the counter. Vegeta knew to watch how much water she took in. She’d make herself puke it all up if she downed it too quickly, but he wasn’t about to deny her demands when she’d finally started coming back to her senses. Finally started acting like the demanding princess he knew she was. For once, he was quick and all too happy to do as she said.

“Don’t puke this time,” he warned, knowing the girl was smart enough to know not to drink too fast. He was just reminding her, slyly. The hand at her back gently rubbed her shoulder blade. Not in a suggestive manner, more of a calming, supportive manner. Coaxing the water into her system as pain free as possible. There was a good chance he wasn’t even aware of his actions - instincts was more like it. His instincts to comfort and care for the girl did always kick in when she looked to be in any kind of trouble. It slightly felt like the time he’d pulled her out of the snow. So quick to warm her with his body heat. He hadn’t thought twice about that, either.

The store clerk was watching from the side lines. A little frog, nervously waiting to see if the fiendish customers would even pay. He certainly wasn’t going to make them, even if Vegeta was willing to purchase everything in his run down little shop. The Saiyan was too scary, and if the frog was brave enough to reach for the distress button behind the counter, he may have tried to call the authorities on the ‘two trouble makers’.

* * *

Her POV

She drank up the second bottle, and by the middle of the third she finally slowed. She stopped other than short sips at her fourth bottle, with her belly filled to the brim with water. Vegeta had told her not to puke, but she may have damn well been on the verge. She just couldn’t help herself. She was so thirsty. Could she be blamed? How long had it been since she’d last had a drink? She couldn’t be certain, but maybe two days? Maybe one and a half… Either way, it was long enough that as soon as she got a taste, she realized she had been in hell with how thirsty she was.

“Gn… I hate you,” she told him as she took light sips from the bottle. She glanced back at the shaking frog just as he reached for the button to alert for authorities, but the eye contact seemed to make him change his mind. She turned back to Vegeta, with a hand over her sloshing stomach, trying her best to keep everything down. Her scowl overtook her features, and her eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t be about to die of thirst if you had just killed me like I told you.”

Sure, she knew no matter how much she begged Vegeta, it wouldn’t happen. But what other option did she have? All she knew was that she wanted to die. Well… She wanted much more than that, but that was the main, semi-realistic goal, now that the dragon balls were no longer a viable option. She still felt the need to shed tears over it, but something prevented her. Probably because she was still dehydrated and the water hadn’t yet run through her system. She physically could not cry.

But there was one thing she could do. As the image of her father came back to the front of her mind, she did what Vegeta told her not to. She puked, and a watery, pathetic vomit at that, thanks to water being her only stomach contents.

* * *

His POV

By her third bottle of water, Vegeta debated smacking it from her hand. He knew she was going too far, but something prevented him from interfering. Maybe it was because watching her drink to her hearts content was so damn hypnotizing. For someone who had denied food and water at every turn, it was like watching a supernova up close and personal, watching her give into her thirst. Besides, he’d warned her. If she puked it was her own damn fault ...even if the brute hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

But it did come to that, and while he’d moved quick enough to escape most of her watery spewing, it still managed to get all over his nice clean boots. The prince grumbled, pressing his brow together, but he didn’t mention it. She claimed she hated him, and he simply said, “I know”. He side glanced the frog and then demanded the clerk’s attention. He still had a few things to gather, and he wasn’t about to do it himself. He may of been playing nurse maid to the earthling, but he was still a proud prince to anyone and everyone else.

“Get over here and do your damned job,” he barked and the frog quickly darted behind the counter. Nervously shaking, it began bagging the bottles of water. Vegeta’s temper subsided, especially now that Bulma was partially taken care of. Though she had puked up a large amount of the water, at least she was accepting it now. His hand returning to her shoulders, Vegeta added a few more things to the bag. Alright, a lot more. By the time he’d run the prince’s credit chip, Vegeta had several bags of protein bars, fruit snacks, and bags of junk food and sweets draped on one arm. Now came the tricky part, getting the food, and the girl back to the motel room.

Would she let him pick her up easily this time? He attempted it, scooping the girl up off the counter as quickly as he could, trying to take her by surprise. The motel was only a few doors down, but between here and there could prove to be a challenge if she put up a fight. Especially with that sickly belly of hers. Then let her fight him, he determined. A grunt slipped past his lips and Vegeta stared harshly at her - his expression asking her to behave for once. He’d make sure to stop by the motel’s front desk and demand room service clean up the mess of food, too. He wasn’t about to stoop so low that he’d begun cleaning messes. Now that’d be going too far.

* * *

Her POV

He picked her up, but she didn’t fight. She pressed a hand to her belly and wrapped her other arm around his shoulders to keep herself steady, otherwise accepting the help. She still didn’t want to eat–not like she really could, anyway–and silently dreaded the coming moment where Vegeta would be shoveling disgusting junk food into her mouth because of it. And then she could puke it up again.

Ugh, her mouth tasted disgusting and burned from all the bile. She rested her chin on Vegeta’s shoulder and watched the scenery pass as a drip of her vomit glided down her chin, her eyebrows furrowing. Why did things end up like this? It’s not like she wanted to die. Well, she did. But that was because she didn’t want to suffer anymore. She didn’t want to be stuck in hell with a man that had made her life said hell. She wanted to be with her family again. She didn’t want to die so she could end it all, she wanted to die so she could return to some semblance of normal.

“I hate you,” she murmured again, with a weak voice. God, did she feel sick. …Why was he even taking care of her like this, anyway? That’s what bugged her to think about. It’s not like he needed to. No one was forcing him to do it. She pulled her head up to look at him with a small pout, as if trying to figure him out. Really, why was he acting like this…?

“You’ve never apologized for everything you’ve done to me, you know,” she told him. “Not that a sorry would matter. But if you’re so insistent on not letting me die and taking care of me so much, that might be a good start. Apologize for every horrible thing. And not just because I told you to. Maybe if you actually felt sorry, I wouldn’t hate you quite as much.”

* * *

His POV

She wasn’t fighting him this time, that was a start. Maybe if he was lucky he wouldn’t have to force her to eat either, but Vegeta suspected that was a shot in the dark. There’d be more fights to come, and he even slightly looked forward to their tiffs, but for now he was grateful for the calm walk back to the motel. It made carrying all those bags of crap a little less demeaning. It gave him a chance to look over her, too. The girl looked weak, worn out, like a soldier after a long trial of battle. She’d been fighting her own wars this whole time, he was coming to realize that. The prince couldn’t completely blame her for being worn out, or the smell of bile coming from her pink lips - he was staring at that too.

But then she looked up at him, meeting his thoughtful stare with her own pouty look. She was telling him to say sorry. Oh, no, he didn’t apologize, especially if he was being told to. Vegeta was a man of actions, not words. The gentle look he’d been giving her burned up into angry embarrassment. Knitting his brows and jerking his head to the side, grumbling under his breath. Luckily he wouldn’t have to answer her right off. He’d just stepped up to the motel’s front desk. Vegeta was very much ready to tell the host off about the mess in his room, rather than meet the girls questioning glare.

“Would believe me if I told you?” he finally managed to breath out, once they’d arrived back at the room. He’d been thinking about what she’d said since she said it. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought it. The word ‘ _sorry’_. But the prince just couldn’t bring himself to say it. Not when he knew there was a chance she wouldn’t even believe him. His gaze turned away and he sat her back on her bed gently, sitting on the bed opposite of her. His gloved hands rummaged through one of the bags he brought with them, paying her no mind. ...though he was still thinking about it.

He was a man of few words. Everything the prince had to say was backed with passion and honesty; he always meant what he said, but very rarely said it. The truth was, he wanted to say it, he could feel it in his throat from time to time; after witnessing her sobbing in her lab over her home world. That was when he first wanted to apologize for everything. But words were meaningless, he knew that. Then what, everything would be okay? No, if he was going to make up for it, he’d do it his way. Starting with tending to the girl’s wounds.

Vegeta’s harsh gaze looked up, tossing the girl the rest of her half drank water bottle. She still needed it, along with some food. Sniffing one of the packaged meals cautiously, he scrunched his nose at it in rejection. Packaged food was so weird to him, where was the meat? After inspecting it, grunting at the crinkly paper, he tossed her the packaged sweet. He watched her, resting his forearms on his knees and just …watched. Like a cat that’d brought its master a dead bird, only to see if it’d accept it. He was waiting for her to eat it. If not, he had a whole bag of shit until he found something she’d accept. Of course, she always knew the alternative route.

* * *

Her POV

He refused to answer her, and when he finally got to the motel room and did, it wasn’t a real answer. But it held something important. Would she believe him? She doubted it. She pressed her lips together tightly, but didn’t respond back. Of course she wouldn’t believe him. He was still too willing to kill people. He wouldn’t feel bad about murdering, other than because he felt bad that he made her upset. No matter what, he was still a bad person. He couldn’t understand the concept of guilt. Not really, anyway.

When he set her down, she rolled to her side and tried to avoid touching her feet to anything, including each other. The medical cream helped, but pressure was still unpleasant. She wanted to ask Vegeta for a bath, but then it occurred to her that she’d just burn alive. She’d probably just end up disfigured and in tremendous pain rather than dead. Though maybe he’d end up finally giving her that mercy killing she kept trying to demand from him.

He did toss her the water bottle she hadn’t yet finished. She drank the rest of it and dropped the bottle on the bedside table, only to have something tossed at her. She checked to see, to find food. Some kind of sweet. He was trying to get her to eat. Like she would. No, she’d rather starve. She swatted the sweet off onto the ground and tried to go to sleep instead, rather than eat anything else. Though damn, was she hungry. Maybe it became less unbearable over time? There were so many people that fasted for days, after all.

“Leave me alone,” she warned Vegeta as she snuggled up to the pillow, still finding her feet in pain. She didn’t want to have food shoved down her throat because she refused to eat. She was tired, in pain, and just mentally exhausted. She wanted to sleep and never wake up. If he wouldn’t even allow that much of her, or even just the sleep part, then she’d have to put up a fight. And she really didn’t want to fight. Not now. She was too tired.

* * *

His POV

He was pleased to see her drink down the last of her water - good, he knew she had some liquid in her system, but she’d refused the food. The strange packaged sweet skidded across the motel room floor, and Vegeta’s lip quivered over a growl. He didn’t retaliate past that, though. Going straight back into the bag of packages and picking something else out to offer her. One after the next, he rejected the packages. Nothing looked worth eating, especially to him. A carnivore with a craving for raw meat. Then he found something. It looked like a nutty protein bar, but green. It’d have to do. She may have told him to ‘leave her alone’ but he wasn’t listening. The protein bar was set before her pillow, next.

“No sleep, until you eat something.” he huffed, a lowly gruff following - an animalistic sound that meant there’d be no compromising. Come to think of it, a protein bar sounded the most reasonable thing to eat out of the whole shit load he’d purchased. Luckily he’d gotten a few boxes of those, and the prince was trying to figure out how to open the package in no time. It must have looked like a gorilla trying to peel a banana for the first time. He didn’t want what had happened back at the shop, when the snack had scattered everywhere. He wanted the food inside, but, how to get it without destroying it? Vegeta may of eaten packaged meals, once, maybe twice in his lifetime. And that was as a child. This was much different than stripping a carcass clean of its muscle.

Room service came and went, but Vegeta never looked to notice. He didn’t care, besides, getting into the wrapper was collecting his attention. At first he nibbled the wrappers edge, trying to get a feel for it. Then, he just bit into it completely …no patience. At least the package was open and he could dig out the remains of the nutty treat. In fact, it wasn’t so bad. The smell of food quickly hanging in the air, making his stomach rumble. He went for another one. This one smelt like rich chocolate. However, after one bite, he shook his head and made a face, like a dog that’d gotten into the peanut-butter. It was tossed onto the side table. Rejected. That had just tasted weird.

After finding a few more of the meatier tasting snacks, the prince’s gaze trailed up, finding the girl. His sights went right to her legs, however, and how she was holding them so delicately. They must have still hurt. He paused mid munch, pressing his brow into contemplative thought. Her skin may just need time to heal, he knew that. There was a long list of damages Vegeta had dealt with. But ...something about witnessing the girl in pain, currently, didn’t set well with him. That’s why he stopped rummaging through the bags and went for the medical cream instead. Gently, carefully, placing it beside her tender calves. His way of giving her means to help herself, if she wanted to. He had that expectant stare fixed on her once again.

* * *

Her POV

She heard Vegeta’s grunt, and her only response was to knock the protein bar off of her pillow. She was losing her will to actively kill herself, but she still felt dead inside. She didn’t want to contribute to actively living. She missed her dad. She missed her mom. She missed Pu’ar, and Oolong, and Roshi, and Yamcha, and Krillin… And Goku, though she hadn’t seen him in years. He had a kid she never got to see… That still made her sick to think about.

She tried to sleep as the room service came and cleaned up the hotel room, but soon enough she could hear Vegeta crinkling with the wrappers and trying to get some protein bars free. Gn… He wouldn’t be force feeding her, would he? She’d reject it. She didn’t need his food! Though as soon as the smell from the protein bars– the nutty, chocolaty, delicious smells–wafted to her nose, her stomach rumbled. Gn…

She covered her face with the pillow and groaned into the mattress, wishing he’d just leave her alone. If only she could just fall asleep, but her stomach was refusing to let that happen, and her feet still burned too much to ignore. She groaned again as she heard Vegeta walk over, hoping to god he wasn’t just trying to shove food down her throat because she didn’t want to eat. She’d like to see him try. She’ll just puke it up.

But he just set something down near her legs instead. She peeked her eye out from the pillows to see it was the cream, but… She didn’t feel like moving. She was already in enough pain and discomfort, what could one tiny little extra hurt do? She could tolerate it. Maybe if she ignored it, he’d leave her alone. Or better yet, lather it on for her and not force her to eat.

* * *

His POV

There’d been no movement from the girl since she’d knocked off the offering of food from her pillow side. At least she wasn’t dead, or trying to smother herself again. The prince could tell that from the various sounds of discomfort she was making. He’d busied himself with his meal time until he’d grown tired of dealing with that packages, and turned back to the medical cream. Still untouched. The prince stood between the two beds, glancing towards the girls covered head, then to her pink legs, then back again. Why wasn’t she trying to fend for herself? Was she that exhausted, did she expect him to do it?

The prince was genuinely confused. Sure, he’d done it once for her, but that was when she was too far gone in grief to do it herself. Trying to kill herself. She’d had water since then, so death wasn’t currently number one (though she was still kept under watch), was she trying to ignore the pain? That’s what he’d do, after all. But the girl wasn’t like him, he knew that, and though he couldn’t figure it out, he relented. This wasn’t like all other times, when he could expect her to take care of herself. If he wanted it done, he’d have to do it. His weight sunk onto the edge of her bed. Unscrewing the jar, he placed her tender calves across his lap.

However, the cream never smeared across her skin. The prince was doing something else. He was rustling another wrapper, but quickly this time. He’d found the easiest way to get into the damned snacks was to rip it directly in half, like a sheet of paper. One half of the protein bar landed on her chest, then the other, just under her nose. “Eaaaat,” he groaned again, finally smearing the numbing cream across her burnt skin.

“Eat, or I’ll be feeding you next,” he grunted, a true alpha male giving its orders. At least he was tending to her burns. Especially gentle when smoothing the cream from her knee cap, all the way down to her toes and in between. Her feet were burned too, after all. He wasn’t looking at her feet, though. Vegeta hadn’t taking his side swept glare off of her since he’d tossed her the protein bar. Curiously, suspiciously. He may of been an alien to her, but she was just as unusual to him.

* * *

Her POV

She could feel the weight on the side of her bed. Not a surprise. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, figuring when he led her shins to his lap that he was only going to cover them in that soothing cream. She waited for the relief to come, but… Instead, she got a rude awakening to the crinkling of another protein bar, the weight of it on her chest, and the smell of it under her nose. She grunted and turned her face away.

He threatened her, just like she figured he would, and she still ignored it. What a pain. At least after that order, he began fixing up her legs. It soothed her burns, and for the time being, she was able to ignore the prospect of being force-fed. Why did he insist so much on doing that? Horrible. She grumbled under her breath until she finally peeked an eye out at Vegeta, just as he pushed and rubbed the cream between her toes. She’d resisted a laugh, but it did feel ticklish.

“…How… How do you expect me to eat,” she said suddenly, starting slow and increasing the pace of her speaking as soon as she found her words. “I don’t understand how you could expect it of me. I can’t, Vegeta. Even if I wanted to. I keep thinking of everything. How it was all useless. I don’t have a goal to focus on anymore. I’m alone. There’s no reason I went through everything I did. I saw… I saw my dad’s–”

Her voice was stuck in her throat, and her face again got covered by her pillow. Even just saying it made her feel sick all over again. It was one thing, having the knowledge of her parents’ deaths. But to see it like that… It was awful. And it made her think of what other horrible things all her friends had seen and been through. Had she known any other girls who’d gotten raped? Gang-banged, like she had? What if her mother–?

God, it made her sick. It made her truly, truly sick. “Don’t try to make me eat anything.”

* * *

His POV

So, that’s what was keeping her from eating. It was starting to make sense now. Little by little, the prince was beginning to understand what the girl was feeling. There was no way he could grasp what she had gone through completely, but he was just starting out. He was trying - which was a mind bender for him in the first place. It was the first time he’d ever put any kind of thought behind what he did, or whom he inflicted his fury over. He never gave a shit, so he never cared to think of the mental pain it caused. It was difficult to figure out everything she did or why she did it. But the girl was helping him realize.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he murmured, still rubbing the cream into her calves. Even the brutal war criminal knew something like seeing her father’s brains smashed across the floor couldn’t have been good. He never looked up, never realized what he’d said until it was too late. He’d murmured ‘sorry’, and after he’d made a note not too. It was because he meant it, he truly did. It may of been a small, whispered sorry, compared to the one she wanted prior, but it was genuine. His stopped the moment he realized, darting his gaze towards her, hoping she didn’t catch that. On second thought, eye contact was too much for him, he went back to rubbing her knees, trying to go off topic.

“It wasn’t useless,” he came back stronger this time, clearing his voice, “...surviving is the main goal, and you’ve accomplished that.” he finally had the nerve to look at her, and sternly, now that he was on a roll, “...do you think I wanted this? I was groomed as royalty. From the day I was born, I was told I would one day rule as a king. Even after my planets destruction, I thought that to be true, until I realized it was never going to fucking happen. I had to make myself a new goal. To do the one thing I’m good at.” his voice grew stronger, but then his attention turned away. Staring off into angry silence. Vegeta knew he’d probably just end up scolded for it, he’d probably said too much. He was still learning how to ‘tone it down’. But, what was it she was good at? That’s what he was trying to get her to think on, instead of everything else.

“...you have to eat sometime.” he grumbled, moving away from her bed. His way of saying ‘he wouldn’t make her eat’ that he understood _why_ she couldn’t now. He draped onto the bed opposite of her, placing his hands behind his head. The screen above her clicked on. It was the universal news, an odd three eyed alien chattering some gibberish about a new solar systems discovery. The volume was too low to really understand what was happening; unless you had Saiyan hearing, of course.

* * *

Her POV

He was sorry for something, at least. She glanced at him after he’d said those words to her. Apologizing for having seen her father in the state he was in. Her lips tightened. She didn’t scold him for apologizing. Even if it wasn’t the apology she wanted, it was… Genuine. She could at least appreciate that. She stayed quiet and pushed away the protein bar to the ground before pressing the pillow to her chest as he massaged the rest of the cream into her feet. …She wished she could take a bath. She wished she could eat a five-course meal without puking. She wished she could have some alcohol and take a nap for the next two weeks. Maybe then she’d feel better.

Just as she was calming herself with that idea, Vegeta spoke up again. Telling her that her suffering was worth it, because she survived. Like he had survived. He tried to compare her suffering to his own. She scowled and sat up to look at him, a fire back in her eyes. How dare he? It was different, it was completely different! She grabbed the half of the protein bar on the ground as he mused to her about having to eat sometime and sat down on his bed. She glared at him for a moment longer, letting her hatred boil, before she finally tossed the bar at him.

“You asshole! This is different! I saw you destroy everything! It was you! You, and your stupid monkey friends! It’s not like this was an accident! You came and destroyed everything I ever knew, you chased me down, you raped me, and then you almost sold me into sex slavery before deciding that you like me too much! How are you so awful that you can try and compare whatever stupid situation that was to what you’ve done yourself, to me?! I hate you! You piece of shit! You did this to me! You did this! I’m like this because of you! My life is like it is because of you!”

She glared at him with wide, angry eyes, breathing in and out of her nose with ferocity. That piece of shit. That giant, steaming sack of shit. She hated him with every bone in her body. But the glaring only lasted for so long before her expression turned to that of desperation. Tears began to fall, and soon she was curled up in the bed and sobbing again. She’d at least gotten hydrated enough that she could form tears again.

* * *

His POV

He really thought that’d be the end of it. That the girl would turn over and finally give into sleep, and he’d be left waiting for Nappa and Raditz return so that he could catch a break and switch ‘guard duty’ to one of his men, now that the girl had to be kept under constant surveillance. But no, he was dead wrong. The prince wouldn’t be getting anything remotely close to ‘peace’ for a while. If only he’d kept his big mouth shut, if only he knew how to talk to a girl, maybe he wouldn’t be trying to pull his hair out now.

She yelled and she scolded him, but not for the apology, but for what he’d said. For his little ‘pep talk’. His eyes were just as wide as hers, but not as furious as her own. He looked more startled then anything, rolling himself up on the beds edge, preparing for a fight. It always happened whenever he tried to compare apples to oranges. He was just starting to grasp that, that their worlds were too different to compare. And to think he’d only been trying to give her a little substance to go on. A little hope. Needless to say, the prince was beyond confused by her outburst.

“I know... I know!” he burst, gripping his fists at his sides, crouching like a fighter, “You know what?” he seethed, glaring right back into her fiery hatred, that icy blue stare that always hooked into him and dragged him in. He was so angry though, he couldn’t stop his words, no matter how upset he’d made her. Maybe that was the problem, he’d upset her again. When he hadn’t meant to, for once. He really hated it when he hurt her, and now it was making him angry.

“You know what? I wish I’d never landed on your miserable mud ball rock. That’s what I wish!” Ki licked off his shoulders, he paced, “I wish I’d never laid eyes on you!” his ki flashed again, growling through his teeth, “You make everything so damn complicated... I don’t know what I’m doing anymore...! Trust me when I say, if I could take back allowing that buffoon to talk me into ever going there, I would!” by the time his ranting and raving had ended, Vegeta felt regret begin to wash over him. He’d said too much, he’d admitted too much, he’d yelled again. His furious face turned into dread, turning his back on the girl so as he wouldn’t have to face what he’d just done. So that he could just be angry with everything. He’d noticed half way through that she’d been crying. Hopefully he hadn’t just worsened it. He’d meant what he’d said though. Though now it started to sting his own soul. He wished he’d never burnt her worthless planet, but never laying eyes on the woman, for some reason that stung.

* * *

Her POV

He couldn’t just let her be angry. He had to yell back. But what he did surprised her, even if she was too busy curling up and crying to show it. He yelled at her like a kid would, saying he wished that he never even saw her. Again, he was not upset at what he did; he was just upset at the outcome. Of having the obsession with her he now had. She glanced at him through the tears and raised a brow. What kind of a– 

“I wish I’d never met you, either. I’d be happy. I’d be lying at home with people that love me, having fun. Not sitting in a foreign bed with burned feet and the horrible images I have in my head. I know it’s only been a little over a month, but it feels like years. It’s awful. It’s hell. I wish you’d just kill me.” She wasn’t actively trying to kill herself anymore, but that didn’t mean she still wished she could just be dead. She dropped down onto the mattress again, wishing it was softer, and stared up at the quiet TV.

“I hate you. I hate myself. I hate the universe. I hate those stupid dragon balls. If they were still usable, I could turn everything back to how it was. I miss it. I miss it so much. I miss researching with my dad in the lab. I miss eating my mom’s cookies and lemonade. I miss kissing my boyfriend. I miss my room, my makeup, my clothes… I miss my pets, my friends… I miss my home. You took all of it from me! You’re the reason! You’re the reason I’m how I am now. All three of you.”

She wiped her eyes and glared at him again, though a new stream of tears quickly took their place, falling down her face. She just felt so hopeless. So defeated. So powerless. Nothing she could do could ever fix anything. She was stuck in this hell. Stuck with these memories. Stuck with this reality. Sure, maybe she could get a talk with Yamcha every now and then, but it was only Yamcha apparently. 

And what good was that, when she’d seen her father’s brains on the floor? When she knew she wouldn’t get to see them till she died? She just felt so far away. And she was, even physically. He couldn’t just let her stay at Earth. She was forced to stay with him, even when she had wished so much that she could just go back home and stay there. She was lightyears away. So far away she didn’t even know where the hell she was. She felt so… Alone.

* * *

His POV

Now that he’d begun to regret his actions, the girl’s words were finally starting to sink into his thick skull. The prince was too defeated to retaliate. Letting her say her peace, all the while keeping his back turned to her teary face. It felt as if he couldn’t say anything that wouldn’t make her cry. The prince may of been just as frustrated as before, but he was starting to feel shitty. He tried tuning out anything else she had so say to him. All but one thing. She’d mentioned the dragon balls again. It resonated with him, and then suddenly, something clicked. He looked over his shoulder, curiously, meeting her fixed glare.

“Everything?” he mumbled, repeating her words, but he didn’t expect her to know what he was talking about. He was done trying to argue with her. He obviously couldn’t do anything other than fuck up the situation more. Besides, he had new things to figure out. Such as returning her world back to the way it was. He may have not understood what it was to miss his world, but he understood he’d taken hers away. Stolen it, it felt like. He wanted to give it back. He wanted to end her suffering without striking her dead. He wanted to see her happy again, like back in the pod when he’d agreed to take her back. When she’d showered him in kisses rather than tears. He was beginning to miss that side of her. Funny that, maybe he did have the capacity to ‘miss’ something, too.

“Get some rest. We’ll be leaving soon.” he softly commanded, rounding the bed side but never taking his eyes off of her angry, tear stained face. She looked so furious, so intense, but there was agony in her eyes. It was painful to look at, but it let him know he was making the right decision. The prince himself turning his gaze away in shame, sitting on the bed opposite of her. They’d be leaving soon, as soon as he gathered some information that he was now determined to find. As if her planet was ‘oh so’ special, as she claimed. If one planet possessed the ability to grant wishes, another had to too. He just had to find it.

The only problem was, he couldn’t leave without her. Not even for a stroll through the park. The woman had to be under constant supervision, and there’d be no going anywhere until she’d rested properly. He could wait her out. She’d asked for sleep once before already, he just had to wait until she slept. Until she healed. Then he could tote her around wherever he needed to go on this poisonous world. Raditz and Nappa would return soon, too. Then there would be eyes on her at all times, and the prince could slip away to research his brains out. Until then, he sat on the beds edge. Elbows on his knees, his dismal glare fixed on her from under a hard brow, pressing his fingertips together, and just watching. Waiting for her to use up the last of her energy and drift into sleep.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the bonus chapter, to commemorate a year since this was first posted on AO3! I was gonna do it to be one of the more recent scenes, but I decided there was nothing too specifically good without being too spoilery. I was also hoping to be a little further on in our roleplaying by now, but it's not really happening. But enjoy this!
> 
>   
> 


	32. Just One Moment Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta knows Bulma shouldn't be left alone in the state she's in.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

He at least stopped trying to talk back. That was appreciated. She watched Vegeta with the same agonized expression as he rounded the bed, but didn’t say a word. He was finally just going to let her be upset? Good. Good… She sniffled and rubbed her eyes before laying back down in bed, curled up. Her feet ached slightly still, and if she wasn’t so scared of getting burned worse, she’d ask Vegeta if she could use some of the healing water. …She had the vial she was going to give to her dad, but that was back in the jeep on Earth.

Instead, she closed her eyes and just dealt with it. Dealt with her emotional pain as well as the physical discomfort. The tears still fell, and it helped her fall asleep from exhaustion. It was at maximum ten minutes before she was snoring. But even in her sleep, she couldn’t get rest. It wasn’t like when she’d all but passed out before. This sleep came with a dream.

She dreamt about Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa. She dreamt about them coming to her planet and killing and raping and pillaging. Ripping the clothes off and violating women after killing their children in front of them. Splattering the brains of old men across their floors. Forcing young girls to suck them off. Painfully stripping women of their virginity while their loved ones got to watch. Murdering pregnant women, ripping the limbs off of babies for crying too loud.

The dream reminded her of what monsters she was forced to be around. She was in hell. 

* * *

His POV

He was right about one thing; she was indeed exhausted. With as much energy as it’d taken her to scream and cry, Vegeta wasn’t surprised that she gave way to sleep so quickly. Though it did annoy him that she’d gotten away with it without any food in her belly. Junk food or otherwise. His shoulders shifted, making himself comfortable where he sat on the beds edge. There would be no moving until the girl awoke. It’d been two, going on three days since he slept. Hardly noticeable for the prince, it wasn’t even giving him fatigue yet, but even the strong had to sleep at some point.

It was funny how a creature, such as the girl, could throw such daggers and spit such venom, yet look so calm in slumber. Vegeta hadn’t noticed the hours steadily wax by. As stiff as a statue, watching over her as she slept. That is, until she began to react to her nightmares. It was subtle at first, a flinch, a wince, a whimper. But as she sunk into her dreamy hell, the prince grew more concerned. God damn, he couldn’t even protect her in her dreams. With all the turmoil she’d suffered, and so intensely in the last few hours, it was to be expected. But… whenever she turned in her sleep, his own posture shifted uneasily. He didn’t like this; he didn’t like watching her suffer in sleep any more than when she was awake.

He didn’t know what the hell to do at firsts. Wake her up? Let her fight through it? He needed her well rested… after a long, irritated grumble, flicking the end of his tail, he came to a decision. The prince stood, and carefully, carefully, as if he were resting on spider webs, he placed his weight right behind her. He’d always scared anything and everything off with his aura. If anything, it was just an over protective move. He may not have been able to fight her nightmarish hell, but he could try to intimidate it. It was all he had to offer. Whenever her lids twitched, he brushed the hair from her eyes, whenever she murmured he greeted it with a warm purr. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, but his instincts instructed him to, so he followed.

And then the loud mouths brutes came in. Vegeta shot Raditz and Nappa daggers the moment they tumbled into the motel door. The pair had returned from the fight, and were well ready for some entertainment and something to eat. But it didn’t look like they’d found a good time. It looked like they stumbled into an awkward situation, for them at least. The two soldiers stopped, zipping their lips, and just stared in surprise. Vegeta was laying on his side next to the female, giving them the deadliest look they’d seen from him yet. Their manners quieted, and they dropped their things silently by the spare beds. Vegeta’s tail twitching in warning. His loud raspy whisper voice snapping at them, “ _...quiet, you imbeciles, I just got her to rest!”_

* * *

Her POV

She felt his touches and purrs. If she knew what was making the comforting feelings, maybe her nightmares would only worsen. But they did not. They lightened as she slept, and eventually she was lulled into dream about what happened before everything. The warmth of Yamcha’s hands on her hips, the sweet flavor of her mom’s lemonade, and the mental stimulation of scientific discussions with her dad. It was the sweetest dream she’d had in a while. All because, as far as her dream self was concerned, she’d managed to collect the dragon balls. Everything was back to normal.

The difficult thing was waking up. When she opened her eyes and realized it was a dream, she was overwhelmed with depression at the realization. She let out a long sigh and covered her face with her hands, shaking her head lightly. She felt rested, but she couldn’t shake the disappointment of knowing the situation she was still in. Her brows furrowed. But then she heard movement and quiet talking.

She moved her hands from her face to see Vegeta staring down at her, laying on the bed. A turn of her head showed Raditz and Nappa had returned and were chatting with each other–quietly–on the edge of their beds. She gulped and recalled the beginning of her dream, before pushing Vegeta away and sitting up. She didn’t look at him, instead opting to glare at the wall some feet in front of her.

“You said we’d leave soon. I want to get off this planet. …Don’t you dare try force-feeding me first, either. I just want to leave. I want to leave.” Her head turned and she stared at Vegeta, her lips pressing into a line. She didn’t care what he was doing on her bed, she just knew she was unhappy about it. “And don’t get that close to me again. It’s disturbing. Creepy.”

* * *

His POV

At least she was getting some sleep. Whenever Vegeta found something that seemed to calm her nightmares down, he stuck with that; being totally clueless otherwise on how to comfort anyone. Gentle stroking seemed to do the trick, as did purring. Maybe purring wasn’t so useless after all. He’d log that information away for another day. But for now, it looked like he had to deal with his two selfish soldiers. Raditz was whining quietly for food and Nappa was asking where the nearest medical center was. He wanted to get proper treatment for his eye rather than just patching it up. Maybe he’d even get a glass eye while he was at it, a mean looking one. That’d strike fear into his enemies.

But it looked like they’d be going now where but straight to the pods. They’d woken the girl up, and she looked just as dismal as before she’d slept. At least the circles around her eyes had faded away some, Vegeta noticed that. He stood up right after she’d sat up on the bed. Ready to bark orders yet again, always remaining the true leader he demanded to be.

“We’re leaving right now.” he barked, looking towards his two men. Raditz and Nappa’s faces both sunk. Again? They’d just gotten out of those cramped pods. Ugh. But if that’s what Vegeta wanted, they had no choice but to follow. Though they did grumble about it as they passed the girl, and headed back outside. Raditz ‘accidentally’ bumping into her as he moved along. Vegeta however, waited until it was just the two of them in the room again. The bag of food was primarily pointless, but he’d take one of the sacks along. Who knew when they’d need it again. The girl needed to eat, what 10, no 20 times a day didn’t she say?

“Can you stand?” his vision turned to her, waiting for her to stand up on her own. Not that he cared too much, but he was trying to abide by her wishes to ‘not get that close to her again’. He wanted to move out, and quick. Carry her if he needed to. The prince was impatient like that, but for once it may be a good thing. Clouds were rolling in overhead. Big, angry, purple clouds. If the ocean and the drinking water burned on this planet, one could only imagine what getting lost in a rain storm could do. They’d need to reach the safety of the pods before the sky decided to burst wide open.

* * *

Her POV

She glared at Raditz as he bumped into her, but all in all she was just glad to be on the move again. They could go somewhere else. …Though it was odd. What was the point of coming here? They’d barely rested, and as far as Bulma could tell, none of the Saiyans had killed or pillaged anything. So why…? She scratched her head as she wondered about it, but she was taken from her thoughts by Vegeta getting up from his place on the bed and asking her if she could walk.

Her feet did feel better after the cream that was placed on it, but they had a purple tint to them and ached slightly. When she tried to stand, she found herself in pain. Though after looking at Vegeta again and thinking over her options, she decided to deal with the pain. She huffed and walked toward the door with an uncomfortable walk with short steps.

“It’s annoying you haven’t just decided to leave me alone yet,” she added on, looking over her shoulder to glare at Vegeta. “Can you finally just leave me somewhere to die? On the next planet, preferably. Go off and find some other girl to obsess over and rape and ruin the life of. I’m tired of it.” Though the was losing steam with her suicidal actions. She wasn’t actively trying to kill herself, she just wanted to just go to sleep and wake up in Otherworld. Maybe if she had pills she could make it happen, but otherwise, she didn’t want to actively kill herself like she had before.

“Or we could go back to Earth. It’s ruined again, right? I can just lay in the rubble until I die from exposure. I almost did the one time in that other planet. It’s not that painful, you stop realizing what’s happening. …Why’d you save me then? Why do you keep saving me? I’m still tired.” She rambled on now, not really having a point to everything she said as she waddled into the hallway. “I’m tired of living, Vegeta. If you won’t kill me, why can’t you just leave me somewhere so I can just lay and fall asleep until it’s over?”

* * *

His POV

“Oh really,” he commented, pacing behind her very, very slowly. “And here I had thought you’d be fighting to stay to drink bleach water until you died.” he was joking, but it was a cruel joke. Bantering back at her all the way down the hall. Though he was glad to see her taking up for herself instead of insisting he carry her. Her initiative and stubbornness taking the lead, allowing him a cocky smirk behind her back. Listening to her rant and ramble all the way out of the motel and into the city streets.

But then she started questioning him about why he kept saving her, and the prince fell quiet the rest of the walk towards the beach. His arms crossed, his mouth a hard frown, he refused to answer that question. Becoming his stoic self once again. He didn’t care how slowly they walked, as long as he didn’t have to answer her questions. In fact, he walked right ahead of her. Far enough that he didn’t have to acknowledge her, but close enough that she couldn’t escape his presence. He was being a little bratty himself.

That is... until he saw what was headed right for them. A sheet of rain, swooping over the churning ocean and closing in, fast. “Get down!” he roared, jerking his angry glare back at her. As quick as his ki would carry him, he darted back for the girl. His body over taking her, forcing her to hunker down towards the ground. Vegeta was acting as a human shield, or rather a Saiyan shield. The pelting rain sizzling his armor and tracing his jaw line. But at least the girl was relatively dry. His thick build and wide chest coming in handy for once. The man was all but balled up around her, as air tight as he could wind himself. His back to the wind, taking the brunt of the storm for her safety.

* * *

Her POV

“That sounds awful,” she grumbled, brushing her fingers through her messy hair as she walked. Even with her slowness, Vegeta hadn’t gotten impatient and grabbed her– thankfully. They managed to get to the beach before things changed. She felt something heavy land on her arm, that after a moment, began to burn. She swatted it away and realized it was water. Rain? Another drop landed on her chest. It was then that Vegeta yelled at her to get down and ran at her to shield her.

The rain came down fast and heavy. She doubted Vegeta was in much pain, however- not that she cared. She was more scared for herself to burn alive and end up disfigured than for his safety. A few drops still got through and stung her skin, from her already pained feet to her shoulders. Even balled up under Vegeta, she wasn’t safe. How far were they from the pods? Could he get her over? …The sand was soaking in the rain.

“Vegeta. I’m missing my shoes.” She didn’t know why she still cared, or why that was even the first thing that came to mind. But she couldn’t shake it. She squinted toward the shoreline to see where those yellow gym-shoes had gone, but she couldn’t find anything. Her heart ached just thinking about losing them. Why did she care so much? They were stupid shoes. And yet it upset her so much.

“Vegeta. I want my shoes. You don’t think they’ve dissolved, do you? I need my shoes. My shoes…”

* * *

His POV

“Why the hell did it have to start raining now,” he grimaced, shielding her as best as he could from the coming down pour. He couldn’t call on Raditz or Nappa. His scouter had been shattered (again, thanks to her) and they’d long since crawled into their pods. She was right, it didn’t affect him like it had her, but Vegeta could still feel the tingle and sting of the acid droplets tracing his skin. Soaking his suit. Sizzling his armor. He didn’t give a damn, the only thing he cared about was keeping the girl directly out of the line of the rain. Though, the longer he took the wetter she’d get, he knew that. He was running out of time.

“Fuck! God damn... useless... planet!” he roared, crouching over her a little further. Struggling to fish something out of his armor while keeping his arms tucked around her simultaneously. Holding her made moving awkward and difficult. He couldn’t even see what he was doing; his chin pressed firmly over the top of her head, digging past the lining of his armor, droplets rolling down his nose. “The remote,” he ground out. He hated asking for assistance, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Then, he felt it in his hand. The pod shooting speedily to their location. The round door opening, offering its safe haven.

Vegeta didn’t join her, though. He pushed her right into the safety of the ship, but then he disappeared back out into the heavy storm. The pod was against the wind, thankfully, but water had still managed to seep through the cracks during the short time the door had been opened. Purple rain sloshed and blurred the large round window. Vegeta wasn’t coming back, not for a while. Not until the door finally pried open yet again.

He was soaked, but he didn’t waste time crawling in right over her. Slamming the pod shut behind him. Keep the water out - that was what was most important to him. Once he was sat back into his chair, he lifted something bright and yellow from his lap. It was her shoes. His scowl was as poisonous as the rain, his forehead was creased with frustration, but he’d gotten her shoes for her. Now the only trick was sitting with the female without burning her alive on his drenched lap. Maybe his clothes would have to go. His gloves did surely. The white leather pulled from his hands and tossed to the side.

* * *

Her POV

She couldn’t feel what he was doing, but all that struggling made it difficult to stay dry. Especially the more wet he got. Raindrops dripped down from him onto her skin, scalding her and beginning to burn away at her clothes. It wasn’t until he was done struggling that she realized he was doing something beneficial for the both of them– bringing the pod straight to them. She was shoved in, and she expected Vegeta to follow, but he didn’t. 

Not that she cared. She closed the door as quick as she could and shook off her wetness before taking a look at the damage. Red, irritated skin in little circles from where the droplets had hit all over her body. A few here, a few there– it added up to a lot of pain. Maybe he’d come back with that cream so she could lather it all over and not feel like she was falling apart. …Gn…! It’d gotten into her hair, leaving some small bits of hair falling out. She was already getting disfigured!

It wasn’t long until Vegeta came back, sopping wet and with her shoes. He opened up the pod again and slammed it after him, but Bulma tried to smooth herself out as much as possible along the wall of the pod to avoid touching any of the wetness he’d tracked into it. She certainly wouldn’t be accepting those wet shoes any time soon. She eyed him nervously, but then he started… Stripping. 

“What are you doing? Don’t get naked! I don’t want to see you naked!” She could tell already. First came the gloves, then the armor. Then his outfit. Her nose wrinkled and she shook her head. It just reminded her of all the horrible bits of her past. As far as she was concerned, she didn’t want to see another naked man ever again!

* * *

His POV

Once he’d righted himself in the security of the pod, Vegeta did indeed begin his strip tease. A horrible, menacing strip tease. It wasn’t until he was already half naked, everything but his pants a sopping heap in the floor, that he finally burned his sights into the girl. She was plastered against the pods wall like some species of spider woman. He rolled his eyes dramatically, grunted through his teeth, and kept stripping.

“Urgh! Like I give a shit, I’m not wearing that crap, it’s fucking irritating!” he groaned, his voice raspy and uncaring. All he cared about was taking care of himself first. There was no damn way he was riding hours in a pod while his body felt like it was trapped in a sandpaper suit! The pants flew into the floor, and finally he was free of that irritating acid. That’s all it’d done to his tough and rough skin. Irritated it. As soon as he was free of the wet clothing, he instantly felt much better; hunkering down into his seat. The shifting of the fabric against his itchy back felt good.

Finally, he shot another dirty look up at her. Was she going to stay like that the whole rid through? No, eventually her legs would weaken and her strength would give out, and she’d back in his lap. There’d be no sitting in the floor this time. It was an acidic puddle by now. By the looks of her, she needed medical treatment again. The girl just couldn’t stay in one piece. After a hefty sigh, the prince closed his eyes. It looked like he’d be tending to her again, but that’d mean touching her. He was still wet.

The pod began to heat up, and the heat was coming right off of the Saiyan. The remaining water droplets shot from his body. Sizzling into steam, into nothingness. Given to the pods ventilation system where the air would be cleaned and purified of the remaining acid as it evaporated. The floor was still wet though, thanks to his soggy suit and armor. The prince knew it wouldn’t be easy getting the grumpy earthling to sit in his naked lap, but maybe he could tempt her down from the wall. If not force her down.

The pod rocketed into space. Vibrating under the woman, surely giving her a shake. But as soon as they were free of the toxic planet’s atmosphere, Vegeta lifted the armrest, revealing the various items he kept stored in it. Including a half used jar of medical cream.

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t listen to her and got naked anyway. She refused to look at him, instead turning her head and keeping her eyes squeezed shut. She didn’t want to look. With all she’d dealt with, it reminded her of all the times he’d stripped down… Stripped her down… And raped her. And the one time where she dared to have consensual sex with him– something that was worthless. She hated herself for it. She still couldn’t believe she had ended up stooping so low. She was so stupid. She could have tricked him into getting her to Earth without fucking him, what had she been thinking…?

She let out a sigh, but then something hit her. Her body… It burned. No, not the burns she already got. But something was burning worse. …Her clothes had gotten wet too, and in all the confusion she hadn’t realized until now, now that the current burns were dulling to an ache. Shit. She should be stripping just like he did. But that meant getting naked in front of him, when he was already naked as well. She didn’t trust him. She didn’t like him. She wouldn’t.

She glanced over at him again, making sure not to see any more of him than she wanted. He seemed to be focusing, and she could see his body light up and his hair slowly sway in a breeze coming from his head. He was…? He was… Warming the pod. She could feel the breeze hit her skin. It was warm, comforting. It was his ki, she thought? She didn’t really know the details. Either way, she pressed her lips tight and debated just sitting on his lap as she was, when the pod suddenly rocketed upward.

She lost her balance and nearly fell straight into the clothes, but managed to catch herself so she was in an arch over Vegeta’s lap, looking at a revolting sight that made her feel sick again. Her head turned away. Speaking of being sick, stains from the other time she’d been really sick in the pod still remained on the window. The acid rain had washed most of it away; thank god for that.

“Where are we going? Are you going to go kill and pillage in the next planet? It seems like it’s been a while since you’ve done that, and you love it so much…”

* * *

His POV

As he’d expected, the girl went tumbling across the pod as soon as they ripped from the atmosphere. It was sort of entertaining to see her try and catch herself like a hissy feline. She refused to touch him, still. Even though he was perfectly dry and free from the agitating, acidic effects. In fact, his skin was feeling pretty damn good now that he was warm and dry. Something she was missing out on, thanks to her stubbornness. Too bad for her, Vegeta enjoyed seeing her angry pout in action and let her prolong the inevitable.

“No,” he actually answered her, “...I have something else in mind. No thanks to you. Though I could always pillage the next planet. Now that you mention it, it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.” he teased, meeting his arrogant smirk to her blue eyed anger. That is until he noticed the reddening skin at the hem of her clothing. It wasn’t just a gentle burn anymore, it was turning second degree, and climbing. The damp fabric she refused to remove due to her ‘shyness’ or whatever it was, was a death wish. He had to get those clothes off of her, now.

The prince grabbed for her waist while he still had the upper hand, and forced her into his lap. The shirt went first, stripping it off of her. Not caring if she clawed or fought him. It had to come off! He went for her pants next, not giving a damn if he shredded the fabric, as long as it was stripped from her body. If she thought her legs were bad before, he could only imagine what clingy fabric was doing to them now. Even if it was damp and not soaked through like his clothing had been.

“Your clothes, you have to take off your clothes.” he snapped, “You’ll burn alive.”. She was wet, too. Just barely, but every droplet of water left its toxic trail. Every drip was a new wound. He had to get rid of it from her body. Once the clothing was stripped from her being, the prince wrapped his arms around her tight. He began to heat up again. She’d been right, it was his ki. And this time it was lighting up brighter than before. Heat lifting from his skin like an ape sized hairdryer. Sparks of blue kissed her skin, now that she was so close, but it wasn’t enough to harm her. Just tingle, like the ‘trick’ he performed on her before. The blast of ki finally dying down once she was sufficiently dried. Down to the roots of her blue hair.

* * *

Her POV

She was taken so much by surprise that she didn’t know what was going on for a moment. He suddenly wrapped his arms around her and forced her onto his naked lap, to which she began yelling and trying to push away. She was far too close to his privates for comfort. But then he went a step further and began stripping her, and she began having flashbacks. She fought back and screamed harder, making it as difficult for Vegeta as possible as she tried to force her fingers into his eyes, mouth, and nose. Anything to get away! She didn’t even care when he tried to explain that it was for her own good, that she’d burn. She still fought as she was forced into nothing but her underwear.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her and began to buzz, something that was pleasing to her body, especially her lower stomach, but ultimately revolting to her. She didn’t want to be pressed close to him when the only fabric to separate them was her lacy undies. She fought and yelled and screamed and even began to cry, even if she, in her right mind, could have understood he was keeping her safe and dry.

“LET GO OF ME! LET GO! YOU’RE NOT TOUCHING ME AGAIN! I WON’T LET IT HAPPEN!” She screamed as loud as she could, slapping and punching where she could manage and not being able to think rationally. She was dry and no longer hurt as she did before, though the burns on her skin still persisted. All she knew was that she was pressed up against the naked body of a man she hated, while nearly naked herself, in a way that reminded her of all the times men–including this one–had forced their way inside her. It was amazing she still had tears to cry, with how often she seemed to be sobbing now.

“LET ME GO! LET ME GO! DON’T TOUCH ME!”

* * *

His POV

She fought him, and he was ready for it. How could he not expect it by now? She’d graced him with plenty of scars from their times in the pod before ...all but one time. But the girl definitely wasn’t consenting to his touches now. The man had to forcibly catch up her wrists and pin them to her beautifully exposed chest. There, that was her hands spoken for. Now to catch up her kicking feet. Kami, was she a wild animal when she wanted to be. Vegeta was actively trying not to become excited from her outburst. And right in his naked lap! With her soft under things and plump curves squirming against his hot skin... Begging his instincts to pin and dominate her... Ugh. Think of her burns, he told himself. Think of Nappa in ladies’ underwear. …That did the trick.

“God damn ...it ...woman... BULMA.” he shouted, forcing her to look him dead in the eye. He was scowling furiously. Heavy breaths blew down over her from his heaving chest. He had to make her calm down, but that was tricky to do without harming her. It was like learning a new trick - how to get a female’s response without the use of ‘pin and rape’ tactics. He couldn’t rely on his old ways for this one.

“I’m not…” he dropped an octave, “...I’m not going to harm you... I’m trying to help your burnt ass.” his chest rumbled against her, searching his gaze into her own, asking her if she understood now. He had the girl trapped against his warm build, one vice like arm around her torso, pinning her hands to her chest, the other arm viced under her knees. Thank kami he’d unscrewed the medical cream before he’d grabbed for her. All he had to do was dip his free hand into it and rub the cooling lotion over her body, wherever the burns had sunk into her skin. The ones where the hem of her clothing had been rubbing her looked to be the worst.

He was trying very very hard not to pay attention to her breasts, for once. His fist had sunk between the warm, soft, curves of her chest when he’d pinned her hands. God, did it feel welcoming, and he had to do his damnedest to ignore it. Vegeta went as far as turning his gaze away, once he realized he’d tried smoothing the cream across her collar bone. This was difficult... but he managed to look at her again. Very obviously refusing to look down at her more than he needed. That’s when he noticed a few burns on her face where the rain had hit her. Dotting her nose and cheek with the healing substance.

* * *

Her POV

She squirmed and fought, but it was useless. He forced her up against him and didn’t let her go. He pinned her arms against her chest, and that made it even worse. She could feel his fist between her breasts, and he seemed to insist on keeping it there. Even if he wasn’t raping her, she felt violated. He told her he wouldn’t harm her, but that didn’t stop her from crying and trying to squirm away. Especially when he began rubbing his hand along her body. She tried to struggle away from his hand as it explored and cleaned all the places that were burnt, and though she could tell he was trying to help her, it just felt wrong. She didn’t like it. She cried and sobbed and shook her head to all his advances, trying to force herself as far from him as possible- something that only helped by a few inches. 

He ran his hand over her collarbone and dotted her face with the cream to help soothe all her burns, but she couldn’t stop crying. She couldn’t even hide her body with her hands; he had them pinned down. She knew the worst was yet to come, too– she had burns on her thighs and chest. He’d have to run his hands all over them. And while one glance at his face made it obvious he was trying to control himself, it didn’t make it any less sick for her when she felt his cock pressing to her upper thigh.

“Gn… Stop–! Don’t… Don’t touch me anymore! Let me put my clothes back on. I don’t have any more clothes… You ripped my pants, I need clothes–” She babbled on about nothing through all her sobs, her head bowed. Her stomach was doing knots from all the stress she was under, and she really, truly wished Vegeta would just strangle the life from her. So she could just wake up from this hell. So she could see her family again and even Yamcha and all her friends as well as Goku’s son. She wanted it so badly. Back in her old life, she’d never be forced into a situation like this. She’d never be touched like this. Her friends would have protected her. But that was just it. They didn’t protect her. They were killed by this monster.

“Leave me alone, don’t touch me anymore… Stop… Leave me alone…” She shook her head as she cried, sniffling like a child. She couldn’t stop herself. With every touch of his hands, she thought of all the other times she was pinned down. All the times there was a cock shoved into her mouth, or inside her vagina, or even her ass. Sometimes multiple. All the times she was hit and smacked and yelled at. Pulled by the hair. Or even just handled with care against her will until she hit orgasm on a man’s cock. In some ways those were the worst memories. It felt less bad when she didn’t orgasm. When she did, it felt like she was betraying herself. Like she’d liked it. Like she wanted it.

* * *

His POV

She may of been crying, tearing away the cream that he’d streaked across her cheek, but at least she was calming down somewhat. Enough for him to handle her at least. Despite her instant demands for him to keep his hands off of her, he kept going. She needed it. Without quick and proper attention, the acid could burn deeper into her skin. It was already leaving trails of pink dots. Reddening her skin where her clothing had lined her, he couldn’t stop now just because she was crying. And that was the worst part. She was crying again…

It wasn’t her angry crying face either. The girl looked like she was practically begging, helpless in his arms. He wanted to, the hard frown on his face meant he wanted to abide by her wishes, but he just couldn’t. Not yet. Not until he’d ensured she wouldn’t be in pain all the way to the next planet. Before, she’d begged him not to rape her. Now that he was actually trying to help her, he couldn’t keep his hands off of her again. He truly did feel like a monster, but he pushed the emotion aside. He was good at that - swallowing rotten feelings and doing what he thought he had to. That is, until he got to her breasts...

Vegeta’s eyes trailed the bare flesh. Through all of the burns and irritated skin, she was still perfect. He gulped, dipping his fingers into the jar for a new batch of cream. He could do this. It didn’t matter that he had a boner standing proud and tall against her leg, or that her weeping was starting to strangle his soul. It was for her own good, she’d thank him later.

His creamy hand smoothed over her warm, rash-y flesh. Lathering the burn lines and massaging the cream onto one of her plump round breast. His thumb brushed over her nipple, and that’s when Vegeta knew he couldn’t do this any longer. His belly tightened and his erection stiffened, causing his heart rate to jump into his throat. His body temperature was increasing too, searing wherever their skin touched. The beast was giving her that look again, the dreamy eyed, dilated stare of a hungry animal. His stony build closing in on her own, like a brick wall with features. She just felt so good, smelled so nice, how could he resist leaning in to sniff her face. ...but as soon as he looked at her, he suddenly snapped out of it.

“I… I can’t... You’re going to have to fucking do it...” he groaned, wincing his eyes closed. The open jar fumbled into her hands now that he’d let go of her completely. Both of his hands found his face, hiding himself from her perfectly exposed body. Sitting so easily in his lap. God, it felt so good to run his hands over her, it was torture. How could he of not gotten a hard on? Could she really blame him?

* * *

Her POV

He was running his hand over her breasts and feeling her up. Even if it was only to rub in the cream, it still made her stomach twist and made her nearly puke from how much it disgusted her. She kept trying so hard to weasel away, but to seemingly no avail. He felt like he was getting harder under her, and which that might just be from her wiggling, she assumed it was more because of how terrible he was. He liked her suffering. He liked her crying.

But finally he shoved her away and cowered from her, other than promptly shoving the cream into her now-free hands. She looked up at him with a nervous expression as she listened to his words, and promptly hid herself as far from him as possible. Her butt placed itself on the armrest, and she began pulling out the cream with her fingertips to cover herself with it. It was still so embarrassing, but at least he didn’t appear to be watching her. As far as she could tell, anyway. 

“I want to go home,” she murmured under her breath as her tears slowly began drying. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, her legs shaking as she soothed her burns. There were so many. She wasn’t even sure if she could reach them all. There was more than likely some on her back and butt and the back of her thighs that she was missing. The pain was all over the place, so she couldn’t centralize where exactly needed the cream. But she certainly wasn’t going to ask for help.

When she was done as far as she could tell, she curled into a ball and kept crying, although it was at least mostly silent this time. Small sniffles and whines. She was stuck in this tight pod, naked, with a man who was also naked. And with an erection. She felt sick again. The more she thought about it, the sicker she got. She could feel the bile in the bottom of her throat, threatening to rise to the top.

* * *

His POV

“I am the prince of all Saiyans…” he was muttering to himself under his breath, pressing his forearm across his brow, “…I have the constitution of a thousand warriors….” his body shifted uncomfortably, his erection agonizingly exposed now that she’d lifted from his lap, begging for attention. “…I have the self-control of ten thousand men...” his chest rumbled, the naked man definitely wasn’t speaking to the girl on his arm rest. If anything, he was doing his best to pretend she didn’t exist, which is exactly why he panted out his next few words, “…you mean little more to me than those old hags on Nebulan 4.” his teeth were grinding by now, he had to try harder, “...dog-faced nurf herders. Nappa in a dress...”

It took him long enough, but the prince’s tingling lap finally began to calm down. He still refused to look at her, though. His breath controlled but his eyes sealed shut. Though it didn’t matter. He could still hear her touching herself, the sound of her fiddling with the jar and the sweet smell of her nearby skin. God, he really didn’t need a visual added to it. Nappa in a dress, that’s what he had to focus on for the rest of the duration of the trip. That and the soft whimpers of her sorrow - that’s what was really keeping him under control. Nothing killed the prince’s mood quicker than her crying. He kept to himself, eyes and all, the way to the city like world they were destined for.

The planet came up sooner than later, thankfully. The entire planet was coated in blinking lights and towering technology. There wasn’t a blade of grass to speak of, other than the greenhouses that were kept on roof tops. There wasn’t a patch of dirt unused, untouched by city streets or building walkways. It’d be night fall by the time they docked, too. They had no choice but to dock. Spiraling down a funnel, much like the android planet before. The landing was still rough, though. Jostling the two around in the pod. That had been the only time Vegeta had really looked at her since he’d tried to help her. Only to try and help her again, his gaze offering to keep her steady if she so desired.

They stopped soon enough though. The pod door opened and the prince was greeted by the local docking bay crew. Checking in the newest visitors. It was a male, by the looks of it, with two long tentacles tracing down his back like hair. His skin was white and there was a large jewel on his forehead. He greeted them nicely enough, but the prince shoved right past him. He knew it’d be hell trying to get the woman out of the pod while she was naked. He’d have to pull her out quick, like ripping off a band-aid.

* * *

Her POV

She cried all the way there, even if it was quiet. She didn’t care if he wasn’t paying attention to her or if he was too busy trying to get his erection down. All she cared about was how upset she was. She cried into her hands, until finally she could hear the beeping of the pod getting ready to land. She peeked out from her hand to look at Vegeta, who made eye contact. But she didn’t want to go to his arms. This time, he didn’t force her. And she saw why– they didn’t crash.

They landed safely, the same as a few planets ago, where she’d been cloned. Before she even had time to adjust, the door fizzed open and Vegeta ran out with her in his arms, despite their nudity. She covered up and felt tears start to form, and the puke rise in her throat at the embarrassment and humiliation of yet again being nude in public. It was something that she’d had to deal with so many times before, but given she was already holding back puke, it only made things all the worse.

She puked, again. She’d nearly toppled from Vegeta’s arms in the process, puking straight down and onto his feet. It had a backhanded effect, causing people to look at her rather than mind their own business. She was sweating and began to hyperventilate, with her stomach knotting up and causing Bulma to gag despite there being nothing left to puke out. 

She still hadn’t eaten in days, and she was dangerously close to dehydrated again. She felt dead inside, humiliated and tortured in a hell she just couldn’t escape no matter how much she tried. No matter how much she yelled and cried and tried to escape, nothing ever worked out well for her. It just left her feeling sicker and more ashamed of herself. Her health was clearly deteriorating. It wouldn’t be long until she started losing weight quickly again and end up showing her bones again, if this continued.

* * *

His POV

She didn’t take to his lap, but it didn’t matter. The prince was still able to rip her from the confines of the pod without much trouble. His little earthling wasn’t fighting back as she normally did. She was naked... and not screaming for clothing. That was the first alarm going off in his head. She looked pale, sickly, he knew that look. It was her puke expression. It happened before he could do anything about it though, splattering her watery stomach contents all over his bare feet. But the big brute wasn’t anger at her, he was furious at everything else. Everyone that dared to stare was met with his wicked eye contact, quickly turning their vision away in fear.

“Strip.” his dark voice bellowed at the happy crewman who’d come to check them in. The crewman’s face went from confused to terrified once he realized just how serious Vegeta was being. “I said… strip.” the prince’s voice was demonic. Trying to hold the girl against his shoulder in one arm, he gripped the man’s neck with the other. That got the crewman moving. The uniform quickly tossed at the angry prince; the crewman left in his underwear, shaking.

Bulma was sat on a nearby bench. Vegeta kneeling before her with the stolen uniform in hand. The clothing wasn’t for him. He’d sat her down in order to dress her himself. He knew she had little strength and was fading fast. His grumpy face hinting with worry as he looked up at her. Helping the girl, one arm and leg at a time, into the comfort of warm fabrics. Nappa and Raditz weren’t too far behind. Watching in curiousness as their leader crouched naked before the shivering girl. They may have held a bit of resentment for her, but even they could tell she was in bad shape.

Once she was clothed, Vegeta scooped her up again. Ordering the docking bay to clean up his pod, before he disappeared into the crowded city streets. Completely naked. He didn’t give a damn. Aliens rarely cared, and he cared even less about them. The beast was seeking out a medic. Finding one not too far off. A brightly lit, modern looking building with floating chairs in the lobby. Vegeta didn’t like having the girl taken from him once a pair of nurses saw her battered state (not without giving the naked Saiyan a once over first), but Vegeta could feel her shaking body against his warm skin. She was in shock, he suspected, from her constant vomiting and lack of food and water. She needed the attention, but he wasn’t letting her go anywhere by herself. Not again. His vicious growling let the staff know that. The girl was shown to a floating bed, but there was no choice but to let the Saiyan pass the ‘do not enter’ doors.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma wasn’t quite sure what was happening in the events that followed her puking. She was beginning to feel light-headed, possibly from the lack of food coupled with the stress. She cried and sniffled still, until she was set on a bench. She looked up at Vegeta and wondered for a moment where he’d got the clothing, but it wasn’t something she could dwell on for too long until he put it on her. He helped her put it on, and soon she was wearing an oversized white t-shirt and what seemed to be similar to overalls.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders when he picked her up again, though the crying never really stopped. She wasn’t even sure, at this point, why she was crying. But she couldn’t stop. She kept sniffling and whining, rubbing her eyes and wishing she could just wake up and have everything be back to normal. Not what had become her normal– her real normal. The normal back home, where everyone was alive and she lived a good life.

She was taken to a hospital and brought into the arms of some alien nurses, strong enough to easily carry her. She was brought to a room with a floating bed and quickly they began giving her a check-up and giving her all the proper treatment. IVs were put into her arms just for safety’s sake, they checked her temperature, and so on. It seemed to be going so fast she couldn’t understand it.

She blinked a few times, and for a split second, her eyes focused in on Vegeta. She stared at him, but then her eyes closed and she passed out from exhaustion. She’d been pushing herself so much recently that she seemed to be passing out a lot- she was under so much stress; she couldn’t even be blamed. Of course she’d be stressed. If things went on like they would, maybe she wouldn’t even survive another month. Vegeta wanted to believe she was strong, but she was losing her will to live. All she wanted to do was die.

* * *

His POV

The medical treatment was going smoothly, much to Vegeta’s relief. The girl was being treated. Though he snarled at the alien trying to prick her arm with the IV, and he snapped his teeth at the nurse that tried to wash her wounds, he eventually began calming down. Though, he was just as watchful as ever. Scaring every poor nurse that was assigned to their room. The fur of his tail stood up into a ridge, and he hovered at the foot of the girls bed for the majority of the time the doctors tended to her. Meeting her gaze when she looked at him; he’d watch over her while she slept.

Her wounds had been washed clean with healing waters, and eventually the staff filtered out of the hospital room. Leaving only Vegeta and the sleeping girl. He watched her sleep for some time, quietly, attentively. Not caring that he was naked, or that his men were waiting outside. The prince really was acting the protective mate, and both of his men picked up on it; peeking their nosy faces past the door frame.

At some point, Vegeta had ordered Nappa to retrieve him clothing. The soldier returned some time later with a fresh blue suit draped over his big arm, but was quickly forced out of the room. No one was allowed to enter. No one. The prince dressed in peace, though his concern never left the passed out female. At least she was getting liquid, and her burns were hardly noticeable thanks to the water. She was safe, he told himself, staring down at her from her beside. She was hooked up to sensors that’d alert the staff if she was in any form of danger. She was safe, he told himself again, stroking a fingertip down the curve of her cheek. Much safer than if he dragged her all over the busy city streets. Maybe leaving her hear while he searched for much needed information was his best option. Besides, his men were posted outside, and he couldn’t keep an eye on her and research at the same time.

“Watch her,” he stepped out of the room, commanding his men sternly, “If any harm comes to her, I don’t care who’s fault it is, I’ll kill you both this time.” with that, Vegeta stormed away. Leaving the two men to guard the girl outside her door. They weren’t allowed in, not unless she needed something, but that didn’t mean the two wouldn’t eventually get hungry or distracted. They both hoped Vegeta would return soon. They already wanted food.

* * *

Her POV

She awoke alone. No nurses or anything. However, she did feel rested. Her burns were gone. Her stomach felt full; did they give her a feeding tube or something? She felt hydrated. She looked around and rubbed her eyes, and then her gaze focused on Raditz and Nappa in the doorway. They were not inside, but they seemed to be guards of some sort. She didn’t want to be with them alone, however. If Vegeta wasn’t around, who knew what they’d do. She hated Vegeta, but they were far worse.

She climbed out of her bed and pulled off all the needles and things attached to her, planning on escaping. Just as things began beeping more wildly, she realized she’d have to be quick. She opened up the window and crawled out as quickly as she could, thankful that they were on the first floor. She got up and ran. Ran as fast as she possibly could. She wasn’t really sure what she planned to do, or where to go. Her goal was always just to go back to Earth. But now…

…Well. She could certainly go back to Earth. She nodded her head. She was wearing clothes too big for her and didn’t have any money, but certainly she could find a way out. She could go back to Earth and just stay there until she died. It was better than staying with the Saiyans. She just had to find a way back to Earth… That’s when she saw the spaceship shop. She looked around at the crowd and hurried inside.

She hadn’t had her own ship since she first met Zarbon. Back when she thought he was so princely… She was so stupid. She rubbed the back of her head as she looked around at all the different makes and models, ranging for ships that looked like they were for fairies to ships that looked like they were for giants. She hadn’t realized the store would be this massive on the inside. How exactly was she going to find a ship? …Maybe if she name-dropped Vegeta, they’d give her one out of fear. 

* * *

His POV

The beeping had alerted more than the medical staff. No sooner had Bulma made a run for it, that the two Saiyan sized perverts darted around the door way. They knew they weren’t allowed in the girl’s room, but this was different. This was trouble. And what was worse, the girl was nowhere to be found! At first the pair of soldiers had suspected something had gone totally wrong. She was flat lining, or was going downhill fast. No, it was worse than that, she was missing completely.

The nursing staff rushed into the room just in time to see the two giant power houses storm right out the building... through the wall. The window had been too small for them to fit through, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t bust their way through it like a wall of butter. The open window meant the girl had escaped. Damn, it was difficult picking up any trace of her in the thick city smog, too, but they managed. Her scent leading them all the way towards a Space ship show room.

“Ah man, Vegeta’s going to kill us!” squawked Raditz, rubbing his neck as soon as they entered the enormous building. It was so massive and full of ships; they’d never find her in here. He could already feel Vegeta squeezing the life out of him. “This is all your fault, if you hadn’t of touched her Vegeta wouldn’t be so pissed at us.” Raditz murmured again, side shoving Nappa. Nappa didn’t seem to care though, grumbling his own problems. He’d already lost an eye over the girl, he didn’t want to end up missing his head entirely.

Little did they know, they’d passed the girl right up. But Bulma had been spotted by someone else. A sleazy Space Ship salesman, and he had eyes only for the blue haired beauty. She may of been in an oversized uniform, but it didn’t stop the slick haired alien from trying to wax on the charm.

“You’ll find our latest models at the showcase front,” the man addressed the girl, offering her a hand - he probably intended on putting his big ugly alien lips on her fingers for a kiss. “I’m sure a lovely lady like yourself knows a thing or two about modeling,” he winked, trying to sound flirty but it was just coming off bad, he was definitely in the ‘creepy salesman’ category. “...Just imagine yourself in a brand new, Zerra-67, can’t you see it now?” his other hand lifted, pointing out a large, beautiful craft. It was glossy and lined with pink paint. And probably the most expensive bird on the lot. Of course that’s what he’d be trying to sell up.

* * *

Her POV

She was approached by some creepy, sleazy alien with skin that looked as slimy as his expression. A salesman, clearly. He began his pitch to her straight away, and the only reason she listened is because she figured he’d point her to a good one. Though she certainly didn’t let him touch her hand. Good thing for all of that, too– he showed her to a very beautiful ship, lined with pink. It looked like her kind of thing. Just in time, too. She had heard Raditz and Nappa’s voices earlier.

“I’ll take it,” she replied with a nod, putting her hands on her hips. “…Ah. I’m sure you know Prince Vegeta, right? Of course you do. Unless you want to be in big, big trouble with him, I suggest you just write it in his name. I guess he’ll probably be snooping around soon, so you can get him to pay then. Just give me the keys for the time being.” She turned her head to look over at him with an expectant look, and to her surprise, he actually did as she asked and handed over the keys. Great!

She got into the ship and took a little bit of time to explore first. It was beautiful inside. Large, with plenty of room to move, and with seatbelts! When she turned it on, she even found that it appeared to have a very streamlined control panel. It was all a map of the stars, and it didn’t take long for her to locate the Earth’s place. Must have been really top-of-the-line. Very expensive. Perfect. She liked forcing that asshole to pay for expensive things.

She took off, and thank god that that salesman had planned ahead of time and opened up the large doors on the ceiling to allow her to escape, because she would have burst right through them otherwise. Straight to Earth, that was her plan. There was melancholy in her heart thinking about what had become of her planet, but she had a goal again, and she needed to attain it. She’d get there, and then she’d figure out what to do with herself. Maybe go back to Yamcha’s hideout and die there. Who knew. She’d figure it out eventually. 

* * *

His POV

The salesman was all too ready to hand the keys over, along with his entire stock of ships, if it meant keeping someone happy that had ties to the infamous Saiyan prince. Vegeta had a reputation, and as Bulma probably suspected, it was a feared one. The two Saiyans that were actually in the shop had no idea that the girl was lifting above their heads, taking off in the most top of the line ship money could buy. On this planet at least.

“Gentlemen, I hope you’re happy with your purchase?” the salesman had stumbled upon Raditz and Nappa. The pair were snooping around, trying to track the girl, but it was difficult. Her scent just... cut off, mid air! How bizarre. When the sleazy alien tried to get their attention, at first Raditz had shoved him off to the side. His big paw pushed right into the aliens face, side stepping him. The salesman sheepishly followed them however, sweating bullets.

“Y-Y-You’re the Saiyan Prince, Vegeta? Aren’t you?” the alien dared to ask, faking a smile, “The humanoid you sent looked very very happy with her ship.” that’s where the man went wrong, he’d mentioned a humanoid. Instantly the two muscular males turned their heated vision on him. Like two angry wolves, they began to circle and toss the man between themselves, questioning him. Getting the information out of the man before they squeezed the life out of him entirely. The lifeless body was tossed to the side, but the two Saiyans were beginning to panic. The man had told them he’d sold his best ship to a blue humanoid, and she was already gone.

“Oh man, Vegeta’s going to kill us!” Raditz pulled at his long hair, both of the men taking to the sky above the city, looking for the ‘pink trimmed ship’. “We’ve got to find her before Vegeta gets back!” At least she wasn’t dead, they thought. There was still time to look for her before their leader went snooping around the hospital looking for the female. The two warriors searching the skies, trying to pick up on her trail. They were begging in the pit of their stomachs that Kami would have grace on them and she hadn’t let the planet entirely. Unfortunately, Kami rarely smiled down on murderous rapists.

Vegeta hadn’t the slightest clue. He was miles from the scene of the crime. Buried in the quiet of an ‘Information center’. Also known as a library, only there were very few books to be found. The towering hall lined with screens and helpful ‘how to’ guides, but it felt like he was getting nowhere. He could be gone for hours, days really. The information he was looking for was rare to find and mostly embedded in myths. It was going to take more than a little digging to find tall tales of ‘wishing dragons’ and ‘magic balls’ or where to find them in the universe. If only he could strangle the information out of the computer.

* * *

Her POV

She managed to escape to Earth. She left the planet’s orbit and was home free. It even let her unfasten her seatbelt and walk around to explore the ship. She explored all she wanted, even to find some complimentary snacks for the road. At first she debated trying them. She did want to die of starvation, after all. …But she was basically back to square one with that. She might as well just pick her death to be one of dying from exposure. She grabbed one of the bags of chips and pulled it open and ate it for the road.

It took a while to get there. Thankfully, the ship even came with a TV and a bunch of beds. She settled down in one of the beds and watched TV with her junk food for some time. Hours. Maybe a day? She fell asleep and did the same thing, bored out of her mind. It didn’t feel like it was this long in the pod. Maybe the pods were faster? Or maybe they just made you feel like it was faster. She always fell asleep so easily in those things…

Time passed, and eventually a beeping sounded. They were landing. She’d ran for the front to go take her seat, but it ended up not even being necessary– by the time she got there, she realized that it had landed itself, and without a single bump. She blinked a few times in surprise, and the door to her ship whizzed open. Huh… How odd. …. If this was what she had flown around in rather than the pod, maybe she wouldn’t hate space quite as much.

She walked out onto the planet and looked around. There was rubble all around, but it didn’t look like her city. Was this part of the terraformed part of the planet? She couldn’t tell. …It was horrible to go back to West City, but that’s what she decided was best. Maybe afterward she’d go visit where Goku lived, too. She vaguely remembered where that was. And then Roshi’s island. …She let out a sigh at the long days ahead of her, and climbed back into the ship and began to pilot it above the planet, looking down for the spot where West City would be.

She eventually found it, looking more or less the same as before. She even found her home, where her jeep was still parked. She lowered and landed her ship again and stepped out, before taking a long look at the bodies that still littered the ground. It still made her sick; the stench and the smell. …The dragon balls may be missing, but she could at least give these rotting corpses a proper burial. She couldn’t bury everyone, but… Well. She’d be here a while. She could do what she could, starting with her loved ones.

She just had to find a shovel.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a hard time thinking of a title for this one...
> 
>   
> 


	33. Digging One's Own Grave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma buries her friends and discusses her future actions with Yamcha.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

The girls trail had gone cold. After a full night and day of searching for the missing earthling, both Nappa and Raditz were sure they only had hours left to live. But much to their surprise, Vegeta had yet to meet up with them. They were sure he’d have shown up by now - as a pint sized mass of raging fury. But there was no explosion in the direction of the hospital, no ki spike heading their direction, nothing. What had transfixed their leader’s attention so greatly, that he hadn’t even returned to check up on the girl? Vegeta normally headed back to ‘camp’ every night. This was unusual. Whatever he was after, it must of been important. At least for the two panicking Saiyans, it was giving them time to search.

By the next evening, the two men were counting on their luck. Maybe the girl had been captured, yeah, that had to be it! No brothel or black market trader went unchecked. Everything was searched, a few slave traders snapped in half when they couldn’t give the angry pair of soldiers the information they so desperately needed. No one seemed to have seen a blue eyed humanoid pass through. It was infuriating, and at one point Raditz had killed the entire management staff of a ritzy brothel. Needless to say the girls were more than grateful. The ramifications of his actions had accidentally rescued the group of females from their life of slavery, from a very, very perverse slave owner. The long haired male may have gotten caught up with their ‘gratitude’ for a few hours... or more.

Nappa, on the other hand, wasn’t fairing as well. He’d taken to searching the gritty under belly of the trade markets. Nothing, not a single soul knew where the girl was, or who may of been harvesting rare humanoids. He’d gotten one lead, but it turned out to be a dud. It certainly looked like the girl. Blue hair, blue eyes, perfect features; but something was wrong. She was a clone. ‘Rare and beautiful specimen’ was how they were advertising her. The doll like creature kept behind bars at the local slave market. Nappa had seen enough clones of the girl to last him a life time. He knew one when he saw it, especially since it giggled every time a passerby touched her. He felt the clone up and even went as far as fingering her through the bars, before the slave owner started demanding credits for touching. The slave owner’s back was broken, the bars of the clones’ cage bent open, and Nappa also got distracted for a little while.

Vegeta was the only one that seemed to be doing any real work. The prince was buried in the belly of the city-sized library. The tall black shelves of information buzzed, lined with neon lights. It was dim for a library, mostly because the information was usually given on screens rather than through books. But what Vegeta was looking for couldn’t just be found in every day texts. It wasn’t exactly like he could ask someone for what he was looking for, either. It was too tricky. Why would he want to alert anyone else to the knowledge of wishing stones? So that they could try and gather them before he could track them down? He didn’t want competition, this was between him and the female. The less involved, the better.

Though he was growing frustrated. How many search engines had he used? How much information had filtered through his head? It was starting to feel bottomless, pointless, but he couldn’t give up when he’d gone this far. He was onto something, he knew it. There was already proof of wishing stones, her planet testified to that, but there were other rumors around the universe. A great dragon that was guarded by peace keepers, was one of the myths. Another myth claimed it was on the edge of the universe. Vegeta knew her planet had been off the map before he’d landed there. That could only mean one thing, there were other dragon balls out there. Now he just needed a planets name. Concordance. Something.

Something else was bothering the prince, too. There was a tugging at his heart. He wasn’t sure what it was; be it instincts or pure desire, but he wanted to get back to the hospital. More than once he had to shake the feeling off, burying himself back into his digging. Did he miss the girl? Was she harmed? Maybe he should check on her... just to be safe. Something in the back of his brain nagging him that something was wrong. The prince dismissing it as nonsense. His task was what was most important. Not even food or sleep held any meaning to him now. How many days had it been now? Five, six days since he slept? He hardly noticed. Though, the snacks at the motel had been the only thing he’d eaten in a while. The pit of his stomach was sure to complain about that a few times.

* * *

Her POV

First, she found a shovel at the back of the property. It was charred, but surprisingly still usable. The ones her mother bought for gardening always were durable. In the charred backyard, she began digging. She wasn’t as strong as her friends all were, but she did have some muscle. Enough to pull her through the majority of the digging. She had to take a rest halfway through, and by six feet, she felt like her arms were going to fall off. It had been hours since she’d started. The sun had come down, and the cool that came with it chilled her body. She was overheated from overwork, so it felt… Nice. In a disturbing sort of way.

Next, she ventured into the Capsule Corporation. It was sickening to see her father on the ground still, rotting away. His brains being eaten by maggots. Her nose wrinkled at the smell, and she felt the urge to puke again. But she didn’t. She watched. She stared at him for a while. Maybe ten minutes, maybe twenty. Maybe even thirty. But when she was finished staring, she grabbed him by his cold, stiff, rotting legs, half burnt, and dragged him outside to the hole. She stared for another ten minutes before pushing him in. Another five, and she began burying.

When she started on her mother’s grave, she had blisters. By the time she finished, they’d popped and formed worse blisters. She wasn’t the gardener her mother was. She wasn’t used to overworking her hands. They ached, but she still went off to go find her mom’s body. She went back inside her home and searched for a while, digging under rubble, until she found a half-charred, half-rotted body stuck under a fallen pillar of what used to be the first floor garden. Though by how things fell, chances are she’d been on the second floor garden, with the pets. She could tell it was her mother by the body shape and what little wasn’t burnt. There were a few locks of yellow hair. 

She took a while to pry the pillar off of her, but within a half-hour, she managed to heave it enough to get her free and drag her to her own grave. She buried her, and when she was finished, she pulled some sticks from the rubble of their house and pushed them down in the soft dirt as tombstones. She prayed, and then she left for the front again. She had no way of knowing where Yamcha’s body was at, but knowing about Goku’s son bothered her. She decided she’d head to the Son residence first.

She eyed the jeep sitting in front of her home when she walked to her ship. She hesitated, and turned to go to it. Vegeta’s pelt, all her clothes, and the brown bag with the condoms and the vial of healing water was inside. Her brows furrowed. She’d been planning on giving the vial to her father to research. She bundled everything up into her arms, even if she didn’t need most of it, and carried it to the ship. She dropped it down on the passenger seat and grabbed the vial form the brown bag and unscrewed it, only to dip a bit of water onto her palms. She closed the vial and washed her hands until the blisters were gone, and the aches with them. That’s when she set out for Goku’s house.

It took her a while to find, but eventually she did. It looked a little bigger. Had Chi-Chi forced him to expand? It was no wonder. The house was a single room the last time she’d been there, so many years ago. When Goku was still a child. She climbed out of the ship, and was immediately overtaken by the sound of rotting flesh. Her stomach flopped, and not because of the smell. She’d gotten used to it. It was the sight. Four bodies. It was easy to tell them all. They were all rotting, but they were all only barely burnt, if at all. The first was the Ox King, lying on the ground on his back and with a big burn on his chest from where he’d been hit. He’d dropped a brown bag of groceries–now rotting–so it was easy to see he was probably the first to die.

Then there was Goku. He was the least burnt. His tail had been ripped off, and he was covered in bruises and gashes from a bad fight. He’d been bleeding from all orifices. A small child was laying across his body. The sight sickened her– the child’s skull had been forced in, and remainders of brain leaked across Goku’s gi. …He had a tail, too. Gohan was his name? She could see a perfectly round stone just nearby, rolled off of a crushed hat. He had a dragon ball, too? Her eyes wandered after she let out a long sigh, and her gaze fell on Chi-Chi.

She was naked, with her clothes ripped off her body. Her body was face-down, but it had stiffened during the process of rigor mortis from the position she died in: her ass up in the air and her fingers digging into the dirt. She didn’t want to look, but she had blood caked to her thighs from where she had bled before death from how violent one or more of the Saiyans were to her. She had bite and scratch marks on her skin. And by the way her hips were positioned… She made the guess that whoever did this had been forceful enough that her spine broke in the act. Maybe multiple times, if it had stayed that way.

Bulma sat in the grass and ran her fingers through her hair. She tried to calm herself down, but there was no way she could. She began to cry, and then sob. She shifted to lay down on the grass, curled up and surrounded by the stench of rotting corpses.

* * *

His POV

Namek. That’s the name that kept coming up around every turn of page. It took a hell of a lot of digging, but Vegeta finally found himself headed down the right path. Namek. It was a name, a weak lead, but beyond that, it was a mystery. A person, a planet? The information had come from old log books from traders across the galaxy. He’d found the decaying texts after not so tenderly ‘persuading’ one of the librarians to let him down into the basement of the institution. It was hardly legible, and almost sounded more like a code name then an actual place, but the term ‘Namek’ kept coming up green. Written on side notes and hardly legible journals from old space captains and space pirate drabble. Some chasing a legend, others chasing a myth. At first Vegeta had dismissed it as useless, he had a name but what about a planet? A solar system? Anything! The man was ready to tear the library to bits and call it a lost cause, but then he found it. Scribbled in the corner of one of the old leathery maps in one of the journals. It was coordinates.

He ripped the corner of map right out of the book. He was a Saiyan on a mission. The damn prince didn’t even know he’d spent two fucking days down in that dusty cellar of a basement. His adrenaline was pumping. His heart pounding with new stamina in his chest; with new life. _Hope_. Now, all he had to do was collect his men, gather the girl, and the girl would get her home back, her life. He could fix what he’d done to her, and give her what she wanted. Maybe it’d even give her that level of bliss he’d seen from her, from time to time. He wanted her happy. That’s what he wanted.

Though, things weren’t to stay so positive for the prince. The moment he arrived back at the hospital, all of his hope, his eager yearning to see the girl again died in his heart. She was missing. At first the prince stared at the empty room in disbelief. The outer wall was practically gone; he knew by the shape that was from his two men. They must have chased after her, he quickly deducted. But she was gone, no... no! God damn it, and just when he was so close to fixing this mess! Where had she gone off to, what the hell was she thinking? Vegeta knew she had a history of trying to make a break for it - and he welcomed the idea of her stamina and strong will - but... without supervision she could be captured, or worse, kill herself. He had to find her, he had to know she’d survived.

There was a great roar, then the hospital blew into infinity. A supernova of white light over took the building, and then there was nothing left. Vegeta’s fury had gotten the best of him, and now he was on the hunt again. His instincts took over, and he took to the sky. Tracking down his men through sight and smell alone. He didn’t have a scouter, he didn’t need one, the prince was driven by force of will alone. He didn’t have to search very far, however. The moment the hospital went up, Nappa and Raditz witnessed the spike on their scouters. God, they knew they were in trouble now. Shit, shit shit shit, they still hadn’t found the girl! Not even a trace of her! (unless you counted the clone, but Nappa knew the prince would never accept a duplicate). Their hides were on the line, and once Vegeta found them, stepping out of the shadow like a demon from hell, they knew they had to come up with a good explanation, and quick. Vegeta was sticking to his word this time; he was going to kill them.

“We looked everywhere...!” Raditz tried to mumble, crashing face first into the side of a brick wall. “She’s… still... alive…” he whined through busted lips, but then he was tossed to the side by his tail. His very sensitive tail. Nappa was next.

“You had one fucking job.” bellowed the prince, actively picking the beaten bald man up by the head, using his empty eye socket as a finger hold - like a bowling ball; Nappa yelled. He was going to crush Nappa first.

“Boss… Boss…” the man pleaded what he was sure where his last breaths, “…she ...she wasn’t hurt, she ran…” Nappa’s face stopped a few inches from the ground. He’d gotten Vegeta’s attention, his leader was listening. Quickly, he continued spilling the deal, “...she ...she got out the window. We chased... her down… but the little bitch stole a ship, and we lost the trail!! She ain’t hurt!” Nappa tried to assure Vegeta again, unknowing that he’d given the prince the information that’d save the two soldiers lives. Nappa and Raditz had been searching the planet, never thinking the girl would have anywhere else to go. Where would she go? Other than captured. Vegeta knew better, though. The girl had stolen a ship, that could only mean one thing…

_“I know where she’s going..._ ” the prince hushed, looking up towards the night sky. Nappa’s head hit the ground, dropped like dead weight. Vegeta wasn’t interested in punishing them any further, he knew he was wasting his time.

“Get your sorry asses up, and get going. We have places to be.” and just like that, the two men were once again accepted by their alpha. They’d live to fight another day. Both of them stunned, confused, but grateful to be alive. They were sure that’d be the end of it. But Vegeta was quickly walking away, back towards the pods. The two beaten men scampered to their feet and followed. It looked like they were on another mission yet again.

* * *

Her POV

After she had her share of crying, she got up and dug. Four graves. It took a while, and by the end of it, her hands were numb from the blisters. At least a half a day had passed. She dressed Chi-Chi in some of the clothes she had before she put them all in their graves– Goku, Gohan, Chi-Chi, and the Ox King, in that order. The Ox King was especially difficult to get to his grave, given his size. He ended up having to be rolled. A leg popped off in the process. She gagged but eventually got him in, and then buried them. Sticks were again used as tombstones, and she said her prayer.

What was she supposed to do next? She could go find Roshi’s island. But then something came to mind. Yamcha… She looked up at the sky with furrowed brows. She supposed she could try to get into contact with him. Explain her situation. She got up to her feet and set her hands on her hips, before calling out. 

“YAMCHA!” She ran her fingers through her hair and looked around, as if she’d see him. It felt odd, yelling out like this. “Yamcha! Yamcha! Hey! Yamcha!” She went on for a few minutes before answered by King Kai, who sounded slightly irritated. Within a couple minutes, she got to hear Yamcha’s voice again. It was enough to force her to sit back down and breathe in deeply at the sound of something… Familiar.

_“Bulma, what’s wrong? Look, I know there’s not much you can do… I’m sorry for never saying anything, I just didn’t know what I’d say–”_

“That’s not important, Yamcha. Where did you die?”

_“What?”_

“Do you remember where you died? I’m… I’m burying everyone. I got away from the Saiyans again. I don’t know when they’ll find me again. I’m hoping to at least bury you guys before I… Join you guys.”

_“… …. …. I want to tell you not to, but it’s better than life right now for you, isn’t it?”_

“Exactly.”

_“It was an open area surrounded by hills about eight miles south of West City. It’s probably full of craters by now. Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu were there too. Goku told me why we didn’t meet up with him then–”_

“I know.” She got up again and headed to the ship in search of the area. “But Yamcha…. Let’s talk some more. I’m… I’m lonely. You’d laugh at me if you could see what my eyes have looked like the past few days.” 

They talked for a while, all the way to the battlefield. Whenever she needed directions she’d peep up and give him some. She asked him about Otherworld and how everyone was doing. What life would be like there. And when she finally reached the battlefield, she got to work in digging the graves, and their conversation got darker. Just how would she kill herself? She didn’t want it to be painful. She’d had enough pain. She didn’t want to be scared, or end up just injured- especially when there was a chance no one would find her. She didn’t want to snap her neck and just wither away any die of starvation. That’s when he suggested: Maybe she could make a pill.

* * *

His POV

This damn pod wasn’t going fast enough. Once the three Saiyans had made it back to the hanger bay, Vegeta had practically flown into the awaiting ship. There was no time to loose. In fact, the prince could only hope he wouldn’t end up being too late. His spare armor and the girl’s clothes and shoes, that had been a soggy mess in the pod floor, had been cleaned along with the pod itself. Its insides gleamed like new. The clothing and armor had been stored away, along with the bag of snacks they’d picked up from the planet prior. But no matter how well the pod had been cleaned, her scent still lingered. The prince couldn’t move without brushing up the aroma of the female, from the padded walls or cushioned seat. He felt trapped, and it was making him fidgety.

The pod he’d always found as the ‘perfect means of transportation’ suddenly felt very, very cramped. The impatient prince wanted to pace. To stand up, to move faster! This wasn’t like all the other times when he’d hunted the girl for good sport. This wasn’t like all the other times. Vegeta knew she was going to her death, and it was putting him on edge. The stress of it all was robbing him of sleep, and the chance to eat. He’d attempted to bite into one of the wrapped snacks he’d bought for her, only to throw it mercilessly into the pod floor. He couldn’t stomach food. For the first time in his ravaged life, he’d lost his appetite. He was so close, and it was _all for nothing_ if the girl was dead. The thought of her dead tied his abdomen into knots; keeping him awake and hungry.

_All for nothing._ Was that what the girl had felt like? Was this what Bulma had felt when she’d told him she couldn’t eat or sleep? Suddenly her behavior was starting to make a little more sense. The prince knew he needed sleep if he was to utilize his time wisely. Despite his moody anxiety, the prince forced himself to gain a little rest. Thinking of girl seemed to help do the trick - it calmed him down, if just a little. No sooner had he closed his eyes, the prince was awoken by the soft beeping of the landing sequence. What was probably hours felt like mere minutes, he was still in need of sleep, but he couldn’t care less. Rest was the furthest thing from his mind. They’d made it back to earth, within a few moments he could have her back again. He strapped the spare scouter to his face and watched the world come into view. Now if only this damn pod would land faster.

The pod door hardly had time to hiss open; the prince zoomed away from the crash site like a blue lightning bolt. Raditz and Nappa hardly had time to realize what was happening before trying to catch up. It was useless, though. Vegeta was fast, much faster than the two heavy weights. If he thought correctly, she had headed back to the fallen remains of what was once her happy home. If he knew her by now, by all the nagging and pleading she’d given him about returning to her life, that’s the place she’d choose as her final resting place. There was no doubt in his mind now. His instincts gnawing at his brain. The girl was going to kill herself, if she hadn’t already. West City, the area he’d found her, that would be the first place he’d look.

* * *

Her POV

She dug the graves for her warrior friends, and her old boyfriend. She chatted with Yamcha all the while to make her feel better about doing it. Yamcha’s body was cut in half, with his guts rotting between the two pieces. Krillin’s leg was crushed, and had a giant burn mark on his back. Chiaotzu’s head was snapped, so while his body was on its stomach, his sunken eye sockets and what remained of his eyes stared up at her. It took her a while to find Tien- an arm, then a head, then his torso, and his two legs, and finally his other arm. He’d been blown to pieces.

She dug their graves and buried all of them, and every time she went silent while doing it, Yamcha started telling her jokes and had the others come say hello. King Kai was apparently getting annoyed with being a telephone, but it’s not like it’d be much longer. As soon as she finished burying Chiaotzu, she headed off for Roshi’s island. It didn’t take long, and surprisingly enough, the house was mostly intact. Launch was missing, but Yamcha clarified that Krillin and Roshi hadn’t seen her in years. Roshi was lying face-down in the sand, and all that remained of Turtle was its shell. Bits of clothing and bones that were Oolong-sized confirmed that the two were eaten. She recalled not having seen Pu’ar’s remains in the Capsule Corporation; maybe he’d met the same fate.

She buried what remained of her friends in as deep of graves as she could manage so they didn’t just wash away with high tide, and by then it was well into the night. At least it was easier to dig in sand. Her hands ached and felt coarse again, so she again retrieved the vial of healing water- not like she needed it for anything else, anyway. She rubbed her eyes and walked into the Kame House, and spoke up again to Yamcha. That she figured there had to be pills somewhere in this stupid house.

Yamcha relayed a message from Krillin that they kept them above the sink in the bathroom. That’s where she found them. She grabbed the first bottle of prescription pills she saw and went back to sit on the couch she’d sat with her friends at so many times before, and swallowed the whole thing. It took her a moment to swallow them all, but when she did, she relaxed and closed her eyes. 

…It wasn’t as pleasant as in the movies. After the pills had their time to work into her system, she started twitching. Shaking. Shaking so violently she thought she could be having a seizure. Her heart felt like it was trying to force its way out of her chest. Her chest ached and she found herself unable to breathe. _‘Oh god,’_ was all she could think to herself over and over. She was hyperventilating, gasping and wheezing for breath as if she hadn’t been planning on dying. She didn’t think it’d be this horrible. Every second that passed felt like an hour. She could hear Yamcha’s voice in her head, but she couldn’t even make out what he was saying. All she knew was that she wanted her body to hurry up and _die._

* * *

His POV

All of West City was dead. As lifeless and barren as one would expect. The closer the prince honed in on the crumbled town, the further his hopes blinked out of existence. Damn it, he was sure she’d have ended up here. It was her prime destination last time they’d been on this burnt world! But the closer he zoomed into West City, the more the prince had to come to terms with the fact that there were no signs of ki in range on his scouter. No matter which direction he looked, the city was bare.

His insides were shaking, sweat running down his angular jaw. That couldn’t mean… she was already dead, could it? Once the prince had collected his senses, breathing in new control and refusing to give up the fight, he lifted higher into the air above her crumbled Capsule Corp. She’d definitely been there. Through the smell of charred bodies and rotten rubble, the girls scent softly perfumed the rancid air. It was fresh, she’d recently been there, but then ...where was she now? Vegeta refused to believe she was dead, not when there was still so much earth to comb over. He’d been short sighted. Believing he could meet the girl at every turn and predict her movements. But since when had he ever rightfully predicted that head strong human? She was still around, but for how long, it was hard to tell.

He’d been a fool, jumping the gun like that. Giving into a rush of emotions rather than strategizing sensibly. It cost his time, and he didn’t want to have to pay a hefty price for his insolence. Tuning into his scouter, he increased the range. Slowly roving his sights over the horizon until, finally ...he got something. A faint bleep, a blink of ki. It was small, and distant, but it was there. A level 12 signature. It had to be hers.

He sped towards the warm coastal air. The sun was beginning to set over the glistening ocean line. It felt foreboding. As if more than one light would be blinking out of existence by sun down. Then, he found it. A small island was coming up quick. The water split behind the racing Saiyan, kicking up waves in his wake. The sun shone it’s last, turning dusk to dark, and the signature of ki began to drop. God damn, it was her, he knew it was Bulma! His boot didn’t even have time to leave a foot print in the sand, the moment he made foot fall, the prince swiveled and crashed through the door of Kame House.

There she was, lifeless on the house’s sofa. A bottle of pills rolled from her lifeless hand. Vegeta knew instantly how she went about this, she overdosed. And he was watching her slowly fade away into nothing. The numbers on his scouter dropping right before his eyes. Before he could yell at her for her stupidity, the prince scooped the dying woman up into his arm and jabbed two of his gloved fingers down her throat. His face contorted with lack of hope and worry. Come on, come on! Hopefully she wasn’t so far gone that her body would stop reacting. He could only hope she’d puke the medication up before it fully infiltrated her system. Sending her to Otherworld, somewhere he knew he could never follow.

* * *

Her POV

She couldn’t stop shaking, no matter how much she tried. She got sick. Even though she felt like she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t stop gagging, either. She wanted to die, and not just to meet everyone again– for this to be over with. It was the worst feeling in her life. She was lucky when she finally passed out. 

Who could tell how long she was passed out for, but eventually she woke up to being in someone’s arms. She kept puking. Someone was shoving their fingers in her mouth to make her vomit everything out. She gagged and puked all over the floor, all over herself, and all over… Ah… It was Vegeta? She wasn’t in Otherworld? She was… Still at Master Roshi’s? Still at the Kame House… She felt limp and dizzy. Her eyes were open, but only just barely. Over and over, she vomited until there was nothing left to vomit up.

When his fingers finally left her mouth, she stared up at him through her half-lidded eyes. If she was completely awake, she would be angry. But she couldn’t think straight enough to wonder that. …Why had he done that? Why had he saved her? Where did he come from? How did he know where she was? She was so confused… 

She opened her mouth to talk, but her throat burned too much. She blinked slowly. Her throat burned. Her head hurt. Her body ached from the convulsions she’d had. Her eyes were watering from the irritation of puking over and over. But… She was alive.

* * *

His POV

It was worse than before; when he’d held the bodies of dying clones in his hands. Watching the life sink out of the girl, if just as a clone, had effected the war hardened criminal. Over and over, he’d taken her doubles lives, and every time it had stuck with him. It’s why he handled her with such care, as he was now. But this, this was different. This was his earthling; the woman he’d chased across the stars. That he’d beheaded princes for. Vegeta knew there’d be no getting the girl back if this didn’t work. He doubted a wish could bring back the dead that didn’t want it. If she slipped away forever, he’d never see her again.

The prince felt his heart stop, a lump caught in his throat, until finally ...the girl began to gag. As soon as the hot liquids from her stomach started to bubble out of her mouth, Vegeta ripped his fingers from her throat. Helping her crouch over, making it easier for her to spill the dissolving medication all over the living room floor. She’d spat up on his arm, on his armor, and all over his boots, but he couldn’t give a damn. The more on his shoes, the less in her stomach; the better. She was alive, barely, but alive. Every time she gasped for air, he felt his own lungs expand. He must of been holding his breath, kept in suspense until he was sure she was staring back at him.

“What the hell were you thinking,” he rambled, “...you damn fool, don’t ever do something like that again!” he spat, stroking his large hand over the girl’s head, tucking her limp body against his chest. He sounded furious, but the prince couldn’t have felt more relieved. He was holding her, too; sat back on the sofa, cradling the woman in his lap, gently panting. His warm hand ran over her shoulder, pressing her protectively under his chin, vising her into his arms. As if she may still ghost away at any given moment. As if someone was trying to steal something precious from him. Which was exactly how he felt.

Giving her a glance down, he could tell she was out of it. Her eyes looked glossy and tired, but if he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn she was trying to shoot him an angry look. That got him to lighten up a little. Propping the girl tenderly in the bend of one arm, wiping the vomit from her lip with his free hand. She most likely needed water. It couldn’t have felt pleasant hacking up all of that bile and medication. He carried her into the next room, the kitchen by the looks of it, and filled a glass of water for her to drink. The sink spigot refusing to produce water at first, gurgling and hissing, but eventually the water ran clean. 

* * *

Her POV

She was picked up, but she could barely tell what was going on. Her eyes blinked slowly as she was carried into the kitchen, and as she rested her body against Vegeta’s side, with her head on his shoulder, she barely registered how he was trying to get her something to drink. She watched with slightly furrowed brows as she tried to focus, when she realized she couldn’t hear the water when it came sputtering from the faucet. Huh…

His mouth had been moving before, hadn’t it? She hadn’t heard anything then, either. Her eyes closed for a minute and she let out a breath, before slowly opening them again. Had her head ever hurt this much before? She couldn’t think straight… …What was going on? What had even happened? She didn’t remember… Had she tried to overdose? Yeah, that was it… She took pills… To get to Otherworld… She planned it out with Yamcha…

But she wasn’t in Otherworld. Why wasn’t she…? How did he… She still didn’t understand. She turned her head and squinted at Vegeta. She tugged at his body suit and after a moment, found her words, forgetting that she seemed to be unable to hear anything at that moment.

“How did you… Find me….?”

* * *

His POV

The girl was out of it; he could tell that by the way her head lulled at his shoulder. The entire time the man fumbled through the kitchen, the girl was nothing more than a limp doll on his arm. Luckily there had been a kitchen-cloth near the sink. He ran it under the cool water while the cup filled in the basin of the sink. It wasn’t until he was making his way back towards the living room that he felt a gentle tugging at his suit. His gaze turned down towards her, watching her try to mumble something, as he carried her back towards the living room. Where he took a seat back on the soiled sofa.

He watched her for a moment. Setting the cup and the wet rag on the nearby coffee table. Still grasping the fact that she was indeed alive and she wasn’t going to die in his arms at any given moment. She was trying to ask him something, but the words were hardly coherent. Her slurred speech sounded slightly intoxicated to him, which she was in some sense. However, he got the jest of what she was trying to say. Asking him how he’d found her. Wasn’t that obvious by now? He’d always find her.

“How the hell do you think? ... _I’ll always find you_...” his voice was rough and gruff when he said it, but it was one of the rare romantic things he’d said. Maybe it was a good thing she couldn’t understand him, or his ego may have taken another hit. The princes stern gaze fell down into her eyes for a long moment, searching her dazed face for life. Ensuring himself she wasn’t going to pass out a second time. Then, he leaned over for the damp cloth, and began delicately cleaning the bile and drying white smears of medicine from her cheeks and skin.

“Can you drink?” his dark gaze flicked to hers again, unaware that she couldn’t understand him. He stared softly, waiting for an answer, before knitting his brows and moving on. Maybe she was too intoxicated to comprehend what he’d asked of her, that was his best guess. He went back to riding her of the reminiscence of vomit. Washing the cool cloth over her forehead, smoothing it up under her bangs and then down the side of her cheek. His warm body keeping her steadily in place. The intense expression on his face concerned, strangely soft, but overall glad to see she was alive.

* * *

Her POV

She barely even recognized that he’d brought her back to the sofa. She blinked a few times as she got adjusted, but was startled when he began to clean her up. She turned her head in the direction of the rag as she comprehended what he was doing, but when she realized it was just a rag, she relaxed and looked at Vegeta to see his answer. His lips moved. She couldn’t hear his voice. Hn… Her brows furrowed a little more. Had she gone deaf? 

She was beginning to get more conscious as the water pressed to her face and as more time passed. She looked around the room and got more accustom, eventually registering Nappa and Raditz as well. Why was Vegeta taking care of her? He was cleaning up all her vomit and fixing her bangs, but why would he bother? Huh…? Why did he do that…? She rubbed her eyes and focused them on him again. Why…?

“Ah… Vegeta…” Her voice trailed off, and she slumped against the couch. …Was Yamcha waiting for her? And all the others? They probably were. She couldn’t just stay there… He ruined it. She had to die. They were waiting for her. She pushed him away and tried to get up again, but found it too hard to move. Gn… Damn. But they were all waiting for her in Otherworld. She didn’t want to be separated from them anymore.

“I want to go… See everyone… They’re… Waiting for me… I gotta go see them…. I have to go…”

* * *

His POV

“Oh no.. You’re not going anywhere.” bellowed the prince; catching the girl by her shoulders once she began to tumble out of his lap and onto to sofa. This time he pressed her back against his chest, holding her firmly in place. One of his arms as well as his tail, curling around her securely. It gave him a little more leeway to grab for the cup, too. Giving up his arm around her chest, he tried to aim her heavy head for the incoming water. Gingerly holding her forehead with one hand and pressing cheek to cheek to with her, to keep her face steady, bringing the glass rim to her parched lips. If he could just get her to sip on it, it may help clear up her mind, if not just wet her hoarse throat.

Nappa and Raditz had eventually caught up. It wasn’t difficult. Vegeta’s ki signature was the biggest on the planet. Not to mention the only one, aside from the tiny bleeping number they’d imagined was the girl. The two soldiers had watched her numbers drop drastically, all the way until the end. They’d arrived just in time to watch their prince try and cool the girls face with the wet cloth. Both of the men watching quietly, curiously, from around the frame of the front door. They may of been selfish bastards, but this was interesting, and different. They too wanted to see if the girl would make it out alive.

Vegeta was starting to understand the woman’s situation. She couldn’t understand him. He’d asked her again to hold the cup, and she’d just looked at him funny. They looked at one another funny after that, quirking his brow at her, silently asking her what she was staring at. He was on his own when taking care of the earthling. He grunted, but continued, placing the cup back down on the table after a few more attempts to get her to sip on it, then just let her rest against his plated chest. Raditz and Nappa cautiously closing in for a better look.

To tell the truth, Vegeta was just glad to see her alive. He was angry at her. Furious in fact, for trying to take her own life. Had he arrived a moment later she’d have been dead for sure. That thought put an angry look on his face, but it was followed up by him stroking his hand through her hair. Furious and relieved, that’s how he felt. It was a confusing but loud sensation over taking his judgement. If it had been for any other reason, he may have refused to publicly care. She did seem to put him in these type of predicaments.

* * *

Her POV

She was forced back down by something she found to be Vegeta, and when she turned her body to look at him, he forced her to drink water. It soothed her burning throat, but her headache persisted. She rubbed her throat and stared at the cup for a moment, wondering why he was just holding it like that. She turned to see him saying something, but she just gave him a confused look– something he mimicked. 

She rubbed the back of her head and looked down at Vegeta’s tail just as he set the glass down. Her hands grabbed the tail and she tried to free herself, again thinking about everyone. He didn’t seem to want her to commit suicide, of course, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to see her family again. She missed them so much.

“Vegeta… Let me go. I want to see everyone again… I don’t belong here, everyone’s in Otherworld. I wanna go too…” Her voice was still quiet, but decidedly less hoarse thanks to the water. She struggled a little, though she was still too weak to even really think about fighting back against him. She itched her head and blinked. Hrn… Geeze, her head hurt. And she was so tired. Maybe if she just went back to sleep, she’d get to see everyone eventually.

She yawned and leaned back against Vegeta rather than fight. Her eyes closed. She wasn’t dying anymore, but she had hopes that maybe she would if she just fell asleep. And sleep came quickly– nearly the moment that she rested her head on his shoulder, she began to snore gently.

* * *

His POV

She was muttering again about returning to Otherworld. It was to be expected, that was the reasoning behind her attempted suicide, but it didn’t mean Vegeta liked hearing it. The man grimaced at her words, scolding her quietly for them. But then he watched her slowly start to give way to sleep. At first he debated forcing her awake. Still too alerted to her near death experience, not wanting to allow her to slip off into Otherworld while she slept. But then she began to softly snooze. That quiet snoring sound he’d heard time and time again in the confines of their pod, and Vegeta knew she was resting safely.

Reluctantly, the prince stood, eyeing his two peeping men. He couldn’t give a shit what they thought, or what they’d seen. The two were worthless to him. Still holding a grudge against the fact that they allowed the girl to get this far. After shooting them a frightening scowl, he carefully handed over the girl’s limp body to Raditz. Nappa wasn’t worthy of touching the girl, let alone carrying her. The prince was aware of the contempt Bulma held for the man, and wasn’t about to give her over to the male that had wronged her so many times. In the prince’s mind, the bald brute had gotten off far too easy by only losing an eye. Next time it’d be a ball instead. However, Raditz did look a little nervous over carrying the woman. He really didn’t want it to end with him losing a ball instead.

The prince had things to do that’d require the use of his hands. Like searching the ship he’d noticed just outside of Kame House. The bitch, she really did grab for the biggest and the best when she could, didn’t she? Her expensive dress still hadn’t gone forgotten. Oh no, he remembered her sly ways of spending his cash. He had to admit though, it was one hell of a ship. His gloved fingers slid over the chair she’d piloted in. The open chip bags telling the story of her journey. Then he spotted a bag in the passenger’s chair. He took it up over one shoulder, then left the glorious ship behind for good. Pods were _definitely_ better means of transportation.

Raditz was all too happy to give the snoozing girl back to his leader. Letting out a large sigh of relief. The soldier was all too happy to return to his pod, alone. Nappa asked where they’d be heading next. Another mission, another pit stop? But Vegeta merely snarled in their direction. ‘Namek’ was the only word he gave them, before darting off into the sky, taking the girl with him. The two men blinked between themselves. Namek? It didn’t ring a bell, but they eagerly followed. The three Saiyans tucking themselves back into their pods once again and leaving the Earth behind. Vegeta watching the girl in his lap, fingering the small clip of paper between his fingers that held the next planets coordinates, when the ship went rocketing through space again.

* * *

Her POV

She snored loudly and slept soundly for most of the journey. It was a while until she finally opened her eyes, and this time, she could hear the crinkling of paper. She rubbed her eyes and sat straight as she came to, taking in the sights around her. …What happened to the Kame House? To her ship? They were… In the pod again. Her memory was still fuzzy. She looked at Vegeta and her brows furrowed, as if she finally understood what was going on. She slapped him.

“I was almost home! I was almost with everyone. You had no right to take me away. I saw what you did to everybody. It was awful. I buried all my friends. I was going to bury them and then kill myself. Why’d you have to save me? I planned it out with Yamcha! It was alright! And then you ruined it. You ruined everything. I miss my friends, and you ruined it. You couldn’t just let me go and see everyone again. You ruin everything. You ruined my life.”

She turned away from him and started to cry out of anger and despair. She wiped away every tear just as quickly as it came, and focused her gaze out at the planets and stars they were zooming passed. She hated this stupid, cramped pod. She was sick of being in it. But it seemed whenever she made something good for herself again, and things began to change for her, it always had to be destroyed. It always had to be ruined by Vegeta and his two stupid men.

“I’m sick of being with you three! You’re terrible! You’re horrible, horrible monsters. I just want to see everyone else again. My friends, my family, my boyfriend… It’s been so long! I miss them so, so much… Of course a monster like you would never understand what it’s like to miss someone.”

* * *

His POV

Well, she was coherent again. Vegeta met her rant and rampage with a ‘tch’ of his own. Turning his gaze from the frustrated woman trapped in his lap. He didn’t scold her for her words, though. His stoic gaze turned back onto her once she’d finished spitting her venom. Something she’d said struck him. His gaze only worsened, shooting her cold hard daggers. She’d claimed he’d ‘never understand what it was to miss someone’. He knew that to be false, no thanks to her. He’d missed her terribly in the short time they’d been apart...

He couldn’t stay angry at her for long, however, and his brow softened the longer he looked at her. Instead of saying something snappy, he shot her a cocky look, brushing his thumb over her cheek. A gesture that meant ‘welcome back’. She may of hated being alive, but she was alive and bright, spinning her fiery nature in his lap. His How could he be angry? He’d gotten what he’d wanted. He knew her words wouldn’t ring true if he was successful in his searching for the next batch of dragon balls.

But that was the thing, he wasn’t sure if he would find them. If it was merely a myth or the Namekian balls had also turned to stone, as the Earth’s had. He flipped the small crinkle of paper between his fingertips again. It was a gamble, and part of him prodded at the fact that she may actually be better off dead. His face hardened again, sinking into thought. He couldn’t raise her hopes only to see them crumble again. He couldn’t do that to her a second time. That’s why he kept his mouth shut, rather than say anything on the topic of her friends, death, or otherwise.

“Are you hungry,” he murmured as emotionless as ice. Fixing his hard glare on her. His eyes were tinted red. Dark circles barely starting to show around his eye sockets. It’d been a while since he’d eaten or slept properly. But his focus wasn’t on himself. The prince was acting selfless for once. His perspective had shifted; he was no longer putting himself first. He was thinking of the girls wellbeing. Not to mention, switching topics to survival skills was a much better use of their time, as far as the one-tracked-mind Saiyan was concerned.

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t respond to her, which was great– she would have angrily yelled at him for doing that, anyway. But he brushed his hand against her cheek, and that caused her to slap his hand away. She scowled and dropped down onto the foot space rather than sit on his lap, only to realize that the bag of her stuff was there. Oh. Her clothes! …Not that it mattered; they wouldn’t come with her to Otherworld. She definitely still planned on getting there, somehow.

She crossed her arms and stared out the window silently, up until Vegeta spoke up in a soft voice. …Now that he mentioned it, she was starving. She’d only eaten junk food the past few days. With all the labor she’d been doing, not only did her muscles ache from overuse, but her stomach growled. She glanced back at him and looked him up and down before nodding his head.

“…Yeah. Yeah, I’m hungry.” She wouldn’t bother starving herself. That took too long. She’d find a way to kill herself, but it’d be the right opportunity. Not by doing this. She leaned back against the seat and kept her eyes on him, a brow raised. “You have food in here?” …Maybe it was one of those protein bars. She didn’t eat any, but she had to admit that they did smell delicious back when he was trying to force her to eat.

“Also… Where… Are we going? You’re not going to go and destroy another planet, are you? I’m tired of seeing things destroyed. I don’t want to see any more death. I know that’s hard for a monster like you, but if you get the urge to kill something, just kill me instead of killing any more innocent people.”

* * *

His POV

He didn’t stop her when she attempted sliding from his lap. He let her go, watching her in silence as she watched out of the starry glass window. At least she was accepting food this time. Starvation didn’t seem to be on her radar. Good. It was a real pain trying to force feed her - something he could live without ever trying to do again. It was good to hear her banter him again, too. Even being called a monster was welcomed. In fact, he smirked at the word. It brought back a slur of memories, but it was good to hear her insult him again.

“I can’t make any promises.” the prince leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. Meeting her nearly face to face, taunting her through his wicked hooked grin. Oh, he wanted to banter her sooo much, but he was resisting for her sake. Seeing as she may still be mentally fragile, he didn’t want to test the waters too much. He resisted, leaning back again and lifting the console that was his armrest. Producing a few snacks. Two protein bars and a small packaged cake. He leaned forward again, this time offering her the food.

“No deaths. Not this time.” was his final answer, and said more serious this time too, as if to appease her. The prince wasn’t in a particularly talkative mood. Less than usual. He’d just gone through enough emotional shit to last him a life time, and he needed the quiet to regroup and center himself again. He watched, however, softly and silently. Though he never took a snack for himself. He knew they’d be coming up on their destination soon. A green little planet that never knew night time. It’s three suns giving it plenty of light for the strange life forms that lived there. He knew that much. It was a few hours more before the control panel would start blinking again. Alerting them that they’d be landing soon. But as soon as it did, he expected the girl to crawl out of the floor and into the safety of his lap, less he’d force her to himself. He wasn’t about to see her hurt again, not after just pulling her back from deaths door.

* * *

Her POV

No deaths. That’s what he told her, after he’d finished teasing her. She nodded her head and looked away. Sounded good to her. Hopefully he wasn’t lying. A moment later, a few protein bars and a cake was put in her line of sight. She grabbed it all and ate the protein bars first–which were just as delicious as they smelled, surprisingly enough–and opened up the cake. It looked strange. Spongy? When she bit in, it didn’t taste like chocolate or peanut butter like the protein bars, or anything else similar. It was sweet, certainly, but it was nothing she’d ever tasted before. …It was good. She ate the entire thing and was left with a completely full stomach the rest of the ride. 

The console started beeping some hours later that were mostly spent sitting in silence, and finally Bulma got up and sat down on Vegeta to make sure she didn’t get badly injured. Again, she didn’t want this kind of a death. She could get better than that. One that didn’t hurt at all. Or at least one that happened so fast Vegeta wouldn’t have time to stop it.

As soon as they landed, Bulma climbed out to see the planet. It was seemingly all just greens and blues. Green water, green sky, and blue trees and grass. The opposite of Earth. Multiple suns beat down from overhead. She brushed her hair back as she observed her surroundings, and after a moment she looked back at Vegeta to see what he even had planned. There didn’t seem to be anything in sight, and she didn’t see any lights when they were closing in, but what did she know? Maybe there was a city on the other side of the planet that he planned to get to.

“Why are you here? What’s the point of being here? Especially if you’re not just going to kill people. You said no killing, so it can’t be that. So…?” Could she be blamed for asking so much? She was curious. And she was looking for an opportunity to slip through the cracks and kill herself when he wasn’t paying attention.

* * *

His POV

It was good to find her climbing into his lap of her own free will. There was something about forcing the woman to do things that was starting to feel sour within the Saiyan. He’d always forced her to do as he pleased, as he wanted, as he felt was right for the group as the alpha male, but that had started to change. The woman was too strong willed, and trying to control her never got him what he wanted. So when she crawled into his lap for landing, he respected her willingness with a gentle nod. Paying special attention to her head, keeping her from knocking around during the crash, too much.

When the pod door opened, Vegeta stood right along with her. His shoulders back and his head held high, his nose picking up the various scents carried on the wind. This was a new territory, rarely visited and with little information known about its inhabitants. They were said to be peaceful, but he’d see about that. Dear Kami, had he really agreed to ‘no deaths’ for the woman? He felt slightly backed into a corner when agreeing to that, but he wasn’t letting it show. The things he agreed to, to keep that woman happy. It was surprising even to him from time to time.

When Bulma asked her questions, Vegeta’s sights turned to her. Quiet, solemn, thoughtful. There was a part of him that wanted to give her the information she wanted. The girl was always full of questions when it came to where they were going, why, how long. The part of him that’d grown to respect her wanted to answer her, but the part of him that refused to harm her kept him quiet, guarding his coveted secret. Instead, after a moment of silent staring, the man grunted at her. Turning away and giving her the cold shoulder.

His two large soldiers flanked from behind. Ready to follow their leader into the next battle. Little knowing that wasn’t what they’d come for. They knew the drill by now. Campsite, orders, then battle. They weren’t surprised when Vegeta scooped up the girl and began heading air-born into the distance, but they were surprised by what he said when he’d found a proper place to call ‘shelter’ for the time they’d be on the planet.

“You’re both staying put.” barked the prince, as soon as the group landed just outside of what looked to be a mossy cave. There was a water source nearby and the cave sheltered from the wind and sun. It’d work, if the woman wouldn’t put up a fight... This was going to be tricky. The prince couldn’t very well hunt the dragon balls and hunt the girl at the same time, less she tried to get away while he was preoccupied. It was best she stay put, the only problem was that was his useless men. They’d allowed an unconscious, hospitalized female slip away. How the hell was he supposed to trust them again after that?

“I shouldn’t have to remind you the cost of letting her get away a second time.” hissed the prince. He’d let the girl down safely as soon as they’d landed. His attention taken to the side of the rocky formation at the caves mouth. It was covered in thick vines and vegetation. It was perfect for what was coming up next. Tying the girl’s hands and feet together. Maybe that’d ‘even the playing field’ for his men. Since the girl was so damn good at getting away. The vines were ripped away from the rock, and Vegeta’s gaze fell ominously onto the earthling. He was going to bind her legs and arms, maybe that’d hold her for a few hours.

* * *

Her POV

She was picked up by Vegeta rather than given an answer (a grunt certainly wasn’t an answer) and she at least got to look at the world down below. …Had he been lying to her, about not killing anyone? That was the only explanation. She didn’t see any cities. He didn’t bring her to a city, either. He landed at a cave and set her down, before demanding the other two stay put to watch her to make sure she didn’t run away again. Her lips pursed. Why? Why did he have to be so awful? She just wanted to die, was that so much to ask, really?

She tucked her hair behind her ear and settled on a rock at the side of the entrance of the cave, grumbling under her breath. If they were going to force her to live, did it have to be in a cave? Couldn’t they bring her somewhere where she could have a proper meal and a proper bath? Not that she wanted to have Vegeta bathing her again, but she felt disgusting. She had a layer of grime from working so hard and not having had a bath since… Now that she thought about it, since the night before she got cloned, wasn’t it? …Disgusting.

She set her head in her hands, and didn’t even notice Vegeta walking toward her with vines before it was too late. She was grabbed and her legs and arms were bound by the vines he’d grabbed. The quick actions alone had given her a heart attack, but when she realized what happened, she began to hyperventilate. Of course she would. She didn’t have positive memories about being tied up. Zarbon had kept her tied up constantly. She was even ‘bathed’ tied up, if you called being hosed down and rubbed with a rag ‘bathed.’

“N– No, I want… Let me go…” She was whispering. She couldn’t manage full yells; she felt like she couldn’t breathe, much less get enough air in her lungs to yell. She was shaking like a leaf, and her eyes had widened to make her look like a deer in headlights. Her head shook gently. Zarbon kept her bound just like this. He’d shove his cock in her mouth when he’d do it. Or sometimes someone else’s. She’d be carried around by the ropes, till the joints of her shoulders ached painfully from being pulled and forced to hang in so many odd positions. She’d be raped just like this. 

She knew Nappa would do it, if given the chance, but she thought Vegeta was insisting on keeping her safe now, so why? …Was this supposed to be her punishment? Yeah, that had to be it. This was her punishment for trying to get away from him. She sniffled, and then began to whimper. Tears rolled down her face, their movement quickened by her shaking and the gentle movement of her cheeks as she kept whispering to be let go.

* * *

His POV

Something was wrong. Tying the female up had gone far too smoothly. If he didn’t know any better, Vegeta could have sworn the females hands and legs found a bound position before he’d even tightened the vine. As if she was ready for it, or had gone through it so many times before that she had an autopilot. It was unsettling to hear her beg to be let loose the way she was. What had happened to her? That wasn’t the only thing that was tipping him off. The girl was shaking horribly, like when she’d been so close to death, or when he’d rescued her from the hands of tyrants. Something was wrong, she was giving into being bound up too easily, even if she looked like a frighten doe all the while. She looked so scared, at one point Vegeta debated snapping her bonds, but he resisted. Telling himself this was for her own good.

“Woman,” he snapped, trying to shake her from her hyperventilating, “…I’ll be back soon. You’ll be fine until then.” Vegeta’s voice trailed, turning his vision in the direction of his two on looking men, commanding them just as much as he was her. It was odd to hear Vegeta intending on going off on his own, but the two soldiers quickly came to the same conclusion. They were to watch over the girl - she did have a history of making a break for it. As boring as it’d be, the two men understood what Vegeta was expecting of them. Both signaling their leader with a cautious nod of their heads.

“ _You’ll be fine_...” he softly murmured, making sure to gain the girls eye contact this time, crouched before her and pressing a careful finger to her cheek. His words were only meant for her ears, “.. _.try not to kill yourself while I’m gone_.” he drolled, rolling her a deadpanned look. It was his way of giving her an explanation for her being tied up. He couldn’t bring himself to outright admit that he was trying to keep her safe, but he was doing his best to imply it. If only to get the girl to stop looking so terrified. This was best, he ensured himself just as much as her.

Within moments, the prince was gone. Disappearing out of the mouth of the cave. He’d left the girl bound by the safe side of the cave wall. Nappa and Raditz were already busy setting up a campsite. Raditz gathering some of the dead brush right outside the caverns mouth while Nappa piled rocks. They were starting a fire right in the middle of the rocky fortress. Both of the men side glancing and looking over their shoulders towards the bound up girl from time to time.

* * *

Her POV

When he leaned down and shook her and told her she’d be safe, she just stared at him with wide eyes as she cried. It didn’t help. How would it? She’d heard so many similar things before. Zarbon told he she’d be safe before he tied her up and forced her to suck the cock of another man while whipping her the more she resisted him. The longer she stayed in those binds, the more she thought about it. She couldn’t get away from the memories.

She didn’t have many visual memories; given she was blindfolded so often. But the noises– the wet grunts of disgusting, slimy old alien men, of Zarbon yelling at her to beg for more, of her own crying…. The disgusting smell of blood and sweat and cum and bile… And worst of all, the feelings. Feeling dirty, grubby hands all over her body, and the pain of being entered so many times by so many different men. Even when her body gave out from exhaustion, there’d be another man to pin her down and rape her.

Knowing that Nappa and Raditz still had no problem with raping women, how was she supposed to feel safe, bound around them? They were just like Zarbon and all those other men. He told all but said that this was so she didn’t kill herself, but they could easily take advantage of her and rape her. Maybe they’d even kill her. That would be the only good part. But no one ever seemed to. Why couldn’t they finally decide she’d been used up and kill her? She wanted to be dead.

She was left inside the cave, and thanks to her horrible memories, she didn’t even try to escape. She just curled into a ball and cried against the damp stone wall while the two Saiyans busied themselves with making a campsite. She kept hoping Nappa would seek revenge for his eye and kill her, but it never happened. No matter how much she prayed under her breath to just be killed already. It never happened. Maybe she should feel lucky– she wasn’t getting raped. But it was only a matter of time before it happened again if she stayed with those three, wasn’t it?

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking back, I don't know if I like how I wrote the suicide. 
> 
> Also, a fun fact: I based a lot of Bulma's actions, particularly in the earlier part of the series, on Sansa Stark. Whenever I needed muse, I'd go back and watch clips of Sansa like when she nearly knocks Joffery off a bridge for forcing her to stare at her father's severed head. Now where I am in the roleplay, far past where the series currently is, I end up thinking a little more about Arya and the Hound. I'll let you guys speculate on that one.
> 
>   
> 


	34. The Past, And Looking Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first Dragon Ball is found.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

It was some time before the two men started to take notice to the sobbing girl against the stony wall. Both Nappa and Raditz had done their best to ignore the female. Sure their carnal nature alerted them to take notice to such an easy target, but they ignored that inner voice that usually governed their selfish decisions. Feeling up one female was not worth loosing their heads. They both knew Vegeta was serious about that now. Raditz was still suffering from a busted lip, and the cloth that covered Nappa’s missing eye was soaked through with blood. The eye socket had started bleeding again after Vegeta had used it for a finger hold. Dried blood caked the mans face, but he didn’t look too bothered by it. In fact they were both solemn for quite a while, until they started talking among themselves.

“I can’t believe he left us behind …and just to watch that girl.” spat Raditz, sitting by the now blazing fire, tossing a branch into the mix. The fire eating it up instantly, crackling thankfully for the wooden meal. “Look at her, she hasn’t even moved since we got here ..we shouldn’t even be here.” the unhappy Saiyan scrunched his nose, leaning away from the distant girl, exaggerating his mood.

“I don’t give a shit about that,” grumbled Nappa, sitting on the oppsite side of the fire, “I just want some damn food.” the older mans stomach rumbled, glaring towards the girl with his one good eye.

“What the hell do you think we’re even doing here? This planet wasn’t on the map.. as far as I remember,” muttered Raditz suspiciously. Leaving soldiers behind, not giving orders, going out on his own? Something didn’t make sense, and it was making Raditz eye the girl suspiciously. “I’m sure one of us could hunt while the other watches.” he was starting to get hungry too.

“Nah,” groaned Nappa, “There ain’t no tellin’ when Vegeta’ll show up. I ain’t gonna be the one that’s missin’.” though he was already starting to debate that, maybe food was a good idea. “This ain’t no regular mission.. he’s after somethin’ ..I just don’t know what. What I do know, is this ain’t natural.” he murmured that last part, knowing that the prince’s business was primarily off limits.

“Well if that’s the case, I’d like a mission with nothing but girls,” Raditz said all too dreamily, resting back on his palms by the fire, “Maybe a whole planet of them… Where they’re happy to see me.” he was daydreaming by now. Nappa shooting his fellow soldier odd looks. What the hell had gotten into him? The memory of the thankful whores back on the previous planet was what had gotten into Raditz. The girls had been so grateful that he’d killed their slave driver owner that they’d shown their ‘gratitude’. He liked that, he’d liked that a lot.

* * *

Her POV

While she was crying, Nappa and Raditz began to talk to one another. She cried and sniffed and whined and whimpered, but the more they talked, the more she quieted down if only to listen in and see what Vegeta was up to. But even they didn’t know? They had no clue, but it must have been something important. She gulped and eyed them through puffy, red eyes. 

“Ah…” She tried to wipe her tears with her shoulders best she could as she listened, and craved to go closer to the heat. It was getting cold. …She was hungry, too. But she didn’t want to make them mad. She knew that they weren’t like Vegeta. They weren’t as… Tolerant. Would they even feed her if one of them went out to get food? Her stomach was rumbling. She wanted to speak up, but she had a feeling they’d tell her to suck the cum out of them for a snack. She was too accustom to comments like that.

…The day seemed never-ending. Was it because of all the suns? But eventually, she found that she needed to go to the bathroom. …Some time passed, and it became unbearable. She didn’t want to lay against the cave anymore. She sniffled and began pulling herself closer to the fire, scooting bit by bit. She didn’t think that she had wet herself, but she felt wet enough between her legs that she could have. That was embarrassing. She could feel something trickle between her thighs.

“Hn… Gn… Hey…” She was quiet at first, but she found her voice and spoke up. “Hey. Hey! I’m… I need… To go to the bathroom. One of you… Should take me behind some bushes or something. And… And I’m really hungry…”

* * *

His POV

The two men talked for some time. And after what felt like at least half a day, the two Saiyans were staring to feel fidgety themselves. Their gloomy and grumpy complaining was interrupted when Raditz noticed the girl inching her way towards the fire. Again, he knew fireside was no place for a… whatever she was.. but he’d seen Vegeta allow her to sit next to camp, if not place her there himself, plenty of times. The two men never offered to help the bound up girl towards the heat of the flame, but they did watch her with absolute curiosity and bewilderment. As if they’d never seen such a thing before. Which they probably hadn’t.

They remained silently stupefied, until Bulma started muttering something about needing to relieve herself. That wasn’t what got their attention, though, she could wet herself for all they cared if it meant following Vegeta’s orders. It was the smell of blood. Fresh blood. Mixed with …something else. Like a couple of animals, they fixed their hungry gazes on her. Both looking ready to pounce her like a small snack or an easy fuck. Until they noticed something. Blood. Traces of it ground into the cave floor where the girl had scooted herself closer to the fire. Oh god, was she -she was bleeding?! Fuck! No! Vegeta was really going to kill them this time!

“Holy shit!” snapped Nappa, surprisingly. He was the first one to jump up and look completely panicked. One of his big meaty fingers pointing towards the floor, while his big voice boomed, “Shit, what the hell happened to her? I didn’t do nothin’!” he was already prepared to defend himself. It wasn’t him, it wasn’t his fault!

“Oh man, oh man, Vegeta’s going to kill us!” Raditz jumped to his feet as soon as he realized what his comrade was pointing out. He could smell the blood potently, too. It smelt like a lot of it. The Saiyan was grabbing at his long hair, rushing his hands past the temples of his head. “W-What do we do? Do we untie her?” Raditz eyes shot to Nappa, and then back to Bulma, frantically hoping one of them would have an answer to their new problem.

“We can’t do that, she’ll try to run for it!” argued Nappa, “..what, did she miscarry? Holy shit, if it was Vegeta’s spawn..” he didn’t want to think about the atrocious things that were sure to be headed his way, once he assumed that he’d somehow caused the girl to miscarry his leaders cub. The big bald male even went pale, staring down the tied up girl with wide, angry eyes. A thick vein in his head throbbing. “What the hell happened, girlie?! You gotta tell us, tell us what happened!” Maybe it wasn’t them. Maybe it was a prior injury? If they could treat an old injury, maybe Vegeta would spare their lives. Nappa was practically begging (in a very volatile sense) by the way he was staring her down.

* * *

Her POV

They noticed her but hadn’t yelled. Well. At first. But when they finally did start yelling, it was… Off. They weren’t yelling at her out of anger. They were yelling about… What? Blood? She looked behind herself to see there was a gentle trail of blood leading up to her. …It’d been a month? She’d been away from home for two and a half months now? She’d lost track of time. It made her heart ache all the more. It was weirder knowing that it’d been a full month since she’d been captured by Zarbon.

They kept yelling and freaking out, to which she glanced at them with a raised brow. They hadn’t remembered. She huffed, and continued to try and squirm to the campfire. They didn’t care when she wanted to relieve herself, but she cared when she bled. What was what one of them said? They thought that she’d miscarried? They were two idiots. She glanced around for supplies. When she was bound like this, she couldn’t even take care of herself.

“It’s– I’m on my period. It’s normal. …But! But I’ll tell Vegeta that you raped me if you don’t give me some gauze and take me to some bushes so I can go to the bathroom! If you guys don’t remember, then he probably doesn’t, either! So when I tell him that I’m bleeding because of you guys, you’ll be sorry! Go take me somewhere to go to the bathroom, and you’re not allowed to watch me do it!”

* * *

His POV

It was normal? How could she consider bleeding all over the cave floor normal? To the two Saiyans it was a death certificate for them both. Vegeta was going to kill them, they just knew it. But then her arguments only grew worse. Oh shit, she threatened to tell their leader they’d raped her. After they hadn’t done shit! They hadn’t even touched her! Needless to say the two big muscle heads were panicking, which made them more ready to comply with the girls demands then usual. Normally they’d of just blown her off. But not this time, not when she already had means of getting them killed. That bitch.

“Like hell you’ll tell Vegeta a god damn lie like that!” Nappa roared, spewing his ugly spit everywhere. Damn, so all she wanted was to clean herself up and pee in some bushes? It could of been worse, she could of demanded they take her back to the pods. They were getting off easy, Nappa knew that, and Raditz did too more then likely. The two men hesitated, shooting the woman the most revolting expressions they could muster up, but at least they were doing as they were told.

It was Nappa that approached the girl. His neck veins bulging and his mustache twitching over a frumpy frown. But then he reached down, ripping apart the vines at her arms and legs. She was free, for the most part. It wasn’t exactly like they were expecting her to try and make a break for it when both of the soldiers were on such high alert. However, one of them would have to watch her relieve herself. Unfortunately for Raditz, Nappa was the higher up in the situation, and able to bark commands at his third class comrade.

“What.. why me?!” Raditz grumbled, after being ordered around. He’d been busy looking for the gauze in the crate of supplies they so often lugged around. His gaze narrowed coldly at the woman. Damn, he really didn’t want to be responsible for looking the little bitch. Not that it mattered, if anything happened to them, they’d both loose their heads, and he knew it.

“Fine.. fine..” he relented, giving in. The long haired soldiers slumped, tossing the gauze at the female, ready to follow her out of the mouth of the cave. “Let’s… just get this over with.”

* * *

Her POV

She was freed, and as soon as she was, she jumped to her feet and rubbed her wrists appreciatively. Thank god. She was so sick of being bound. It brought back such awful memories. She let out a long breath and glanced over at the two idiots as they yelled about who had to watch her. As if! She didn’t want to be gawked at like it was a peep show. Knowing the two of them, they’d probably get off to it. She didn’t want to see another cock again in her life, much less see it it being beat off as she tried to pee.

“You can stand guard, but you can’t watch!” she ordered Raditz as she fumbled with the gauze. She’d nearly dropped it, but managed to catch it and immediately started marching out. ..Damn. Did Vegeta leave her clothes in the pod? Did she really have to wear dirty pants and undies all the way until he came back? That asshole better get back soon, then. She didn’t want to die with soiled clothes. …Though maybe that’d stop them from doing anything with her body. They looked disgusting enough to be alright with necrophilia.

“Al… Alright! Stop here! Watch me with your scouter or whatever you have to do! Just don’t stare at me while I’m peeing, or I’ll tell Vegeta you touched me! I know he’ll kill you if I tell him, so don’t think I’m joking!” She stepped behind his back and walked a few feet and behind a tree to find a good place, and glared at him for a good few seconds just to make sure he wouldn’t peep. When she was satisfied she tried to do her business, but then something else occurred to her.

“…Hey! Plug your ears! I don’t want you listening, either! It’s embarrassing! Plug your ears right now or I’ll tell him!” Welp. That issue was solved. And she got to clean herself up and use the gauze to prevent further bleeding. But… Man. What a mess. When was the last time it was this heavy? It must have just started, and yet her thighs had been covered in blood. Was it from stress? Maybe the pills had caused it. But that didn’t really make sense to her. Would pills cause something like this? There was a lot of clotting. Maybe…

…Raditz and Nappa had mentioned ‘miscarriage,’ hadn’t they? She turned her arm over to stare at the light scar from where her chip had been removed. She’d had sex with one of those aliens. Was it possible? She shivered at the thought. Either way, miscarriage or not, she was happy to be bleeding. She’d want to kill herself even more if it turned out she’d gotten pregnant by one of the freaks on this planet. She folded gauze onto her panties and pulled her pants up when she was finished with everything, before finally coming out behind the tree and walking up to Raditz with a scowl.

“We can go back to the cave now, I guess.”

* * *

His POV

Raditz unhappily ushered the demanding female out of the cave and towards the nearest batch of trees and shrubbery. Sure, he was a low ranking soldier, but did he really have to be in charge of potty time? How humiliating. He wished he could just fuck the girl instead, since it looked like they’d be stuck with her a while. What was the point of leaving a female back at camp if the men left on guard duty couldn’t have some fun with her? And that smell of blood coming off of her was just making it worse. It was kind of inviting. Tempting the Saiyans curiosity to touch and fuck a bloody female. What a drag.

“Yeah, yeah, just get on with it, will you?” Raditz shot the peeping woman an equally deadly scowl, when Bulma peeked from behind her tree. Did he really have to plug his ears? It was better then Vegeta strangling him to death. After shooting the girl daggers, the big soldier grumpily plugged his ears. Holding his fingers in place and watching the girls location through his scouter, up until she was finally finished. The long haired male still looking as unhappy as before. Gritting his teeth and glaring at the woman when she had the gal to order him around again. And unfortunately, it was in his best interests to follow.

“Are you sure you didn’t miscarry? Smells like more then just blood to me.” mentioned the soldier, twitching his nose in the girls direction, towering above her. “How the hell can that be normal?” Raditz continued questioning, up until they reached the cave. Nappa was standing in waiting, looking stern and grumpy, especially when he caught sight of how much gauze was left.

“Gimme that,” the bald man yanked what was left of the gauze from the girls fingers. He needed to re-wrap his busted eye socket. It’d stopped it’s bleeding, but even for a Saiyan there was chance of infection if he didn’t switch out the bandages now and again. It was going on a couple of days since they’d dirtied. It was time for a new wrap. The big man sat back by the fire, tending to his old wounds. Raditz however, stood guard at the mouth of the cave. There was no such thing as sundown on this sunny planet, but it sure felt like it. Where the hell was Vegeta? Their stomachs were beginning to rumble.

* * *

Her POV

There he was, mentioning miscarriage again. She shook her head and glared in his direction in response. No, she wouldn’t even think about it possibly being true. She wasn’t pregnant. She’d never be pregnant. Not by any of the scum she’s stumbled across. Not ever, unless she could have a ghost baby when she finally met up with everyone in Otherworld again. And even then, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be pregnant.

She let Nappa grab the gauze as soon as they got back and settled down at the fire. She laid on her side and watched the fire flicker away, with a dead look on her face. …She couldn’t have been pregnant. No way. She refused to believe that. …What would it have looked like? Those aliens were so different from her. Then again, if Chi-Chi had a child with Goku, anything was possible, right?

…It didn’t sit well with her. She pressed a hand on her stomach, and forced herself to believe that the stomach cramps she was feeling wasn’t from miscarriage. It was because she felt sick from thinking about it, and just regular period cramps. Right? Right…?

She wondered… If she was pregnant, what would it have been? Female? Male? …It didn’t matter. If she had it, Vegeta would probably kill it out of jealousy as soon as it came out of the womb. If he’d even wait that long. Maybe he’d force her to miscarry. Not that she could be too unhappy about that. 

…Where was he, anyway? She could hear the other two go on about how hungry they were and how he should hurry up. She was starving too, but she’d just about knocked her appetite out, so it didn’t matter much to her. …Maybe he died. Maybe he was killed. That would be nice. Maybe whatever he was off doing got him killed, and whatever killed him would come kill all three of them, too. She’d get to go to Otherworld without lifting a finger. That’d be perfect.

* * *

His POV

No Deaths. That’s what he’d told her. That’s what he’d strangely agreed upon. The prince was drastically regretting that promise now. What the hell did she expect him to do without his ‘negotiation’ tactics? Beg? Vegeta had always threatened his way through life to gather what ever he’d wanted. Relying solely on his over baring aura and predominance to force his will. Words weren’t always required. A simple look could force his opponents hand. So what the hell was he suppose to do if he couldn’t follow through with his threats?

It was aggravating. If he hadn’t repeatedly reminding himself why he was repressing his natural desire to slaughter the masses, he would of killed several villages by now. But he hadn’t, Vegeta had kept true to his word, if only for the girl. He doubted she’d accept his silent apology if he’d gone about it by causing more death. That’s why she was upset with him in the first place, wasn’t it? At least he could rely on his oppressive presence to get the job half done. He was still an alpha male, and every Namekian he’d passed seemed to understand that within a matter of moments.

They feared him. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to spot a murderer when they walked into town. Especially one with a permanent grimace. Not to mention, Vegeta was growing exceedingly irritated. This was the third village he’d stopped by. Though he’d ransacked the first two villages temples. Searching endlessly for the dragon balls, despite the locals proclaiming they weren’t hiding any. He knew if he couldn’t find his quarry soon, he may have no choice but to start slaughtering civilians. It was always the quickest way to get people to start talking, in his experience.

But then one of the temple keepers muttered something different then the rest. The Namekian had claimed ‘he’d never find it’. That could only mean one thing, it was here. A fight broke out. Eventually the villages strongest warrior went crashing through the temple wall (though still alive). Once he started getting violent, he started getting results. The village leader was willing to hand over the dragon ball, if he’d leave them in peace. But not without telling the Saiyan Prince one last thing. That ‘he’d never find them all’. Maybe it was the elders way of hoping his giving up of their beloved dragon ball wouldn’t doom them all. It didn’t matter, the prince snarled in the Namekians direction, then flew away with his prize.

It was several hours later when Vegeta finally found the cave coming up into view. He landed as quietly as ever. Raditz was nodding off, lounging against the stone wall. Nappa was on guard duty, munching on something he’d caught in the cave. A frog by the looks of it. And then there was the girl, laying by the fire. The prince’s footsteps were silent, stealthy. As cold as his down cast glance. Then, a loud thump, and the sound of something rolling across the hard ground. It was a very large dragon ball, dropped right behind her. Both of the soldiers looking in calm surprise to see their leader returned.

* * *

Her POV

She would have nodded off, if given the chance. But her body didn’t seem to want to give her a chance. Her cramps worsened and her lower back ached. Her stomach rumbled from hunger, and she was thirsty again. Even worse was Raditz’s chomping. She wasn’t going to ask him for a piece of disgusting alien frog, but the sound of him eating was enough to get her stomach rumbling. Damn. She rubbed her stomach and closed her eyes, trying to block it all out.

Until something thudded just behind her. It rolled up against her back, and she got up sluggishly to see what the hell it was. Oh… Oh– It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be! Her eyes lit up as her brain processed that she wasn’t dreaming. It was a dragon ball! A massive, massive dragon ball! The three-star ball! She always theorized they came from space! Why hadn’t she thought of that! She grabbed it and tried to pick it up, only to realize it weighed more than a bowling ball. She settled for hugging it without picking it up.

After a second of hugging the thing, she shot up and stared up at Vegeta with wide, sparkling eyes. He’d brought her a dragon ball! He’d– That’s why he wanted her alive! He was going to get her planet back! The realization that she no longer had to think about killing her swept a wave of more emotion than she could deal with came over her. She was crying and shaking again, but this time, it wasn’t because she was grieving. 

She stumbled to her feet and grabbed Vegeta in a hug. It was a far better gift than the previous ones he’d given her, including Zarbon’s head. She buried her face in his shoulder as she wept with joy, and her hug turned into something more of a cling simply because she had to hold onto him to stay up.

“Vegeta! Vegeta, it’s–!! Thank you! Thank you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I’m so happy! I can’t believe it! I’m just– I’m so glad!!”

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t sure what to expect, but as soon as the girl began trying to hug and lug the massive glossy ball around, he knew the earthling was aware of precisely what he was up to. He was bringing her planet back, in a sense. Little by little, with each dragon ball he came across. The prince was beyond determined to find them all. Not only to seek some sort of skewed redemption, not only because his stubbornness demanded he complete his goal, but for the girl. The way she shot up at him with those sparkling eyes - he knew he had to complete his task. He merely hoped bringing her the first one wasn’t a mistake. What if the old Namakian was right? No, he refused to think like that. He’d find them all, and he’d do it for her. The prince wouldn’t see her broken again.

He wasn’t expecting the sudden burst of emotion, and wasn’t at all prepared for the girls incoming affection. Her arms wrapped around him, and the prince took an abrasive step back. His hands never came up to meet her, his stern stance didn’t return her hug, but he did allow her to rest against him. He was just staring at her, baffled. Was she.. why was she crying now? Fuck, hadn’t this been what she’d wanted? What the hell was wrong now?! 

His gloved fingers found her chin, turning her face towards him for gentle inspection. His brows knit, listening to her words, trying to figure her out; and then he slowly began to realize, she was happy. It confused the hell out of him, why she was crying and happy, but at least the girl didn’t look on the edge of death anymore. Though, the prince might have, if just a little. Vegeta had no intentions of eating or resting until this was over. He was determined, goal oriented, and on some level - seeking penance for the wrong he’d caused.

“You’re bleeding..” he spoke soft, but ominous; like thunder. The soft blink he’d given her morphing into anger. He could smell the thick scent rising up off of her clothing and body. What the hell had happened? Did one of the two men harm her? His chest began to rumble under her, and for the first time since she’d embraced him, Vegeta’s hand found her back. Holding her in a more protective manner. Both Nappa and Raditz had stood as soon as Vegeta began to growl. They knew what that meant. Their life was on the line, and would be determined by whatever the girl told him, truth or lie.

“What happened.” he didn’t ask, he demanded to know. Vegeta was aware of the girls Earthly cycle. What she’d told him before about her species, but ..he had to be sure. It smelt fairly familiar, like when she’d bled before. But the prince wasn’t about to have the wool pulled over his eyes again. He wanted the truth, all of it.

* * *

Her POV

She looked up at him again when he grabbed her chin, a wide smile on her face despite her tears. She was just so happy! Finally, finally! She’d finally be home! She missed everyone so much! She couldn’t believe it! It’d felt like forever! She was so glad. Her arms wrapped around him tighter, and she was about to try and press her lips to his cheek in gratitude when his chest started rumbling and he began yelling about her bleeding.

She blinked and opened her mouth to speak, but was surprised by his arm wrapping around her, with his hand pressing to her lower back. …Actually, that felt nice. His warmth and the gentle vibrations of his growling was helping alleviate the pains in her back and abdomen. She pressed tighter against him and looked back at the other Saiyans, who looked terribly nervous.

“They didn’t do anything. They didn’t feed me, either! But it’s just because– You know. ‘That time of the month.’ That’s what we say on Earth when it happens. They gave me gauze, but I’m still stuck wearing these dirty, gross clothes.” She pressed her lips in a line and turned back to look Vegeta in the eye, with one brow raised. “You can go get me food and clothes and my capsule of tools and stuff in the pod, and I can work on a new radar to help you find the dragon balls. I don’t know if I’ll have all the right parts, but I can try.”

She pushed away from him and sat back on the ground beside the dragon ball, holding it close. God, she still couldn’t believe it! Who would have thought! It would have really been horrible if she’d actually managed to commit suicide, knowing that he’d gone through all this trouble for her! She pressed her cheek to the large ball, and stared up at Vegeta with a grin. He did all of this for her, huh?

* * *

His POV

She was giving him that look again. That big dazzling smile that made his heart stop beating. His eye twitched, the man had to look away, and just in time to see his men nervously standing to their feet. What was even more surprising, was the female giving into his embrace. Melting herself against his growling torso. It startled him a moment, long enough to cut his growling short. Was she looking to him for protection? Had she been harmed? The prince was caught up in her explanation. One wrong phrase and his comrades would be burnt to a crisp.

Both Nappa and Raditz took a sigh of relief once the coast was clear. The girl hadn’t thrown them to the wolves. When she so easily could have.. Nappa may not of given it too much thought, but Raditz certainly did. That was the second time she could of gotten him in trouble by just saying the wrong thing, and she’d spared them - more or less - this time by telling the truth.

Vegeta didn’t sense any lying, and the girl seemed to be alright. Aside from the obvious, her bleeding, but she convinced him it was normal. He let her go, relenting the loss of her closeness - but he’d never be one to express that in this life or the next. Besides, she’d gifted him with a bit of her own information. A radar, she had the brains to create a radar for these damn balls, and he hadn’t been aware of it? Kami sake, maybe he should of told her what he had in mind all along! The prince pinched his brow, grumbling through his teeth. At least she may be able to give him an easier means to find these things as of now. All he had to do was retrieve her things.

“I’ll get your damn shit from the pod.” he ground out, removing his hand from his brow. He wasn’t prepared for the big gleaming smile that he was met with. The girl hugging, coddling the dragon ball. He looked away again, crossing his arms over his chest; but this time was unable to hide the flush she’d caused. The callus Saiyan trying to play it off, leaving the mouth of the cave, and quickly.

At least the pods weren’t too far off. The prince was gone and back within the hour. Her bag of goods, along with her capsules, landing in a heap beside her. It looked like the prince really didn’t have a choice. He’d have to pause his searching long enough to see if she could put one of these ‘radars’ together.

* * *

Her POV

The idea that she hadn’t gone through hell for nothing had breathed new life into her. She was just like how she used to be, rather than a depressed, mopey crybaby. She was even giggling to herself in excitement the whole time that she waited for Vegeta to get back, all the while rocking the ball back and forth. This was just so exciting! She’d get her family back! All her friends! She hugged the ball again to squeeze out all her excitement, and rested on it all the way until Vegeta got back.

She kept the ball between her legs just so it was close, and proceeded to open up the bag that he’d dropped beside her. She picked out a few pieces of clothes, before looking hesitantly at the three men. …They had no reason to think she’d run off now, right? She should be allowed to get some privacy no problem! Especially since the planet seemed abandoned. They hadn’t had any problems at all. Vegeta even explained he wouldn’t be killing. If there was no one to kill, who’d be hurting her?

“Hey! Is there a pond or something? I want to get washed up before I change! Just tell me the direction and I’ll go find it. I need some privacy.” She stood up to her feet, staring directly at Vegeta since he’d been outside all day. “In the meanwhile you could find me something to eat. But for now I have to bathe and get dressed. I haven’t actually taken a bath for maybe even a week, so I don’t want to hear complaining. I feel disgusting.”

* * *

His POV

The prince was expecting the girl to get straight to work the moment he dropped off the bag. But no, it looked like the girl had other ideas. Any other time, he’d of demanded she forget about bathing and get straight to work. He had a mission to complete, and the prince was never one to stalling when it came to getting what he wanted. It was always, go go go, for Vegeta. However, it was getting pretty damn hard to tell the female no. Especially when she looked so happy for the first time in what felt like weeks. It looked like he had no choice.

“You’re going nowhere by yourself,” he barked, marching a stern stride towards the female. She could complain about being watched all she wanted, Vegeta wasn’t about to let her wonder off, only to get herself captured, eaten, or worse. Even if he had to forfeit his valuable time, he’d take her himself.

“You two, find something decent to eat on this shit hole of a planet. And whatever you do, make sure one of you have that ball under constant supervision.” Vegeta ground out the orders at his men. But instead of looking confused or reluctant, the two men looked very pleased. They were given orders, a mission, something to do. It may of just been a hunting trip, while the other was forced to stay behind and guard the strange object their prince had found, but at least it was something.

But that left the girl and the prince. And yes, he was planning on accompanying her on her bathing trip. There was no way he’d allow anyone else to watch her bathe. Maybe he was getting a little protective of her in a new sense. She could demand otherwise, but the prince scooped her up regardless. His arms cradling her against his armored chest, headed towards the near by water source. It wasn’t too far, just a hop away for a Saiyan. A sparkling pond that was lined with tall, smooth rocks on one side. Otherwise it was completely out in the open. The prince setting her down at the shore line, allowing her to bathe herself for once.

* * *

Her POV

Of course Vegeta’d never allow that. She pouted even if she expected his answer, though she was at least pleased he was making one of the others go get food. She couldn’t imagine the food would end up being very good, but it at least made her less resistant when Vegeta picked her up and held her to his chest. She wrapped an arm around the back of his neck and scowled the whole way to the pond, her other arm carrying her clothes. And when she was set down, she eyed Vegeta.

“I don’t trust you,” she told him. Not in general, that is. But about bathing. She dropped her clothes on the rock and crossed her arms. “You peep too much, and you’re a jerk! The last time I bathed like this, do you remember what you did? You tried to burn my clothes when I told you to look away so I could come back to shore and change! I don’t want you looking at me nude. I don’t care how much good you’ve done for me, I don’t want you to. So at least turn around the whole time.”

She eyed him for another moment before dropping to sit down and look at the pond. It was green, the same way water back on Earth often had a blue tint to it. Would it be safe for her? It reminded her of the planet with the water that left burns on her skin. Burns that had since gone away, but burns nonetheless. What if this was more acidic? What if it ate through her skin?

“…Before you turn away and not peep at me,” she spoke up, still staring at the water. “Can you try to test this? How do you know it’s safe? I don’t want to end up melting by trying to take a bathe. What if it’s really acidic? …I hope not. I’m so thirsty, I can’t tolerate being on a planet where I can’t drink the water again!” Clearly she was back to her old self, with how much she was blabbering on. “Do you still have any water bottles? Even if it’s safe… I think I’d prefer to drink water that isn’t green.”

* * *

His POV

She scowled at him, and he scowled right back. And no sooner had he dropped her off at the waters edge, the woman started her complaining and demanding again. If the prince hadn’t missed her shrill demanding voice so much, he may of ignored her completely (he even enjoyed being called a jerk). Letting her wear herself out until she gave up and gave into bathing in front of him. But he was glad to see her coming back to life, so much so that he was shooting her his own devil-like-smirk. If she was returning to being her pouty self, he was returning to his cocky nature.

“Oh, I remember,” he taunted her all too menacing like to be anything innocent. The prince loomed over her, his fists on his hips. Listening to her demands about clean water. She had a good point, and it was good to know she was wised up since the last time she’d tried to take a dip, but he was enjoying prodding her too much. It’d been too long since he’d had a go at her.

“And you’d do well to remember I’m not some damned errand boy,” he stepped closer, leaning near nose to nose with the woman, showing his alpha demeanor. “The water here will do, you can drink that.” he slacked off, removing himself from the females presence. He’d drank from the streams and river beds of this planet plenty by now. He’d tasted no traces of chemicals, nothing harmful in the scent. In fact, the water was clearer and tasted better then most planets he’d visited. Perhaps because there were so few inhabitants to pollute the water. 

Still, he knew the woman wouldn’t let him off the hook that easily, and he welcomed her fiery spirits. Rewarding her bad behavior and playing along. After a side long look, he arrogantly sauntered towards the waters edge. Crouching down, he removed his gloves, then cupped his hands into the cool pond. The water came up clean in the pit of his palms, and he drank it right down. Lapping the droplets from his fingers once he was finished. Giving the girl another glance that meant ‘told you so’. He didn’t stop there, though. He followed through with what she’d requested of him. Once the prince had proven his point about the waters purity, he shifted, sitting with his his back turned on the sparkling pond. Giving her privacy.

* * *

Her POV

He was snarky, but he did as she asked of him. He proved to her the water was safe, and even turned around to give her privacy. That was enough to shut her up. She took a good look at the water at her feet and stripped down to the nude before dipping her toe in. …It didn’t feel like it was being burned off. That was a good sign. So she got down on her knees and drank up until she was no longer thirsty. It wasn’t the tastiest water she’d ever drank, but it certainly was refreshing. After that, she wadded all the way in and wet her hair and combed her fingers through it while eyeing Vegeta to make sure he wasn’t peeping at her.

She began scrubbing her body down of all the sweat and dirt and grime and blood that had caked onto her in the past week, and didn’t plan on getting out any time soon. So she might as well make small talk, if only to make sure Vegeta knew that she was watching him. She wouldn’t be happy if he turned around right then. Though she was at least lucky that he couldn’t see much through the green water. It wasn’t exactly translucent. 

“So… Why are you looking for the dragon balls? How did you find out about them? I’m happy you did! I’m really happy. But why? That’s what I don’t understand. You didn’t really seem like the type to care enough. So I’m just confused. I didn’t think you really gave a shit if I was happy or not.” It was the truth. He seemed so willing to brush her off that she never thought he’d actually go out of his way to make sure she was smiling. Yet here he was, offering her the dragon balls as gifts. 

* * *

His POV

He could hear every movement the girl made at the waters edge. Vegeta didn’t have to keep an eye on her, as long as he kept his other senses tuned into her whereabouts. Each and every time she waded back and forth in the water, he felt it, whenever she smoothed the dirt from her skin or glided her fingers over the surface, he heard the trickling vibrations rippling from her figure. She was safe, and that was what mattered. Even if he was tempted more then once to glance over his shoulder at the naked girl.

Just as he was beginning to sneak a peek over his shoulder, the woman had the nerve to hit him with a slur of questions that hit the prince hard in the chest. Awkward. Uncomfortable. It was the only way to describe the feelings running rampant within him now. Kami, did she really have to say things so blatantly? Well, of course she did. It was his blunt little earthling that was speaking. What more could he expect from her but demands to know.

The prince instantly jerked his head from his peeking, tearing up handfuls of grass instead. He was sulking, annoyed that he ever felt obligated to give her some form of answer. Since when did he give into anything that he didn’t want to do? But as the moments ticked by, his mouth dared to part, and his annoyed voice finally ground out a few words.

“Maybe I’m doing it to shut up your continual blathering.” he huffed. It a very flimsy answer, but he hoped it’d get her to shut up with asking. There was no chance he’d be telling her that it was because he enjoyed seeing her happy, that he wanted to give her her home back, that he felt some level of …guilt. No, instead he continued his brooding. This time resting his cheek into a palm, his elbow onto his crossed leg, and closed his eyes as he bit out his words, “Arn’t you finished yet? And how long will it take you to put together that damn radar? I need to get back to work. I want to get off this rock as soon as possible.” ,maybe just one more peek. A sulky, sly one over his shoulder.

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t answer at first. She wasn’t surprised. He got embarrassed so easily. But then he finally opened his mouth, and… Yeah, she expected that too. Her eyes rolled. He could never say anything nice, could he? She doubted it was just to shut her up. To stop her from killing herself, maybe. But not just to ‘shut her up.’ If that’s all he cared about, he’d still be raping her and wouldn’t bother to promise not to kill others. He wouldn’t try to comfort her when he bound her with vines for her own good. She shivered. Damn, she hated those vines. 

“It depends on if I have the proper stuff to make a radar. I’m not sure if I do. But if I do, it usually takes me about half a day, Earth time. I don’t know how long that’d be here. It’s so hard to tell since it’s daytime all the time. So many suns. Eugh…” She scrubbed off any remaining dirt and climbed out from the pond and gave herself a good shake, no longer watching Vegeta like a hawk. She took the gauze from her dirty panties and reused it for the new ones if only because she had no other choice and it hadn’t even been that long, and after changing into her trouser shorts and pink tube top, she grabbed all her dirty clothes and looked at Vegeta.

“Okay, I’m done now. They’d better have caught something good.” She shook the water from herself again, wishing she had anything like a towel. And she wasn’t going to wipe herself off with her dirty clothes when she just washed herself! “…By the way, can you do that thing you did before? In the pod. Where you made us dry.”

* * *

His POV

As soon as the girl started speaking, revealing how she’d go about creating such a radar and how long it’d probably take, the prince’s attention began to turn. Little by little his head tilted in her direction, until he was watching the curvy woman slowly ascend out of the green murky waters. It was like watching a mermaid walk up onto dry land. The way her hair gleamed, now that it was rid of dirt and debris, and her skin pearled with droplets.

By the time she’d began dressing herself, he’d turned around completely. Of course paying attention to the much needed information, but his attention was more so on the show before him; the woman shaking herself dry and wiggling her perfect figure into her clothing. The prince would very much like to be those clothes right there and then. It’d been too long since he’d held a woman, particularly this woman, and watching her fluff and dry herself was warming his belly. He’d barely registered she was barking more demands by the time she was done. He’d been staring.

“You’re just full of it today, arn’t you.” he clicked his tongue behind his teeth, standing to his feet. Though, despite his glare or bad attitude, the prince was ready to scoop the woman up again. He hesitated a moment, scrunching up his nose and narrowing his glare at her near features, but eventually gave into her newest demands. His body began to heat up right under her. His chest plate and viced arms like heating pads against her skin, until eventually their hair caught up in the warm blow of air. Ki sparked, and then after a gentle vibrating blast, the water all but exploded from the girls being. Fizzling out into evaporating droplets.

“I’m not making a habit of that.” he taunted through grinning teeth, though he had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last of the girl ordering him around if he was around her much longer. If anything, he was just enjoying picking up the girl without much of a fight. If anything, she’d insisted upon it. Which made flying her back to the campsite all the more easy.

Raditz had already returned with what looked to be a large boar. Pork for dinner, and they weren’t about to cook it. The saiyan was already stripping himself a large piece off and shoving the bloody meat into his hungry maw. He’d caught two wild pigs, well at least they looked like pigs; aside from their paw like feet and large sharp teeth. One for himself and one for his leader. Nappa, however, was just returning. Hopefully the girl didn’t have anything against eating dinosaur, because that’s what else was on the menu. Triceratops. And plenty of it to feed two Saiyan, and one tiny human girl.

* * *

Her POV

…He’d been peeping at her. She noticed when she finally looked at him after changing, and his eyes were burning into her. She scowled and was just about to start yelling at him for being a perverted jackass, when he grabbed her and began buzzing to warm her and evaporate the water that clung to her skin. Oh, that felt nice. He’d pressed her abdomen right against his heating pad of a torso, and her contracting uterus soothed right up. The hands at her back did wonders for her back pain, too.

“Mn… Ah…” She ignored his comment about it not being a habit and simply let him take her to the cave, though she was disappointed when he stopped buzzing away. At least she had food. But… As soon as she saw the boar, she wished that she had saved one of the protein bars Vegeta had given her. Or maybe that cake. That cake would be delicious right about now. She was just about to open her mouth and demand Vegeta find her something new, when… Nappa came in with a dinosaur. Oh, no. She was NOT eating that.

She stomped to the extra boar, not caring if it was meant for Vegeta, and began trying to pull off a leg. Wasn’t exactly an easy task when it was raw. But there was no way she was eating dinosaur. Though… Why was everything on this damn planet green? Green water, green sky, green dinosaurs, green pigs. She had a feeling that by the end of their trip, she’d grow to hate the color. Or at the very least, get sick at the sight of it.

* * *

His POV

This was the second time the girl had pressed unusually close to him, within the short time they’d been on the green planet. She definitely wasn’t looking towards him for protection, the way she enjoyed the buzz of his naturally heated skin, so what the hell was her problem? The prince wasn’t adjusted to this level of trust from the girl just yet, and it jostled his mind. Not that he gave it too much thought for long. They were back at the cave in no time, and Vegeta was pleased to see his men had done as he’d said. It was good to see some level of normalcy again in their hierarchy of their little group.

Well, almost normalcy. That is until the woman went straight for the board. It had been Raditz kill, but it was meant for Vegeta. However, the fowl looking soldier didn’t put up a fight (only making a face) when the girl began dragging the dead meat across the cave floor. It was an odd habit of their leader lately, to share food with the girl, but the Saiyans were slowly getting use to it. 

However, Vegeta watched rather then joined in the feasting. His fist to his chin and his eyes quietly tracing the figure of the girl as she struggled with the dead pig. Where was the dagger he’d given her? Probably lost, he hadn’t seen it since he’d pulled her from the freezing ice and snow. Not that it was that uncommon. How many vests of armor had the prince gone through since they’d met? A dozen at least. A lost dagger was normal.

Nappa was already tearing apart the dead dinosaur. The head of the beast sporting it’s own three large horns. The bony head was discarded, and Nappa went to work stripping away large chunks of the tough meat. The muscle of the beast just as leathery and tough as it’s skin. A small pile was set aside for the bald man’s leader. Liver, kidney, a thigh and breast, as usual. Nappa was a little hesitant to eat, once he realized Vegeta hadn’t barged in and began demanding what was his, but after noticing his prince’s easy aura, he sat next to Raditz and began to bite into an arm.

“Trade you a leg for a boar,” murmured Nappa past a mouth full of bloody meat; spewing chunks.

“No way! The leg is as big as a boar! Half a boar for a leg.” contended Raditz, eating the second pig like a baked potato. Chomping right into the open rib cage.

“That aint’ fair!” spat Nappa, blood bubbling from his chin.

“Too bad old timer, that’s my offer! This pig is way more tender then rancid dino meat,” Raditz taunted, “Half a pig for a leg, or nothing.”

Reluctantly, Nappa gave in. Ripping the other front leg from the dinosaur in exchange for half of the pig Raditz was munching. The pig was split in half, it’s raw guts splattering all over the cave floor. The disgusting mess sloshing everywhere once Nappa began to drag it his way.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma fought with the boar to pry off a leg for some time, up until Nappa and Raditz began making deals with each other about their cuts. She was distracted very easily by the guts spewing everywhere, and bits of disgusting blood getting onto her. Eugh, disgusting. All she wanted to do was have some food, why did she had to keep up with this? …At least it wouldn’t be too much longer. She was going to go home soon. Just as soon as they collected all the rest of those dragon balls. It was unusual that they were so big, but maybe that meant they were even more powerful? Maybe she’d get more than one wish.

She finally managed to rip the leg off the boar, and proceeded to hold it over the fire to cook it, occasionally turning her arm. She glanced over at Vegeta, who didn’t seem to be planning on eating anything. Why? Huh. She eyed him suspiciously for a moment, before turning her attention back to the food. Maybe he just wasn’t hungry. It was perfectly possible that he could have eaten something when looking for the one dragon ball.

As she kept waiting for her food to cook, her stomach pains got worse. Half from hunger, half from her cycle. She shifted uncomfortably and grumbled under her breath at the pain, wishing that she could be back home where she had pain relievers. Though even if she did have such pills, she doubted Vegeta would let her have any. Not with the stunt she pulled before. He’d assume that she was going to kill herself. Hell, she just might, if she had to put up with these annoying cramps.

* * *

His POV

This was taking too long. That’s what the prince kept thinking, as he kept watch over what his crew, two men and one earthling, were up to. His thoughts traveled back toward the dragon balls, and how long it could take to find them. He hoped as soon as fucking possible. The ripping sound of meat from its carcass, and the sudden smell of cooking protein was beginning to toy with his stomach. He wasn’t about to give in however. The prince suppressed the need to feed, he was surprisingly good at that. There wasn’t a thing he couldn’t push past, if it meant he had to reply on his strong will power. The idea of eating faded, and his thoughts were dragged onto something new. The girl. He was watching her now, and something seemed a little ..off.

She looked uncomfortable, but why? He’d provided food, shelter. Hell, he’d even allowed her to clean herself up when he was so pressed for time. Was there something she was hiding, some injury perhaps? He stepped closer, until his boots stopped just behind where she sat at the fire, cooking her meat. Nappa and Raditz both looked up, but didn’t pay much mind, too busy eating and trading one trail of innards for the next.

“It wouldn’t take so long if you just ate it.” the prince grunted from behind. Slowly, he crouched, shooting his glare over her shoulder and at the cooking leg of pork. This was taking too long, he could be out searching for the dragon balls while she took the time to prepare her meal. Vegeta had to keep reminding himself that it’d be worth sticking around, if it meant gaining a radar. In the long run it’d cut his searching time down to a fraction. He just had to stick this out. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t hide his annoyance about it. Something that was increasingly hard to deny the hungrier he became. The prince was simply irritable thanks to the presence of food.

“And why the hell do you keep fidgeting?” he finally got up the nerve to spit out, roaming his eyes down the girls back. She was much more inviting to look at then anything else in the cave, and soon the prince found his mind miles away from food. It was increasingly difficult to keep his hands to himself. Two of his warm fingers tracing the down her back, if only to inspect where the pain was resonating from. Waiting for her to wince, to reveal her injury.

* * *

Her POV

“I can’t eat raw meat, I told you!” She looked over at him just so she could scowl, though the pork was cooking quickly anyway. Wouldn’t be long now. Just as she focused again on her food, she could feel him staring at her, and then his fingers on her back. He noticed she was fidgeting? Ergh, well if he wanted to know so bad, he could be the one who solved her issues. She grabbed his hand with her free one and flatted it against her lower back. Her eyes looked up at him.

“Warm your hand up again.” Rather than a request, it was a direct order. Sure, his hand was warm as it was, but there was nothing better than that feeling of him heating his body up with ki. So if he wanted to know why she was fidgeting so much, he could be her personal heater to make her feel good again. She just had to wait for him to get the tiniest bit closer so she could force his other hand to press onto her stomach.

The leg looked done cooking, so she retracted it from the fire and took a bite of the meat, with the juice dripping down her chin. Finally. Her stomach gurgled just at the excited awaiting of new food, and she could physically feel her pangs lighten when she swallowed her first bite. None of the meat she ever ate like this was good, thanks to her lacking any spices, but it was still good enough to fill her belly up.

* * *

His POV

What the hell was the woman up to this time? Vegeta was caught off guard by the sudden tugging at his hand. To think the woman had the gal to order him once again in front of his men. Oh yes, the prince recognized her orders, her demands. She clearly wasn’t fooling around when she placed his warm hand on her lower back and commanded him to warn her again. And after he’d specifically said he wouldn’t again any time soon. The damned bitch, she really had a way about her …a way that Vegeta found exceedingly hard to disrespect. How could he, when she had such vitality and drive, it was making her big doe eyes sparkle again. Damn it.

“Woman, I said I wouldn’t be making a habit of that.” his baritone thunder bit into her ear, seeing as he was sitting beside her. His hand didn’t move from her back, however. Vegeta was going to use their position to take back the moment. Especially since his two men had looked up once the girl began barking orders. They both watched, waiting to see if their prestigious leader had fallen to being ordered around.

“If you want me to touch you so much, _you can come a little closer_.” he purred through his snarky grin. The hand at her back slid around to her stomach, forcing the female over into his folded lap. It was his sneaky way of giving into her demands, of respecting her wishes, without losing face or power in front of his men. To Raditz and Nappa it merely looked like the prince taking control of his female. The two not giving it much thought and returning their attention to their meals. The prince may of been taunting her, but he certainly wasn’t coming onto her - and he tried to convey that as subtly as he could. He allowed her to make herself comfortable in his lap. No fondling, no handling, in fact he was barely touching the woman. 

He was staring though. His distant gaze watching quietly from over her shoulder. Noting the meaty juices drip from her chin. It made his stomach rumble, he had to think of something else. That’s when he looked away, casting his gaze out past the opening of the cave. Then, his body began to slowly warm. Hum against the girls shoulders and backside. One of his hands slid around her waist gingerly, as if asking permission to hold her in his own silent way. He never looked at her, as if he refused to acknowledge the moment, but he was taking care of her while she ate. The frequency of ki much much lower then before, unnoticed by his men (especially since they’d taking off their scouters), but felt between the two of their twined bodies.

* * *

Her POV

She pouted when he talked back to her, seemingly refusing her demands. If he wanted to know why she was moving around so much, why wouldn’t he just listen to her? But she should be careful what she wished for, because immediately following that, he decided to bring her in closer. What that damn taunting voice of his. She tried to swat him away when he pulled her onto his lap, in no mood to deal with this. Sure, she was happy that she could get her planet back. That didn’t mean she wanted Vegeta coming onto her again.

But he didn’t come onto her. He just sat there, holding his hand at her stomach. Then came the hum. His ki warmed her back, though she found it to not be pressing sufficiently enough against the problem area. His arm wrapped around her in an effort to hold her, and Bulma completely used it to her advantage. She used her free hand to force his arm against her lower belly, and moved back enough that her body was completely squashed up against his.

“Hn… Can’t you do it higher? Warmer. This isn’t enough.” She was complaining, but it did feel good. It was already working to alleviate her pains. The only thing that could have made it better was if he would just hold his hands against the two areas and rub them gently. Ugh, rubbing her tummy and back would feel so great. She doubted he’d be that much of a pushover, though. She was lucky that she’d gotten him to do this much. So she focused on finishing her food, with her free hand pressing to his arm to get him to give her tummy just the right amount of pressure.

“If you were wondering so much about why I was moving around, they’re called cramps. It’s what happens ‘that time of the month.’ If you want to know the disgusting details, it’s the uterus contracting as it sheds its lining. The contracting causes cramps. Heat alleviates it. So keep up with the warming thing you’re doing.” She said it flat and quick, just to tack on the information before he asked again. Maybe it’d make him more receptive to her demands, after all. Worth a shot.

* * *

His POV

The girl may of been trying to use him to her advantage, but Vegeta was certainly doing the same thing. The girl was so freely, willingly molding herself back into his presence. How could it not attract his more sensual attention? A strong female, melting her self against him like silk poured over warm stone, begging for more heat. She was playing him like a fine tuned drum, and Vegeta was taking the free reign she was giving him.

She snapped at him to warm her further, and the prince aggressively grunted in hear ear, but he didn’t retreat. In fact, he was giving into her demands. The prince was learning the more freedom he allowed the woman to have, the more he could stroke his own ego. His body heat raised, and his hard abdomen moved against the sway of her back. The arm she’d been holding at her belly didn’t go unnoticed, and Vegeta quickly caught on that it was her primary source of pain. He took the opportunity greedily; first removing his gloves from his hands, then pressing the bare flesh of his sweltering palm to her exposed stomach. His other hand smoothing over her thigh. The skin to skin contact was much more pleasing, obvious when he began to slowly curl his body around her in a more protective position.

He was enjoying holding her. Looking more dominant and animal like then he probably realized. His head tapping against her own, his tail coming to join in, curl ing around their waists. It was always an oddity when the woman allowed him to touch, and the prince wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity. The bare hand at her lower belly began to move. Stroking the sore area, brushing his fingertips against her hem line. He never trespassed (much), but he was certainly thinking about it. Along with listening to her explanation of her cramps. It made sense, and she was right, it did coax him into soothing her pain more specifically.

“That’s barbaric.” he smoothed out, sounding proud. His two men had also been listening, and found the information interesting. And then, the prince’s hand began to buzz. Vegeta was concentrating his ki in the the palm of his hands. Letting it slip out on soft vibrations into her torso and thigh. It was always interesting to see how his control of ki effected the woman. Would it make her moan, or relax? He enjoyed toying with her in that way. Something so natural to him, got such a reaction out of her. His chest began to rumble. A soft sound that could only be felt, not heard, between the two of them. Something between a growl and a purr, it was a vibration he only made when he was enjoying the situation.

* * *

Her POV

He shifted to take his glove off and press his bare hand to her stomach. God, it felt good. Having his hand heat up and for him to gently start rubbing her belly. She hummed pleasantly from the feeling of her pains fading away, though she didn’t care for the hand at her thigh. She eyed it suspiciously, making sure that he didn’t overstep his boundaries–especially with those two idiots around; that made it all the more embarrassing. She gulped down some of the last bits of her food as he curled against her, letting her back feel the full force of the humming, warm ki.

He began to buzz more. His hands. Like he’d used to get her off before. It felt damn good on her stomach, but the hand on her thigh was– distracting. She pried his hand off with her free hand as she finished eating, and after just dropped the bone on the ground. She supposed that she should get started on that dragon radar, but it felt too nice to be like this. Even if being so close to someone so horrible should feel uncomfortable, it alleviated all the pain she had. It felt _good._

“It’s disgusting,” she replied quietly, feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up when he began to purr against her back. Her back pains faded away, and she could physically feel her body began to relax. She half-debated trying to get him to massage out all the kinks and knots she’d gotten from sleeping on the rock floor while he was at it, but she fought that if she asked for that, she might end up not getting any of this. He might get annoyed and go do something else.

“Keep doing that, that feels nice,” she told him, closing her eyes. She hummed pleasantly some more, one of her hands grabbing his shin just for some support. She could totally fall asleep like this. Ah… 

* * *

His POV

She was enjoying it. He could tell ..and it was doing wonders at stroking his ego. She may of warded off his hand from her thigh, but she certainly wasn’t rejecting the rest of his encircling body. A soft growl slipped past his lips when she brushed his palm from her thigh, but he let it go. He knew better by now, controlling her only lead to tears. Trying to see how far he could get without the woman shoving him away, seemed to work in his favor. Besides, she was clearly enjoying his warmth, as well as the hand rubbing at her lower belly. Not that he wasn’t just as much. Her skin was soft under his callused hand, her feminine body was welcomed against his vibrating torso, and the scent lifting from her hair was toying with his mind.

The prince was enjoying soothing her, oh, very much ..but he was slowly wanting more. Though, he knew he had to be sly about it if he didn’t want the woman pushing away from his lap. He felt possessive, but was going about his desires slowly. Pressing his nose and lips against the crook of her neck, barreling out a thunderous grumble that radiated his heat throughout her upper back. The hand at her belly slowly dipped further and further down, under the edge of her hem. Tracing the trail between her navel and clit; flicking his dark gaze up from where he’d buried his features into her hair, gauging her enjoyment.

Her hums were music, met by his own masculine groan whenever he breathed out; vibrating through her back. She was certainly using him to relieve herself, from pain or otherwise. The girl clearly coming undone against his shoulder. As if she was resisting …it was turning him on. That’s when he noticed his two onlooking soldiers. Vegeta was most definitely in ‘alpha’ mode. Clamped around his female of choice. This was no ordinary ‘fucking of a female’ in front of his men, like the many times before. The prince had no reservations about pleasuring the girl, or himself, in front of Nappa or Raditz. However, he wasn’t about to allow an intimate moment unfold in front of them. And that’s what this was starting to feel like. _Intimate_. Nappa and Raditz were watching in bafflement. Was Vegeta even capable of such a word? It probably wasn’t in his vocabulary.

“Get lost.” his tone was more that of a growl then a voice. Striking his onyx gaze at his comrades, whom quickly took the hint to beat it. He may of been shameless, but when it came to purring or similar, he was also damn private. As soon as his men retreated from the cave, leaving the prince and the earthling alone, Vegeta allowed himself to enjoy the girl to the fullest extent. Well, pushing the envelope at least, testing what he could get away with. His free hand rubbed her upper belly, rounding her rib cage and skimming under her breasts. The hand at her shorts buzzed, slowly massaging just below the hem. He was getting handsier, pressing his finger tips into her back and shoulders too, rubbing out her muscles; trying to get her to squirm in his already stiffening lap. The prince had gotten so lost in the moment, he’d given into scent marking her. Rubbing his cheek along her own a few times, his aggressive purring deepening.

* * *

Her POV

He was getting more… Liberal. She felt his hand dip below the hem of her shorts and the electricity in his fingertips got too close to her pubic area, so she grabbed his wrist and forced his hand upward. He clearly had not-so-innocent ideas, evidenced by him demanding that his men leave. They scattered out the cave, taking their food with them, and soon enough Vegeta’s hand was trailing along the bottom of her breasts. Again, she swatted it away. But when he began rubbing her shoulders and pressing his buzzing fingertips into her back muscles, it was harder to resist.

She rolled her hips and arched her back in response to his attention, and it made it much harder to complain when he started to do things like rub his cheeks against her neck. He was trying to come onto her, sure, that much was obvious. He’d even demanded privacy- though that wasn’t too bad in her eyes. It was actually pretty nice, it was uncomfortable to have them staring at the two of them like they were. 

Though in the back of her head, she couldn’t help but recall that it was pretty easy to get rid of cramps and period pains from– …Not that she’d do it. But that’s what she’d do with Yamcha when she complained too much. They’d just goof around in the shower. She had already had consenting sex to Vegeta once already, and he had bought condoms for her specifically for it. It felt so wrong, but at the same time, he was making her feel so nice. So relaxed. So _good._

He’d come to her with a dragon ball, would it really be bad of her if she decided to–? It was alright, wasn’t it? Her lips formed into a pout. It felt so wrong to even think about, and yet… Nng… She could feel him getting hard against her backside. She wanted to get mad at him for it, and yet the idea still burned in her head. Maybe it’s what she needed. But still, in a cave like this? With him, of all people? …She certainly wouldn’t initiate it. But if that’s really where he wanted to go, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.

* * *

His POV

Why was she resisting him so? The girl obviously enjoyed his touching her, needed it - judging by the scent and heat lifting off of her delicate skin. And as far as his instincts were concerned, he’d done everything she’d wanted. Everything he needed to initiate consensual sex. The brute was still figuring how to read the signs of what she wanted, and what she wouldn’t accept. It was frustrating, both the head between his shoulders and the head between his legs, but he attempted to control himself.

Though, he couldn’t resist when she did ward him off. It did always excite him when she showed her feisty spirit, making him equally as frisky. His tail twitching against her waist, his lips slipping warm purrs against her neck. To dominate, to consent, it was confusing ..but he was trying his best. Groping her had gotten him no where, but rubbing her back seemed to do the trick. That’s what he wanted, her to wriggle and mewl. Finally, she was receptive. Is that what got her off, a little rub down? He could do that, especially if it got her in the mood faster.

His warm fingers and ball of his palm pushed across her shoulders, then started circling down into the sway of her back. That seemed to be her sweet spot ..ah, and all this foreplay was making him ungodly hard. The prince winced, grumbling out thunder from his vibrating chest, hooking his chin over her shoulder. He wasn’t use to waiting around to fuck, if she’d allow him to fuck. Though, he was starting to doubt she’d deny him. Her hips were moving wonderfully against his stiff lap. His groin meeting her backside, grinding himself against her through their clothing. He needed inside of her, the prince wasn’t sure how much longer he could last without pushing her forward and forcing the woman onto her hands and knees. But first.. he wanted a little more contact.

His bare hands found the plane of her back, gently coaxing her from his chest. Then, his hands disappeared. Vegeta was removing his armor and clingy suit top, right behind her. The armor hit the cave floor, and the saiyan’s thick arms curled around her from behind. Encasing her into the presence of his thunderous build, smoothing the sweltering heat of his board chest against her shoulder blades. Ah, that was much better. He really began to buck up against her then, shamelessly showing his need for the woman. Would she let him take her? Kami, he hoped so. The beast was desperate by now. 

“ _Let me take you.._ ” his voice rolled behind her ear. It wasn’t a demand, it was almost ..a plead. The hand at her belly slowly dipped down once again, tracing past the hem. A small buzz, then another. Then, he unsnapped the button of her shorts. Tugging the fabric down her thighs, as far as she’d allow him. The beat of his breath panting against her neck, the rumble in his chest heating. The uncommon foreplay was only making him grow lustier. If she denied him after going this far, he just may explode.

* * *

Her POV

He was so good at back massages. He knew how to rub her muscles in just the right way to cause her to arch forward and hold onto the hand on his stomach. Her eyes fluttered closed and she licked her lips appreciatively between little sighs of pleasure. It’d gone beyond pain relief. He made her feel like she was being massaged by a cloud. It just felt too good. She raised her butt up just a bit, curving her spine in when he lowered his hand, like a cat raising its butt up when pet just before their tail. But she was broken out of the immersion by Vegeta rubbing up against her.

She turned her head just as he pushed her away, and watched him take his armor off. So he really wanted to– Oof. He pulled her close and began humping her enough to make her face turn pink, whispering in her ear to let him fuck her. Though she still felt so nice. His buzzing hand felt good on her stomach. Her shorts got looser, and soon they began pulling down. It took Bulma to catch herself and grab her shorts, halfway down her thighs, and turn her body to look at him.

“Nhg- I can’t have sex in a cave like this. Bending over is going to hurt my knees! Or my back! It’s scratchy and hard. I don’t want to get bruised and scratched.” Though it wasn’t a ‘no.’ She turned her head to look forward. The place did seem to be abandoned, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to… To do it outside. But then they ran the risk of running into those two idiots. And she didn’t want that. 

She pulled her shorts back up but didn’t button them again, and instead just turned all the way around to completely face Vegeta, planting her butt down. “I don’t want to get scratched up,” she repeated, but added on some more to make sure he knew she wasn’t telling him no: “And you have to make sure you use one of the condoms we bought.”

* * *

His POV

At first, when she’d begun denying him through a long list of complaints, Vegeta stopped short. His aggressive rubbing on her halted, and his lip curled at the thought of not ‘getting some’. Although ..he wasn’t hearing a no. If anything, the girl was merely listening the things she didn’t want. But that certainly didn’t include sex, as far as the prince was concerned. Giving him a wide opened ‘yes’. That is, until she began tugging her shorts back up and turning around to face him. If her face wasn’t so damn distractedly attractive, he may of looked even more displeased then he already was.

“What the hell are you talking about, woman?” he questioned in a gravelly tone, his brow sunken over his gaze in a hard line, rolling his eyes at what he believed to be nonsense. Vegeta hadn’t the slightest clue what she was talking about when she mentioned ‘condoms’, brushing it off completely. Meeting her doe eyed pout with the warm brush of his cheek, the horny saiyan tried to sway her back into the mood. His pushy scent marking coaxing her back down against the hard, cold, cave floor. His forehead and cheek bone possessively brushing against her collar bone, her shoulder, and even her chest. Washing his warm hands down the sway of her spine. He was being gentle, wasn’t he? He’d fucked plenty of times on stone, what the hell was the big deal?

Then the haunting memory of her fragile body ripping to pieces fled into his mind, and Vegeta paused his nearly affectionate claiming of her. He rolled upward, sitting on his knees before her. Staring at her strangely. Maybe she was right. He had bruised the girl against the bathroom wall, and her skin so easily scarred. Besides, not doing as she pleaded when it came to sex never ended well for the prince. He was coming to terms that it was best to heed her demands. That didn’t stop him from leaning back down over her, however. Fingering her pants once again, this time pressing his nose to the soft skin just below her belly button. Sniffing the odd aroma coming from between her legs. The scent was making his blood race.

“What the hell do you want me to do? Where’s the pelt I gave you?” he barked, nipping at navel and tugging her shorts and underwear back down her legs. Hey, he could multitask. His black eyes flicked up, searching for an answer. It felt unusual to negotiate over what position to take during sex, but the quiet look he was giving her meant he’d consent to whatever she had in mind. Maybe he’d just end up holding her. Not that he’d mind, it sounded kind of appealing. The fantasy driving his mouth down her newly exposed flesh. Dotting his warm tongue over her pubic area, groaning a hungry ‘ _Mmmmm_ ’.

* * *

Her POV

What, he didn’t remember the condoms? She grumbled and pressed a hand to his shoulder, trying to force him down as he tried to get her in the mood. As if she’d let him knock her up. That was great. She’d get to go home and immediately find out she’s pregnant. She wrinkled her nose at the idea, when Vegeta finally lifted back up to look at her. …Ah, that was right. He made her a pelt a while back, didn’t he? She let him pull her shorts and underwear off, and her eyes drifted to the clothing pile elsewhere in the cave. That’s where the pelt was, as well as the condoms. She shifted her weight to get up, but just then, she got a– A jolt.

“Vegeta!” She kicked his shoulder to force him away, her face reddening. “That’s disgusting! Don’t do that! Not at this time! Eugh! That’s so gross! Disgusting, Vegeta!” She stood up to her feet after having kicked him off, her cheeks still red, but she didn’t put her clothes back on. She’d already agreed enough that she might as well just go through with it, after all. So she pulled her tube top off in a single elegant motion as she walked to the pile of clothes, dropping it onto the pile before bending over to rifle through the bag. She grabbed the box of condoms, and looked through the pile until she found the pelt near the bottom. Good.

She stood up and walked a few feet closer to him before dropping the pelt down and focusing on opening the box. There was no way in hell that she was going to fuck him without one. She wasn’t going to get pregnant with some alien baby. Sure, it wasn’t possible to get pregnant on her period, but she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to play it safe. She pulled out one condom, and showed it off to Vegeta, still wrapped up.

“You see this? This is what you’re going to wear, if you’re going to complain about pulling out. You’re not going to knock me up. If we’re doing it, you’re wearing this.” She tossed the box of condoms back on her pile of clothes and knelt down on the large pelt. She patted the space in front of her and looked up at him with a raised, expectant brow. “Come here. I’ll put it on for you, since I’m sure you don’t know how.”

* * *

His POV

It was such an unusual scent. Similar to the smell that’d driven him crazy back at the space ring, but hidden under the thick aroma of blood. The prince’s tail swished, nuzzling his nose down against the warmth of her inner thigh. He was exploring this strange earthling behavior. Then.. Hey, hey! Where the hell was she going? What the fuck had he done now? Vegeta’s hands lifted defensively when she began kicking him off, scooting away from his prying tongue. It was just getting interesting, how many times was she going to stall them from fucking? His shoulders stiffened, hunched, shooting her a fowl grimace. The bur of hair down his neck standing on end, heating up with his rising frustration.

“What the hell?!” he barked back, “Do you really think blood bothers me? ..I’ve licked your wounds before, what’s the fucking difference!?” he really didn’t understand, he’d always found the scent of sex and blood appealing. His fowl attitude wasn’t to last, though. It faded away as soon as the woman stood up and turned her back on him. Kami, it was worth it to watch her walk away, and in the nude. His tail swished anxiously behind him, fixing into a dead stare like a predator waiting to pounce it’s favorite prey. When she stripped herself of her top, the prince licked his lips. If he wasn’t hard up enough before, he was cement solid now. He barely registered what she was doing, until she was kneeling back beside him again. Then his lusty expression dropped, narrowing his eyes and twitching at brow at the box in her hand.

He watched her skeptically, rounding the side of the pelt but eventually sitting before her, joining her just where she’d patted for him to sit. His face scrunched, still distrustful of what she was up to. She said ‘wear’. What the hell would you wear to fuck? The less he wore during sex the better, in his opinion. Then he noticed the little gold wrapper, quickly snatching it from her finger tips. He turned it over in his fingers, then sniffed it. The man really must of looked like a gorilla. Wrappers, he really did hate the things. It was a miracle the ape didn’t rip the rubbery condom when he forced open the wrapper. The rolled up condom falling onto his thigh, just beside his throbbing, trapped erection.

“What the fuck do you expect me to do with this?!” his baritone voice boomed, picking up the little rubbery circle. Then he realized, and his face flushed dramatically. His glare burning up and an angry huff bellowing from his chest, pinching the little thing between his fingers, holding it up in front of the girls face. He looked down right insulted, or embarrassed, one. Probably both.

“I am a prince, a warrior! There is no way in hell I’m putting this on my god damn cock!” he roared, furious. Though, he still hadn’t tossed it or torn it up. As much as he hated the idea of preventing himself form coming inside the female, pulling out sounded ten times worse. He despised the little rubbery thing, but one last glance at the girls perfect face, and the prince his anger begin to wane. God damn, she better be happy he didn’t pin her right then and there. He grunted, then tossed the little thing at her, giving in.

* * *

Her POV

He was so disgusting. If she wasn’t already nude and her stomach wasn’t aching with need and excitement, she’d change her mind about having sex. He didn’t care if he licked– God. She didn’t even want to describe it, not even in her head. It wasn’t a surprise, though. He didn’t even care when she went to the bathroom. He had no sense of decency. She wrinkled her nose as she waited for him to come sit next to her, and only pouted when he grabbed the condom from her hands. He just about ripped it when opening it from the wrapper–but thankfully didn’t–and damn, did he feel like an animal.

“Eugh! You idiot, I don’t care if you’re a warrior!” She grabbed the condom from him again, and did a quick check to make sure there wasn’t any rips. It looked good, so before Vegeta could complain more, she forced his pants down just enough so she could put it on in a matter of two quick movements. She was a pro by now, after all. She typically doubled up even with her chip, just in case. Well, when she had the option to, at least. It made it even easier that Vegeta was so hard already. Seriously, was that a Saiyan thing? They got so hard so easily, and they could last so long. He’d cum and still be hard.

“There. Is that so bad?” In all honesty, it might be too small. But it was better than nothing. It seemed to fit well enough, and it’s not like she had any other options. That’d do. So she shifted to lean back slightly, looking Vegeta over. He was still wearing his clothes. His condom-wearing cock was out, but everything else was still covered by the dark clothes he wore. The things that nearly looked like a full one-piece when put together properly. She hoped that he didn’t think she’d undress him. No, she wasn’t going to act that desperate. He’s the one that wanted this.

“If I get any scratches, it’s on your head. You have to be careful. I don’t feel like riding you this time, so don’t expect me to take control, either. But we’re stopping if you start to get too rough or anything, unless you want to end up like Nappa. I’ve been getting good with gouging out eyes, apparently.” She rolled over onto her stomach casually, lounging on the soft pelt as she waited for him. Her legs were bent and her feet swayed in the air, and she hummed quietly, peeping a glance over her shoulder at him.

* * *

His POV

It’d never taken so fucking long in all of his damnable life to, well, fuck. This pre-mating preparation was new to him, strange. So when Bulma began handling the condom, and dipping her fingers down into his pants, the prince was more willing to wear the damn protection then he may of been otherwise. God, did it feel good when she stroked him. Her feminine fingers were teasing to his sensitive erection. The prince watching down at the dainty female as she rolled the rubber over his thick cock. She looked perfect touching him. Was it suppose to be so damn tight? He winced, feeling the previous flush in his face heat back up.

Ah, he wouldn’t of minded if her fingers had lingered a little longer. It had been the first bit of contact his needy length had gotten since she was rocking in his lap some minutes ago. He needed more, his animal side was clawing it’s way out. His attention fully fixed on the female, despite the contraption squeezing his cock. His gaze drank her in as she playfully turned her back on him, presenting her round rump. Her threats and demands may of turned off any other male, but for the Saiyan, it was like dirty talk. His arrogant gaze trailed up, and with it came the surge of his dominance; filling his chest with air. The sway of her back dipped perfectly, all the way up to the edge of her blue tips of her hair. He’d be more then happy to take control, he’d be damned if he didn’t.

His eyes caught her over-the-shoulder glance, and he answered with his own cocky smirk. Catching her swinging foot and giving it a flirtatious nip, before letting it go. The look in his eyes, it meant he was going to fuck the hell out of her.. He may of been forced into wearing something over his dick, but that didn’t mean the rest of him had to. First came his clingy shirt, rolling it over head and tossing it to the side. His pants quickly followed, kicking them off of his bare foot. There, that was much better. As soon as he was fully exposed, the heat of his body hovered over her back. The soft rumble of his torso radiating against her shoulders, brushing his nose into the crook of her neck. Softly, sensually, moving his body down against her own.

“ _Oh trust me, I think you’ll like it._.” his velvety voice purred into her ear. His warm palms slid down her sides, forcing her hips upwards, up onto her knees on the soft pelt. His hips were already thrusting by the time he pressed her heart-shaped backside to the base of his cock. Rubbing the hard length between her ass cheeks. He couldn’t wait very long, though. He’d had his fill of foreplay, he needed to fuck his female. The lusty alpha re-positioned his cock, guiding the thick head into her small cunt. A primitive groan seeped from his teeth the moment he began to slid in. God, she was already so damn wet. It only took a few heavy strokes to press his girth pleasantly in and out. He began to pant, tensing his warm fingers into the muscle of her backside, giving her a squeeze. She’d told him not to harm her, but he could only promise so much. He was damn horny, and getting feistier. Watching the girls flesh bounce against his lower torso whenever he pushed himself in.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually forgot to do this last night. So this one's a little longer than they usually are!   
> Also, I had lots of fun doing a certain art piece I thought you guys might enjoy, so I'm going to shamelessly plug it.   
> http://cappuccino-cosmico.tumblr.com/post/171525823008/cappuccino-cosmico-ohh-boy-am-i-glad-im
> 
>   
> 


	35. Lust/Desire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma and Vegeta enjoy themselves.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

He finally shed his clothes, and his body pressed against hers. It was warm and inviting, yet despite this, he was still no genius at foreplay; even with her excitement, she didn’t get turned on further when he grabbed her hips and forced them up, nor when his cock into her backside. She turned her body and looked up at him with a pout, but there wasn’t much time before he pushed himself inside her and began thrusting. He wasted no time before getting forceful. She grunted and gasped each time he pushed inside her, and while it felt good, things were going far too fast. His pace quickened within the first few thrusts. She grunted louder, and it wasn’t long before it was too much to handle.

“Stop, slow down,” she huffed, waving a hand at him. She pulled herself away and turned to lay flat on her back in front of him instead, her legs open for the taking. “Go slow! I’m not a piece of meat, stupid. Don’t you know how to please a lady? You don’t start going in and out super fast from the get-go! You need build-up. Tension. And then you go faster. Understand? I want it slow and sweet, not animal-like. You’re just going to rip the condom and break my spine.” …Oh. A sudden flash of what had happened to Chi-Chi flashed through her brain. She stared at Vegeta blankly for a moment, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

But… He’d changed. He’s giving her her planet back. Who knows if it was even him. …She glanced away and forced the thoughts from her mind, before opening her legs a bit wider. “Do it slow. Have fun with it. Give me more of a massage like before. It feels nice when you touch me. Rub my shoulders again. Touch my belly again. Make me moan, not yell in pain from you acting crazy, alright? It’s simple.” She gave him a huff, meaning it was final. If he would get to have sex with her, it would be under her rules. Not his.

* * *

His POV

Just as he was getting into a steady rhythm, something he was enjoying, the earthling turned on him with that pout. If it wasn’t such a damn turn on, he may of grimaced, but instead he grew faster. Her fiery anger played at his aggressive side so perfectly. The prince wanted to fuck her faster while he locked gaze with that perfect pout of her. ...but then she began to pull away, and Vegeta’s gaze heated up like a mad dog protecting its favorite toy. He had to force himself not to grip the woman’s backside, despite how his fingers longed to cling into her flesh and pull her back under him where she belonged. His teeth flashed and a growl followed, but he let her slip away.

The anger subsided from his rough face, and the prince was left watching her, trying to make sense of what she was telling him. Why the hell was he listening to her? His impatient nature rambled in the back of his skull. He could so easily flip her over and take her as he pleased ...but, he didn’t want to. True, the male wanted to make her feel good, but Bulma had a point. He had next to no experience making anyone other than himself feel pleasure - which was exactly what he’d been doing. The things she was naming off reminded him slightly of their time in the pod. When she’d licked his cock so slowly that he felt like he’d burst. She’d wound him up perfectly, was that what she was getting at? His brows knit, not knowing where the fuck to start.

_Tension, build-up, not like an animal._ How else were they supposed to fuck? He’d had enough tension with her trying to put that distasteful condom on his dick. He huffed in frustration. Vegeta had half a mind to blow it off, and try again, but then the sudden look that took her face stopped his thoughts cold. She looked shocked, no - in pain? Wait, was she afraid of him? A jolt shot up the prince’s spine, and suddenly he felt a new willingness. His face softened, leaning down a little closer between her spread thighs, meeting her nearly face to face. One of his hands began stroking her inner thigh tenderly; his way of saying he’d try this ‘foreplay’ shit. 

“This _can not_ be natural.” he commented through a slyly hooked grin. Who didn’t like a fight followed by hard, back breaking sex? Was sweet sex even a thing? He’d humor her, though. His mouth found her collar bone and his hands followed, rolling his palms over her shoulders, sliding between her slender back and the soft pelt. Warmth began to build again in the palms of his hands, slowly this time. The close scent of her skin bubbling a growl from his lips. His hands coaxed her back to arch, raising her torso to meet his warm abdomen. He did enjoy roving his mouth over her skin. The hard length between his legs rubbing against the crown of her clit, whenever he moved.

* * *

Her POV

He seemed surprised. Had her expression been so obvious? She pressed her lips into a line when he moved closer until they were eye-to-eye. He was looking at her… Softer. He massaged her inner thigh, and she understood- he was telling her that he was willing to try. Good. Even if he continued to make silly comments. Was he really so used to ridiculously painful, vigorous sex that anything less was deemed unnatural? She rolled her eyes and accepted his hands against her skin. She couldn’t imagine a word with no sweet sex. It was the most fun she had with Yamcha; romantic dates out followed by sweet, slow, passionate sex where she felt like they were the only two people in the world.

He was at least making an effort. His hands shifted her up from the pelt and he pressed his lips to her skin to make her shudder. Her eyes closed. She ran her soft fingertips over Vegeta’s hard, rough skin, tracing every scar and knot and bump. It was so similar to Yamcha, and yet so different. …Was it wrong for her to have sex with him again? How had she ended up like this? Hadn’t he been the one to do awful things to her? Hadn’t he kidnapped her? An eye opened to watch him kiss her skin. …His hands were warming up again, and she couldn’t think, simply falling into the relaxation he urged her into.

“Ah…” She let out a sigh as his cock began rubbing along her clit. It gave her little jolts, made her toes curl just so. Her eyes fluttered till they closed again, and her hands gently travelled along his shoulders. Down his biceps, his forearms. She traced his hands and went back up again to run her fingertips along his chest. His strong, broad chest. She wanted it badly. Sighs became more frequent, and then turned into moans. She couldn’t resist after a certain point; she wanted relief.

“Put it in,” she murmured, her voice silky from how relaxed and turned on he’d made her. She opened her eyes to look at him, hooking one leg around his waist. Her toes tickled the base of his tail. “Don’t stop touching me, and go slowly. In and out. The same pace you were touching me. I like that… It feels so good to have your hands on me, Vegeta. I need more… Touch me all over.” Her hand traveled up his neck to cup the side of his face, licking her lips before she repeated herself in an even more gentle tone:

“Touch me, Vegeta.”

* * *

His POV

So, is this what it took to get the female comfortable, in the mood? Her body felt warmer, more receptive to his touches. The curve of her spine shifted and melted perfectly in his supporting palms whenever he washed his hands over her bare back, down to her hip, and up into her hair. The contrast in their tones was much more noticeable at their slow pace. In fact, he could take the time to notice things he’d never witnessed before. His gaze slowly roamed over her, intently. The flush that began to ghost over her face, evidence of her giving into her neediness. The gentle caresses tracing the ridges of his scarred muscle.

He paused, calm but slightly confused; flicking his dark gaze towards the delicate fingers working their way down his forearm. He’d never been touched like that before. It felt ...nice. His interest peeked, looking towards her again; quietly wishing she’d touch him more. Then her toes found his sweet spot... the area around his tail. It made his hips grind against her pelvis with new excitement. He shot her a wry look that meant ‘careful’. And then she murmured his name, and cupped his face, and the murderous bastard felt a part of himself melt inside. For a heartbeat, his unapproachable defensiveness fell, and a genuine expression peeked through. He was unaware of how affectionately he had begun rubbing his cheek into the palm of her hand, listening too intently, his heart racing the more she begged him to touch her. He wanted her, he wanted to explore every inch of her. _He cared about her_. 

“ _Say it again..._ ” he breathed, inhaling against the column of her neck. Lust burned up his spine like rolling fire, causing every muscle in his build to flex. The animal needed inside of her, and when she finally allowed him in, he hungrily took the opportunity. His back arched greedily, his hips rutted between her thighs, and the thick head of his throbbing cock worked itself in. The back of his brain kept reminding ‘ _slowly, slowly_ ’. That’s what she’d said, this couldn’t be like every other time he’d fucked. He needed to pay attention, had to realize what he was doing with his hands, and the signs and signals coming from the female. It was new, and made the usually confident alpha male feel reminiscent of a virgin. That was slightly infuriating, which he blew off with a grunt, pushing the new sensation away and focusing on lapping at the girl’s neck instead.

His inferno of a torso was resting comfortably on top of her by now. Churning, rolling, fucking into his favorite female with new vitality. It was slow - to him, surely this was slow enough? His mouth rumbled against her skin. He wanted to bite her but resisted, sucking red welts instead. Oh, he’d love to make her wiggle and scream under him, _but not yet_. Keeping up the lazy slide of his length pushing in and out, occasionally giving the woman a needy jolt, before pacing himself again. The beast had been bracing his weight primarily on his elbow, playing his fingers over her ribs and breast. While his other hand busily held and roamed over the thigh against his hips, helping keeping the woman tightly bound against his waist. It felt good to have her leg twined around him, giving it a satisfying squeeze and grope, when his pace began to pick up again.

* * *

Her POV

He was slow, just like she asked. He was sweet in a way that caused her toes to curl and uncurl excitedly. She gasped when he pushed in, more gently and appreciatively each time. Her arms curled around him and her hands pressed to his shoulder blades, drawing him in closer as he kissed and sucked on the skin of her neck. It felt like she was back at home, for a moment. Back in her bed, having fun and losing herself with another person. Even if they were just in a cold, damp cave, his body heat made her feel so warm, and the soft pelt made her feel like she was laying on her bed. She could escape from the moment to somewhere better. 

“Ahn… Vegeta…” Did he like when he heard her murmur his name? She did it without a complaint, leaning her head into his direction so she could whisper it in his ear. “Vegeta… Touch me more. You’re so warm…” He gave her a particularly forceful thrust, enough to jolt her but leave her legs shaking in pleasure. Just enough to make her skin crawl with excitement. It couldn’t be helped that she let out a giggle each time he did it. There was something fun in how easily she could lose herself in little movements like that, and she’d felt like she had long since forgotten how much fun the act itself could be. It in many ways had been ruined for her. But as long as his touches could force her mind to think about nothing but this moment, she could enjoy it without shame.

With all their passionate and attentive touching, she had caught how he’d reacted when she rubbed his spot at the base of his tail. He’d given her a look to tell her to be careful, but she couldn’t help herself- she wanted to see a reaction like that again. So she traveled her hand down his body, until she could reach and gently massage just above his tail. While he didn’t have the sensitive tail Raditz and Goku did, it seemed that no matter what, it was still a weak spot, and she wanted to take advantage of it. She wanted to make him squirm like she had before. Even more, she wanted to squirm with him from the both of them being driven to ecstasy together. And she was certainly steadily getting there. Her feet curled inward and ran along his lower back, and her hands traveled back up to his shoulders.

“Vegeta, go a little faster. Hit me a little harder.” It was a demand, but a quiet one- whispered in his ear as her hands explored his body. They went down his chest, exploring every muscle of his abdomen and circling through crevices and brushing over scars. She eventually rested them at his lower abs, her thumbs feeling his happy trail and the beginnings of his soft, smooth hair. She sighed and gasped and was happy to feel his body thrusting into her, causing gentle movements of her arms from where her hands lay. He was a fast learner, clearly. Just a little bit of direction and he could make her feel amazing. Or was it just that she was that desperate?

* * *

His POV

This was ...different. They were fooling around selfishly, sure, but there was a different vibe looming in the air. A comfortable awareness of each other’s thrusting bodies. Perhaps it was due to how blatantly obvious every wiggle, every giggle was to the man. He’d never taken the time to truly notice anyone before. How appealing the soft breath panting at his ear could be, or ever dared to allow someone to trail their fingers over the ridges of his abdomen. It may have taken two to tango, but for Vegeta, sex had always been a one man show, no matter how many were involved. The woman certainly had an odd way of enjoying a decent fuck, he thought to himself, but the selfish bastard was secretly eating up each and every one of the blithe touches dancing over his skin.

A visible shiver shook down his strong back when she whispered his name again; jerking his muscle under her finger tips. Answering her soft vocals and giggles with a passionate groan against her neck. Oh yes, he liked that very much. She was stroking his ego perfectly. Pushing his massive member between her thighs with more intensified, robust grinding. The male had just begun nipping at the girl’s ear, friskily running his buzzing finger tips up her smooth skin to fondle her chest, massaging her breast, when she did it …she hit his sweet spot again; his tail. Instantly, he bucked up into her. He was indeed squirming; an involuntary moan ripping from his maw. Ah, that had felt, strangely fascinating. Almost pleasurable. Tails were not something his race allowed others to touch; the base could only be desensitized so much.

The prince lifted enough to gaze down at her, his broody glare hinting with more color then just from fucking. His pace had picked up, too. Well, she certainly looked pleased with herself. The little wench was playing dirty, god, it was a turn on. He retaliated with menacing flirting. Running his tongue along the girl’s bottom lip, then giving it a gentle nip. The hand at her thigh dipped down to grope her ass cheek, close enough to their joined momentum, that he could finger the soft folds of skin that were greedily sucking his member in. That’s when his debonair glare flicked up at her, his mouth sucking over her bare chest. If she could play dirty, so could he. It was on.

The fingers rubbing between her sensitive thighs began to vibrate. More, and more, the buildup of heat and electricity livened their smacking flesh ...and then it began to die down. Again, he touched her, flushing the warmth of his ki through her pelvis, only to lower the vibe once again. She asked him to hit harder, and he happily did so, with zeal. The prince himself, beginning to writhe, squirm, and hungrily moan on top of _his_ earthling. The hand that’d been teasing between her legs rounded to the top of her thigh, then dipped back in, this time stopping just over her clit. He began to explore her again. His second hand winding into her hair, coaxing her back to arch, smoothing their torso’s and chests against one another. His intense, lusty stare was watching the sweet expressions wash over her face as he fucked into her a little deeper each time. Though, ki just wasn’t snapping through his fingertips, it was his whole damn body.

* * *

Her POV

She moaned vocally as he massaged her breasts with his warm, vibrating hands, and her own soft hands met his wrists to hold them gently. Her eyes opened and she focused her eyes on his when he pulled himself up. She was rewarded– he began pushing into her at a faster rate, with more forceful of thrusts, just like she’d asked of him. She’d wanted to gaze at his dark eyes for a moment longer or take in for another second that flush his cheeks had, but the change of pace caused her eyes to flutter and her attention to divert to how he was making her feel. She couldn’t spare a glance anymore, all that mattered was feeling.

She giggled again when she felt his tongue trace her bottom lip, and for a moment managed to snatch a kiss from him before he moved his head to suck on her breast. Her hands smoothed up his arms to hold his biceps firmly, partially just to give herself some leverage so she stopped getting pushed gently away with each thrust. He was touching her lower lips, fingering the skin that wasn’t getting penetrated and making her shiver. She let out a sigh and a gasp-like moan and she squirmed, but it seemed that he wanted more when the buzzing in his hand began and he started to massage her. Her toes pressed into his skin as the vibrations pattered all the way inside her, traveling through her body as well as his cock.

How was she not supposed to moan louder when he was doing this? She shivered and spread her legs farther apart for him, holding onto him tighter. There was no more thinking on her part, no more giggling or teasing. She just… wanted. She gulped and leaned her head back to expose her neck as her body tensed and got closer to orgasm. But just as she thought she would be reaching her climax, his vibrations puttered out. Her grip tightened and her brows furrowed, both from frustration. She wanted to cum so bad, and yet he was withholding it from her to make it last. While she knew the trick, all she knew was how much she wanted it more and more every time he’d go through the motions again, until her legs were shaking and her hands were grasping Vegeta with noticeable strength.

His hand eventually gave up and wandered to her clit instead, something that was greatly appreciated. Her brows highered when his finger held directly over her clit, and she couldn’t help a gulp between all her gasping and moaning. She wasn’t in the right mind that he still seemed to be; the vibrations and warmth were driving her crazy. Her body tensed by the second, and as he pulled her clothes, her head leaned back and her mouth opened to a wider ‘o’ as she gasped for breath. She was so close that it was frustrating. Without even opening her eyes, she let go of one of his biceps to find his hand at her clit, and begin showing him how to move in little circles to drive her to the ends of ecstasy. Just like that… Just like that…

* * *

His POV

He was pushing the girl to her limits, he could feel it every time she gasped for breath, and every time her body jerked and winced from the intense pounding he was driving between her legs. The prince wouldn’t allow her to have her fall into ecstasy just yet, though. He may of been focusing on pleasuring her for once, but he was a selfish bastard to the end. He wanted to enjoy this, to push her to the very edge until she was squealing for release. His ego was eating up the desperate look on her perfectly flushed face. Knowing that it was _him_ driving her body to shake, that _he_ was the reason she was digging her fingernails into his hard muscle, that she was moaning for _him_.

“ _Kami, you’re so damn tight_...” he ground out between bitten teeth, groaning against the woman’s shoulder. It didn’t matter that he was forced to wear that horrible condom, the friction she was giving him, the grip around his solid length was so constricting, the prince himself felt as if he could blow at any moment. His belly warmed and electricity snapped down his thighs, jerking his muscles and crashing his hips into her with new force. The way she spread her thighs before him sent his mind racing. Calling his instinct to answer her by dominating her, claiming her as his own. It was difficult to keep up his fondling, that is until she began stroking his fingers. The hand pressed firmly against her clit began to follow her lead. Swirling against the sensitive nub, flicking his gaze up to gauge her reaction, and just in time too. His brain was beginning to lose all reason. Fogging over with the intense need to fuck.

His rutting and rubbing fell in time together, and the prince focused more on pleasuring himself. The quake in her thighs whenever he slammed into her, the exposed column of her slender neck as she threw back her head and moaned in ecstasy. God, she really was perfect. The damnable prince couldn’t resist smoothing his nose and lips up the curve of her throat, licking up the soft skin. His gaze lifted just behind their sexual bubble to catch a glimpse of the outside world. Where Nappa and Raditz sat at the mouth of the cave, not so secretively watching the show. Particularly Nappa, who was freely jacking himself off to the image of his prince fucking the girl. Raditz not so innocently rubbing himself through his ‘pants’ too.

The prince couldn’t give a shit; he was only interested in what lay beneath him. The writhing girl on his cock. The girls climbing screams where wrapping themselves through his head. Pulling him closer to climax. His steady pace was slowly growing heavier. Heaving their flesh together until the soft pelt bunched under the girl’s backside. The prince’s body fluidly pumping, until he’d completely covered her. He knew he had to keep her from paying attention to anything else, to be the center of her attention, lest she tried to stop them, if she realized they were being watched.

He knew just how, too. The fingers that’d been circling the girl’s clit finally released a soft ‘ping’ of ki. Enough to stimulate her to the edge. He didn’t stop there, though. Followed by another, and another, the prince could barely contain himself. His ki was spiking ...he was getting into it. Ready to explode inside the girl. Blue energy licked from his back and shoulders, and his mouth crashed against her neck, humming possessive growls just under her jaw line. The hand bound in her hair forcing her to arch, to take all of him when he finally fell over the edge.

* * *

Her POV

It felt too good. She got closer and closer until she felt like she was ready to burst, but he kept release from her. Her eyes almost opened when she felt him move and turn to give his attention elsewhere, but only a moment later, she forgot all about it. Ki shot into her clit to send her over the edge, enough to make her grab his hand with the fingers that had previously been leading him along. She gripped him tight enough that her fingertips turned white and her body flushed over from her cheeks down to her shoulders. Gasps turned into loud, begging moans, and she couldn’t take it anymore.

She called his name quickly and pathetically with her high-pitched voice, her legs trembling as he sent her to orgasm. When more ki spikes to her clit followed, the moans ceased as her breath got caught in her throat until she was left with nothing more than a long, drawn-out gasp. Her grasp on him hit a peak, and then her body began to relax even as he kept going. She rode on the after-waves of orgasm as it fizzled out, and her eyes stayed closed so she could focus on that feeling.

He’d cum. She knew from experience, though, that Saiyans weren’t just done like that. Of course not. Maybe he’d want another round? If it was as good as that, she wouldn’t mind. Her eyes fluttered open and gazed down at where he’d been pressing his lips to her skin. …It really was just like back at home. All that mattered for the time being, was the two of them. That’s all she was concerned with. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, finding her hands were still shaking from how rigorous and pleasurable the sex was. …She couldn’t complain.

“Ah… Vegeta,” she murmured, keeping her eyes on his form. She didn’t want to outright ask for another round, but she was curious as to if he would want one. Request it, or even demand it. She’d need a moment to rest, but for the time being… It was nice to be in his arms like this. He was so strong and burly and… Warm. Always so warm. She felt safe in his arms. Even if it was silly to. He’d done such terrible things to her, after all. But now? Now, he just made her feel wonderful. Completely, utterly wonderful.

* * *

His POV

God, the woman had a grip, didn’t she? She may not have been from his Saiyan race, but Bulma could dig her fingers into his skin when she wanted to. She squeezed his hand, and the prince reveled in the onslaught of her orgasm. A slew of moans poured from his gaping maw, vigorously pumping against wave after wave of her squeezing climax. Until finally, he couldn’t hold his own release back any more, and the gush of his seed burst inside of her. It was intense. The prince felt as if he’d stuck his finger in a light socket, his whole body flexed and strained, making sure she took every last drop of him. At least, she would have if he wasn’t wearing that damn condom. Not that he even gave a damn at this point - it felt too good to remember.

He didn’t care to watch her come down from her high, he didn’t need to. The prince could feel her body relaxing under his own. The Saiyan must of been heavy, but he attempted to shift his weight into a more comfortable position, as not to crush the wind from her lungs. The movement in his hips softly persisted, his half-hard length still buried in her warm insides. It felt good to bask in. The place where their bodies met felt sticky and hot, from the vast amounts of come, sweat, and blood. The smell of sex filled his senses, and the dominant male purred in approval, divulging in that lingering buzz.

And then the soft sound of his name caught his ear, and the prince’s attention lifted, resting up onto his elbows. He’d been enjoying the fingers running through his damp hair, the soft press of the earthling’s breasts against his hard chest. However, he lazily lifted when she sang for him, and his black gaze met her own sparkling blues. She looked like she was trying to tell him something, perhaps ask? His tail flopped, tracing his top lip with the tip of his tongue, thinking. And then his dreadfully cocky smirk said it all; he knew, he knew she wanted more. The girl was begging him to fuck her again. It was enough to stiffen him up and excite him all over again.

“Tell me what you want.” he purred like warm velvet; fixing his burning gaze down into her face. One of his hands came up to stroke her cheek melodically. The other playing his rough fingertips across her sternum. The selfish prince wasn’t just going to give into her, she’d have to ask him. He wanted to hear her ask, it was always the sweetest thing when she tried to order him around. His cocky grin parting with anticipation, putting a naughty glint in his eyes. Longing to hear those dirty words come out of her feisty pink mouth. He may of been teasing her, but he was being gentle about it. Allowing her to guide him, rather than flipping her over and taking her by force like he wanted.

* * *

Her POV

She held him close and watched him, her cheeks still flushed from sex. It still hadn’t occurred to her that Raditz and Nappa were watching, nor that they’d made a mess from the sex they had. All she cared about was what was staring back at her in that moment, still inside her even after shifting his weight around so not to crush her. …His eyes were so dark. She forgot how much she enjoyed dark eyes. Like Yamcha’s. They looked… Mysterious. She’d been distracted by more important things every time she’d seen his eyes before- but now that nothing mattered but them, she could really enjoy it. That, and his dark, muscular, sexy body. He was just so attractive. Had it always been that way?

“What I want? That’s what he was asking; what did she want. A response to her speaking his name. He awaited her demands, but Bulma couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. She had been wondering if he wanted another round, and here he was asking what she wanted. And the mischievous look in his face said it all; he was trying to coax her into begging him for another round. Was that proof enough that he wanted it? She still wouldn’t beg. She was no beggar, at least in her mind. Even if plenty of people would vouch otherwise.

"What do YOU want?” That was her response between sweet little laughs. She shifted her weight so her body faced his more properly, and she beamed a little grin up at him. “That’s what I wanted to ask you. What do you want to do? I’m too tired to justify begging for another round, but if a certain someone wanted to go ahead and request one, I might be coaxed into accepting the proposal. That’s all.” Her eyes flitted away, toward the cave wall. Maybe if she was paying more attention, she would notice that there were two shadows along the cave floor. But she wasn’t, so she didn’t.

“So? Is anyone going to make any kind of proposal? …As long as they promise not to be too rough, or to cause the pelt to shift. I still don’t want to get scratched up, you know. …Maybe we should even change your condom. I don’t know…” Were alien condoms more durable? Maybe it’d be alright. What was the worst that could happen? She couldn’t get pregnant on her period anyway. And since it just started, she was safe, right? That was even considering if it would break. Who said it would?

* * *

His POV

Just as the cocky Saiyan was soaking up the pleasant aftermath of their promiscuity, he couldn’t help but notice something. She was looking at him strangely. Different from the array of expressions he’d become accustom to with the female. Feisty, spirited, pouty …angry. He’d thought he’d seen them all. But no, this was different, she almost looked ...pleased with him. The new sparkle in her big blue eyes was confusing, but captivating, as well as distracting from what he knew was her rebellion at his question. His head tilting, quirking a brow over a hard lined grin; trying to figure out if he should be insulted or not by her laughter. Not that it mattered, the soft giggles spilling from her lips were intoxicating. A sound that was making his adrenaline fueled heart thump.

“Oh, well, if it pleases _her majesty_.” his gravelly tone slicked out all too sarcastically, playing on her demands for a proposal, especially since he was the royal here. The prince knew all too well that she was trying to turn the situation back at him. Dancing around admitting she wanted more of his cock. His length already growing steadily hard again, rocking possessively inside of her. As if he’d let her get away when she so desperately needed it. When he wanted it, and it was right in front of him for the taking. He should have expected her to refuse to bed, however. She wasn’t a slave, she commanded like a queen. Why couldn’t he toy and taunt her like royalty? Like an equal.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be his wicked self about it, however. His thick brow bounced, smoothing his tongue over his deadly teeth, flaunting his arrogance. His shoulders sifted slowly, precisely, like a hunter on the loose. His naughty expression turning darker, peeling back his tanned lips into a suave smirk. With his hands planted on either side, the man lowered himself over her, until his rough cheek brushed against her flushed face, and his warm breath poured against her ear. His teasing aura had dissipated. The deliberate way his tongue was tracing the curve of her ear, was almost, sultry.

“ _I want to flip you over and pet you like the naughty little kitten you are_...” his rich voice rolled over a subdued growl, he was growing assertive. The image of her backside lifting and presenting herself to him in his lap, before they’d gotten started, had stuck in his mind’s eye. The lusty beast wanted more of that, but he didn’t stop there. His hard lips smoothed across her jawline, vibrating from the hungry growl tapped in his throat. There, he could meet her face to face, his gaze just as hungry the rest of him. His fingers kneading the cold ground like a cats claws. “ _I want to make you scream like a bitch in heat... I’d say we’re half way there_...” he glanced down suggestively, then leaned forward, hushed, husky, “ _Until you can’t remember anything_ . _..other than the one who’s giving you all that god damn pleasure_.”

Slowly, the man rolled up. He was keeping true to his ‘proposition’ without giving her much time to intervene. His hands found her hips, and the male pulled out and flipped her onto her belly in one swift motion. Making sure to face her away from the cave entrance this time. The last thing he wanted was someone interrupting him when he was so damn in the mood. He didn’t force into her this time, though. Instead, his broad palms pressed into the sway of her back. With the heels of his palms together, he began to rub up and down the length of her spine. Paying close attention to curves of her figure, though he did catch a glimpse at his freshly exposed erection. No sight of the damn condom, but it was pleasantly coated in their mess of blood and come.

* * *

Her POV

He was flirting with her, in his own strange way. Calling her ‘her majesty’ and whispering animalistic things to her. Whether or not she enjoyed the idea of constantly being equated to an animal, it was entertaining, at the very least. She smiled as he went on to whisper to her about everything he wanted, licking her ear and smirking. It was sultry, and she responded by running her hands over his body appreciatively and listening all the way through. He wanted the second time to be rough, hm? He was still an animal, through and through.

He was moving around inside her still, and it caused a cocked brow from her. So impatient. He didn’t want to give her time to heal, did he? Time to relax, even if just for a tiny bit. Nope. Even if the movements were relatively gentle, he couldn’t contain himself, and he was fucking her rather than giving her a bit of time to rest. Though she supposed she couldn’t exactly call it fucking; he was relatively slow, and the movements were short. He was more humping her than anything else, like a dog in heat. Funny he should mention that he wanted HER to scream like a dog in heat, as if it didn’t apply more to him.

“Why not go slow? You always want to rush,” she replied, snorting. But he spent no time at all flipping her over. She expected him to shove himself inside her again, but instead he slowly ran his hands over her. A visible shiver ran through her body at his touches, and her eyes closed. Geeze, if he did things like this, he couldn’t fault her if she ended up falling sleep. It just felt so nice. Better than the sex itself, even. She had so many knots and sore parts from all she’d been through, and to have all those hard spots relaxed out in between bouts of ecstasy was amazing.

“Nn… There’s nothing wrong with going slow. It feels nicer to be able to touch someone so much. Don’t you like touching me like this, Vegeta?” She rested her body against the pelt as he touched her, her cheek pressed into it and her fingers running through the soft fur. She had half a mind to attempt to convince him to forget about the sex and just massage her muscles until she fell asleep. That certainly sounded like a good idea to her. But something about his rough hands on her bare skin was starting to stimulate her again. 

“If I wasn’t so exhausted after the first time, I’d ride you and touch you all over. But instead, you should do that for me. I want to be touched so sweetly I feel like I’m on a cloud. Can’t you do that for me, Vegeta?” The requests came, as sweet and sugary as before. Rather than the strong, shrill demands that she typically gave when she was in her right mind. It was easy to be sweet when she felt so nice, after all. “Touch me… Massage me… That’ll definitely make it so I can’t think about anything but you. So I won’t be able to remember anything but you and your hands…”

* * *

His POV

So, she wanted to go slow again? What was so wrong with enjoying a fast, rough fuck? Although… as much as the prince would never admit it out loud. He’d sort of enjoyed their casual round (it was to him at least). He was also enjoying running his hands over every inch of the girl’s bare curves. Her back dipping beautifully before him, her relaxed and soft sighs coaxing him into a lowly purr of his own. How many times had he gotten to explore the girl’s body, without her crying, shoving, or drastically drugged up? Never, it felt like. As much as he wanted a feisty romp, the prince was slowly being lured into the moment.

Her words were sickeningly sweet. It made him feel uncomfortable but lusty, swallowing down the lump in his throat. He hated that it was having such an effect on him. Like some sinful little siren, the way her voice curled him around her little finger, dragging the beast under. Maybe he would take it slow for a while, if just to watch her coo and stretch like that before him. There was such a grand contrast between their skin, too, it couldn’t go undetected even by him. Her smooth body was like warm silk under his board hands. Had he ever felt something so soft? He couldn’t take his eyes off of the shimmer his fingers made in her skin, whenever he pressed the kinks out of her tense muscle. Kneading her shoulders, spreading his warm fingers up the base of her neck, and dragging his hands back down again. All the way down to her full hips - where he could get a nice grope of her plump backside, before starting over again.

“There’s nothing wrong with going fast, either.” he purred a little softer then he intended. He was getting into this. Handling the unattainable earthling like this made him feel as if he owned her, as if he were given due rights, something only he was allowed. His words poured from above, the man all but hovering over her on his hands and knees. The stiff erection hanging between his thighs a side though, next to his desire to wash his gaze over her. To remember her laying under him like this. Brushing his features against her hair, his body stretched out in order to run his hands down the length of her arms, until he sat back in his spot, back on his knees.

Her legs were his next target. The prince’s strong grip giving her backside a firm squeeze, before handling one of her calves. Making sure to stroke up the length of her inner thigh now and again. She said to touch her until she couldn’t think of anyone other than him, and that was exactly what the prince wanted. To make her forget anything else, to obsess her thoughts the way she so irritatingly obsessed his own. It was something his pride longed for, but he also strangely enjoyed witnessing, for whatever reason - he couldn’t decide. However, the erection resting against his thigh was growing harder to deny. His need throbbing whenever he fondled the girl past a regular ‘massage’. All that was left of that horrible condom was the rubber ring that’d made up the base. That was annoyingly removed, and the prince returned to worshiping the girl’s body.

* * *

Her POV

“Ah…” She let out a sigh as he touched her, actually giving her a massage without having to ask. He did a damn good job of forcing out every little knot that had formed in the past two months where she’d been forced to lay on hard surfaces and with stand terrible torture and walk and run miles without rest. She hadn’t realized in just how bad of shape she was in regardless to the knots in her muscles quite until now. Now that they were all leaving, she found the pain fading. His initial presses to the muscle were painful and uncomfortable, but only a moment later it’d be met with nothing but a soothing, relaxing feeling. She felt like she was laying on a cloud. Damn, it was good.

“Mn… There’s nothing wrong with going fast, but slow is so much more… Intimate. I’ve had enough of being fucked fast.” The small-talk was made in an equally small voice, not wanting to bother with focusing on all the hard times she’d been through. It was true, though- every time she’d been fucked lately, it was done by pinning her down and going as fast as possible. No, she liked it like this– slow and sweet. And to show how much she appreciated him, she shifted and stretched under his attentive hands, and rubbed her rear end up against his legs. She’d noticed how he’d grabbed her butt every time that his hands traveled back down; he was still horny. She had to thank him for going out of his way to hold up with the sex for a little while just for the foreplay. She sure appreciated it. Her tongue slowly moved across her lips in a little, subtle lick, and her hips raised again to rub up onto his lap until he switched positions to target her legs.

“Ahn–” She hadn’t realized just how much she needed it until he began pressing and coaxing the knots from her thighs. An embarrassingly sexual moan left her lips, and her toes visibly curled. Not even from sexual contact, though his touches to her ass and thighs kept her more than interested. It was the touches that were focused on her weak and wary muscles alone that had caused such a moan to leave her lips. Damn, was she glad she’d gone through with all of this, rather than bask in the pains and aches of her period. She wasn’t just done with her backache and cramps, he gave her a step more and removed every stiff muscle in her body until she was tingling with newfound strength and relaxation.

“God, Vegeta, how did you get so good with your hands? That just feels– perfect. Can’t you do that to me while we have sex?” Her eyes had long since closed, and she was laying nearly lifelessly on the pelt. It wasn’t her fault; feeling like that, she of course couldn’t move at all! It felt too good, she just wanted to lay and bask in the feeling he’d given her with his skilled fingers. What else could be asked of her? She was ready to have sex now, sure. She’d had enough time to recover from the first round, and it was time to go and have fun with a second one. But she wasn’t so willing to let go of the massages. As far as she was concerned, he could keep it up the whole time. She’d definitely love that. What about her feet? They’d gotten rough and calloused with how much she’d been walking and running recently. Back when she was at home, she hardly did much of it at all, giving her dainty and soft feet she loved to touch. But now? They were the worst offenders when it came to bodily pain for her.

“Mn… Rub my feet, just for a little while. Please?”

* * *

His POV

The prince was indeed feeling appreciated for his unusual efforts. The soft roll and nuzzle of her backside against his needy cock welcomed a lowly groan of his own. Smirking rather full of himself whenever a moan slipped from her lips, or her hips lifted ever so slightly, telling him she was still in need of a second round. Her melting under his tactful touches was giving his egotistical nature well needed attention. It kept his mind satisfied, rather than impatiently longing for another fuck. Besides, a part of him was enjoying this down time. Somehow, it was making him hornier. How the hell did she do that? Was that normal... did all of her species usually go at it so steadily like this? It just felt odd, unnatural, but then why the hell was he drinking it up like a rare oasis in the desert.

“…w _hile we have sex?_ ” his brows knit, questioning her under his breath. Trying to figure out how anyone would have a rub down like this, and fuck at the same time. Was she so enamored by the idea of taking it slow? The thought lingered in his head, new to him. But he did as she asked, and took one of her abused feet into his hands. He didn’t care that her foot was dusty, and he didn’t notice that it was callused or rubbed raw from running. To him, it was dainty and feminine. And once he’d finished rubbing his thumbs over the pads of one of her feet, he took to the other. Popping her toes, squeezing the ball of her foot and heel. That’s right, she’d asked how he’d known how to do this. The prince had been so caught up in his own questions, it took him a moment to reply.

“It’s important to keep up muscle tone.” he said flatly. In war, in battle, knowing which muscles and tendons to target, and when to tend to his own was vital in his line of work. Being acutely aware of the bodies main points kept him alive. Who would have known it would help with this? He’d certainly never touched another with this much care before. But something was still on his mind, so he leisurely added, “...does everyone from your species fuck so softly?” He couldn’t help but wonder. If so, the realization that his way of turning her over any given rock or fallen tree must of been different for her. Hell, even Nappa and Raditz looked to be confused as fuck, judging from the way they were watching from the mouth of the cave. The brute still wasn’t convinced such sweet sex was superior, however ...it was growing on him.

Speaking of sex, the horny male could only hold out for so long. Her near hips felt wonderful against his gently bucking hips, but it was turning into a cock tease. He dropped her foot, holding both of her hips instead. Slowly, the man pulled her round hips back against his warm waist. Positioning her thighs against his own, while allowing her to remain laying forward. It placed his hung length nicely between her warm thighs. Licking the head at the crown of her clit whenever he gave her a gentle thrust. He wanted inside of her, oh, so badly. The new position forced her ass a little higher than before, and it looked good enough to bite. In fact, he wishes he had. Though he settled with kneading the flesh of her cheeks in his hands, rolling her hips up a little higher so he could press the sensitive head into the beginning of her wet entrance. His dark gaze flicked up, gauging her acceptance. The grunting he was making meant he was going slow, but he could only hold back for so long.

* * *

Her POV

“Ah… Vegeta…” She murmured his name softly as he massaged her, and god– When she moved to her feet, she was in heaven. She stretched her body and closed her eyes, curling her toes as he pressed away all the pain. And when it was all done and both feet were cared for, she barely felt human anymore. She felt more like a little fairy than anything else, or an angel. Something weightless that slept on clouds all day. She let out a long sigh of relief, unable to even move. Thank god for that, or she would have gotten up and turned around and ended up seeing Raditz and Nappa behind Vegeta, staring in wonder at the interactions between the two of them. No wonder they thought it was so natural to watch something so private. They didn’t understand intimacy. They fucked like animals, out in the wild for the rest of their pack to see.

“…You think those two will stay away long enough that they won’t see us?” She was referencing Raditz and Nappa, obviously, oblivious to their presence. She didn’t fight Vegeta touching her, but the question did pop up in her mind. She didn’t want them seeing; it was embarrassing. She just wanted it to be the two of them. That it mostly was- despite the fear that they may show up, all she really cared about in the end was the two of them together. He squeezed her butt and gently messed with her, rubbing his cock along her until it tickled her clit. It lit her on fire, forcing her to make little moans of pleasure. Sweet and small, just like her voice had stayed through their interactions. Something about the intimacy had turned her into a kitten, happy to roll onto her tummy for someone to give her belly rubs in the warm sun.

He squeezed her ass again, and her hips swayed in response, if only just to give her extra stimulation. She moaned and mumbled things under her breath about how nice it felt, murmuring his name every once in a while until he slowly began pushing himself inside her. This wasn’t like before, where he only made a little bit of an effort to be slow. This was truly slow. Sweet, and so slow that it only made her relax all the more. …Ah, what was that thing he asked? If every one of her species fucked this slowly? It caused her to laugh into the pelt, to bury her face in the soft fur. What a silly question. Was this really so strange for him?

“We can go this slow,” she replied, “I’ve had rough sex before. But this is nice. It’s intimate. It’s close. …Come closer. Lean down, I want to feel your chest on my back.” She nuzzled her face up against the pelt for a moment before she glanced over her shoulder at Vegeta, her bright eyes half-lidded and twinkling. Her hips swayed just so, and her feet slid inward so that the tops could brush over the bottom of his. Didn’t he know how good it felt to be so close to someone for more than just the carnal pleasure of it? Even if she didn’t think she loved him, she could still make love with him. Didn’t he know that concept? To make love? She giggled again at the concept, and turned her hand over for him to see.

“Hold onto my hand, Vegeta.”

* * *

His POV

Did she realized how ethereal she looked to him? The image of the woman cooing his name beneath him, the way she soothed herself against the silver fur under her frame, only made him want her more. Sometimes the Saiyan Prince was sure he’d captured something beyond the universe’s limits, something divine. It was the only way he could explain the insatiable pull she had on him. It was infuriating, but intoxicating. Confusing, but at the same time he didn’t give a damn. He wanted her all for himself, and that was all he really cared about in the given moment.

“They’ll stay out of fucking sight if they know what’s good for them.” Vegeta’s rough tone barked loud enough to get the message across to his two peeping men. They could feel the prince’s dominant anger from where they stood, and knew to back away. Of course not completely, but certainly out of eye shot if they woman decided to turn around. The prince was half-way feeling the same about the need for privacy too, to his own surprise. This was different. The need that was growing in his belly, warming his abdomen like rising magma, was forcing soft grunts to slip from his mouth.

He felt slightly possessive of this particular fuck. The way they were positioned, the slow pace their coupled hips rocked together. Much more aware of every stroke, every inch he dipped a little deeper inside the woman, that was new too. His senses were on fire, alert in every possible manner. Then there was the look she was giving him. Her half lidded starry eyes peering back at him. It was a side of her he’d never seen before, and the man was finding it hard to break eye contact. Probably giving his own dilated, ravenous-animal-like stare. It was a look only meant for him. Only him, and no one would have a drop of the pleasure that she’d bestow upon him. That’s when his gaze turned to down towards her open palm. At first skeptical behind her reasoning. But hesitantly, his warm palm brushed against her own. Lowering with it, the furnace like warmth of his chest.

The new position made him feel a new kind of warmth. It was pleasant, but the beast was wary of the feeling. Vegeta was aware of every brush and sway of her skin against his own, down to her toes curling over his own; the space between her fingers, and the scent of her hair flushing up into his features whenever he brushed his face into the depths of her blue hair. Was this what she wanted, this closeness? This ...alone time? Was this intimacy ...was he using that word right? He was once again glad his men were relatively out of the picture. He’d never fucked like this before. Gently rutting his full length into the girl caught between his folded lap, now that he’d covered her fully. Rubbing the hard muscle of his warm torso over the arch of her back, grunting softly, running his free hand up the line of her side. The casual pace allowed him to feel every crackle of ecstasy that snapped through his muscle, urging his body to take her a little harder, a little deeper. His cock slowly lapping into her, causing a tingling sensation to creep through his groin and beg for more. 

* * *

Her POV

He was no longer questioning what she asked, or complaining that he preferred it fast. He entangled their fingers and leaned down so she could be warmed by his body, and she was glad to be so close. Somewhere in the back of her head she may think this was wrong, but for the time being, she was able to just think about how nice it felt to be so close. To have this kind of intimacy with someone. For the past two months, she’d been continuously raped- roughly and without attention to her needs or her physical state. She’d been bruised and scratched and torn. It felt almost like being rebirthed to be touched and held like this again. Like she mattered. Like she was a person. Like she was more than something to be pinned and fucked. How long had it been since the last time she was allowed that feeling? She had had sex with Vegeta before, but it was nothing more than prostitution, really– a means to get what she wanted and to thank him for what he already did. This was different. This felt pure, even if the act itself was not something typically deemed so.

Her hips swayed and rotated to give extra stimulation as he moved inside her, slow enough to cause such want inside her. Her breasts ached for more, but at the same time, she preferred it as it was- close and slow and loving. If loving was the right word. She wouldn’t use it to describe what they were, but the act as it was was certainly that– loving. She gripped his hand firmly and turned her head to stare at him now that he was so close. Her nose brushed his cheek, and her lips pressed to his neck, his chin, his temple- anywhere that it happened to reach. Things had gone quiet between the two of them, beyond the bodily noises of wet pelvises and the gasps and sighs that came with the act. It was better this way. They could talk with their bodies.

Her hips rocked with the slightest bit more frequency, in tuned to the movements of his own hips. In, out- coupled with his warmth and his touches, it felt like heaven. Orgasm was not the goal, and the pleasure that they created without it was enough for them to tingle with ecstasy. The only thing that was missing was the kissing. It was something Vegeta didn’t know how to do, that she was sure of. But he’d always been curious about it. He’d asked her what she’d done when referencing kissing some time ago. Her eyes found his, and she made her decision. He’d get more than just a chaste kiss. She’d try to lead him through it. 

Her head leaned in and her plump, round lips pressed against his with as much gentleness as she could manage in order to match the feeling of what they were doing. It lingered, and she slowly urged him to open his lips by trying to open them herself with her own. She let her tongue come out so she could run it between his lips. Unlike the times he’d pressed his lips to hers, teeth were not present. She didn’t want that. She wanted nothing but wholehearted sweetness to make her feel alive and whole. The sweetness that his eyes on hers brought, or the hand running over her side gave her, or the other hand holding her own, or even just the sweetness of feeling his rough, long, large feet curling just so as she tickled them with her toes.

* * *

His POV

He was grateful for the extra stimulation, and showed it with his own adoration and respect of her curvaceous form. The hand at her side slid across her silky stomach; coaxing her to raise a little higher onto her knees under him. Stroking the sensitive skin of her lower belly in time with their new found rhythm. The sound of their sighs twined and the heat of their bodies mixed together the more in tuned the male became with the skillful female under him. And oh, did she know how to please him perfectly - something he would have thought next to impossible at such a slow pace. The grinding of her warm backside against his waist line was winding him up. The gentle slap and wiggle of her bare skin up against his was enough to coax the alpha male to start moaning, ever so slightly.

But he was keeping it gentle, for her, well for the both of them. As much as Vegeta would have refuted the idea that he’d find any pleasure in this, he admittedly was starting to like it. He liked it a lot... It was different, and more satisfying. Not satisfying in the way he was accustom to, such as claiming the rights to fuck, or displaying his dominance over another creature. His instincts were still wide awake in the back of his head. Whispering at him to take over and subdue her into submission, in an act of will and stamina; but he quietly refused the urge. This was different, the tender act was satisfying because it was _them_. He wanted to see how it’d play out. He wasn’t only bewitched by the act, he was curious.

He could sense her staring at him from where his cheek rested against her shoulder. Watching her dreamy-eyed expression softly wince whenever he thrust himself between her thighs. And then her features grew nearer, and the prince didn’t quite know what to think. She was touching him, pressing her mouth against his rough, dark face. It’d be a lie to say he wasn’t enamored by each and every press of her lips. In fact, he’d selfishly nuzzled himself closer for the attention. What did she call it ...a kiss? If he remembered correctly. Then she truly caught him off guard. His little earthling pressed her perfectly pink mouth to his hard lips, and the prince felt an obvious shiver rake down his back.

His eyes rolled back momentarily, before curiosity over took him again, darting his gaze to meet hers. His hips had sped up, too. Banging into the girl under him with a little more zeal, rocking up onto his knees to give him a little more stretch over her shoulder. A little more freedom to meet her mouth with his own. Not that his mouth was nearly as agile as the tongue trying to weave its way between his lips. He got the hint, though, and apprehensively his mouth parted, letting her in.

God, had her mouth always been so soft? Like two plump cherries he could roll around with his tongue. The hand that’d been teasing just above her clit, smoothed its way to her neck, steadying their faces together. Though his form of kissing was more exploratory then experienced like hers. But once he had the chance to slip his warm tongue past her teeth, dipping in for a feel, the taste sent him over the edge. Rolling his tongue over a growl, much the way he rolled his ‘r’s’. The man had never felt anything like it - this kissing business. It was a new sensation in of itself, and it was stimulating his whole body... 

* * *

Her POV

His pace got a little faster as he began to moan more. She didn’t mind it. It was a welcomed change, one that caused her to moan more in turn. Her little gasps between their kissing got a little louder, and Bulma tried her best to keep up with his pace with the complementary movements she made against his groin. They could steadily build up to a strong enough speed to cause a toe-curling, mind-numbingly good orgasm. But for now she could enjoy the sex for what it was. Enjoy his hands softly brushing her.

He was clearly enjoying her kisses. She could feel him lean in, press their bodies closer together. He’d already pushed her up more onto her knees, and was intent on getting even closer. She kept her eyes closed as she kissed him, leading him into the make-out session. When his lips opened, she let her tongue slide in and across his. Her cheeks flushed, and the ache in her breasts increased. Ah… She couldn’t think about a single thing but that moment. But him slowly pushing in and out of her, kissing her, holding her in ways that made her feel so delicate and special. Was this really Vegeta?

“Mn…” She could feel him growl against her mouth. Was he enjoying it? He was having issues trying to follow her lead, and it led to more sweetness for her to bask in. She kissed as slowly as she could to help him follow her lead, but he seemed more set on blindly exploring inside her mouth. Was it that interesting to him? She could feel her cheeks stretching as she tried to withhold a laugh from how he was acting. How silly his attempts to kiss her was? But she let the kiss run its course, and only when she parted their lips did she give a laugh.

“You taste like rotting meat. Don’t you ever brush your teeth? Sheesh.” She rolled her eyes and leaned in again just to press her lips to his cheek. Her head turned again, and her forehead leaned against the pelt as she moved her body. Ah… She felt like she was in heaven. Her breaths increased in frequency and turned into pathetic moans. She wanted more. Her hips tried to get a little rougher, though her speed stayed the same. She couldn’t help herself, though she loved their slow pace. She wanted more. She needed more.

“Ah… Ahn… Mn… Ah…” She concentrated on feeling alone, causing her eyebrows to knit as she felt wave after wave of pleasure hit her. She didn’t mind being vocal, no longer worried about whether or not the other Saiyans were nearby. She just knew it felt good. So good. There was not a single pain in her body; the only thing that came close was the ache of her breasts and clit from wanting more. More… Her eyes fluttered for a moment, and finally she spoke up, softly and quietly.

“Nn… Massage my breasts, Vegeta. Touch me more. I need… I need you to touch me more…”

* * *

His POV

There was more to this ‘kissing’ ritual then he’d originally suspected. It’d looked so good, so pleasurable back at the brothel, when his beautiful little earthling was swabbing her tongue into that nymph’s mouth. He’d wanted it ever since, and now that the big brute was finally getting his taste, he was relishing the moment. It was a new form of self-gratification - of course his self-centered self was all about it. It may of been a good thing that the prince had more rhythm in his hips rather than his mouth, otherwise he may have drowned the earthling; he didn’t exactly need to come up for air often.

Their foreheads tapped and their noses bumped from time to time, but overall the prince couldn’t give a damn. He was thoroughly enjoying lapping up the sweetness of her lips and dueling past her tongue. Nipping from time to time. The animal was trying to follow her lead, he really was. But just as he had to resist giggling, he couldn’t rest his greedy curiosity. How the hell had he never tried this? It was a severely vulnerable position, that was for sure. Bulma may of had her eyes closed, but the prince slit his gaze open now and again. It was odd enough allowing someone to touch something as intimate as his tongue. He wasn’t about to drop his guard completely. It was far too new to him.

“I... don’t normally... allow anyone too root around in my mouth...” he scowled through a blush. It was hard to retaliate at her rude comment with how his head was swimming and his lips were surprisingly tingly and swollen. Giving her brightly smiling lips one last, gentle nip before returning his focus to the task at hand; fucking them until they couldn’t feel their toes anymore. Their grinding rhythm had intensified during their little make-out session. He was liking the increased pace, oh, very much. Then she pleaded for him to touch her, and an aroused growl answered against the nape of her neck. He thought she’d never ask. Not that he’d have waited much longer to touch her, he was growing eager to fondle her.

The hand that’d been cupping her face smoothed down to her chest. Giving her breast a firm squeeze, before rolling it in his warm palm. God, it felt so good. He couldn’t resist exploring the rest of her. Pushing his second hand down between her jolting hips. Squeezing her inner thigh and running his fingers up and down the sensitive folds of skin. She needed more, he could feel it, sense it in the way her voice peeked whenever he wedged himself a little deeper inside of her. A little rougher, a little harder; completely turned on by how needy her hips had begun pushing back into his lap. Very slowly, he allowed his animalistic nature to start slipping through.

Laying his heated body against her back, he pinned her gently under his heavy weight. Filling her to the hilt with his swollen length. Taking every inch of her before dragging himself out, then ramming back into her again. Vegeta was still on the slower side of things. Balancing them on the edge just before ecstasy, dragging out the inevitable. Though, he was panting heavily against her shoulder. Heaving his heavy body. Feeling the tightening and jerking of his muscle; winding up his climax. It’d take longer than usual to get him to come at this pace, but it felt like it was going to be a big one when he did.

* * *

Her POV

That was his response? That he just didn’t have people in his mouth that often? How could she not respond to that with a laugh? She chuckled and opened an eye halfway to take a peek at him, if only just to observe his expression. His face and shoulders were so flushed from sex, or otherwise she would be able to tell that he was blushing. Her nose wrinkled just so as she laughed, but as he started touching her again, it became hard to focus on something like that and she went back to how she was. Her eyes closed and she let out a sigh, simply basking in the feeling of Vegeta going in and out. In and out. He was getting rougher, and her brows were starting to knit. Her fingers started to dig into the pelt.

She was thankful that Vegeta was holding her up as he ran his hands over her body, or else she may have begun to slide down back into a laying position. She couldn’t help it, with how great he was making her feel. His hand rolled over her breasts and caused a moan to come from her lips, and soon he began touching between her legs. Fingering her clit. Her gasps and moans became more pronounced and desperate. Her babbling murmurs became more winded and breathless. All she knew was that it felt good. She wasn’t going to orgasm soon, but she was already whisked away by the feeling Vegeta gave her with his body alone. Her head turned from his so her cheek could press into the pelt. Her body moved in an attempt to keep up with him.

It felt good. so good. She couldn’t control herself. She moaned in pleasure, and not simply from his hands or cock– his weight on her felt like a hug, and his warmth added a new, subtle dimension of enjoyment. Now that they were going faster and more roughly, Vegeta’s sack kept smacking against her in just the right way to make her toes curl. Her body twitched and shifted under him, unable to contain herself. She had to move to accommodate the pleasure, or she felt like she’d burst. She couldn’t simply lay still, she had to move her body by stretching and gasping and shifting her hips as each wave hit her. It was just so good. 

“Haa… Ahn–! Ahhh… Mnn-!” She felt so whole like this. So alive. So full of love. She wanted to be like this forever, gasping and moaning in pleasure until the end of the universe.

* * *

His POV

It was easy to find a stable rhythm once the prince was allowed to take control of their bodies once again. This is what he’d been longing for. A rough, hard fuck. Since their first round, he’d been holding himself back for her. The prince hadn’t realized just how fucking pent up it’d caused him to become. His cock ached and his muscles tensed, radiating a shiver throughout his body. When he finally started to let his hips slip into that perfect rhythm, banging into the girl with more ferocity each and every time she moaned. He could barely control himself.

The warmth of her silky spine moving against his torso was welcome. Every time she shifted, writhed, or mewled, he took it as gratefulness. That he was treating her body, that he was the reason behind her lack of self-control; and he loved the power rush it gave him. She looked like a helpless kitten, scratching her claws out at the cave floor. Helplessly mounted by her alpha male, crushed by his weight, forced to take every inch of him until she squirmed in ecstasy. That’s what he wanted, to see her breathless and satisfied. Kami, if he was a proper prince with a harem, she’d have been at the top of his list. None could ride his cock like she could.

“... _Bulma_...” the name slipped out on a groan without his consent. He’d been divulging in fantasy too much, to the point where he was barely aware he’d said it. She was all he was aware of. From the smell of her hair, to the slick slide and pull of her taut little insides coiling themselves around his heavy girth. His hands played over her chest and clit, and his mouth drank in the heat of her skin. God, he was going to come soon. The tingling sensation of pre-come already leaking from his tip. There was no way in hell he was letting up now, though. Not when it felt so damn good. Was it because they’d taken their time? Fuck, if he had known pacing themselves could have this kind of buildup, he may have let her coax him sooner.

He was dragging it out as long as he could. Hitting the sweet spot hidden deep inside of her whenever he plunged back in. The act was almost as enthralling an orgasm itself. It was finally starting to feel natural to him. Allowing him to lose himself in the warmth and buzz of the onslaught of endorphins. His nerve endings on fire, and his voice roared like angry thunder throughout the cave. Again and again, the prince shamelessly moaned out his enjoyment, until he couldn’t hold back any further. His back arched and hips thrust up against her. Pushing his forehead against the girl’s shoulder, he groaned and squirmed his long lasting orgasm against her body. His muscular body tensing one way, then rocking another. Making sure to wedge himself as deeply in, until the last. 

* * *

Her POV

He was going faster. Some part of her had reveled in the slowness that had caused such intimacy, but it was still enjoyable to fuck as it was. She gasped and sighed, curled her toes and groaned in pleasure. She had given up even trying to move back against him, given how strong his thrusting was getting. She just let him take control, leaving her with nothing to do but to moan in pleasure and hope that he wouldn’t go overboard. He knew she was fragile, right? She could take it for the time being, but how much could she take, really? Really take, not like when she’d cry about not being able to take it anymore when she was so close to orgasm.

He was more rough than he had been previously, on their first round. Had he really been so pent up? He groaned her name in his ear as he fucked her, but at the point that Vegeta had reached, she couldn’t form words to call his name back. She was struggling trying to even stay somewhat upright- she was still on her knees, though her upper half was planted in the pelt and only kept somewhat upright by Vegeta’s hand fondling her breast and driving her further over the edge. She was just a mess of moans at that point, not even being able to tease him in the ways she previously had. There was no touching his feet or trying to give him kisses. She only tried to stop from sliding as he fucked her.

He kept playing with her clit, in the same way that he had been shown in the last round. That, along with everything else, only helped make her drive to climax even more forceful. Every time he slapped into her again, she drew a little nearer. Her mouth was open, with a bit of drool leaving her lips as she tried to keep herself in place thrust after thrust. It’d gone from being sweet to being purely a means to satisfy themselves. Maybe she would have liked for the sex to go on longer, but it seemed Vegeta’d gotten impatient. Either way, she was at his mercy, her limbs quivering as he kept bucking into her.

**_“Ahn, ahn, ahn, ahn, ahn!”_** She couldn’t do anything but keep letting out gasping moans, increasing in pitch the closer to orgasm she got. When he suddenly began ramming into her faster with the intent of finally cumming, that was what sent her over the edge- her gasps had turned not only high-pitched, but long and drawn out as the waves of pleasure overtook her and left her a shivering mess. Hard enough to cause a long line of drool to fall onto the pelt. Hard enough she didn’t know her name for the moment it happened. Hard enough where all she could think of was just how damn good it felt. Unbelievably good. Ridiculously, incomprehensibly, mind-numbingly good.

* * *

His POV

The prince definitely wasn’t anticipating such a strong release after such a slow second round. Who would have thought there could be so much satisfaction in taking one’s time? And not just taking time to torment or toy with whomever he’d deemed worthy of being his victim. This was the second time the girl had shown him a new side of things. That carnal pleasure could be more between two bodies then a rough fuck, or a display of dominance. That it could be more denominational. The selfish prince would have never suspected stimulating another’s body, her body, could lead to such ecstasy.

Once their bodies had slowed to a gentle halt, he could bask in the afterglow. Still on his knees, he rested his upper body against the warmth of her steamy back, going relatively limp and turning into dead weight. His forehead rolled thankfully against her, enjoying the lingering sensations waving over his build. He felt hot and stated; sluggish in his movements. She was shivering below him; her orgasm must have hit the roof, much like the one she’d sent through him. He could hear the soft pants of her breath, she sounded exhausted. It filled his chest with pride. 

It took a few moments, but eventually the man rolled slightly up. Still buzzed and fogged over, he began licking and kissing the beads of sweat that’d rolled down between her shoulder blades. Lapping up her sweet and salty taste. Allowing her to rest under him in the softness of the pelt, while his fingertips gratefully soothed across her shoulder. No one else would have her like this but him. He wasn’t quite sure in what sense he owned her, or if he could call it that at all, but the prince knew he didn’t want another making her feel this good. None unless it was from him. The feeling was overwhelming.

* * *

Her POV

“Ahn… Ah…” She was left gasping after her orgasm finally died down. She slumped when he pulled himself from her, her knees slipping until she eventually landed on her stomach. She could feel his weight still, his head on her shoulder. It’d been just as intense for him? She was shaking from just how powerful it had been. Even though she was just resting, her legs and arms wouldn’t stop trembling from just how intense the round had been. And damn, was she exhausted. She couldn’t even think straight. 

Her body felt both overused and completely relaxed. She glanced over her shoulder at Vegeta to attempt to get a look at him as he licked away her sweat, but rather than say anything or give him any touches of her own, she just settled back into the pelt and closed her eyes. It felt so nice. She was warm, relaxed, and being touched and kissed by the person who’d made her feel this way. She felt whole. How could she not just want to sink into the soft pelt and fall asleep right then and there? 

That’s exactly what she did. It didn’t take long, either. It was only a matter of moments until she drifted from consciousness and started snoring, adding to the pile of drool that she’d created from when they had been having sex. She hadn’t cared that she was naked with no blankets, that they were on an alien planet’s cave laying on only a pelt. She’d drifted off to sleep like it was nothing, even when it was entirely possible that Raditz and Nappa could come back at any moment to see her nude. 

* * *

His POV

He’d caught the subtle glance the girl had given him from over her shoulder, but the prince could hardly be taken from his new focus. Busying himself with skimming his mouth over her warm shoulder blades. She was warm and welcoming, with a strange relaxed aura, the likes he’d never seen before. Perhaps because he’d never cared to look at another after he’d gotten himself off. The look was good on her, and he reveled in it. His body laid beside her on the soft pelt. His tail flopping happily behind him, while the back of his fingers stroked up and down her nude back. Just generally enjoying the serenity; watching her fall fast asleep against his side.

He could go another round, sure, but the prince was more than satiated. He felt content and warm, as if he was laying claim to some prideful accomplishments. He’d even enjoy joining her in sleep at this point. The girl had a way of making rest look so inviting. The temptation to curl around her and sleep off the buzz of sex, strange and new, and somewhat instinctual. But he couldn’t. The prince was still well aware that he had a job to do.

The two men lingering at the mouth of the cave had their eyes glued to the odd pair. They’d never seen the prince, let alone any of their kind, fuck in such a manner. They were both speechless, yet full of questions. What the hell did they just do, why, and what the fuck did it feel like to have someone poking around in his mouth like that? Needless to say, the moment Vegeta lifted from his warm spot on the pelt and began dressing, both Nappa and Raditz were trying to hush their questions as much as they could.

“What the hell was that?” whispered Raditz, stepping closer into the shelter of the cave. The prince wasn’t talking. Only getting himself dressed. “What the hell did it feel like, that thing you did with your mouth?” the third class persisted, following his leader around the cave. Nappa was just as curious.

“It’s called a kiss,” Vegeta murmured all too knowingly, as if he knew all along. “And it feels damn good, _not that’d you’d ever get one._ ” he ground out. His boots stopped just at the girl, reaching down and covering the girls bare body with the rest of the pelt. Wrapping her delicate body up and allowing her to sleep. Nappa was instructed to watch over her, but to never disturb her. Raditz on the other hand followed behind Vegeta like a curious pup. Riddled with questions, trying to get his leader to at least answer one or two. The two leaving the cave, surely in search of more dragon balls.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Spring Break! I turn 22 in two days (or technically 1 day if you're reading this Monday..)! I was debating on whether or not to be lazy, but figured since I left it on a cliffhanger of sorta, I should reply. ...Too bad AO3's acting up and I had to repost this...
> 
>   
> 


	36. A Familiar Race

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for dragon balls continues.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

She dreamt of somewhere happy. Earth, but slightly off. Slightly discolored, with aliens. But everyone she knew was there to greet her and welcome her home. Hugs and kisses. It felt warm. It felt sweet. She felt whole again, rather than how broken she was used to feeling by now. Vegeta was off to the side somewhere, watching like a hawk or some kind of guardian. She was safe. And so loved… I was so nice to be back in the arms of her parents. Of her friends. The feeling was so vivid, too. The serene, welcoming vibe of the pleasant dream stayed with her even when she opened her eyes again.

She felt rested, but it was still light outside. How long was day on this planet? Did it last forever? She wrinkled her nose and reached up to rub her eyes, but as she became more aware of her surroundings, she froze. She was naked. The pelt was curled around her, but she was still naked. Where was Vegeta? She hadn’t been left alone to be violated by someone or something again, had she? Who’s shadow– Oh, oh God. Nappa. Nappa was sitting near her, staring intently at her. No one else. Just the two of them. Why did it have to be him? …Maybe he learned a lesson after she gouged one of his eyes out. She had to hope.

As she sat up, she forced the pelt around her more properly, much like a towel, to stop it from falling and revealing her nudity to Nappa. Why was he staring at her like that? She didn’t like it. Her eyes peered at his eyes for what seemed like hours but could have just been terrified minutes. He didn’t make a sound. He didn’t come any closer. He just watched. But why?

She finally averted her gaze, reminding herself that she had to make a dragon radar. She could have it ready by the time Vegeta came back. She got to her feet and made a circle around Nappa to avoid getting any closer, just so she could get her clothes. She changed and used the pelt as a curtain, fumbling it about to avoid letting Nappa get a show. When she was finished, the pelt was cased aside and she was left in a green tank top and low-cut khaki shorts. She eyed Nappa one last time, before shuffling through her things for her capsule with her tools and materials so she could get started on that radar. Even if she was starving.

* * *

His POV

The girl was finally awake. It took her long enough. The whole time Bulma made eye contact with the big burly man, Nappa never blinked. Staring a hole in her as deeply as she was him. She expected him to make a go for her, he could tell that much. It was easy to see the predator side of the female peering through her wary eyes, even if she wasn’t fully aware of it. Nappa had suspected the woman wasn’t aware of her own nature for some time now. Ever since she’d gouged out his eye. But he’d seen that look before, that intent to maim. The female had more fight in her then he’d originally given her credit for.

His mustache twitched over a frumpy frown, watching the girl with his one good eye the entire time she made way for her clothing. He’d been instructed not to touch the girl, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t think about it. But it wasn’t just the threat of Vegeta holding the big man at bay anymore. It was the girl herself. In some strange way, she’d forced a bit of respect from the older man. 

“What’s wrong girlie, not going to come ride me next?” he couldn’t help but jab, making a joke at her expense. But then he stood up, and the bald Juggernaut’s pounding footsteps headed right for her. He stopped just short of her pile of tools. Eyeing the bits and pieces she was toying with. What the hell was she up to now? Watching much the same way he had been before, he kept a few paces distance. A safety precaution for both of them.

“Can’t say I’ve had a ride that good since my days on Vegeta-Sai ...no wonder the prince’s got a thing for ya’. Only the best females put up a fight like that.” the big man sighed in reminiscence. Thinking back to times of holding down hissing, clawing woman. In fact, he didn’t look half as angry about his missing eye as he initially had. Wounds were common for his kind, what wasn’t common was getting it from a female. It was sort of something to be proud of - a sex related wound. The big man’s gaze rolled down out of his thoughts, landing on the girl instead. He wasn’t coming on to her. Nappa’s presence wasn’t even that threatening, as much as it couldn’t be. If anything, he just looked interested in whatever the hell she was doing.

* * *

Her POV

She gulped as she listened to him speak, and her brows furrowed as she put on her clothes and started to try and tune out his talk about wanting her to ride him. He was so revolting. Couldn’t he ever just leave her alone? If the idea of more death didn’t sicken her into silence, maybe she’d tell Vegeta the kinds of things he was saying so that he’d just kill him. But she didn’t want any more death. She was sick of seeing it everywhere. It’s why she was so relieved that Vegeta promised not to kill anything. Though at this point, she figured it wasn’t because he to restrain himself- it’s that there was nothing on this planet to really kill. But animals, apparently.

Ignoring didn’t work. She could hear his steps get closer when she finally found the capsule and opened it on the cave floor. He was right behind her. She stiffened, hoping that he wouldn’t try to grab her. She’d completely blind him, then. She’d like to see him try it. …No, it seemed like he only wanted to make jokes about how good of a fuck she was. Her lips pressed into a tight line, and she dug through her pile to look for the right parts.

“Leave me alone,” she told him, digging through and setting aside any part that she figured was necessary. She didn’t have anything quite like the original shell of the radar, but she did have something that looked like an old radar to ship that she could scrap parts from. This radar would be large and square. Better to fit makeshift parts into. And it looked like she was lucky- it didn’t seem like she had all the right parts, but she had parts that could function as replacements. It may take a little more than half a day to accomplish, but she could do it.

“Did the others go looking for more dragon balls? I’m doing something important to help that. Leave me alone. Don’t touch me. Don’t talk to me like that anymore. I’ll tell Vegeta. If Vegeta has such a ‘thing’ for me, you know what kind of things he’ll do to you for even saying stuff like that, right? You wouldn’t say stuff like this if he was around.”

* * *

His POV

What the hell was the girl doing with a busted ship radar? And an old one by the looks of it, it wasn’t even up to date. Nappa’s thin mustache twitched over his mouth, clearly unaware of the girl’s vast abilities when it came to moving parts. As far as he knew, she was rooting around in a pile of junk. That didn’t mean he wasn’t watching, though with less interest then Vegeta or Raditz may have displayed.

“You sure bossy for being pint sized female, aren’t you?” his voice boomed, followed by a hardy laugh, “Should have known he’d like em’ strong.” he jabbed at her again, making a sexual remark. But at least he was backing down, more or less. The girl had a point, if Vegeta was around Nappa certainly wouldn’t be speaking up like he was. Besides, it was slightly amusing to see the girl try and stand up to him. It was kind of entertaining now that he had a little respect for her.

“Yeah ...they left.” Nappa’s tone grew darker. He’d reached down for the dragon ball that they’d already collected. Its massive size fitting easily into one of his palms. He tossed it up and down a few times before murmuring, “...but how the hell are you help’n exactly? Looks like you’re playing in a pile of junk to me.”

The man eyed the big orange ball, catching a glimpse of his reflection in the shiny exterior. He’d known this wasn’t a regular mission, but things just kept getting stranger and stranger. Little did he know that Raditz was having just as weird of a day. No killing the locals? How the hell else were you suppose to get information out of them? It was strange to see Vegeta ordering him not to kill, but blasting buildings to search the village seemed to be alright.

* * *

Her POV

“I told you to leave me alone,” she huffed, piling everything she needed in its own small pile away from everything else. Like she cared what Vegeta liked. He helped her take back what he took from her in the first place and had sex with her a few times. It’s not like they were dating or something. Or ‘mates’ as the damn apes liked to say. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. Mate. Like she was an animal. No, it wasn’t that. She just had casual sex with him. With a condom. That was all he got. That was barely all he deserved.

“What?” She turned to look over her shoulder at him as he observed her dragon ball. They at least couldn’t break, so she wasn’t worried, but it still bothered her. Who told him he could touch it? Vegeta had given it as a gift to her. Why should he be allowed to put his dirty paws on it? Asshole. And he had to follow it up with questioning her usefulness. He wasn’t very smart, was he? He thought she was just looking through junk? What an idiot.

“No. I’m making a radar. To track them easier. They emit a particular aura that makes them easy to track with the right parts. I’m helping. And you’re bothering me.” She gave him a scowl and grabbed her tools, beginning with stripping what she needed down for parts. The radar was hollowed out, and other things she only needed pieces from were torn apart. Eventually she got just what she needed, and started with the wiring.

“You can help by getting me food. I’m hungry. Otherwise, you’re the most useless one here.”

* * *

His POV

The girl was bossy, and she only kept getting bossier. While Vegeta may of enjoyed poking fun at the girl, and even found it ‘charming’ in some sense, Nappa was slowly losing interest. Sure, he liked her fiery nature as much as the next Saiyan would, but whatever the hell she was doing with all those bits and pieces of junk really didn’t interest him. He slowly understood that the girl had some level of skill when it came to tech, obvious by the way she was speaking, but tech was never his hobby. Fighting, fucking, and eating, that was more of Nappa’s style.

“Like hell I’m going anywhere.” barked the big man, “I’ve been ordered to stay put, and that’s exactly what we’re doin’.” Nappa’s attention turned, no longer very interested in the girl if he couldn’t make fun of her or hump her. Not bothered with her getting away since it seemed she’d busied entertaining herself. His back was to her for quite a while, watching out the mouth of the cave and trying to pick up on any sign of his prince. It took a while, but finally something started to show up in the distance. It was indeed Vegeta and Raditz, and their hands were full.

“Yeah, but did you see them scatter? I could have at least picked off one of the little ones…” it was Raditz voice; he was carrying a crab the size of a pony. Vegeta landed soon after. It wasn’t clear if they were talking about animals or maybe aliens, their conversation stopped as soon as Vegeta got a glimpse at the girl tucked away in the cave. It looked like she’d been busy. Good.

There were scorch marks on the man’s face and his armor was scuffed, but there was no sign of blood anywhere. Two large fish the size of small cars were tossed over his shoulder, held by the tail. And under his other arm, a brightly glowing dragon ball. His eyes pierced into her as hard, cold, and unfeeling as ever. Roaming over every inch of her, as if he was trying to detect any new bruising or marring. He may have looked ruthless, but it was pretty damn clear, he’d brought the prize, and the fish, for her.

* * *

Her POV

She grumbled under her breath at his insistence at doing nothing but ‘staying put,’ but continued unfettered with her work. She grew tired and even more starving after so many hours passed, but there was no way of telling how much time had passed. It was still day outside. What an unusual planet. She continued to work, though she was only halfway through when she heard Raditz’s voice. She turned her body to the noise and saw the two, scuffed up but holding food and another ball. Thank god.

Vegeta was silent and stared her down, but Bulma did much the same– just to the fish. She got up to her feet and walked go him, her slim fingers rolling just for a moment over the dragon ball. Four stars. That had been Goku’s grandfather’s ball, wasn’t it? A kind of family heirloom. It brought back memories that were now painful. Maybe they shouldn’t be painful anymore, though. She’d be getting everything back soon enough. Though she would still have more painful memories to worry about. Ones she couldn’t wipe away. Ones that were painful from the moment they were created. …Best not dwell on it.

“I was starving. I told Nappa to get me food, but he wouldn’t.” Her attention quickly turned to the fish. It was too huge for her to carry, though she wished she had the dagger she had before. What had ever happened with it? …Gone when she was cloned, maybe? She couldn’t remember. Either way, at least she had food. Maybe Vegeta could even do the work for her. No way he’d just eat it like that, right?

“Hey, you have something to peel off the scales with, right? And gut it and everything. Then I can cook the meat left over and eat that. Geeze, I’m so hungry. If I was working on a full stomach, maybe I would have been able to finish the radar by now. I’m halfway done. Who knows how long it’ll take to finish it up, but it’s at least coming along alright.”

* * *

His POV

It was nice to see the girl working on the promised radar. The prince noticed the way the girl eyed the fish, but more so how she was lingering over the dragon ball. He wasn’t greeted with mirth like last time. This time, an uncertain look crossed the girls face, something Vegeta couldn’t quite make out. Reminiscence perhaps? Though he hadn’t the slightest idea why. He watched her delicate fingers trace the stars hidden within the glossy stone, before dropping the dragon ball and the two fish to the cave floor.

“Good. He’s finally starting to obey orders again.” the prince bit out harshly, scowling in Nappa’s direction. Nappa grunted, busy trying to bribe Raditz out of one of the crab’s claws. Truthfully the big lug would have probably gotten in trouble for leaving the girl alone in the cave. The girl really couldn’t fault the soldier for obeying orders, could she? The idea of her trying to boss Nappa around was amusing though, and Vegeta’s lip turned up into a pleasant little sneer.

She wanted to gut the things, really? The prince made a face, furrowing his brow into a hard line. However, ...she had said she’d work quicker on a full belly. In all actuality, the prince would rather the woman think about the task at hand then eating. The more time spent working, the faster they’d get off this damn planet. But despite his crude nature, a part of the Saiyan softened. He knew she needed food. It looked like he didn’t have much of a choice.

“You can be so high maintenance...” his voice murmured out, shaking his head slowly at the girl. “I’ll deal with the god damn fish ...just focus on that radar.” and with that, he left her side. Snapping off one of the now relatively clean bones from their last meal, and using it as a tool to rake the scales from the skin of the fish. That radar was more important to him than watching her cook some damn fish. He was too impatient for that. Vegeta had learned from his mistake last time; don’t waste the girls time with sex and trivial things when she could be making a radar.

* * *

Her POV

What, he wasn’t going to yell at him for not getting her food? She squeezed her lips together into a pout when she heard his response, but she forgot about it fairly quickly when Vegeta told her that he’d be taking care of the fish. Right. So she didn’t even have to worry? …Maybe she should be worrying, though. Who knew how he’d end up ‘cooking’ it. She watched him carefully as he took the fish and began taking off the scales with a bone of all things, but decided that whatever he did, it couldn’t be worse than what she could manage.

“Make sure you cook it. I’m not going to eat it raw.” Sure, she’s had sushi, but she didn’t really trust this planet. Who knew why the water was green. He said it wasn’t from acidity, but… She still didn’t really trust it. So she’d be eating cooked meat to make sure any bacteria was burned off, just to stay on the safe side. She was no idiot, after all. And especially now that she’d soon be able to wish her planet back with the dragon balls, she certainly wouldn’t be screwing around and accidentally getting herself killed.

She finally went back to the radar and began piecing it together, but it was hard to focus on an empty stomach still. How long was it going to take him to make it? …She still didn’t really feel like she’d belong on Earth anymore after everything, but it’d still be nice to stay home at least for a little while and eat up. She missed all the food there. Her mom’s homemade food especially. Her stomach growled just thinking about it. Eating food like she had been, scraps and burnt, unseasoned meat, had given her a bad case of homesickness in regards to food in particular.

Really, she’d eaten some disgusting stuff over the past two years. Mostly when she was with– Well. That green monster. She didn’t want to think about him or his name anymore. Zarbon. It made her sick to her stomach. She hadn’t ate much when with him, but when she did, it was scraps of anything she could find. Two weeks of starving enough to try and eat lint off the floor of the servant’s quarters. Two weeks… It was odd how short it really was. It felt like so, so much longer than that.

* * *

His POV

The woman spat at him to make sure he ‘cooked it’ and the prince grumbled under his breath. Wasn’t it enough that he was cleaning the damn thing? As if that was even a needed procedure. It sounded easy enough the way she’d said it, though. Scale the fish. However, it was more work than the prince was up to doing. Since it was a lacking skill set, he had to figure it out as he went. 

He’d ran the side of the rib bone he was using against the cave floor, giving it a sharp edge like a knife. Taking the time to rake off every scale was only making him grumpy. Sure, a few scales were still left and he may have rubbed a section of the skin raw and red from peeling it a little too deep, but he was getting fed up. This was servants work, and while he had two men to order around, he trusted them even less then himself when it came to food preparation.

Nappa and Raditz stopped their bickering over food when Vegeta stood and took one of the massive fish outside the cave door. What the hell was there leader doing? They watched wide eyed, surprised when the prince slit the fishes belly open, spilling the guts out onto the grass. The smell of fresh blood instantly filled Vegeta’s senses. God, he really was hungry, and handling raw meat like that was like dangling food in front of a hungry lion. He ignored it, focusing on the daunting task in order to side track himself.

How the hell did she normally cook again? The prince’s dark eyes flicked up to where the woman was sitting. Watching her for a moment as she worked among the pile of parts. She normally placed a cut of meat on a hot stone, if he remembered correctly. That’d have to work. The massive, clean fish was tossed by the fire side, and Vegeta rooted around for the right size of stone. Deciding on a large, flat stone that he could prop up by the crackling flame. He probably got the slice of fish a little too close to the heat, but hey, a little char never hurt anyone, right?

* * *

Her POV

Could anyone blame Bulma for constantly getting side-tracked with watching Vegeta, when she was supposed to be making the radar? He was noisy with how much he grumbled as he worked, and it was certainly interesting to see him attempt to prepare food. Not that she was the biggest expert in the world or anything. But she still watched, raising a curious brow as he finally finished his attempt of stripping the fish of its scales to gut it without a care and… Toss it on the ground of the cave.

Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t focus on the radar when she could be so entertained by this. She watched in silence as he attempted to mimic her cooking and grabbed a rock, dropping the fish on it. …Well, she couldn’t complain too much. He had done a good amount. She stayed quiet, slowly screwing screws tighter and rewiring things here and there as she watched him attempt to cook the fish. 

“….Hey! You have to turn it over!” The thought occurred when the smell of burning meat hit her nostrils. She expected the ends to be burnt, but she wouldn’t eat any of the fish if it was burnt through and through! Certainly not. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the smell, before trying to go back to making the radar. But really. Was it so hard for him to just cook something like a normal person? Was it really the first time he’d ever done it in his life?

* * *

His POV

It smelled of burning meat, even Vegeta could tell that. But it didn’t mean he knew what to do about it, or that it meant it was being over cooked. To him, all of her prepared food smelt like burning flesh because, well to him that’s exactly what it was. God, this was so pointless, but the man knew that if the meal wasn’t cooked the female wouldn’t have any of it. And if he wanted that radar fixed in time for his next mission out, she’d need to be properly fed. The woman’s needs really did grate his nerves sometimes. Why was he putting up with it again?

Oh yes, because he’d seen her in a broken mess back on her home world. Because he’d caused it. Because he’d taken away everything from her, and then some. Because every time he looked into that sparkly pout he couldn’t refuse a damn thing she said. He hated it, tensing and growling under his breath, watching the fish skin crackle and bubble …but he supposed the least he could do was try to give her something to eat, especially if it was beneficial to the both of them.

Then she yelled at him, and the prince’s tempter jerked in her direction, distracted form his thoughts. “What the hell for?! …is there anything else I should know about?!” he bit out far too sarcastically. This was quickly turning from something he had to do, to something he was determined to over power. As if he’d meet a skill he couldn’t master. He’d conqueror this damn fish, even if he had to blast it with ki himself.

Thankfully though, it didn’t come to that. Sure, he poked it a few times, completely oblivious to how it was supposed to look when it was finished, but once it looked uneatable to his eyes, he figured it must be cooked. Besides a few charred edges, it wasn’t that bad. Perhaps a little dry from the heat, but cooked through. The prince didn’t say a thing when he dropped the hot stone beside her where she sat. Scowling in a different direction, as irritable as ever.

* * *

Her POV

He turned it over, despite complaining like a baby about it, and soon enough she had her food. Still on a burning hot stone. What the hell was he thinking? Not to mention it was too huge to eat– eugh. She knew complaining would just warrant whining from his side. She didn’t want to listen. She’d just wait for it to cool and in the meantime work on the radar. Whatever. She huffed and went straight back to working on it, her brows furrowed.

It was hard to focus, but she didn’t wait that long to let it cool. Ten or so minutes before she finally started digging in. Ripping the tender meat to shreds and shoveling it in her mouth as her stomach demanded. Geeze, she was starving. She didn’t even realize she’d been THIS hungry until the first bite of food dropped into her stomach. It gurgled and growled as she ate, and in the meantime her eyes drifted up to look at Vegeta.

Wasn’t he eating anything? He’d been all but fasting. He hadn’t eaten anything yesterday(?) either. Maybe he’d had his snack on the way to the cave, for all she knew. Probably raw and disgusting. He clearly didn’t know how to cook properly, and a good amount of the fish was burnt, but it was still only in the minority of all the meat. For the most part it was good to eat. Even if it wasn’t good in other definitions of the term.

“Hey,” she spoke up finally, between munches. Her brows furrowed slightly, and she swallowed another bite of fish. “Aren’t you going to eat? Have you eaten already?” It was worth asking. It’s not like she necessarily cared about him, per se. It was just that it piqued her curiosity. He’d been acting so weird, after all. …. If he really hadn’t eaten, maybe it was some kind of retribution for everything he’d done to her? He seemed so set on making it up to her, after all.

* * *

His POV

It smelled good. How did it smell good...? Vegeta was never one to favor the scent of cooked meat over raw, but somehow he couldn’t take his eyes off the girl’s meal. Standing as he often did as stiff as a statue with his arms tightly bound across his chest. However, he was staring, and he didn’t realize until the girl piped up and asked if he’d eaten anything.

Instantly his defenses flared up. The prince didn’t exactly want to show his hunger if he was refusing food. It felt too much like giving into weakness. He scowled at the woman, caught a little off guard by her question. Why the hell would she ask? She certainly didn’t care ...did she? Of course not. She barely tolerated him. She was just being her nosy self, as per usual. In fact, he’d wished she hadn’t noticed.

“Why is that any of your business?” he spat, though quirked a hard brow up at her. “Are you suggesting that I appear weak? I do not need food to be self-sufficient.” he said matter-of-factually, jerking his gaze away from her. Slightly offended, and completely full of himself. Puffing himself up subconsciously, as if to improve his stature and appearance of strength. He walked around her, back to the pile of parts she’d been working with. Getting out of her line of sight cooled down his moodiness - somewhat.

“So this is supposed to be it?” he questioned, picking up the square radar like contraption. He could tell it wasn’t complete, judging from the loose wires and missing parts, but it was actually starting to look like something, compared to what he’d seen before he’d left the cave last time. She’d come a long way in the few hours he’d left to collect the second dragon ball.

* * *

Her POV

He got offended and dodged the question, which made it all the more obvious. He was avoiding eating for some reason. Not like she really cared, as long as he continued to collect her dragon balls. They ate so strangely she was sure he’d be just fine going a few days without food, anyway. so she just continued to eat as he walked around her and examined her work. …Though she kept a close eye to ensure he didn’t mess anything up.

“It’s a radar. You’ll be able to track the balls with it, I told you. They’ll pop up as little lights on the radar. I realized that I don’t have much of a battery source, though, so I’m going to have to try and make a few solar panels on it to try and make it harness energy from all these stupid suns this planet has. It might take me longer than expected. Not too much longer. It’ll take me another three or so hours to get the solar thing figured out when I get to it, but I want to finish the main parts of the radar first.”

She wiped her mouth when she finally decided she was full, and proceeded to pull herself closer to Vegeta to see what he was observing and finally take it from him to keep working. Such a pain in the butt. But it at least kept her busy. She would be so bored otherwise, just sitting in the cave all day. Too bad he still had her under constant supervision. It’s not as if she didn’t need it, but still. It’d be nice to stretch her feet properly. 

“…It should take me another two hours to finish what I have to before I can get to the solar panels. Then maybe a couple more hours to make sure everything is nice and working… A few minutes to charge… And we should be good to go. …Can I look with you? I don’t want you breaking this thing.” That’s how she could stretch her legs. Looking for the dragon balls herself. What was the harm in that? It didn’t seem like any sentient, dangerous aliens lived on this planet, after all.

* * *

His POV

He could feel her eyes on him, but the prince never turned to face her. Then, before he knew it, the girl was sitting beside him. He eyed her suspiciously at first, especially when she took the device from his grasp. Explaining the finer details of her invention. The prince didn’t give it too much thought at first, still slightly lingering in his moodiness. But as the girl went on, the man became more interested. His hunger and his anger were all but forgotten, and his attention was fixed on the bits and pieces she pointed out. 

It sounded as if it was going to take a few more hours. Just excellent. Vegeta let out a heavy sigh, displeased by that fact, but what was he to do? The girl was obviously working at her fastest. Why wouldn’t she, after all? It was her idea and it was to get her home back, he didn’t suspect she had any ulterior motives. But damn, it meant it’d be a while before he could search for the dragon balls properly …and the prince was starting to lose his control around the locals. Last time he’d nearly killed someone. His promise was a difficult one.

“You ...come with... on a mission?” the prince’s face scrunched, surprised by her asking to search with him. Well, this wasn’t exactly a regular mission, if it could be considered a mission at all, but it still felt like one to him. It was a goal, something to dominate his mind and will power, something his stubbornness had to defeat. And she wanted to come with him? At first Vegeta didn’t look convinced. Slitting his gaze at her and debating the pros and cons.

“Do whatever the hell you want…” he finally breathed out, closing his eyes rather grumpily. It was better to keep the girl with him than not. What if the radar broke while he was gone? What if something happened to her in the cave while he was away? And if he knew this woman by now …her asking to go out was a red flag that she’d try to run one way or another. He might as well take her while he had the choice. The locals seemed to be peaceful enough, more like wusses really, he wasn’t too worried about that. 

“Just stay away from the locals...” he murmured, slyly glancing at the girl, “…you have a talent for getting yourself into trouble.” he almost sounded concerned, if the man wasn’t wearing that scowl of his. Still, his gaze had softened as had his tone. Speaking of the locals had slightly irritated him, though. They weren’t the most cooperative bunch. They kept telling him the same thing, over and over, that he wouldn’t be able to use them if he tried. As much as he thought they were lying, something about that bothered him.

“They’re uncooperative little fucks. Remind me again why I can’t strangle the information out of them?”

* * *

Her POV

“Yeah.” Why did he act so horrified at the idea of her coming with? It’s not like he was getting into trouble, right? She raised a brow at him for just a moment before going back to work, trying to half focus on what he was saying or doing. Was it a yes or a no? He had sounded so uncertain, after all. But then there it was. The stamp of approval, telling her to do what she wanted. Even if she knew by now that he’d never let her truly do what she wanted. He had a knack for ignoring her autonomy.

Now he was warning about the locals. That was something that caused her to stop what she was doing and look up at him with wide eyes. There were locals? It seemed so empty on this planet! It was a surprise to find out that it wasn’t just mindless animals. She glanced away in thought, wondering what exactly they were like. Would it be worth the trip? …Well, if Vegeta was there, she’d be safe. In the lightest form of the word, anyway. …She turned her attention back to him, just in time for him to describe the apparently irritating natives.

“You really haven’t killed any?” That came as a giant surprise. She blinked a few times, not sure if she really believed it or not. He hadn’t come back covered in blood, though he had certainly come back full of soot from fire. She hoped he’d been alright. Clearly his patience was wearing thin, but she hoped no innocent lives were lost. It felt shitty, to take their balls and kill innocent civilians in the process while she planned on wishing her planet back to how it was. She didn’t like the idea at all. But with how irritated he was, and his choice of words… Maybe he had been good.

“Because killing is wrong! Especially killing innocents! That’s why! If you have such a problem, just let me talk instead. You’re a horrible diplomat.” She rubbed her eyes irritably before glancing Vegeta up and down one last time. “I really hope you didn’t hurt anyone, Vegeta. You promised, you know. I don’t want to see any more death and bloodshed. I’m tired of it. Really, really tired.” She let out a long sigh, and finally went back to the radar. “…I’ll tell you when I’m finished.”

* * *

His POV

_“You really haven’t killed any?”_ the girl’s words took him by surprise, and he met her question with a vexed expression. He’d been watching her thoughts rotate across her face. The mention of the locals had gotten the girls attention; he should have known it would. The earthling had some strange fascination with life. And while he’d never given it a second thought, considering his killer’s attitude more like nature at work, she had a strange way of making him re-consider. What the hell was she doing to him?

Then she scolded him for killing even further, did she really not trust him? He’d kept up his part of the deal. The prince grunted softly, knitting his brows together. But then the girls tone took a turn, and his blue female almost sounded ...sorrowful. It did something to him - made his gut clench in an unpleasant way. While Vegeta felt no need to give her an explanation, seeing as he didn’t do anything wrong, he couldn’t let go of the fact that she looked hopeless. Before he knew what he was doing, his body shifted to give her silent reassurance.

“ _I promise_...” the words were rough and lowly, but soft and barely whispered out. Just for the two of them. He promised he hadn’t, wouldn’t kill anyone. Vegeta quickly turning his attention away from his confession, trying to escape. He watched the radar in her hands more intently. Fixing his gaze on the turning of her screwdriver. She really was a wonderful mechanic, if he was being honest with himself. Not that he’d ever admit that out loud.

“If you think you can speak to them, be my guest. That should prove interesting.” he was teasing, clearly. Stretching his sullen face into an arrogant grin. Taunting he knew how to do, and it helped clear away the air - for him at least. Besides, he liked prodding her. And in some part of it, it showed he trusted her. She was right, he was no diplomat, but he thought if anyone could talk their way out of a paper bag, it was probably Bulma. He’d give her a chance. 

Without knowing, Vegeta had dropped his guard around the girl. Their conversation felt much like one they’d have in the pod. His shoulders dropped and he’d scooted closer in order to give them privacy in their own little world. He looked at eased, relatively relaxed despite someone being in his personal bubble. He was only paying attention to the girl, too. It went completely over the prince’s head, but his men certainly had noticed. Nappa and Raditz shooting the odd glance now and again, watching the odd behavior of exchanges. Vegeta looked content to sit and watch the girl tinker for as long as she may please. The prince was good at sitting and being quiet, it was one of his only redeeming qualities.

* * *

Her POV

She was worrying about his promise, even if she didn’t say it. She was scared that he was either lying, or that his promise would be broken soon. So when he reiterated that he promised, albeit quietly, and agreed that she’d be better at talking to the natives than she would. She nodded her head gently, though she glanced at him when she felt him move closer to her. Their knees were touching, and he seemed to be watching what she was doing like a hawk. Was it that interesting? …He wasn’t bothering her, so she might as well allow it. 

Hours passed. She did what she could of the radar and moved on to trying to create a makeshift solar panel, and that proved difficult since she used up so much of the same technology however far back when making the cage for the puppies. She spent a few hours just trying to create a roundabout way of doing it, eventually coming up with a contraption from the shell of a motorcycle mirror that could convert sun to battery power. Then she could get back to the real work.

It only took her a little more than an hour to finish it and tweak everything, piece it all together, and so on. When she was done, she closed everything up and screwed it back together, before pressing a button on the side of the radar to turn it on. It beeped to life, showing the two dragon balls they had in the cave. She let out an exhausted sigh of relief, and showed it off to Vegeta. The dots looked light, as if the battery was running very low, but it worked. 

“Look. All finished. You press this button here and you can zoom in and out to get a wider or more narrow picture of where the next ball would be. …But before we go, I want to take a nap. I spent all day on that! …Or, I’m sure I did. You can’t really tell on this kind of planet.” She looked out the mouth of the cave and furrowed her brows. Still sunny outside. It’d certainly been at least a day. She knew that for certain. At least it made it easy to charge the thing.

“You can put it out in the sun and it’ll charge up so it’ll work better. It looks like you can barely see the dots now because it hasn’t had enough time to absorb enough sunlight. Give it a little longer and it’ll be running at peak efficiency.” She gave it to him and looked around for the pelt to lay on, though when she got a good look at it she debated whether or not it’d be a good idea. It looked like it needed a wash, not something she wanted to lay on. Damn. …Maybe she could take nap in the grass. It looked far more inviting than the hard, cold rock floor of the cave. Even if it wasn’t that much softer itself. She decided to take the risk and got up to her feet, walking straight out of the cave and sitting down just outside. If it was so safe, she really had nothing to worry about, right? Especially since she had three Saiyans sitting not too far away.

* * *

His POV

She was a resourceful little thing, wasn’t she? Once Bulma had picked up the mirror, Vegeta hadn’t the slightest clue what use she could make of the relatively busted scrap. His brow hardened, but he said nothing. Watching intently, almost as if he’d lost the ability to move. At least he was a quiet watcher. Never budging, never flinching, aside from the odd time Nappa or Raditz dared to speak up or try to grab the prince’s attention. Once, Nappa had stepped closer; Vegeta’s deadly gaze flicked up at the man menacingly. Nappa thumbed over his shoulder towards the pile of disregarded fish, and Vegeta answered with a grunt. The two soldiers greedily finishing off the kill now that their leader considered it trash.

Not much changed from there on out. Nappa and Raditz ventured just outside of the mouth of the cave. Entertaining themselves with sparing, but Vegeta never moved. He was transfixed. Staring as if he were truly taking mental notes, which he probably was. He’d never seen anyone so amble create something out of thin air. Something about watching her work put him into a trance, lulled his mind, and made him strangely comfortable. The ticking time not wearing on him as much as he’d have imagined. Besides, he wanted to make sure he knew how it worked, and the only way to do that was to pay attention.

Vegeta met her gaze, nodding to her words; falling out of his trance. The radar seemed simple enough to manage. He took it, looking it over and giving it a few trial runs - zooming it in and out. It seemed to work, but she was right, it wouldn’t last the duration of his trip if he didn’t allow it time to charge. Damn… that didn’t seem to be the only thing that needed to charge, either. Bulma looked tired, he could see that from the stagger in her walk when she headed outside. 

“A nap... again?!” he bit out. But they’d just finished! Maybe his lack of sleep was wearing on him more than he thought. He was losing track of the days, too. Vegeta didn’t follow behind her when she left the cave, rather, found a place to sit the radar and allow it to soak up the sun. Then he turned back towards the sound of his grunting, chattering men in the distance, but something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. It was the earthling; she really did look beautiful laying in the ocean of blue grass. How could he fault her for napping when he got a view like that.

“It’s this damn planet...” his voice murmured from behind her, he’d stepped closer. “...it’s three suns don’t allow for nightfall.” he wasn’t sure why he was explaining things to her, but he felt compelled to. Maybe because he noticed her curiosity. He walked past after that, heading to join his men in sparring. That’d take his mind off of things. The sound of their grunting and hand to hand combat muffled in the nearby field.

* * *

Her POV

He complained about her taking a nap ‘again,’ but she couldn’t care less. She laid down in the grass and curled into a ball, letting out a long yawn as she listened to Vegeta explain how the planet rotated around so many suns so that it was always sunny. Seemed stupid to her. Night was important. She pitied the people that didn’t understand how nice it was to have a dark, silent time to relax and go to sleep. Hrmph. She shook her head gently as she got comfortable. Stupid… They didn’t even get to see what the starry night looked like. Did they even have moons? Would they know if they had moons?

She fell asleep within a few minutes, tuning out the grunting the Saiyans were doing as they sparred with one another. And when she did fall asleep, she dreamt of Earth. Again. She had that dream a lot. When she actually dreamt, anyway. It was so pleasant… She breathed out slowly and shifted around every so often as she basked in the warmth of the pleasant dream, a sweet feeling that kept her lulled asleep for hours until she finally felt completely rested.

When she opened her eyes, she was feeling refreshed, despite the fact her neck felt a bit tight from her sleeping quarters. She got up into a sitting position and looked around, rubbing her eyes. …She was hungry and thirsty again, obviously. But she figured if she said something, Vegeta would complain. He did that a lot. It’s not like she asked for much, but when she did, he acted as if she was so high-maintenance. Feh… He should have seen her back before all this stuff happened. She used to be high-maintenance. 

First things first, though. She needed to freshen up again. Whether or not Vegeta was going to complain about it. Hell, she might as well just grab the gauze and head out by herself and hope he didn’t follow, though she was sure he would. Nosy, nosy… She got up and walked to where they kept their supplies, fishing around until she found what she was looking for. Gauze! She didn’t bother to wait around for any of the Saiyans before heading straight out into the forest to find somewhere to clean herself up. Maybe she could find a drinking hole on the way back.

* * *

His POV

He’d watched her sleep for some time. After boring himself with beating the shit out of his two men (well more like rough housing, but even that could get brutal with Vegeta), the man had returned to the girl’s side. Checking on her. His eyes trailing over her delicate, defenseless body. For all of his irritation and impatience, Vegeta found himself lingering over the girl. The sweat from his sparring cooling and glimmering against the breeze. She looked peaceful when she slept. She always did. Much like when he watched her slumber in the pod, in the dead silence of space. He did that a lot now that he realized it.

As soon as he’d felt that twinge of attachment, Vegeta retreated. Stripping himself from the image of the girl and grumpily heading for the radar. At least it had charged a little faster than its creator. It’d been left in the sun for a few hours, and the two bright lights blinking in the glare of the sunlight showed it was working perfectly fine. Maybe he could test it... before she ever woke up. Hell, maybe he’d have a dragon ball. Maybe she’d be impressed, or jealous that he’d left without her. _She wanted to go with him_. He smirked. Not that... he wanted her to feel jealous or impressed... He just enjoyed prodding her, to see the pouty look on her face. Yeah, that was it.

“Don’t touch her.” he growled at his men as he passed them by. Both Nappa and Raditz had a feeling they were suddenly put back on guard duty, just fucking fantastic. Vegeta left before the girl stirred. The radar bleeping in his hand. Unfortunately for the prince though, Bulma woke before he ever returned. In fact, it hadn’t been too long. He’d barely left. Nappa and Raditz may have made good guard dogs on their own, but the two were taking bets over what the prince was going to wish for. They’d overheard Bulma and Vegeta talking. They had no idea the dragon balls were for her.

She slipped past them unnoticed - the two lugs thinking she was still passed out in the grass. They were sitting on the large rocks outside, their backs to the cave. If Vegeta was there he’d surely have disciplined them. But he wasn’t ...and the girl was left all on her own. The forest she ventured into not too dangerous, but it did have its beasts and quick sands. Not to mention one very big lake where one particular dragon ball happened to be. Sunk at the bottom of the silty floor.

* * *

Her POV

On her way out, she realized that Vegeta wasn’t there. She thought it would make it more difficult for her to escape, since the other two Saiyans would likely force her to sit and wait whereas Vegeta would probably follow her, but she went by unseen. Perfect for her. She got her privacy and cleaned up after how many hours of not getting the chance (and really, REALLY having to go), without even Vegeta popping out of nowhere to harass her. For once in who knows how long, she felt moderately comfortable and not on edge while doing her business.

She was still hungry and thirsty, however. That was a problem. She was wary about eating any fruit that grew on the trees (who could tell if they were safe or not?) but she could at least find a body of water to wash her face and take a drink. She hadn’t gotten sick so far from drinking the planet’s water, so it must be safe. She did some wandering with the goal in mind, almost got lost on the way, but eventually found a sparkling green lake. Thankfully the forest was not dangerous, and on her trip to the lake, she didn’t end up going toe to toe with anything.

She got down on her knees and sipped up as much water as she felt necessary once she had gotten close to the water’s edge. Enough to fill her belly and soothe her dry tongue for the time being. She was still hungry, but that wasn’t a problem. She’d find Vegeta and harass him about getting her something to eat eventually. She could call it payback for him leaving without her even when she told him that she wanted to come with, if only to stretch her legs. That’s what the jerk got.

She wondered where he’d gotten to, anyway. …Was that a village on the other side of the lake? Hn, so there were natives here. She was a bit worried about meeting them without the back-up of at least one other Saiyan, but she felt dirty and wanted to get clean. She could just barely see the village from where she was, so she figured it’d be worth the dunk. Her clothes were stripped, and she dropped into the green water to take another bath and get off all the dirt and sweat caked to her poor skin.

* * *

His POV

He hoped he wasn’t taking too long. The prince really wanted to get back in time to see the woman wake, but he didn’t want to do so without a dragon ball tucked confidently under his arm. It’d be too humiliating returning without a prize. Especially now that she’d given him a radar, it should be like shooting fish in a barrel. But he’d run into a little problem. He didn’t want to get the damn thing wet. Who knew if the girl could fix it if it short circuited. And while the device had lead him directly to the sprawling lake, it didn’t tell him exactly where it was. It must of been deep, which only made pin pointing the location by hovering over the water all the worse. He’d have to dive in and search by senses alone.

This was his second time under the water’s surface. The radar left safely atop a high rock while he searched the lake bottom. Sure, the radar helped give him a general area, but it was different once he got under water. The depth screwed with his senses and water wasn’t exactly his element. Besides that, the dragon ball was most likely over grown with algae and mud. Even if he was right over the top of it, there was a good chance he wouldn’t have the slightest clue. After searching his hands through the silt and sand, mucking his hands up and over turning rocks, he resurfaced, but just barely.

He had held his breath as long as he could, planning on dunking back under as soon as he’d caught his breath, but then something caught his eye. The distant figure dancing along the shore line, stripping of its clothing… oh god, he knew that figure. He knew that figure anywhere. His palms instantly recalling the shape of her. But what the actual fuck was Bulma doing all the way out here?! God damn it, she just couldn’t stay put, could she. _But didn’t that make him a hypocrite_...

The dragon ball, or the girl. It was a tough choice, but ultimately his vision fixed on the girl. Watching her wade into the water. Slash the tide over her perfectly pearly skin. He was at a far enough distance to keep her from spotting him, especially since his head wasn’t fully above the water, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to watch. In fact... maybe he could get a little closer.

He hid beneath the surface again, and his ki moved him silently underwater. So much for finding the dragon ball before meeting the girl again, but who could really blame him? He resurfaced just behind a tree that’d fallen into the water, creeping over the fallen log and crouching for a better look. Some part of him wanted to scare her just for the jest of it, another part wanted to wade and watch in silence as she gleamed above the reflective surface. It was like watching his prize, his true prize, dangle in front of him. The dragon ball all but forgotten for now.

* * *

Her POV

She stripped off her clothes and began to bathe in the green waters, as much as she could without things like soap. She scrubbed her skin until it felt clean, and got her hair wet to try and remove any dirt or muck stuck in it. She couldn’t wait until she got back home. She’d be able to take a proper shower, a proper bath… And maybe another shower again right after. Wash herself so she felt really clean in a way she hadn’t felt in some time. And by herself! No servants to try and finger her while they were cleaning her body. That’d be great. How rare was it to have actual privacy nowadays? Aliens all seemed so unusual. Even that planet where everything was made of glass so you could see in…

She huffed as she thought about it, treading further into the water. It was warm, at least. Probably from being constantly heated by the large suns. …Actually, that was one benefit to this planet. It never seemed cold. It felt like an eternal summer, and a mild one at that. She enjoyed the climate. It reminded her of home, even if it was so different from home in basically any other way she could think of. Even the color palette was switched out. Green water and blue trees? How odd…

Her foot hit something odd when she trekked further in. At first she thought it was a rock, but it rolled away from her. It felt way too soft and round to just be a rock. Especially given the lake was not connected to any running body of water. She took a large breath and held it before dunking under the water, if only to see what it was. And there sat a shining, shimmering dragon ball, waiting for her to find. What were the chances of that? Dang, was she lucky. She tried to pick it up, but it wouldn’t budge, so she was forced to stand up again for more air. She’d just roll it out. No problem.

She walked around it and held her breath again so she could bend down and slowly start rolling it to shore, something she managed quick enough that she didn’t need to stop for another breath all the way up to when her head naturally submerged as the water got more shallow. She rolled it up to the shore and then bent down with her knees to pick it up and over the remaining little patch of dirt– that took a second for her to accomplish, but she eventually did. 

She set her hands on her hips and looked proudly at her find, a grin on her face. She could bring it back to the cave and show everyone just how great she was, that she could find these things without even actively looking! …Too bad she didn’t really know where the cave was from here. That would definitely be a problem. How was she going to get back? She’d trekked a little too far, she supposed.

* * *

His POV

He watched for some time. It wasn’t difficult to get lost in the image of the girl bathing her silky smooth skin. Vegeta knew, he knew what her curves felt like, what it was like to have her form move in his hands. Watching her wash the water over her body was stirring up recent memories. He’d gotten the chance to bask in her movements and in the details of her form during their last slow encounter. Going slow seemed to still be having its rewards. He’d gotten very well antiquated with her, which was making spying on her all the more vividly enjoyable.

And then she dunked back under water, and Vegeta felt the urge to protest. His lungs puffing out his chest and assertively changing his stance. He was enjoying that little show …what the hell was she doing? The girl looked distracted, and for good reason too, it appeared. It was a dragon ball... Of all the things she may happen to stumble upon she’d found the very thing he’d been searching for. And without even trying, but the looks of it.

He knew he should feel angry, jealous on some level that his goal had been met by someone else, but a different feeling overwhelmed any negativity. The prince felt sort of proud. Of course she’d find it before him. She had a knack for beating him to the punch. Besides, he still had the upper hand seeing as she hadn’t spotted him, and he was going to use it to his advantage. Maybe as a little pay back for ruining his plans. He’d wanted bring her the dragon ball and shove it in her face after all, not the other way around.

As stealthily as a big panther, the prince rounded behind the distracted female. Side stepping off of the log and stalking up behind her. His footsteps never made a sound. His gaze never diverted, never blinked. Honing in on what he really wanted. But then a memory struck him - just as he was close enough to reach out and touch her. He knew she hated when he crept up on her; scaring the shit out of her. ...but he did love it. Kami, it was so difficult not to catch her off guard. She was his favorite prey after all, and pouncing her was well, fun.

“Let me guess, you’ll want me to dry you off too?” the voice was dark and purred, but arrogant and sarcastic. It could only be Vegeta. However, he wasn’t directly behind her, the voice came from a short distance away. He’d retreated, picking up her pile of clothing. His well-cut arm extended, holding out the wad of fabric to her, gripped in his fist. Though he couldn’t quite wipe that dirty smirk off his face. He’d almost got her.

* * *

Her POV

Just as she was admiring her discovery, she heard someone’s voice. Her hands quickly covered her breasts and her cheeks reddened as she turned to see Vegeta staring down at her, holding her clothes out for her. She pouted at him and stuck her tongue out at that stupid remark, before climbing out of the water. He’d seen her naked before, but it was still embarrassing to be caught like every time. …At least she got a little privacy. It was nice while it lasted, she supposed. 

She shook herself off and grabbed the close, taking a look at him again. …Actually. He had a point. There’s not a lot of other ways she could properly dry off. She stepped closer to him and reached out, grabbing his blue bodysuit and tugging it to force him to get a little closer. Her subtle way of saying ‘yes.’ She didn’t look absolutely thrilled about it, but it was necessary in order for her to put her clothes on without getting them sopping wet. …And, well. In the meantime, she could make it so he didn’t enjoy it either, by talking his ear off.

“Why didn’t you wait for me before going out again, you jerk? You said I could come with. I’m going to be pissed if you hurt anyone. Besides, what if I needed something? Those idiots would never help me! I’m really hungry, you know! And if I hadn’t sneaked past them like I did, I’d be thirsty and dirty and smelly and uncomfortable from having to pee so bad!” She yapped his ear off even with how uncomfortably close she was, a glare and pout on her face to boot.

“Ah… I should have brought new clothes with me, too, honestly. These smell. I need new ones. After the food, obviously. I’m really, really hungry. And I do not want fish again. I had enough of that giant fish yesterday. I want something else. Actually, I want real food for once!” She gave him a little hit to the chest to get her point across about just how irritated at the situation she was, before turning her head away quickly. 

“So? Hurry up and dry me off already so I can get dressed! And then we can go find me something to eat, because I’m starving, because you didn’t even bother to leave me something to eat before you left me with those two idiots who couldn’t even properly keep track of me! Hurry it up already. My cramps are coming back, too, so it better be nice and warm. It’s irritating to deal with when I already have so many other things on my plate, you know!”

* * *

His POV

Her subtle acknowledgement and acceptance of his crude offer didn’t go unnoticed. The gentle tugging at his suit lured him in. Allowing the girl to guide him a few steps closer - something he wouldn’t allowed of anyone else. No, anyone but the girl would of been met with a stern grimace and an even more unwelcoming stone stiff stature. But he gave in and allowed it, feeling particularly full of himself when the girl curled into his frame for warmth. Expecting him to do as she said. She always was so demanding.

He watched her for a few moments, his arrogance and need for domination enjoying forcing her to linger and wait for his command. Despite her continual blathering, a condescending grin was twisting up his rough face. Eating up the fact that she’d come to him, and was still pressing up against him regardless of her lack of clothing. His palm brushing into the sway of her back the more she talked. She was relying on him for something, as small as it may of been, but it was enough to stroke his ego. He allowed her to chew his ear off, and though it may of been irritating to have her nagging in his ear, it was his way of staying in control. It was always a power struggle with those two, but that’s what he liked about it.

“As if I’d just wait around for you to catch up on your beauty sleep.” he prodded right back at her, his split grin displaying all of his perfectly deadly teeth. He’d caught her up by the waist by now. The warmth of his arm catching around her back, splaying his hand against her bare side. Nearly pressing nose to nose, challenging her to go ahead and try to order him around. It was a bluff, obviously, because his aura began to stir and heat just a moment later. A great burst of ki bellowing out around them in a sudden, harmless blast. Lifting their hair and swirling the leaves at their feet. They were both dry - he hesitantly loosened his grip.

“We can find something to eat along the way,” he ordered rather than suggested, the true General he was, “...I can’t believe you found that damn ball.” he sounded pissed, but truthfully Vegeta was relieved. That meant he wouldn’t have to waste time searching for it. He picked up the ball as well as the radar he’d left on a high rock. Maybe they should return to the cave first. It’d be troublesome, but carrying that ball as well as the radar and the girl across the planet would be even more bothersome. Damn.

* * *

Her POV

She ignored how smug he looked and instead focused on how nice it felt for him to heat up like he did. It warmed every bone in her body and soothed her cramping tummy, making her at least tolerant enough of his closeness to stop yelling at him so much. Even when she was dry, she didn’t back away. Only went the warmth faded did she back up, and after one last warning glare at him, she began to put her clothes back on. All the while listening to his dumb demands and complaints. It was her job to complain and make demands!

“We’d better find something! Like I said, I’m starving!” Though she didn’t want to go back to that cave. No way. She’d spent days there, and damn, was she sick of the same scenery. The same rocks. It was nice to explore again. To stretch her legs after focusing so hard on making that radar. …Which looked to be in one piece still. Thankfully. She would have been pissed off if he’d already broken it. 

“I knocked into it. Maybe if you were actually looking and not just… Peeping…” Which she was sure he was doing, “Then you would have found it before me. So don’t complain. …It’s heavy, so you should be the one to carry it, too. Where’s the next one on the radar? We’ll walk on the way and you can give me food when we find some. …Maybe fruit. I’m sick of meat. You can tell if fruit is safe to eat, can’t you? Like how you could see if the water was okay.”

* * *

His POV

He didn’t like it when she pulled away. Taking her warmth, her smell, the allowance she was giving him. The dark grimace on his face showed it. He let her go though, watching the naked female prance far enough away to pull on her clothing. Even as he picked up the radar, the prince’s black glare never left her, watching from under a hard brow. He was just about to bark more orders, when she beat him to the punch.

“How did you know-” he startled, but better not ask how she knew he was peeping. It’d just lead to an unneeded argument, surely. Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose, then gave her a shrewd sidelong look. It seemed the girls hunger was going to have to be put at the top of his list, less she never shut up about it. Honestly, he’d gone over a week now without a morsel. She couldn’t last one day? That’s when reality struck him, shaking his insides like a bolt of lightning... he didn’t want her to go hungry. He may be punishing himself, but the Saiyan wanted the girl to thrive. Fuck anyone who tried to take that away from her.

“Yes…” he finally answered her question about detecting poisons, “…a skill your weak species seems to drastically lack.” he bit out, handing her the radar. That left the dragon ball in his possession, and he stuffed it under an arm as he took off in a new direction. He looked like he knew where he was going, but it was all swagger and pride. He wasn’t going somewhere; he was trying to escape. Trying to get away from the realization that he put her needs before his goal. Something truly unspeakable. Unheard of. But happening...

“So where does the damn thing say the next ball’s at.” he barked out horrendously, causing the life in the trees to flee in fear. Vegeta had stopped in his tracks, waiting for her direction. Oh, it burned him, that he had to wait for orders from someone else. The end of his tail twitched between his calves, obviously irritable. But at least he wasn’t planning on going to the cave anymore. The girl had a point, multitasking was better. He’d find her food, but only on the journey to the next dragon ball.

* * *

Her POV

Geeze. He was so annoying. She was beginning to wish that she could just go collect all these balls herself without him following her around like a lost puppy. He never left her side, it seemed. He never left her alone. And he never stopped having that grumpy look on his face whenever she was more than an arm’s reach away. And worse yet– he just admitted he couldn’t even leave her be, even when bathing!

“So you admit it!” She quickly snapped her head over her shoulder to glare at him just as he mumbled about how she knew about the peeping. She had a sneaking suspicion. What a creep. What a pervert. What was with alien men? Yamcha wouldn’t actively peep on her! Even before she started having sex with him! If She had sex with Vegeta, she’d think that he’d be calmed down enough to not want to ogle at her naked body at every chance. Apparently not. Apparently it made him even more hungry for it. Eugh. Thankfully they wouldn’t be together for much longer.

“You’re wrong.” She pulled her clothes on and took another glance over at Vegeta, her nose wrinkling as he spoke. He always had to be so insulting. “My species can, we just can’t smell it instantly like you guys can. We have other ways, based on how our planet is. On our planet, there’s a phenomenon known as aposematism. Nature gives off warning signals if they’re not to be messed with. There’s skunks, who are colored specifically so they don’t blend it and smell terrible, so you know to stay away. But most commonly it’s bright colors. For the most part, things that are red or blue or other bright colors are things that warn you to stay away.”

She shrugged and grabbed the radar from him, pressing a button a few times so it would show the location of the next ball. “Ah… It’s a while away. An I mean a while. It’s really, really far to just right of here. It’s going to take us a while to get to.” Great, just great. Well, at least they had plenty of opportunity to grab some food. She hoped he was really paying attention to what he could grab for her to eat. She didn’t want to reiterate how hungry she was. Even she knew she sounded like a broken record.

* * *

His POV

He could feel her glare burning into his back. That didn’t mean he’d turn around to meet her, though, instead meeting her challenge. That is, until she began to school him on her planets way of things. That got his attention. The prince’s scowling, squinted glare jerking over his shoulder, tensing the bulges of muscle that lined down his back. He wasn’t quite sure why he was in such a mood, more so then he’d usually be when she decided to scold him. Maybe it was due to the fact that he couldn’t have her. Not the way he wanted, he couldn’t just pounce her when he felt like it anymore.

At least she was giving him some interesting information, more revealing then he’d thought it’d be. The prince’s attitude waned, and his lips hooked up into a wry smirk. Something she’d said caught his attention, and it was bringing him closer. His boots agilely smoothing through the blue grass. Taking him closer, until his fingers could brush the ends of her bright hair and his overpowering aura could lean in - making his point quite clear.

“That explains a few things...” he purred out, meaning she was just as deadly and poisonous as they came. Maybe she really was a siren, or a nymph. It’d explain why she had such a hold on him, why she drowned out his better judgement half the time, but he wasn’t about to say that much out loud. He backed away gently and rolled his vision down to the radar instead. The girl was right, the nearest dragon ball seemed leagues away. Nothing a short flight wouldn’t fix, but that’d leave his main priority abandoned; finding her food.

“If you didn’t have to eat so much I could fly us there in no time.” he argued, but continued on foot none the less. Leading them deeper into the forest in the direction of the nearest dragon ball. However, Vegeta was allowing his nose to do most of the leading. Lifting his chin and sniffing the air from time to time. Picking up the sweet scent of something in the distance. Then, without a word, the man leaped high into the canopy. A moment or two later the rustling of leaves came from above, followed by the incoming of falling fruit.

* * *

Her POV

She focused herself on the radar, so she didn’t pay much attention to Vegeta when he snuck up on her. Until he brushed his fingers through his hair and murmured what he did. It took a moment for her to realize what he was saying- her hair! Blue! Her cheeks reddened, and she elbowed him just as he looked at the scouter in her hands. Asshole! If anyone was the poisonous one, it was him. Him! What did she do to be considered poisonous? All she’d ever done is protect and stand up for herself!

“Be quiet! I don’t eat all the time! If anything, I’ve been eating too little. I’m hungry all the time because at most I’ve only been eating once a day. I can’t survive like that, you know! Why do you think I get so skinny? I’m sorry that I’m not as indestructible as you are! When’s the last time you’ve ate? Geeze.” Though they did eat like pigs when they actually ate. She needed only a small fraction of the food they did. Enough that could be considered a crumb to them, in all honesty.

They walked on, though Vegeta took the lead. …Sniffing. For food? She followed him with a pout on her face, irritated that she had to wait at all for and kind of food. Who knew how long they’d been walking, when he, without so much as a warning, jumped into the trees. She turned her head up to follow, but all she could really hear was rustling. Had he found some good fruit? She hoped it tasted good. What use would it be if he got it and it ended up tasting awful?

She assumed he’d grab one and bring it to her, but that’s not how it went. Instead, he dropped it from the trees. She only managed to recognize that it looked an awful lot like a coconut before it smacked her right in the face and caused her to drop to the ground. She at least wasn’t unconscious, but her face sure as hell hurt. Especially her nose. Was she… Was she bleeding? Shit! Just her luck!

* * *

His POV

He was glad to see he got a rise out of the woman, stirring her up made him feel good. He walked on, up until he’d spotted the fruit high in the tree tops. It’d have to do, even if it wasn’t meat. Did she really expect to get full on fruit? No wonder she was always hungry. Vegeta hadn’t meant to drop the round bowling-ball like fruits to the ground, but as soon as he touched them, the fell on their own accord. Damn, he had to catch a few just to keep them all from falling. Catching a few up in his arms, just as he heard a shriek from below him. Oh shit.

Instantly, the prince leaped to the ground, falling out of the tree much like an acrobatic cat landing on both feet. The fruit was no longer his priority, Bulma was. There was blood dripping from her chin; his expression turned vial. Within a heartbeat instinct flooded the males brain, blotting out the rest of reality. Without knowing it, Vegeta had cupped the girl’s cheek in the softest of ways. Tilting her head as to assess the damage. Her nose was bruised purple, her lips stained with blood, but he didn’t panic. Keeping a calm and cool demeanor. It was natural; what any good leader would do.

“You idiot... didn’t you see them falling? What kind of person just stands there!” he wasn’t as pissed at her as he was the fact that she’d been hurt. It was just his worry talking. His brows pressed together in concern, watching for any signs of unconsciousness in her eyes, gently wiping the blood from her face. Though once he felt the situation was under control, the prince backed away slowly. Picking up one of the round hard fruit and splitting it over his knee with ease.

“You were right about one thing...” he paused, handing her half of the sweet cherry red fruit, “...I like it better when you’re grab-able. So eat up.” he just couldn’t say a nice thing, could he. He just had to prod. But there was meaning behind this one; he was testing to see how awake she was. If the bonk on the head had damaged her senses or if she’d bite back in the pink of health. Besides, he was telling the truth, as well as his way of agreeing with her. That she was right, he should be feeding her more, but he couldn’t just come out and say that. Not without it being a crude complement.

* * *

Her POV

He all but ran to help her, and she mustered up a glare when he scolded her. Not just for the audacity to say something like that, but to do it when it was no one’s fault but her own! She wiped away the blood and huffed, though she didn’t outright deny his help. If there was one thing he was, it was… Helpful. As of recently, anyway. She was still well aware of the man he used to be, and she saw it every time she looked at him. He was a bad person. A monster. Was it even correct of her to try and accept his attempts to change? It didn’t change the past. …She felt compelled to ask who did what they did to Chi-Chi, but she kept to more relevant conversation.

“I’m sorry I don’t have your lightning fast reflexes, alright? I saw it coming and didn’t have time to get out of the way! Why can’t you catch fruit instead of dropping them like that, you jerk? It’s your fault, don’t pin it on me!” She stuck her tongue out at him after she wiped her face again, frustrated by the amount of blood she seemed to be losing. She plugged her nose, which helped, but was painful. Had it gotten broken? Vegeta may have been willing to hand her the fruit, but she was more set on her injuries.

“Ng… I don’t want to just taste blood when I’m eating that! Don’t we have any supplies to help me out?” She must have sounded rather entertaining, considering her nose was plugged. But the blood was leaking out anyway, so she let go to another surge of blood. Damn it! Shit! This was all his fault! He broke her damn nose, so he’d have to deal with the consequences! She jerked her hand out and grabbed his shirt and shoved it up to her nose in order for it to soak up the bleeding. It gave her the opportunity to wipe her mouth again, and then she focused on the food.

She really was starving. She needed to have SOMETHING. So she plunged her hand into the fruit to scoop out the insides–which were not like coconut at all, more like watermelon without the seeds–and began eating away. And hunger or thirst was staved off by the fruit as she shoveled it in, but that didn’t take away from the fact that her nose was likely broken. Damn him! And he had to make mean, crude comments the whole time after. What an ass.

* * *

His POV

Here he was, tending to her injuries. Something he’d never do for another, not even if his life depended on it, and she was scolding him?! Well, alright, maybe that was to be expected. In fact, it was somewhat of a relief to hear her try to rant and rave past her plugged up nose. It meant she was in her right state of mind. She was fine despite a little blood loss. And to Vegeta, it was just a little bump on the nose, what the hell was she complaining about so badly? It could have split her head wide open …ingrate.

“I didn’t mean to drop... The damn thing just- oh forget it, it’s pointless now anyhow!” he all but snarled, he wasn’t about to it was an accident. He’d put the fruit down since she seemed more interested in trying to stop her bleeding. The prince winced, jerking his gaze away. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? This wasn’t exactly his field of expertise. Then he felt something nuzzle into his sleeve. The girl was using him like a giant tissue… It rolled his glare back down over her. Anyone else would of been dead on the spot for grabbing him, let alone wiping on him, but he it slide... his attention softening instead. It even gave him an idea.

He watched her a moment at his side, trying to stuff her face the best she could with the juicy meat of the fruit. She looked like a pissed animal taking out her attitude on the poor meal. It was kind of adorable. The sound of ripping fabric came next. Vegeta unraveling the bottom of his suit top, ripping it to the edge of his plate of armor, revealing half of his back and belly. Then he ripped it again, giving him two long ribbons of blue fabric. Rolling up one and then the other, until they were usable gauze for her bleeding nose.

“Do you think you can make it to the next dragon ball?” he ground out between his bared teeth. He was usually all about business, mission, goal, but her health was undoubtedly important to him. Making sure to gain her eye contact, he handed her the two tiny rolls of fabric, wiping her upper lip with his free hand in the process. Damn she really did look a mess. A glaring, pouty, horrible mess. It was wonderful. It was nice to see she only got angry, rather than cry like a pussy about it. Could she blame him for the soft amused smirk on his face? There was a chance her nose was fractured; he’d take her back for medical attention if that’s what she really wanted.

* * *

Her POV

She was paying no attention to what Vegeta was doing, until she heard the sound of something ripping. And in just a moment, she was pushed away from his sleeve so that she could use ripped pieces of his clothing, instead. She took it gratefully and balled one of the shreds of fabric and jammed it up her nose to keep it plugged, and did the same with the other side and the other piece of fabric just a moment later. It was extremely uncomfortable and her nose ached, but it was still better than nothing, and it helped her to make it easier to focus on eating. Which she did without a second thought, barely listening to Vegeta.

“I’m not walking all the way there!” She spat between munches, “You’d better fly us to the next one. I can’t make it unless you fly us! And then you fly us back and fix my stupid nose, that you broke!” Yep, she was still pointing fingers and blaming him, even getting angrier it seemed as time went on and she realized how bad the damage was. It was frustrating! She could feel some of the blood even drying and getting caked to her skin! After she’d taken a bath! Why’d he have to do this to her?!

She ate the entire fruit and then quickly wiped her face and got to her feet. She wouldn’t be waiting around long, not when she was like this. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible! She huffed again, and went to look at the radar to see just how far they were from it. Quite a way still. Gn, what a pain in the ass! All because of Vegeta!

* * *

His POV

At least she was eating, and at least she had shut up. A wash of relief fled over the prince’s shoulders, thought it never showed on his sternly scrunched face. He watched her though, watched the juice of the fruit drip down her chin and noticed the smears of blood drying to her cheek. She really could pass as a barbarian at times, did she even know it? She was harsh and demanding, and sometimes a little mean, but that’s what kept him coming back.

“Oh, so now you’re the one calling the shots?” he too stood up, planting his fists on his hips and leaning in, challenging her through his scowl. Of course she as calling the shots, when did she not? But that didn’t mean he couldn’t argue against it. Even better, he was glad to hear she had no reason or desire to return to the cave like a wounded kitten. No sniveling or begging for medical cream to take away the pain. She was ready to trek right on with their mission, and that was the reason behind his deadly smirk.

“Fine...” he finally barked, “...but you’ve got to hold the damn ball.” he didn’t ask, he just shoved - forcing the massive dragon ball right into her sticky fruity hands. She’d be in charge of the directions too. The prince didn’t ask if she was ready to go, either. Once it looked like she was relatively finished with her meal, Vegeta took the liberty of scooping the girl up, along with the ball and the radar, and headed for the nearest clearing.

He glanced down at her once, making sure she was alright, secure, ready. Making quiet contact, as if asking her if she was holding on tight enough. Then, the prince lifted into the air. High above the tree line and into the distance. The rush of wind mixing their hair and the three bright suns above warming their skin. Following the little bleeping light on the radar’s screen. How he’d carry her, the radar, and two dragon balls back to the cave he didn’t know. They’d figure it out once they got to that mess.

* * *

Her POV

“Of course! You’re too inept to do anything right, after all,” she huffed, turning away from him. But only a moment later, he agreed– but on a note that she couldn’t help but argue with. She opened her mouth to yell at him about how she would never be able to carry something so heavy, only for it to be shoved into her hands. She bent over from all the extra weight, but only a moment afterward was she whisked into his arms. It looked like she wouldn’t be getting out of this one. But it’s not like she could hold on tight– she kept both arms around the ball, holding onto it for dear life before Vegeta launched into the sky.

It was WAY too fast. She didn’t even have it in her to yell at him about how fast he was going; she was far too terrified of the speed, though she didn’t think she could even speak at these speeds without the air being sucked from her lungs. It was already hard enough to breathe as it was. Or see. She didn’t dare actually try to speak up, even if she felt it was for a good purpose. 

Eventually he stopped, and she realized just how tight she had been holding the dragon ball. But she felt too weak to try and get off or let go. She clung to it still like scared animal, her eyes wide and pupils dilated and her hair an absolute mess from being wind-swept. Maybe she was even shaking a little. She wouldn’t be surprised, with how much she felt like jelly. She’d taken air rides with Yamcha before, sure, but he always kept it slow. He’d never gone that fast with her in his arms before. She felt like she’d been on the outside of a speeding plane. A jet. 

God, she felt like she was going to puke.

* * *

His POV

He hadn’t realized he was traveling at such a fast rate. Especially not one so drastic that it’d cause motion sickness. To Vegeta, they’d been taking their time. He certainly didn’t want to wind burn the human, but he had been booking it - and at unnatural speeds. It was definitely no record timing, and it felt like a long drawn out trip, but the prince started to have second thoughts about carrying the girl around with him when he came to a halt and had a chance to glance down at her dismal state of being.

Her hair was the first thing he noticed. A blustered mess of tangled blue. Something that he never had to deal with. He always had that wind swept look, one may even think he’d flown so much it’d stuck permanently... She was shaking too… he could feel that, and it raised a silent alarm within him. Had he gone so fast? His fascination washed down over the girl, curious. At least she’d been strong enough to keep the dragon ball clutched in her lap.

He set her down gingerly without a word. Clearing his throat as he motioned his gaze towards the nearby village. It’s houses round little white domes and its people scattering around in robes. Green people. People with antenna. Piccolo’s people. It looked like the majority of the people had already spotted the incoming Saiyan and the earthling, too. Already wary, already looking like they were fearing for their lives, or ready to fight. Word of Vegeta’s harassment must have traveled across the world already. While he hadn’t been to this village yet, they obviously suspected he’d be coming.

“You’re up first.” he barked behind the girl, crossing his arms over his chest as if he refused to have anything to do with the ‘negotiations’. The look on Vegeta’s face said exactly what he was feeling - he had no expectations that this would work. Turning his head away, refusing to look at the masses. Though of course he was keeping clear tabs on the aliens and the girl’s location at all times. Ready to step in if need be.

“Give us back our dragon ball!” a voice called out from the crowd.

* * *

Her POV

When Vegeta set her down, she simply stood there. But only for a few seconds. Slowly she lowered to the ground and dropped the dragon ball between her legs, and after a moment of sitting, she leaned back to lay down, processing that little… adventure… and trying to calm her fast-beating heart. She was on the ground again. On the ground… Safe… On the ground. She blinked and tried to focus in on Vegeta as she heard his words, but she found it hard to watch him when everything was spinning.

“Ah… Give me a second.” She sat up again and rubbed her head as she spinning slowly stopped, and her eyes focused in on the people that were apparently the natives. Green… Insect-looking… With antennae… … … Piccolo! Piccolo’s people! Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and she scrambled away as quickly as she could, to Vegeta’s legs. Her arms wrapped around one of them tightly, and when one of them started yelling for the dragon ball, that only solidified her fear.

“I can’t– You– I– Pic– Picc– Vegeta! Vegeta! These people–! We had… We had someone like them on Earth! They were evil! Pure evil! He murdered thousands! He wanted to enslave everyone! He almost killed my parents! He killed my friends, before we wished them back! I–” …But… Should she really be afraid? Vegeta had managed to kill the reincarnation of that Piccolo. She still held onto his leg like it was her lifeline, but she felt slightly more calm now that she remembered just how strong Vegeta was. She’d… She’d be safe.

“Th… They haven’t been trying to attack you, have they? I don’t want to get killed by anyone, Vegeta…” Her voice was a whisper, though she knew even from the difference in height, Vegeta’d still be able to hear with his keen ears. “If they’ve been trying to attack… I-I don’t think I should be trying to reason with anyone… Piccolo could destroy entire cities in a single blow… I’m… Ah… I’m… _Scared._ ”

* * *

His POV

He certainly wasn’t expecting that reaction out of the girl. Fear, really, from here? It almost appeared as if she’d seen the green aliens before, but how could that be? This planet was off the map. It’d taken him days to find its location, and here she was familiar with the creatures. Something didn’t feel right. The prince’s hands tightening into fists, more focused on glaring at the approaching crowd of locals rather than staring down at the girl wrapped around his leg. Though, the prince was certainly very very aware of it …of the fact that she was looking to him for her safety. Then she said it, she said she was _scared_. His initial urge was protectiveness.

“As if I’d let them hurt you.” his voice thundered, scowling down at the woman. It wasn’t an angry look; Vegeta simply didn’t like to see the woman cower. It didn’t look natural on her... he was used to seeing her bold and fiery spirits. Bulma had revealed how she’d known them, though. So, these creatures had some fighters among them? Something that could pose a reasonable threat? While he’d yet to meet anything other than sniveling weaklings, he knew from the fear in her voice, she wasn’t lying.

“You there,” came a voice from the crowd; an elder man with a staff parting the masses of Namekians. “Where did you get that dragon ball... That belongs to the people of Namek! What business do you have here, go back to where you’ve come from, and …Oh my.” the elder man stopped, his eyes falling on Bulma. The girl looked a wreck. The old man could see the fear across her eyes, the blood on her face, the ratty clothes. She must of been this horrible man’s hostage. That had to be it! First their dragon balls, now this poor young girl! The old green man’s kind heart couldn’t take it.

“And leave that young girl here!” exclaimed the elder, pointing his staff at Bulma. That got Vegeta’s attention, oh, very quickly. Within an instant, his gloved fingers wound around Bulma’s arm, hoisting her up and forcing her behind himself. Shielding her from the view of the staring Namekians. Maybe bringing her along was a bad idea... His brows knit, thinking. The screwed up expression on his face was venomous, atrocious, and out for blood. The group of Namekians sensing the horrible aura wafting off of the Saiyan, the entirety of the village taking a step back.

“Mention her again and I’ll gladly kill you before you form the words. Now... about the next Dragon Ball. I know it’s here. Give it to me, or I’ll turn your village into wasteland.” his palm lifted as he spoke, curling his tail possessively around the girl behind him. It was by no means an empty threat, and Vegeta was up for a battle more than he had been with the last few villages. They’d threatened Bulma, or that’s how it’d sounded. He only mentioned one thing to Bulma under his breath, without bothering to turn his head, “…are you sure I can’t just kill them?”

* * *

Her POV

She held onto him in fear, even though she knew she was safe. But then a little old Namekian walked out among their ranks, and… …He didn’t seem intimidating. She stared at them, unsure, but then he gestured to her and commanded Vegeta to let her go. Her brows furrowed in confusion just as Vegeta grabbed her and forced her up to her feet and behind his back, and while he was terrified, she was just confused. What was with that? 

She hid behind his back and was appreciative of the tail that wrapped around her, but her eyes still peaked from his shoulder. Even with her cowering, she still watched, and as she became more calm, she tried to fix her hair with one of her hands, the other holding onto Vegeta’s shoulder. None of them looked vicious. Not at her. She could see expressions of pity directed her way. And… She saw children. Hiding behind the long robes of the elder Namekians. Two little ones, one slightly taller than the other, looking very unsure of themselves.

“No, you can’t kill them,” Bulma whispered to him, her grip on his shoulder strengthening. Maybe they weren’t bad. …Ah, that was right. All the way back then, there was that other Piccolo, wasn’t there? He was old and he didn’t seem mean! He’d tried killing the evil Piccolo after Goku spared him. She had never been sure of what was going on, but… It made sense, she supposed, that they were aliens. So is that where the dragon balls on Earth had originated from?

“I… I don’t think they’re like the Piccolo I knew,” she mumbled, though she still hid behind him for safety. Just in case. Her eyes glanced down to the dragon ball, still on the ground. And what had they said about ‘give us back our dragon ball’…? She fished for the radar, which still said it was nearby. Hidden somewhere. Had they lost theirs? Or maybe they were mistaken? Something seemed strange here. Her brows furrowed, and after a moment of deliberation, she spoke up loud enough for them all to hear her.

“We want the dragon balls to wish my planet back! Everybody from my species is dead! Please give us your dragon ball so we can wish everyone back! We know it’s here, we have a radar!” She held out the radar, showing them all the two blinking dots that showed he two nearby dragon balls– the one next to them, and the one that had apparently been ‘stolen.’

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Spring Break is over. You've got a longer chapter this time around, because not a great deal happens.
> 
>   
> 


	37. Legacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's someone else stealing the dragon balls.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

He could hear her brushing her fingers through her hair behind him, feel her grip strengthen on his shoulder, but the prince never dropped eye contact from the Namekian he was opposing. Vegeta was in full on defensive mode, and the way the girl was clinging to him for protection only heightened that natural urge that was surging through his blood. The girl said not to kill them, that they weren’t dangerous like the Namekian she’d encountered before, but he still wasn’t lowering his guard. If there was one thing Vegeta never did, it was allow someone to take him by surprise. (that is, if you don’t count a certain blue eyed earthling).

“.. _.what’s a Piccolo._..” mumbled the prince, side glancing Bulma. Why did that name ring a bell? Not that it mattered; Vegeta’s attention was directed at the old Namekian the moment he stepped closer. The elder was trying to get a better look at Bulma’s radar, but Vegeta made sure to give him a warning look. Eyeing the alien’s every step. Striking an imposing demeanor rather than watching the two examine the radar. The old man was clearly unnerved by Vegeta’s presence, but he risked his safety to near the girl. His big green brows lifted, eyeing the radar as well as the dragon ball. 

“That’s not our dragon ball, the one we keep is a one star...” the old man explained, “You say you’re trying to wish your planet back? Does this mean you’re not this monsters hostage?” asked the old Namekian. Vegeta huffed; his attitude seething through his expression at the insult. The tail around Bulma’s waist tightened a little more possessively.

“Aren’t you working with that little menace that was here not too long ago?” asked the elder.

“What the hell, who else is looking for them?” Vegeta instantly snapped. A threat to his mission? That got his war strung heart beating.

“A small white offworlder with a tail, he killed our best fighter a few hours ago… He took our precious dragon ball... Certainly if you’re noble enough to retrieve our dragon ball and stop the thief, we can help you wish back your planet. It is a worthy cause. I can’t imagine that little demon has good intentions.” the old Namekian frowned, pointing at the radar. Maybe that second blinking light was their long lost dragon ball! Maybe this nice girl would be kind enough to retrieve it. The rest of the village onlookers stared in silence, amazed at the offworlders. They didn’t get too many visitors, and they’d had several within a few days! How bizarre.

* * *

Her POV

When she was satisfied with knowing that these people were not going to hurt her, she let go of Vegeta’s shoulder and finished fixing her hair. She tried to scoot out behind his back, but his tail was still tight around her waist and prevented her from getting more than halfway out from behind him. She pursed her lips but decided to just keep where she was as she listened to the old Namekian. He gave some interesting information– someone else was looking for the balls. Someone who was fine with killing.

“Ah… I don’t like the sound of that. …But the dragon ball is still really close. Maybe he dropped it? Or left it underground or something? No one would be able to find it then, without a radar. Maybe that’s what he had been going for.” She rubbed her nose, trying to feel if the cloth had blood leaking from it or if they had managed to stop the nose bleed. “I don’t think I should get involve with this one, Vegeta.”

“Here.” She held out the radar in front of Vegeta, reaching out from behind him. “You can find that one by yourself, right? I think I should just stay here. I doubt the guy would come back, right? He wouldn’t know. So don’t worry about that. Ah… And we can track him later with a scouter, right? If he’s so strong, we should be able to find him that way. Or… You should. I don’t have a death wish.”

* * *

His POV

He was reluctant to allow the female to leave the safety of his side. Not that... the brute was showing any form of caring - never - he simply didn’t want the wool pulled over his eyes for the thousandth time. It seemed to never fail; once the female was out in the open or left to her own devices, she tended to get herself into mortal danger. Could anyone really blame him for being so over protective? The tail at her waist tightened when she hinted with fear of whatever else may be lurking on this strange planet.

Then she said it, she wanted to separate. While it was the smart thing to do, Vegeta was even more hesitant. Groaning a long, stern grunt from his throat, then calmly closed his eyes. It meant he agreed with her, but he wasn’t too thrilled with the idea. Once the radar was shoved into his hands, the prince’s eyes slit open. Looking over the blinking dot, all the while keeping tabs of any foul play by the local Namekians around him. The prince was doing what he did best. Sizing up the area, forming a plan of attack, cold hard reasoning at work.

“Raditz, get your sorry ass out here and on the double.” Vegeta suddenly snapped, a finger pressed firmly to the scouter at his ear. “And tell Nappa to stay put and watch over those damn Balls. Someone else is on the planet searching for them. _Like hell I’ll let that happen_...” he mumbled that last part, “That’s an order!” his raspy voice bit out, barking into the scouter. The tail at Bulma’s waist went slack, coiling back around the prince’s torso; he was getting back into a battle mindset. Then, he removed the device from his face. Handing over the rose tented scouter to Bulma. She’d need it more than him now.

“God damn it, you really are useless...” he ground out between his teeth, digging his angry eyes into the girl’s big blues, “…you don’t even have a weapon on you. Of all times for you not to pull something out of your ass.” another growl of frustration followed, but it didn’t exactly sound like he was scolding the earthling, as usual. His ire hinted more with, worry. His narrowed vision lingered at the blood stains around her nose, then turned wickedly onto the Namekian crowd. The crowd taking another step back once they realized it was a look of warning.

He didn’t say anything after that. No ‘take care of yourself’, no ‘Raditz will be along soon’, not even a threat. Only the tightening of his muscle and the clenching of his jaw. He wasn’t fazed by the tell of this new foe on the planet. Bring it on - he’d enjoy a good fight. He only hoped he met the new threat before Bulma did. She had a knack for that... but she had the scouter - that’s why he left it with her. To keep herself a safe distance from anything posing as a threat. Then, cold beast just turned his back on the crowd, on Bulma. After a short glance over his shoulder, Vegeta darted off into the distance. Disappearing into the clear green sky with the radar in hand. 

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t seem happy about her proposal, but he agreed. Or at least seemed to agree. It was hard to figure out what his grunts and grumbles meant sometimes. She crossed her arms lightly and glanced over at the Namekians again as Vegeta called in Raditz- would he play nice? He didn’t have as much reason to follow that ‘no kill’ rule than Vegeta. It might prove difficult to stop him from getting violent. But the security of having him around still made her feel a little more safe, even if the Namekians may not be so safe.

He finally uncoiled his tail from her waist, a move that got her to glance over at him and see him handing off the scouter to her. Why even bother? What did she need it for? He could track– Ah, well. She guessed if he had the dragon balls, it didn’t matter all that much. She took the scouter as he complained about her uselessness, and then the idea hit her. She was to use it to stay out of trouble. …Made enough sense. She put it on, and she found herself wondering where that old scouter she’d updated was. She opened her mouth to ask, but he took off like a speeding bullet before air left her lungs.

As soon as he left, the Namekians all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and come closer. One of them retrieved the dragon ball and carried it into the town, while others came closer to inspect her– the village elder included. The two kids grabbed his robes and hid behind him, peeping up at her from around the white fabric. The elder inspected her face, and plucked the makeshift plugs from her nose to look at the amount of bleeding. He then cupped her face, focused for a moment, and–

Bulma blinked. Her nose wasn’t aching anymore. She knew this feeling. It was the same feeling as the healing water, except this had worked much, much faster. She reached up instinctively to touch her nose, while the village elder grabbed her shoulder and began leading her into their little town. She already knew where the rejuvenation water came from, so she knew this wasn’t the planet that could have created it. But before she could question how he could do stuff like that, he answered her.

_“I can see by that look in your face that you’re confused. Our people are either healers or warriors. Some of us can heal just by focusing. Others are meant to fight and protect the rest. I just healed your nose, as I’m sure you can tell. Come with me, we’ll find somewhere for you to rest, and we can clean up all that blood from your face, too.”_

* * *

His POV

The thought of just how much trouble the female could get up to in the small amount of time he planned to be gone, lingered in the back of the prince’s mind, the further he flew from the small Namekian village. She’d be fine. And damned if she wasn’t. If she got herself killed, or worse, then he’d just use the dragon balls to wish himself whatever the god damn fuck he wanted. Perhaps eternal life, unsurpassed powers, the whole universe. It was only the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to kill her himself, that was the reasoning behind her using the dragon balls instead of him, after all. Still... it’d be a lie to say the prince didn’t give a second glance back towards the fading village, before setting his sights on the task ahead.

It wasn’t long before Raditz showed up in the small village, and he was given about the same fearful welcome as Vegeta had received. The few Namekians that weren’t swarming the Elder and Bulma, had retreated back to their dome houses. Peeking out of their windows at the new arrival. God damn, what was Vegeta thinking sending him to a small town like this? And after he’d specifically instructed him to not kill any of the locals the last time he’d gone out with the prince in search of the dragon balls. Raditz nose scrunched, tapping the scouter at his ear, glancing to and fro for any sign of his leader. Where the hell was Vegeta? Why did he send him here?

And then he saw her, the earthling. Oh man, was he being put back on guard duty? Typical. “Where the hell is Vegeta?” Raditz snarled all too irritably. His arms crossed as he walked closer, eyeing the scampering villagers in his path. Was that ‘no kill’ rule that Vegeta had set in place still in play? Did that include raping? He could use a good fuck to pass the time right about now... His thoughts were interrupted, stepping up closer to the earthling and the Elder that was wearily staring him down. Raditz may have looked like trouble, but he hadn’t done anything, as of yet. It was like he was waiting for orders.

“Hey,” he pointed at Bulma, “Isn’t that Vegeta’s scouter? What the hell happened? And where is this new threat? I thought I was coming into a fight... What happened to him?” Raditz was staring the Elder and the earthling town, towering over them. The big soldier obviously hadn’t put two and two together - that Vegeta had openly given the scouter away, or that he’d left her with the villagers to be cleaned up and taken care of.

“Do you know this… young man?” the Elder turned to Bulma, hoping she’d have some answers. They all did.

* * *

Her POV

She was taken to the well in the center of the village, and sat down on the side. The blood was wiped from her face from the village elder, who decided he may as well just sit with her and keep her company, at least until this ‘Raditz’ arrived. She found out his name was Moori, and the kids were Dende and Cargo. And those kids seemed to have a lot of questions. Even before they began asking, it was obvious just with how they looked at her, with those big eyes. When Moori gave them a nod of approval, the questions started- ones she expected, and ones she didn’t.

_“What kind of alien are you?”_

_“What are the things on your chest?”_

_“What’s that stuff coming from your head?”_

_“Where are your antennae?”_

And so on, and so on. The question about her breasts was the most confusing to her, and when she got to it and tried to explain, she was met with even more confusion.

“They’re stuff girls have.”

_“What?”_

“Girls. We need them to feed babies milk.”

_“Milk?”_

Every time she tried to explain further, she only seemed to confuse them more, until Moori finally interjected and explained– they were a mono-gendered species. There was one gender. The Grand Elder had everyone and they all hatched from eggs as brothers. The concept horrified Bulma, though she supposed that explained why they were so peaceful. But the idea of not having the other gender… Even if it would solve problems, she still thought it sounded so boring. She pressed her lips together and looked away as she thought about it, and just then she realized a dot was quickly coming up on the radar.

Ah. Raditz. She watched him as he came closer, though pursed her lips. He looked like he’d be causing problems at any moment. He certainly didn’t look happy, that was for certain. Cargo and Dende ran off behind the nearest Namekian’s robes–that wasn’t Moori, anyway–and then came Raditz’s demanding questions. Hnf… She preferred the gentle way the Namekians spoke over the way Saiyans seemed to yell about everything.

“Vegeta went to go get the next dragon ball and deal with the guy collecting them,” she told him, crossing her arms and looking up at him with her pout still. “He gave me his scouter and told me to use it to stay out of trouble.” Her answers made it obvious that she knew Raditz, sure, and she confirmed it by turning her body away from Raditz as rudely as she could and looking instead at Moori so she could answer his question. “That’s Raditz. Vegeta’s underling. Or something. I never really bothered to ask. He’s not important, he’s just here to stand guard. If he does anything bad, Vegeta’ll beat him up, and he knows that.”

* * *

His POV

“What! …damn, he would leave on his own like that.” Raditz sounded disappointed in learning that his leader had left to fight without him. Looking even more pathetically glum, the big lug rested his massive stature against the well beside where Bulma sat. Her little comment about him not being important, and just being there to stand guard didn’t slip past him either. It was why he was giving her a sour look; his lip turned up into a frown and his arms laced easily across his torso.

“And let me guess, if I do anything fun around here you’re going to cry about it.” he pouted further, but Raditz didn’t sound condescending like Nappa might have. If anything, the long haired male was the softer of the two soldiers. He was more or less throwing a fit about his new situation. He noticed one of the two small green children, Dende perhaps, staring at him from a distance, and the bold solider took the opportunity to scare up a bit of fun. Growling and snarling through his big teeth, scaring the poor child. That got a slight laugh out of the big lug, a cynical laugh.

“So what the hell does he want with these Balls anyway?” Raditz glanced towards the blue haired girl, his attention casual and rather relaxed. “I have a handsome bet going on with Nappa that he’ll wish for immortality. Nappa thinks he’ll wish to be supreme leader of the universe.” a wiry sneer seeped into his lips, “If you know what he’s up to, I might be able to cut you in on the deal, share the winnings.”

It was clear the man didn’t know what plans the prince had, or how much it involved the earthling beside him. Leave it to a Saiyan to always suspect a selfish motive. After all, when had they been anything less? Raditz lifted from his spot and placed a hand to his scouter, searching the distance for any sign of a notable ki signal. Then, he got something. Two bleeps, a fair distance apart, but they were there. And one had to be Vegeta’s. The only thing was, they were both pretty big numbers. The soldier’s teeth grit, worrying his bottom lip. Man, would he love to get involved or at least see a fight like that. He watched, standing silent, not noticing the Elders ire growing beside him and the girl.

Just beyond the borders of the village, Vegeta was coming up quick on the bleeping dot that was the nearest Dragon Ball. The radar seemed to work wonders. Cutting down his searching time by hours, probably days. It didn’t take long to find it hidden among some rubble. Stashed away among the stones as if it were a rock itself. Really, it was a fairly good hiding spot. The stones were heavy and the rubble not easy to walk over. But who had put it there? He stood tall, scenting the air. Nothing. If only he could sense ki without a blasted radar. If only he had a spare, or could have one in-bedded into his brain somehow. Not that it mattered, it was his now. As quickly as he’d come up on the hiding spot, he left it. Heading back to the village with the same speed in which he’d darted off.

* * *

Her POV

Eep! That freaky look! Dende and Cargo decided that hiding behind robes wasn’t enough, and turned tail and ventured away to safety elsewhere. And while the kids ran off deeper into the crowded village of Namekians to hide from Raditz after that terrifying look he gave them, Bulma wasn’t half as scared. 

“Yes, I will, so you better not,” she huffed, and went right back to ignoring him. Until his next question. She was going to just ignore him some more at first, but the idea of them really thinking he’d be so selfish bugged her for some reason. He had been so selfish in the past, but he was… He was passed that. He wasn’t doing anything he was now out of selfishness. It was to make up for everything he’d done to her that had ruined her life. So she turned her body back to Raditz and scowled at him as he so kindly offered to let her in on a piece of the winnings. Like she cared to win whatever the hell it’d be. What would it be? An extra piece of meat? A prostitute one has to buy for the other?

“You’re both wrong. And stupid,” she replied, her nose wrinkling. “If you paid attention maybe you’d know. But I’m not going to tell you if you’re too stupid to figure it out on your own.” A fair enough response in her own eyes. He should have been paying attention. He brought Bulma back to her planet, and when she was upset at the reality of what had happened and overcome with grief, he decided to fix everything for her by finding the original source of the dragon balls. She may have resentment toward him still for what he had done, but he was trying to apologize, and she had nothing but excitement and gratitude for that.

But soon enough Raditz began to look more concerned. He was focusing on his scouter. She frowned and tried to see what he was seeing, and– ah. What was that? That was probably Vegeta’s signature over there, but there was something else. Those were big numbers. It had to be whatever this other guy was, right? Whatever, she was sure Vegeta’d be able to take him. He killed Piccolo, of all people! She wasn’t worried at all. And, he was already on his way back! Great, he must have found the ball no problem.

“Ah, he’s coming back already!” She announced it so the Namekians knew. Her attention turned to Moori again, but– ah. What was his problem? He was looking… Angry. He knew Raditz wouldn’t be hurting them, right? She’d make sure of it. So would Vegeta. “Hey, what’s the matter? It’s fine, Vegeta hasn’t dealt with the guy yet, but I’m sure he just needs to borrow a scouter or something and he can do it just fine. You don’t have to stress out. It’ll be okay. He’ll come and drop the dragon ball off, and then we can fix that problem and get back to business. We only have three more to find after this, too.”

* * *

His POV

“I can’t allow such reckless wishes to be made.” hushed Moori to the earthling, keeping his voice too low for the distracted soldier to take notice. The bustling crowd was making a nice distraction, too. All turning their visions to the sky, now that Bulma had alerted them to the prince’s incoming presence. “Make sure you’re the one to bring back your world,” hushed the Elder, taking one of Bulma’s hands in both of his own. “Luckily Porunga will only listen to those that speak Namkian.” he reassured her as well as himself, just as a surge of ki came whooshing in. It was Vegeta.

It didn’t take long for Vegeta to return to the village once he’d found his prize. Thankfully it hadn’t been stashed too far away, just out of sight of the Namekians. Honestly, it looked like the work of some brat of a kid that thought it was hiding stolen goods in its back yard. Pathetic. Just what was he up against? His mind cleared of all questions once he returned to the village, however. The bright orange ball tucked under one of his muscular arms. His feet touched down just before the Bulma and Raditz, and for a moment the prince looked half surprised to see the girl in one piece. Not stolen, not pinned under a slimy rapist, or having run away. He blinked, shaking off the thought. First time for everything.

“Give me your scouter.” was the first thing his stormy voice rasped out, aiming his glare at Raditz. Raditz looked taken aback, surprised that he didn’t demand the scouter of the girl instead. While Raditz was busy stripping the scouter from his face, Vegeta rolled the massive golden orb just beside Bulma’s feet. He glanced her way again, handing her back the radar, but didn’t say anything. The man was still all business. As soon as he acquired Raditz confiscated scouter and fitted it to his chiseled face, he was already burning to take off again. Like a fiery horse chomping at the bit, despite his fatigue. He knew there was a fight to be had, and he was looking forward to it.

“Stay here,” his cold orders demanded them both, but Vegeta’s gaze was lingering on Bulma, “I’m going to take out this pest myself.” the tone of his voice dropped menacing, foreboding. It was a while since he’d had a good fight, and it was bringing out that arrogant side of him again. Raditz looked bummed that he wouldn’t be joining in on the fray, but he wasn’t at all surprised. Guard the girl, he knew his orders without having to be told, but his shoulders still slumped. And just as soon as he had come, the prince was stirring away again. Kicking up wind and dust as his ki lit around him, an aura of blue, before he lifted in the sky above.

* * *

Her POV

“Namekian?” Is that what he said? …She was thankful she’d run into the group of villagers. It would have been horrible to try and make a wish only to realize she had no idea why the dragon wasn’t being summoned. They could make the wish for her, then, right? Wish back her planet and make everything right again. She opened her mouth to ask more about the dragon balls, but she was prevented from doing so– distracted by Vegeta’s sudden appearance. 

She got to her feet and took a few steps closer with a big grin on her face at the sight of the ball. As soon as it was dropped at her feet, she dropped onto her butt and welcomed it with another hug, only sort of listening to Vegeta as he spoke. He hasn’t gone to defeat the enemy, then. Whatever, she was sure he would. She pulled her hair back as she looked at him, fixing the scouter onto his face and telling them to stay put as he handed her the radar. And before she could even tell him goodbye, he sped off like a speeding bullet to deal with the issue. She turned her head downward, and instead focused on checking how far the next dragon ball was.

\--

He JUST put it there! Where did the dragon ball go?! Kuriza searched desperately through the rubble, scowling all the while. Eventually he gave up and whipped his tail angrily, crossing his little arms. Where could it be? The stupid villagers probably got to it again, didn’t they? They were really adamant about keeping them. His nose wrinkled. Damn it. He lifted into the air and flew in the direction of the village again, only to be, a moment in, met with someone else flying straight at him. Wearing a scouter and with a tail around his waist. …Hey! This was a Saiyan! Great! His father ruled over people like this!

“This is good timing! I command you to help me with the dragon balls! The damn natives of this god-forsaken planet are proving to be difficult! But I need these balls!” To wish back his father, of course, but what leader told his underlings his plans so easily? It wasn’t any of his business what he needed the balls for. “You must have seen the one-star ball nearby! Where is it?! If you haven’t, then I suppose we’ll have to go murder that entire damn village to get it!”

* * *

His POV

The girl almost looked pleased to see him, that’s the thought that crossed Vegeta’s mind as soon as he descended back down into the village. Then he noticed, she was staring at the dragon ball, and a sudden realization struck him. She was happy to see the dragon ball, not him; at least from his perspective. A chill washed over him, shaking him back to his reasonable senses. Good, good, if she could show gratitude it meant the locals hadn’t tried anything funny with her. He could leave her again in peace.

He’d been so taken away in thought by the girl’s reaction to the dragon ball, that for a moment he’d found himself silently distracted from his task at hand. But it was a fleeting feeling, and the prince was right back into the mindset of a killer. Darting off into the sky, on the hunt. There would be no more looking for the dragon balls until he’d found the pest that’d tried to steal them right from under his nose. Vegeta wasn’t about to gather all his eggs in a basket, just to make them an easy target for some other weasel out on the prowl. He needed to take care of this threat first.

Luckily it didn’t take long to find the foe he was searching for. A small but high numbered dot was blinking in the distance. Just in the direction he’d just come from. It must of been the foe, searching for the dragon ball that he’d stashed among the rubble and rock. Then Vegeta noticed... it was on the move again, and headed right towards him. Towards the village... towards Bulma and the dragon balls... Like hell the prince was going to allow his foe to get anywhere near the village. In the blink of an eye, Vegeta had gone from a hunter, to a protector.

“What?! You’ve got to be kidding me...” Vegeta let loose a bellowing laugh. He couldn’t believe what he’d come head to head with. The dirty rat of a spawn of Frieza, of all creatures. He hadn’t heard about that scum bag for some time around the black market. As far as he was concerned, they’d lost their place and power among the universe. And now here was his little brat, trying to order him around? As if.

“As if I’d tell you anything,” Vegeta spat venomously, clenching his fists at his sides as he hovered in air. “I wouldn’t work for your daddy and I’m certainly not about to listen to his ugly wart of a brat. Now why don’t you go crawl back up the rotting ass that you fell out from.” Vegeta may of been shit talking, but he was letting his power stew. His ki rise. And his muscles flex. He was getting ready for battle. The glow of blue started snapping from his shoulders. Vegeta wasn’t one to prolong the inevitable. Without a seconds warning, he darted for the little alien! His fist drawn back, coming in for a mallet like punch!

* * *

Her POV

What? He was going on about how he wouldn’t work for his father, and… Wait, he thought Saiyans worked for them! The remaining ones had gone missing after Frieza had destroyed their planet, but it’s not like they knew he did, so it was presumed they just got lost. Kuriza had assumed that Vegeta had come to find them again. But here he was, cursing him and powering up for a fight. …Such insolence! But he was certainly ready when Vegeta came at him full-throttle.

He dodged with ease; he was his father’s child, after all. He may not be as strong as Frieza, and he may not even be his final form, but he could certainly stand up to some ingrate. How strong could this weakling be, anyway? His scouter claimed his power levels were high, but nothing that should scare Kuriza. That was to be expected; father always said the Saiyans were just dumb monkeys. He was worried about what they could become, not what they were. He could deal with Vegeta easy-peasy! Maybe he’d have fun and try to only use three of his limbs.

He kicked Vegeta straight in the sternum, no more than an irritated scowl on his face for having tried to talk that way to him. What a pathetic little man. He needed to be taught a lesson. Whatever, he had been getting bored of the Namekians anyway. Even their warriors were pathetic weaklings. Moreso than this one, anyway. His tail whipped irritably, and he cracked his knuckles.

“I’ll see to it that you don’t say things like that ever again. It seems I’ll have to whip you back into being a proper soldier after that time you spent away. And when I’m finished gathering the dragon balls, I can kill you. How silly, that you think you could beat me. I know I’m small, but it’s as if you forgot who I came from. How foolish!”

* * *

His POV

He’d heard about the ‘Colds’ as the universe called them. A lizard like species that were as selfish as they were brutal. Vegeta might of had some respect for their talents and will to survive, if the race wasn’t so sleazy. Even this little turd of a lizard spawn smelt of cheap tactics and cowardliness if it came down to a death match. The little alien reminded him more of a used car salesman then a warrior. Something Vegeta would show no respect to, let alone bow down to and take orders from. Not a chance in hell. Not while he had his freedom and pride. Not to mention... motive.

The kick to his sternum was harder then he’d anticipated. Flinging the prince backwards, sending him flying back into the air where he finally caught himself. So maybe this little brat did have some power to him... not that it’d matter too long. No matter the fight, Vegeta was determined to win. It’d take more than a pip squeak to threaten him. His fists clenched and he radiated his ki around him once again. Relying on that heat and rage that was always bubbling just below the surface. His proud Saiyan heritage flowing through his veins.

“It seems you’re the one forgetting who you’re talking to!” Vegeta spat in Kuriza’s direction, “I am the prince of all Saiyans! I am not, nor will I ever be someone’s soldier, like some god damn slave! I’ll do more then beat you. I’ll grind you under my boot until there’s nothing left of your miserable face!” Vegeta’s tirade ended with darting towards Kuriza with break neck speed. The Saiyan hurling towards the little alien once again.

This time he was prepared, though. Instead of landing a punch, it was a false move. As soon as Kuriza showed any signs of defending himself, the prince flicked out of sight. A kick came next, aiming right for the little foes side, but it wasn’t Vegeta’s main target either. He was trying to trip his foe up, moving as quicker than the eye to get behind the little alien instead. Bringing his fists pummeling down, right over his hazel shaped head. Hoping to send him flying towards the ground to make a nice Kuriza sized crater.

* * *

Her POV

“So you won’t give up so easily?” What a shame. He wanted to get this over with already, so he could go back to collecting those balls! Gn… At least he knew who had stolen his balls. It had to be this man! He readied himself as Vegeta threw himself at him again, and just as he dodged and retaliated with a punch with his right arm–the one he’d chosen to be able to use–, Vegeta disappeared only to reappear in back of him. He’d managed to get enough of a hit to send Kuriza straight down to the ground–

But not through it.

He stopped himself a foot or so short of the grass, and by then, Kuriza’s blood was boiling. How dare he make a fool out of the mighty Kuriza like this! He turned to face Vegeta again, and balled his hands into little fists as his feet met with the ground again. His ki swelled, and then the pieces of his body that had looked like armor all melted off, to reveal a slimmer, sleeker body underneath. A transformation! His father was known for multiple ones, but Kuriza only sported two forms– his first form, and his last form. What was the need for any more than that?

“No more fooling around! I’ll exterminate you, you worthless being! I have no time to play with you! You’ll regret ever having crossed me!” He launched at Vegeta again, his ki spiking as he went for an all-out, punch-happy attack. Forget limiting himself! He had no patience for this kind of insolence! His father may have been one to play with his prey, but Kuriza was still a child, and of course he’d have the patience and temper of one. And Vegeta wouldn’t forget it!

* * *

His POV

Good, it looked like the little bastard had taken the bait and was taking this seriously. The little snot nose lizard had taken his final form, right in front of the prince’s glaring eyes. Vegeta hated waiting around. Sure, he was one for tirades of shit talk, but when it came down to it, all Vegeta longed for was to feel his knuckles pummeling into the face of his opponent. The little tyrant came in fast and hard. Not the sleek, skilled movements of an aged fighter, but the brash hard punches of a young buck. It was nothing he couldn’t handle, at first at least…

But the impacts of tiny fists kept coming, despite Vegeta’s best efforts. And oh, was he straining himself. Within the first few moments of battle, he’d felt he’d had the upper hand. Dodging incoming attacks. Swiftly manuring out of the line of fire. Getting in a few kicks and punches of contact himself, as well as a ki blast to the little brat’s stomach, but it seemed like it was going on longer than it should have...

Vegeta wasn’t making a dent... not fast enough at least. His days of refusing sleep and nourishment may of been catching up with him. He’d always kept on the up and up when it came to keeping himself ready for anything, on guard, on attack. Until now… until he met that girl... Damn, perhaps he’d been a fool for punishing himself the way he had, but he knew he would have never done it any different. He had pride, and probably too much of it, but it demanded retribution if this damn mission was going to mean shit. If he was going to beat this little punk, he’d enjoy it, and see it as a gift of fate. Making him stronger than ever once he beat Kuriza’s face into the ground. He’d laugh about it.

At least... that was the plan. But things didn’t always go the way the prince wanted. And this was one of those times. Somewhere along the fight he’d gotten his nose broken, again... Blood seeped down his chin, but he didn’t notice. Focused on finding his foes weak spot. Waiting and searching for an opening in his defenses. His ki flickered in his palms, and whenever he made contact with his white gleaming body, he let the ball of ki go, increasing his attack! An upper cut, a jab to the ribs! The shock and boom of their connecting fists sending shock waves of sound across the planet. Surely heard all the way back to the Namekian village...

* * *

Her POV

The more Vegeta dodged his attacks, the angrier Kuriza got. He got faster, more forceful with his punches, until they began to connect and Vegeta struggled to try to block them. Blood began flying each time Kuriza got a punch in. Strong ones, enough to break skin, enough to break bone. He hit again and again, and kept going even as he saw Vegeta’s nose malformed after being hit by his fists. His face was cut up, and when Vegeta began working to find a weak spot, Kuriza went for another hard kick to his sternum to send him flying.

He wouldn’t be playing around anymore! He wouldn’t be made a fool out of! He could feel endless energy running through him, and he’d teach this damn insolent fool a lesson for wasting his time with traitorous crap! When Vegeta went flying, he went flying straight after him, until he could catch him by the ankle and begin swinging him around in a large, quick circle. What a fool! He thought he could mess with the mighty Kuriza! He’d have to be taught a lesson for attacking him and saying the things he had!

\--

“Do you hear that?” Bulma spoke up, furrowing her brows. She could hear the sound of cracking. Almost like fireworks. Or thunder. Far off in the distance, and very unnerving. The two dots on the scouter had met a while ago, but this was beginning to worry her. She leaned closer to Raditz, nudging his shoulder to get his attention.

“I’m kind of worried. You don’t think he’ll lose or anything, do you? Who do you think this guy even is, if he’s this strong? Isn’t Vegeta usually back from fights by now? This seems like it’s taking a while. Maybe you should go as back-up. I don’t think he’ll be angry with you leaving, considering the Namekians aren’t hurting me, and the one guy who might actually hurt me is preoccupied.”

* * *

His POV

“This isn’t going well...” Raditz was staring out into the distance beside Bulma, “Vegeta never loses.” he paused, “…at least, not since we were teens.” he reminded himself that it was possible for his leader to lose. As rare as it was. He hadn’t felt this nervous about a fight since they were younger. It always felt as if Vegeta would always pull through, no matter the battle. The big male looked down at Bulma again, considering her words. Then, after a gentle nod of his head, he darted off into the distance. Going in as back up to aid the fight.

Ragged breath dragged through the scouter com-link. After that last pass through the air, having been flung by his ankle by the tiny foe, Vegeta had managed to just catch himself midair before hitting a sheer cliff side. The village was growing too close. Their battle was moving in the direction of the dragon balls, of Bulma... he had to re-direct their fight. As much as it pained him to think it, if he met death, maybe the earthling would be wise enough to get her sorry ass off the planet before Kuriza showed up. Vegeta would never admit defeat, but he knew this wasn’t going well. He needed to find a way to gain the upper hand, and quick.

It was just about then, when Vegeta was forming a new plan of attack, that something whizzed right past him! It was Raditz, darting from out of nowhere. In coming like a torpedo, and headed straight for the little Kuriza. The big male didn’t hesitate; he went for the gut. Using all of his force and speed to hit the little foe with all his built up momentum. Raditz was no stranger to being someone’s backup, however it was usually for Nappa.

“RADITZ! You idiot, what they hell are you doing here?! I don’t need your god damn help!” Vegeta barked, blood clotting heavily over one of his eyes and streaming down his face. It didn’t matter, the prince wanted to rejoin the fray and take out Kuriza all by himself! It was the principal of the thing! Though, Raditz short battle with Kuriza did come in handy - it gave Vegeta a second wind (well, sort of). But by the time Vegeta drew his fist and aimed to take Kuriza by surprise, it looked like the big soldier had already been beaten badly. Raditz couldn’t last nearly as long against one of the more powerful foes in the universe, as brave and stupid as it had been.

* * *

Her POV

It was bad enough that Raditz had listened. That Raditz had agreed that it seemed bad. That worried Bulma all the more. She supposed that maybe she shouldn’t be so worried about the fate of someone like Vegeta, given all he’d done to her. But it was only natural– after this thing finished him off, surely the next plan of action would be to kill her. At the very least, she wouldn’t be getting her planet back. She exchanged nervous glances with the village elder, and turned up the scouter a little louder so that he could hear.

\--

Kuriza didn’t see Raditz coming. He was too focused on glaring at Vegeta to notice the torpedo of muscle and hair coming straight for him, until it was too late. He went flying down to the ground below, and caused a small mushroom cloud as a crater formed under him the deeper he went. It was quite the hit given he couldn’t even brace himself, but it’s not like it truly hurt. It stung a little, maybe. But he was the great Kuriza! And this was some weakling punk! He crawled out from the hole looking even more irritated, and when he saw the monkeys had multiplied, his nose wrinkled.

“How many of you are there on this planet? I thought you were all gone! More than a few have slipped passed the cracks, I see? Let’s hope that you haven’t reproduced, or I’ll be forced to stalk out your spawn and kill them all like I’ll kill the both of you! Starting with the weakling who dared interrupt me!” He pointed a finger at Raditz, and a single charged beam of energy went from it straight through Raditz’s chest. A technique he’d learned from his father. But he wouldn’t let Raditz go just with that. He launched up into the air and narrowed his gaze.

He flew at the bigger Saiyan, connecting his head with Raditz’s stomach in a violent headbutt. He zipped around him in the time it took to even think about blinking, and one of his feet lifted into the air and came down straight onto the soft spot of Raditz’s head, aiming to force him straight into the ground. Afterward, a glance over his shoulder confirmed that Kuriza was still paying attention to Vegeta’s movements.

“Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about you. I’ll be rid of you in a moment. I’ve got to deal with your nosy little friend, here.”

* * *

His POV

Raditz didn’t last nearly as long as his leader had, in the rounds of abuse dealt out by the tiny Kuriza. The big Saiyan may have gotten lucky and struck a blow or two, if it hadn’t been for the beam to the chest... That was to be Raditz downfall. Just as Kuriza was going on about killing the last of the living Saiyans, Raditz had thought he’d seen his window of opportunity, and taken it. He’d aimed a well-placed fist of ki right at the little tyrants face ...just in time to feel a searing heat pierce through his armor, and right out of the back of his rib cage. Damn. Suddenly it became very ...very difficult to breath.

Vegeta watched as his comrade went flying towards the ground. Impacting the dirt like a falling asteroid, after Kuriza’s kick to the temple. After that, Raditz wasn’t moving. It looked like it was just the prince and the son of a tyrant, once again. That suited Vegeta just fine. Raditz stupidity had bought him time to gain a second wind. Clenching his jaw and zipping around the lizard like a beam of light; the prince was ready for the little dead beat.

In front of his foe, and then from behind, the prince was a menace of speed, a tactician of pummeling blows. There would be no wearing his enemy down with time. Vegeta was already too fatigued, too low on energy himself, to wait for his opponent to tire into an unstable state. If he was going to come out on top, the prince knew he had to do it with precision and tact. And for a while there, it felt to be working. His knuckles crashed against the side of Kuriza’s jaw. And once, he’d flung himself around in time to slam his fists into the back of the alien’s skull - trying to sever his little ugly head from his body. Bone beat crunched into bone, drawing blood from the both of them.

It wasn’t working though, Kuriza was still alive ...and Vegeta was growing shaky. God damn it, he had no choice. He had to open himself up for an attack, if only to unleash a move that just might disintegrate the little tyrant once and for all. He had to finish him off while he still had the chance. But first, he had to create some distance between them. Without warning, Vegeta’s next target was Kuriza’s tail. Gripping it with merciless force, and swinging him around, letting go only to send him hurling towards the ground.

The prince didn’t waste time after that. The moment Kuriza went flying from his gloves, the prince stretched his arms out, roaring at the top of his lungs. Calling on the last reserves of his massive ki. Blue began to flicker, lightening began to whip and crack, and the very atmosphere began to shift and change. The bright glowing orb between the prince’s fingers forcing chunks of the ground to lift and blow away, bellowing the wind over the horizon. And then, he let it go in one massive attack. A move he called final flash.

* * *

Her POV

Raditz was down, so Kuriza set his sights on Vegeta. Just as he turned his attention to him, however, he was under attack. He blocked as much as he could, but he had gotten hit plenty of times at first– it managed to make him bleed, but how much blood was coming from Vegeta’s knuckles rather than Kuriza’s face? Ha, he only hurt so much! And once Vegeta began to slow down, Kuriza could tell it was time to change the tables and attack.

He went for a punch to Vegeta’s face, but just before he could hit, Vegeta grabbed his tail and began swirling him around. It made him dizzy at first, but it didn’t take long for Vegeta to toss him and send him flying. He rolled his eyes and caught himself, just then hearing Vegeta’s scream as he attempted a last-ditch attack. What, that’s all he could manage? He turned his body to see a large ki blast going straight at him, and a simple jump made it so he could avoid it.

He launched at Vegeta from his place in the sky, and came at him like a speed bullet. He rammed right into him and flew him straight into the ground, before he began beating him senseless. Punch, after punch, after punch. Punching until he no longer moved, and his face was nothing but blood. When he was doing no more than twitching, Kuriza finally stood and examined his enemy in the pathetic state he was in. 

“You look so pathetic, you sorry traitor.” He reached down and grabbed Vegeta by the hair, before launching into the air and flying in the direction of the village. He’d be something of a trophy. Proof he wasn’t going to mess around. “Maybe if you decide to beg hard enough, I’ll decide to keep you as a soldier. Maybe. You’ll have to truly prove yourself, though. I don’t have time to waste with these kinds of pathetic attempts at overthrowing.”

\--

Things weren’t doing good. Bulma had watched Raditz’s ki drop to near-0, and watched what she assumed to be Vegeta’s slowly decline, as well. She furrowed her brows, getting more and more nervous. …If Vegeta lost, then the enemy would be here next. And he’d get the dragon balls, and… Her nose wrinkled, and after a moment of deliberation, she pressed on the button on her scouter so she could talk to Nappa.

“You have to bury the dragon balls,” she commanded, getting up from her spot on the well as she wondered in the back of her head what she should be doing next. Making a run for it with the balls, maybe? Gn… Shit. “You have to make sure they’re buried so that no one finds them. Got it? I know you don’t usually listen to me, but I’m sure Vegeta would agree with me. I have my radar if we lose track of them, but right now, we have to bury what we have.”

* * *

His POV

No, no! This couldn’t be how it ended... how could he of missed?! That pompous dirty little shit! Moving out of the way like that, when he was sure he had a clear shot! Though Vegeta hardly had time to stew in his disappointment, finding himself being planted face first into the ground. Kuriza came at him with unrivaled force, but the prince took it. He took it without complaint. Every single swing of the tyrant’s fist, Vegeta did nothing more than bare his teeth and attempt to block. Even while things were looking so one sided, the prince was still attempting to hold onto the last bit of life and come up with a plan. He’d fight back, down to his very last breath, or ability to move anyway. He wasn’t going down like this, he refused to accept it!

But it looked, for once, that the prince’s high tolerance and strong will wouldn’t be getting him out of this one. Not this time, not without a miracle. His vision was beginning to dim and his hearing fade away. His face stung, more so then the rest of his body. Unrecognizable, beaten black and blue and slick with his own red blood, up to his scalp. After attempting to raise his fist again, using all of his remaining strength to furiously grit his teeth together, he felt himself being slowly lifted into the air. He was being carried, and the next thing he knew, his heavy body was thudding to the cold hard ground. Where the fuck had the little menace brought him? The prince’s dark eyes lifted, the blurred surroundings somewhat coming into focus. No, oh no, not here. Not fucking here. He was in the village.

Nappa had questioned the voice coming in over his com-link. The feminine demands of the earthling ringing irritably in his ear. But he had to admit... she was probably right. The big bald Saiyan was already tense and on edge. Fighting the urge to join the battle after listening to his comrades roars of battle and perhaps their dying breaths. He could hear everything, and see the numbers rapidly dropping through his own scouter. As much as he loathed taking orders from that woman, Nappa knew she had a point. He quickly buried the dragon balls deep within the confines of the cave, and then headed out to where he could see the biggest number on his scouter headed. Along with a rapidly dropping second number… a number he dreadfully knew had to be Vegeta’s.

Raditz was down for the count, Vegeta was strenuously trying to get a grip and find a way out of this shit-show, and Nappa was preoccupied. Well, at least for the moment. As soon as Nappa had finished his duty, he called in on the scouter to Bulma, and by default to Vegeta too. “Everything’s taken care of. There’ll be no find’n em’ on this planet. Not as long as I’m here.” the big man gruffed, and then the scouter went silent. Nappa was surely on his way to the village.

* * *

Her POV

“Listen up!” His voice boomed as soon as he dropped Vegeta onto the ground of the village. The Namekians all huddled together or hid in their homes after being warned moments ago of Kuriza’s movement to the village by Bulma. They were clearly horrified by the sight of the beaten Saiyan. Bulma had hidden in one of the homes, dragged there by Dende and Cargo at the command of the Elder Namekian. From the window, she could see Vegeta looking lifeless. It was a relief to see him move and lift his head, but he definitely did not look good. If it weren’t for his clothes and iconic hair, she wouldn’t have been able to tell who it was. His face was just a bloody mess. There was nothing recognizable there. 

“I want the dragon ball you took from me! The one I hid nearby! I know one of you little green devils took it! You’ve even tried to sic this pathetic attempt at a soldier on me! Too bad, it hasn’t worked! Hand it over or I’ll start killing you all, one by one! Starting with him!” He pointed a finger at a random Namekian and shot a ki blast from his finger to pierce his heart, making him drop and die immediately upon impact. How pathetically weak.

“I have no time for jokes! I will get all these dragon balls, and I will get my wish!” He set a foot on Vegeta’s head, glaring at the Namekians until, just seconds later, a dragon ball was produced and placed before him. Good. He let out a gust of air, but looked at the remaining Namekians suspiciously. Something felt off. And… Besides, maybe it would be best to punish them for all they’ve done. The little beasts. He could at least have a rest after that obnoxious fight. Maybe terrorize them for fun and relaxation.

\--

While Kuriza debated that, however, Bulma and the two little Namekians huddled by one of the windows to watch what was happening. Dende spoke first, in a hushed whisper: ‘It’s a good thing that that man’s still alive. We can just heal him, and maybe that’ll be enough to beat him up? That guy looks like he’s breathing a little heavy, doesn’t he? He’s worn out…’

Bulma glanced at the little one, and her brows furrowed as she listened to Nappa confirm that he had buried the balls. So they weren’t in a bleak situation. She was moderately certain that Vegeta would just die, but it was worth a chance. She couldn’t just let him die without being healed. Nappa was on his way, from what the scouter said. It’d give the perfect opportunity for someone to heal him while this Kuriza guy was distracted.

* * *

His POV

There was the taste of dirt and blood mixing in his mouth. Vegeta could ha rdly make out his surroundings, that is until Kuriza decided to start boasting and making demands. The Saiyan was finally coming too. Gathering his strength and trying aimlessly to push himself up off of the ground, just in time to see one of the Namekians hand over one of the most sought after dragon balls.

A new wave of anger surged through the prince, having to witness his enemy take over something that he’d decided was rightfully his. The rush of aggression gave him the strength to push up onto his hands. Shooting the Namekian a severe death glare for acting so stupid and weak. At least the girl wasn’t anywhere in sight, his eyes roamed, maybe she’d gotten off the planet. Not that he cared, all Vegeta cared about now was getting back at Kuriza. A lowly, aggravated growl tearing violently from his chest. The Saiyan’s lip curling, contrasting his white teeth against the background of his own dark blood. Vegeta was obviously pissed at the situation, but it didn’t look like there was much he could do about it, especially when the tyrant pushed his face back into the ground.

It was about that time, that a new mound of muscle was coming in quick to the little village. It was Nappa, and boy did he look pissed. It was rare the big man wasn’t a horrible, laid-back, asshole that was just waiting to see someone get fucked up. But this wasn’t one of their enjoyable battles or Saiyan’s night out. Seeing his prince face down in the dirt and knowing he’d probably just lost one of his comrades due to this little prick wasn’t going over well with the soldier.

Nappa didn’t begin with words, or a punch, but a blast. A bright ball of ki came whizzing in before the big man ever stood in the village. Aiming to knock Kuriza from where he stood with his foot on the prince’s head. There, maybe that’d get the little punks attention. Let him know that the big boys had come to play.

“It ain’t over yet, not as long as I’m breath’n!” Nappa shouted in his biggest, most boasting voice yet. Spittle shooting from his open mouth as he screamed; pulling back a fist and flying right towards Kuriza. Nappa was ready to battle, and he wasn’t pulling any punches this time. While the big man often had the reputation for having a little fun with his prey before he ever decided to kill them, even Nappa knew if a foe could beat Vegeta so easily, he’d have to be on his guard. Which was exactly why the big man was coming in full force. Like a brick wall with fists, and it’s ki blasts and punches were all for Kuriza.

* * *

Her POV

It was obvious when Nappa arrived. Kuriza had seen the way all the Namekians turned their heads to the sky, and let out an irritated grunt when he saw the ki blast heading his way. He kicked it out into the horizon and glared at the producer of the attack as he screamed about when it was over. Another traitor Saiyan, protecting his pathetic prince. His eyes rolled. What was it with all these damn monkeys infesting this planet all of a sudden? He’d waited so long for the balls to be usable–a Namekian year–and now that the time was up, it seemed everyone wanted to steal what was rightfully his!

He was attacked by Nappa full-force, enough to certainly fill his hands for the time being and keep his attention from the actions of the bloody pulp of a Saiyan or the Namekians. Bulma hurried out and grabbed Vegeta by the arms, dragging him to the safety of the house where Dende focused on healing him. At the very least, maybe he could figure out a plan. Rush to gather the dragon balls and wish for Kuriza’s death, maybe? It solved the issue, but her planet would have to wait so long to be revived…

“I am sick of you monkeys!!” Kuriza snapped at Nappa as he began throwing punches of his own, breaking his jaw and occasionally landing a complementary kick as well. He punched and punched, until Nappa was beginning to weaken. And in a sudden quick movement, he got behind the Saiyan and managed, despite his tiny size, to lock Nappa in a headlock in the air so he could pin and immobilize him. If only just for a short frame of time so that he could yell at the oversized man and elongate his punishment for being as traitorous as his two partners in crime.

“My father destroyed your planet for a reason, I see! You’re all a bunch of good-for-nothing weakling monkeys! No wonder you idiots believed that it was merely destroyed by a meteor!” He strengthened his hold on Nappa and kicked him hard in the back, continuing his enraged rant about the Saiyans and his father. He had no patience before, but his incredible anger way making it extremely easy to spill the beans. Perhaps only to play with them a little.

“I need these balls to revive my father since my grandfather murdered him! You will let me reach my goal, or you’ll all be eliminated! I’ve already killed your other friend! I’ll kill this whole village if I need to! I am far stronger than you, and if you will not respect me, I will make you respect! Do you want to die today, monkey?! Do you want to be killed, ape-brain?! Think hard about it, now! You won’t be getting another chance! Bow to my will or I’ll snap this giant, ugly neck of yours!”

* * *

His POV

Vegeta was about ready to snap as soon as he felt someone else tugging on him. However, all the beaten brute could manage was a gargled bloody snarl and an obvious attempt to pull away that failed miserably. He was about to try a second round of shit-talk, when he noticed the small familiar feet in front of him. It was Bulma, she was the one pulling him to safety. She was still here...

“What the- ...What the hell are you doing...” the prince finally managed to ground out, wincing one eye shut, “You idiot, you should have saved your own skin...” he was trying his best to carry himself by now, “I don’t need anyone’s help!” the rant was followed by heavy breaths, Vegeta finding it harder to breath than usual. Probably due to all those cracked and broken ribs poking at his lungs. He managed to barely sit up once they were inside. Though whether he was against a wall or tucked into someone’s lap, he honestly couldn’t tell. Had he moved on his own? He was certainly trying to, fighting past the radiating pain. He was a tough one.

“Go back to the damn pod,” he choked out, coughing up the blood that’d been pooling in his mouth, it dribbling down his busted lips. “Go back ...to the pod. Kuriza is mine to finish.” his tone took a more serious turn, meeting the girl’s hues. Vegeta had barely noticed the two green children in the small hut. He’d only been watching up towards the bright color of blue. The prince tried to sound boastful, that he could indeed take out this opponent, but he knew he was staring down deaths door. Kuriza may take the dragon balls, kill his men, and perhaps end the prince, but at least he could keep the tyrant from gaining something he still considered his, his little earthling. It’d be one final spit in the aliens face.

Meanwhile, Nappa was taking a royal pummeling. The man’s jaw cracked, his bones were snapping like twigs under a boot, but still the tyrant kept beating into him. Teaching him a lesson, Nappa assumed. It was hardly like the teddy-bear hug of a beating that Vegeta so often inflicted. No, it felt like the tiny alien was trying to teeter him just on the edge of death, before slow choking him. It wasn’t just painful; it was humiliating that he couldn’t handle one little foe.

“Y-You’re lie’n!” Nappa howled, “…your damn daddy didn’t have nothin’ to do with it!” the man’s grip tightened on the arm around his throat, doing his best to pry Kuriza off of him. “Why- Why the hell would Frieza even want to kill off Vegeta-sai. We were in good with him!” Nappa yelled, finding the strength to finally pry the tiny alien from his thick neck, tossing Kuriza as far as he possibly could. It gave the man a few seconds to catch his breath and breathe. Staring down Kuriza as soon as he noticed him. He wanted answers, damn it! As well as finishing this fight!

* * *

Her POV

Bulma dragged Vegeta inside the house, and prompted him up against herself. His head, as bloody as it was, was staining her clothes, but she rested it on her chest regardless. He was blabbering about something, and pathetically growling despite all the blood leaking from his mouth, but Bulma ignored it all and just gestured for Dende to start the healing process. And as he focused on healing him, Vegeta turned to look at her and berate her for not having found the pods and left. Her brows furrowed. What an idiot.

“What does it matter to me? Either I get my planet back or I die,” she replied. “If this guy takes the dragon balls and kills all of you, then there’s no point. I won’t wait a whole year. If I don’t get these balls now, I’d rather just be killed so I can be with everyone.” She may not necessarily be actively suicidal like she was before, but she still was only hanging on with the idea of being able to get her family back. Her friends back. Her planet back. What other reason was there to live, but for that? 

\--

Outside, Kuriza was still struggling with Nappa. He was hardly fighting back anymore, but he was still refusing to accept what had happened to his planet. He was apparently so furious about it that he managed to gather his strength to send Kuriza flying– though only for a short distance before he flew back to glare at the big, bald Saiyan. What an idiot. What a pure idiot. To think his father was actually scared of these kinds of moronic little monkeys! They clearly had no brains at all, who cared if they became traitors?!

“He was scared of one of you one day becoming a Super Saiyan! That’s why he killed you all! It’s not like you all mattered, anyway! We had a massive army we could use instead, of all different species! Until my grandfather decided he wanted to focus on our own species and eliminated my father, we had all the help we needed! Accept it! Accept it, you fool! Your entire planet had been destroyed by someone you worshiped and blindly followed! You were an idiot then, and you’re an idiot now!” 

He threw a ki blast in Nappa’s direction, aiming to kill the Saiyan once and for all. He was sick of having his time wasted! There’d better not be a single other Saiyan on this planet, or he’d really be driven insane with rage! He didn’t want to see another monkey tail ever again at this rate! They were trying so hard to foil his plans of getting all the balls, and for what reason?! For some pathetic little wish that meant nothing in the long run, he was sure. Not that he cared what idiotic ideas the stupid little monkeys came up with. He had much bigger, more important plans to enact! 

* * *

His POV

It took him a few moments to realize they weren’t alone in the small Namekian hut. There were two others with them. Children, by the looks of it. The fact that it taken so long for him to notice, up to the point that one of the green spawn had its hands hovering over him, disturbed the prince. His sense of awareness must of been more out of it then he initially thought. Begrudgingly, he was somewhat thankful that Bulma had stuck around and drug his beaten body to safety. It may give him the moment he needed to catch his breath and take on the tyrant again. However unlikely a win seemed at this point.

“The only fucking time …you’re not trying to run away.” he spat out the irony. Sloshing his head back in defiance at the hopeless situation. Then, he felt something wash over his body, coaxing him to end his fighting and relax in Bulma’s hold. Similar to the rejuvenating waters of the healing baths. But even the out-of-it prince knew he wasn’t sitting in water. What the fuck was happening? His eyes snapped open, jerking his gaze to the small alien at his side. The sudden aggressive movement seemed to startle the young boy, but luckily he didn’t retreat. Was the Namekian... healing him? These damn useless weaklings had healing powers?! This changed everything!

His bruised knuckles tingled with the healing sensation. Bones snapped and cracked back into place. Even his aristocratic nose popped back into place, _somewhat (it’d been damaged over the years)_. The blotches of black and blue disappeared under the thick coat of blood that painted his face. The prince felt alive, full and resurrected. Better than any healing bath could ever provide. His fist clenched, energy swirling from his new body, lifting both of their hair. He could feel a new sense of power surging through veins! Like hot white light snapping, waiting to be released. Oh, he was ready to face his enemy again. And this time, he planned on killing Kuriza.

“Looks like the slug race is good for something after all.” ah, and there was his egotistical nature. He must of been feeling better. As soon as he felt his body reach its peak of health, the prince lifted to his feet. He gave the earthling and two Namekian boys one last glance, before heading back out into the fray. The cold attitude in the glance he’d given Bulma meaning he intended to enjoy this fight, as well as put an end to it.

“Kuriza! Get your slimy skin over here and let’s finish this once and for all!” Ki burst from the prince’s body, meeting Kuriza in the sky and interrupting the fight. Nappa looked as if he’d seen better days. The bald man had barely escaped Kuriza’s ki blast, but he wouldn’t last much longer. Vegeta had heard the two men arguing outside of the hut, though didn’t give a damn about what. All that he gave a fuck about, was removing that tiny hazel head from his lizard like body. And it all started with a rain of ki blasts bursting from the prince’s hands, as easily as a sudden downpour.

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta came to life again, right in front of her. While of course the blood didn’t fade away, she saw him take shape again and no longer look so mangled. His wounds were fixed, and soon he stood up and stared down at the three of them with the coldest look she’d seen in some time. It was reminiscent of the look he had when killing Zarbon, but that was different. He had been concerned for her, then. He wasn’t really fighting for her this time. Sure, he was in some roundabout way where he was only on this planet for her, but ultimately he was fighting for himself. To survive and get his honor back, if she had to guess.

\--

Kuriza huffed when Nappa managed to avoid his ki blast, but just as he was about to toss another larger one, he was rudely interrupted by Vegeta. He did a double-take, shocked to see him actually back on his feet and without a single injury that he could see. What, did these Saiyans have healing powers?! Goddamn, that meant he really had to kill them! Maybe this was part of why his father was so scared of him! Shit. What happened to the other one, then? He didn’t want to deal with three Saiyans at once. Not that it would be hard– just a giant pain in the ass!

“Do you monkeys ever die?!” He held his arms at his head to shield it from the oncoming barrage of ki blasts, taking them on head-on rather than try to dodge. And when the barrage was over, he was staring Vegeta down, looking as angry as ever. Those ki blasts stung a little. What, had he gotten more powerful? Gn… What a pain in the ass. He cracked his knuckles and flew straight toward Vegeta in full speed, his eye twitching slightly from pure anger and frustration. He’d have to kill him for good this time!

“I am sick of you damn monkeys! No wonder my father did what he did! I’ll finish his job and kill you all for good! No more second chances!” And then came the barrage of fists again, pummeling Vegeta but finding himself more exhausted from how many times he’d tried it. He was starting to run out of energy. Sure, his father would have lasted longer, but he was only a child, and was only so powerful. 

\--

Meanwhile, Bulma clambered up to her feet and to the doorway of the house, before talking into the scouter again. “Nappa! Nappa, you idiot! Get over here! Now!” She stared up at him in the sky and gestured to him urgently, trying to get his attention so that she could get to healing him as well. And then– then they could grab the dragon ball–the one Kuriza hadn’t taken back, the one he didn’t know about–and go find Raditz. His ki was still just barely hovering between a 2 and a 3; he was alive for the moment, and they’d need to get to him soon.

* * *

His POV

Something had changed about him in that short time he’d been forced out of the action by Kuriza. Ironically, nearly killing Vegeta may of been Kuriza’s undoing. The near death experience had given him an outrageous zenkai boost. The prince could feel it wafting out of his body like never before. The energy, it was insatiable, intoxicating, adrenaline inducing... That was the thing about Saiyans, they only came back stronger, tougher, more determined than ever to fight in the name of their pride.

The rain of ki was mere child’s play. A scratch on the surface of his new found levels of power. It was burning him up; and when the prince unleashed a vicious roar, a storm began to whirl overhead. Blowing away a few of the huts from the sheer force of him powering up. The sky above darkening and the surrounding air growing static with electricity. Then, when Kuriza came at him with his fists drawn, Vegeta met them head on. Catching the tiny tyrants fists in his larger palms, and battling it out. Brow to drawn brow, rising high into the atmosphere. 

“Since you miss your pathetic father so badly, I’ll give you the honor of dying like the dog he was. Say hello to daddy, when you see him in hell!” the prince roared. Bulma was right, he wasn’t fighting for her, he was fighting for his own damnable honor, and it was evident in the deadly gaze he was piercing through Kuriza. He’d heard the tail end of the story - that Frieza had snuffed out his Saiyan breed, but it went beyond that. Kuriza had challenged him, nearly defeated him. This wasn’t about anyone else. This was fucking personal.

With every blow and block, he retaliated with his own brute force. Finding new holes in his opponent’s defenses and taking them with relentless tactics. Kuriza’s impacts didn’t feel as potent this time around. Not to say that it wasn’t pushing Vegeta to his limits. Kuriza was a formidable foe, but Vegeta was holding his own, and gaining ground quickly. At one point, he was nearly sure he’d broken one of the little beast’s arms. Finishing off his appendage with an angry ki blast to his tiny shoulder. Maybe that’d get rid of his nuisance of an arm once and for all. What was that, that Frieza had always boasted about? That he could defeat any foe with one fist behind his back? Well, now he could be just like daddy.

Nappa had had his _eye_ glued on the light show of blue and purple overhead. His attention drawn away only when Bulma’s voice started buzzing in his ear. The big man headed back towards the hut, and peered inside. It was a little odd, with Vegeta unable to bark orders, the woman’s demands somehow came next in line. With the stakes so high, Nappa didn’t hesitate, though he did give the girl a wry look upon entering. Never the less, he did as she said. Everything from allowing the young Dende to heal his wounds, to taking them to where Raditz had fallen.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Did you know Frieza had a kid, ala Neko Majin canon? If you're curious, google 'Kuriza'. By the way, I hope the reading wasn't too confusing. I didn't want to screw around too much with the layout, but because I was roleplaying both Bulma and Kuriza in the same posts, I just put them both under 'Her POV'.
> 
> By the way, Lion's been making some cool fanart that I thought I should share. He's the one that roleplays Vegeta. 
> 
> Here's an old one they've only just recently completed:  
> https://galacticshark17art.tumblr.com/post/172265783013/the-pod-or-the-smirk-verses-the-pout-vegeta
> 
> And here's one that's sort of a little preview for where the story will go:  
> https://galacticshark17art.tumblr.com/post/172231553983/bows-at-the-ready-prince-vegeta-from-captive-on
> 
>   
> 


	38. The Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma gets what she's wanted for a while.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

Kuriza was beginning to lose. Vegeta had a lot of newfound strength, and Kuriza was growing tired. No matter how much he tried to keep up, Vegeta was getting hits in. A sudden surge of pain came from his arm at some point, and with a ki blast directly to his shoulder, it became dead weight. This wasn’t turning out good. He should have killed him when he got the chance. Maybe he could make a run for it and try to gain some energy? Shit. Why did this have to happen? He had the perfect plan of just wishing back his father, why did they have to get in his way?!

\---

As soon as Nappa came down to the little house, she made sure Dende healed him. He had an irritated look on his face, but he did listen to her nonetheless. Which was surprising, given that this was Nappa– it wasn’t Vegeta, or even Raditz. Was he that scared of her since she gouged his eye out? Well, it worked well in her favor. He was healed, and with a few commands, she grabbed the dragon ball, and he grabbed her, Dende, and Cargo and flew off to find Raditz. While only one Namekian was needed, she figured… For safety reasons. They were the only kids in the village. She didn’t want a kid to be killed.

Though before they flew off, she couldn’t help but watch the fight for a little while. Kuriza was a child too, wasn’t he? He had the stature of one, and he still had a high-pitched voice of a little kid. She didn’t have too much time to dwell on it before the fight was out of sight and they reached Raditz. He looked nearly dead, and the scouter showed his power level to only be hovering at a simple ‘1.’ He wasn’t moving. It was even worse than what Vegeta had looked like before. She chewed her lip as Dende knelt down and began to heal him. Would healing work when he was this far gone? She’d need as much help as possible to get out of this terrible situation.

She glanced in the direction of the village again, before handing the dragon ball to Nappa. She seemed to be on a roll with ordering the men around. But she wasn’t just going to let the one thing she wanted slip through her fingers because she was scared that they wouldn’t listen to her. She’d order them around as much as she’d have to, and if they didn’t listen, then they could be killed for Kuriza for all she cared.

“Take this to the cave. Bury it like you buried the other ones. We could probably go find the other dragon balls right under his nose while he’s busy fighting Vegeta. He seems to be holding his own better this time, but if his ki starts dipping again, we just need a little distraction and then we can heal him again and he can get back to fighting and we can gather the rest of the dragon balls before this guy even notices. Then we can make the wish. Alright?”

* * *

His POV

It didn’t take long for Nappa to understand just how Vegeta had gotten his second wind and miraculously come back better than before. It was the Namekian children. For a fleeting moment Nappa wondered if it’d bring back his missing eye. Though even he knew that was probably wishful thinking. Just being brought back to life was enough, it increased their numbers. The soldier himself had suffered a wicked pummeling, and had plenty of busted bones. He may not of liked following the girl’s orders, but she did seem to take the lead. She must of had a plan, he could tell by the look of determination burning from her face.

When they reached Raditz, he was barely alive. Unconscious in a pool of his own blood, the man’s once dark skin was growing pale, lifeless. Nappa had the same thought as Bulma - would the Namekian child be able to bring back his comrade when he was so close to death? For a while it didn’t seem like it. Raditz body remained still, breathless. But then, after a few drawn out moments, his body gasped for air. Only… he couldn’t inhale... The hole in Raditz lung had allowed it to fill with blood. He’d been slowly drowning in his own juices.

Suddenly, blood gushed out of the long haired man’s mouth like red vomit. Finally, wheezing as he sat up to his knees, he could breath. The color came back to his cheeks, and the hole in his chest was completely gone. Nothing more than a bullet sized scar. It took him a moment to realize his surroundings, and only grew more confused when he saw Bulma standing there with two green children... and a dragon ball.

“Glad to see ya’ back among the living.” gruffed Nappa ...but then quickly turned to the woman whom was still barking orders at him. “Yeah, yeah, I’m goin’. You sure are gettin’ liberal, girlie.” Nappa shot Bulma a warning look. Reluctantly, he took the dragon ball and shot into the air. Fading into the direction of the cave. The girl made a good plan, which only made it more difficult to dispute against. Besides ...he knew his leader would demand the same. Somehow the earthling and his prince were somewhat working in tandem, on some level.

That left Raditz, two helpless children, and an earthling with a radar. However, Raditz attention was quickly taken by the battle above. “ _Holy shit_.” the man wiped the blood from his lip, staring into the angry sky. Though they were a good distance away, the man could still hear the vicious roars of the prince and the terrible cries of the young tyrant. Vegeta must of been winning. Raditz only turned his attention when he remembered the company he was in. Darting his gaze to Bulma, as she was the only one to get any damn information from, and asking, “So, where is the next dragon ball?” He’d somewhat overheard their discussion, and just like Nappa, could hardly deny it was a good plan. Maybe they could just get this over with.

* * *

Her POV

Problem solved. Raditz came back to life after coughing up a ton of blood at their feet, and Bulma let out a little breath. One less problem to worry about. Sure, she didn’t care all that much about Raditz’s life, but him being alive made things much, much easier. One more person to distract that being if Vegeta needed it. One more person to look for the dragon balls. Once Nappa headed off with the dragon ball (but not before making some comment about her being too liberal with bossing him around, something met with a scowl and a glare), she turned her attention to the radar.

“The closest one is the one Kuriza still had. He’s distracted now, but I think we should hold off on that. The closest ones other than that is… A while away, from what I can tell. There’s not a whole lot else to get, so it shouldn’t be that hard to collect them all.” She turned the radar around and pointed to the second-closest dot on the radar, a while to the east from where they were. Cargo and Dende both squinted and stared at the contraption, mumbling to themselves about how weird it was that she had something like that special for dragon balls.

Her head turned up to the sky as she noticed where Raditz was looking, and her brows furrowed at the sight of the battle. Vegeta looked like he was winning. Kuriza was moving more sluggishly this time. …She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach, thinking of how small that enemy was. Vegeta was killing a child. For wanting to wish back his father. How different was Kuriza from her? How different was Kuriza from him? Sure, she’d heard him admit to wiping out Vegeta’s race– but what had Vegeta done to her? And, similar to Kuriza, Bulma was only here gathering the dragon balls to wish back her family. …It felt wrong.

\----

And Kuriza was well aware of the fact he was losing. Each punch was making him feel a little dizzier. He had to do something. …And out of the corner of his eye, while he was busy getting pummeled, he saw something. One of the other Saiyans that he’d nearly killed, being revived. That… That was it! Goddamn it! These pieces of shit! They’d been reviving the Saiyans this whole time! That solidified his plan. He had to run, at least for the time being. At least until he could heal himself. …He’d take one of the Namekians with him! Force them to do it!

He was quick about it. As soon as he got the slightest bit of relief from Vegeta’s punches and ki blasts, he rocketed down into the village, grabbed the elder Namekian by the wrist, and launched off into the horizon as fast as his ki would take him. He may have been losing, but he could still go damn fast. And he needed to get away from Vegeta just long enough so that he could heal himself and get ready to kill him for all the humiliation and crap that he’d put him through in the last few moments.

* * *

His POV

Raditz was only somewhat listening. Blinking his gaze in the direction of the grandiose fight whenever he could. While the soldier longed to rejoin the combat (Vegeta always got all the fun), a part of him was glad he wasn’t in the middle of this mess. He’d just come back from the brink of death; he wasn’t so ready to meet the reaper again. Not so soon, at least. Besides, he knew Vegeta would never allow him to interfere. Not only that, Raditz knew if anything happened to the girl, Vegeta would surely take it out of his hide...

“Shit... Does this mean I have to carry your sorry ass? ...you’re not going to whine to Vegeta that I took advantage of you if I pick you up, are you?” The long haired soldier was naturally wary of the girl by now. It seemed like whenever anyone got within three feet of her, Vegeta was there to beat their asses for it. Raditz narrowed his gaze down at the girl, and then at the two green children, then stepped forward.

It was just for the mission, to get this over with. If he didn’t take her, she’d probably scream and get Vegeta’s attention then he’d REALLY be in trouble. He had no choice... Raditz had to pick up the girl and the two children and carry them off towards the next dragon ball. Following Bulma’s direction much to his own dismay. Dende and Cargo were trapped on his shoulders in his long hair, and Bulma caught in his arms - though Raditz was refusing to give her any direct attention for fear she’d call it ‘rape’.

\----

Meanwhile, Vegeta was hot on Kuriza’s trail. He’d just gone in for a punch to the face, when Kuriza had managed to evade his attack and disappear. What?! The little runt was making a run for it!? What a fucking coward! Oh, no, it wasn’t going to end so easily for the tiny bastard! Vegeta would make sure of that! Kuriza was fast though. What the little punk lacked in size he seemed to make up for in speed. The prince was catching up quickly though; tossing ki blasts at his target, despite the victim in Kuriza’s clutch. Trying to blast the both of them out of the sky. It wasn’t until a few missed ki blasts later that his promise caught up with him. His promise to Bulma to not kill any locals ...his blood lust had been too strong there for a moment.

“Damn you, you little shit! You coward! I shouldn’t have expected anything less from the span of Frieza!” the prince roared. That was meant as an insult... He knew what Kuriza probably wanted with the old Namekian. They both knew Vegeta didn’t give a shit about hostages (usually) but they could heal. Like hell he’d let the little prick recharge! Luckily, Vegeta caught up just as they zoomed over a large body of water. Catching Kuriza by the tail and using the momentum of their furious flight to swing the lizard around, sending him flying towards the green lake. He was so close to killing Kuriza, he could feel it. He wasn’t letting his victory slip away that easily.

* * *

Her POV

“Yes, you have to pick me up! Do you have a problem with that, you jerk? I’m sorry I can’t fly!” She spat venomous words toward Raditz for his complaints–much more than she would bother for Nappa–but he had picked her up nonetheless, and let the two little Namekians hold onto his back. Hopefully they could hold on, and Raditz had have a brain not to move too fast. She huffed, mentally adding on that she sure hoped he didn’t try feeling her up, either. But how he questioned her about whether or not she’ll complain to Vegeta about taking advantage, she figured he wouldn’t. …Hopefully. Who even know with these terrible Saiyans.

“I’ll complain if you try anything,” she replied with another huff, before wrapping an arm around his shoulders just for some added security. She looked down at her radar and furrowed her brows as she focused in on the dragon ball. Then she spread the radar out further, and she got a good look at everything else. The balls they’d collected in the cave, one further off, the one in the village, the one they were going for now, and then… Two of them together. It must be where Kuriza’d been keeping his stash. In some ways, this was nice. It’d made things easier for them. It shouldn’t be hard at all to get this done.

\---

And while Bulma was focused on the balls, Kuriza was focused on running away. Vegeta didn’t seem to want to let up, however, and he figured he’d be dead meat along with the Namekian, but the ki blasts stopped. He glanced over his shoulder at him to see he was still charging at him with a bloodthirsty expression, so Kuriza tried to go faster–but it didn’t work out so well, and suddenly someone’s hands grabbed his tail. He was being swung around, faster and faster, until he was launched off to the lake. Out of obsession with healing so he could finally defeat Vegeta, he kept a strong hold on the Namekian.

The force of his drop into the body of water caused a giant tidal wave, but he used it to his advantage– he held a hand over the Namekian’s mouth and gave him a death stare. He’d heal him now. Now! Just like he had no problem surviving in space, Kuriza had no problem surviving in water. So while he had the slightest distraction and time to buy, he began speaking to the Namekian and demanding from him the one thing he wanted even more than the dragon balls.

“Heal me! Heal me or you’re dead! I’ll wipe out your entire village if you don’t heal me like your people healed all those damn monkeys! Bring me back to one hundred percent, or you’ll be damn sorry you ever refused me!” Maybe he could have put things nicer, but how could he bother when he was in such a serious situation? Being nice was the last thing on his list!

* * *

His POV

The girl wasn’t kidding, it seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing for miles, nothing other than a single tower of rock and stone with a dome hut on top. The hut was much larger than the ones back in the village, massive in fact. The battle was shrinking behind them. The raging attacks nothing more than soft booms in the distance, appearing like a far off storm of black and blue. Only the scouter on Bulma’s ear told them what was happening, or who was winning now.

Once they made footfall near the door of the dome, Raditz was sure to pull the two little green goblins out of his messy hair. They were really tangled in there! And the soldier was more than a little grumpy when tossing them out and onto the ground. It was just about then a new Namekian male stepped out. He was much taller and much more built then many of the locals they’d come across. His name was Nail, and he didn’t look very pleased to see them. In fact, he looked defensive.

“You there, why are you here! You shouldn’t be in this place!” the warrior-like Namekian pointed.

“Now now, Nail. Let them pass.” lulled an elderly, deep voice from beyond. It was the Grand Elder Guru, set back into his massive white chair. The next dragon ball they needed gleaming over his big green head.

\----

Meanwhile, Vegeta was between a rock and a hard place. Damn that Kuriza! Taking one of the Namekians like that! It was as good as a hostage situation, but the prince didn’t want his enemy to realize that too soon. If only he hadn’t made that stupid promise to the earthling, if only he didn’t care enough to keep it! Damn it! Was he furious! But his pride wouldn’t allow him to break. To think that he’d have to bow down and give into his word, just to win a battle. There was no way he’d allow himself to appear so weak! There was only one way out of it. He’d have to put the damn Namekian somewhere safe, all the while distracting Kuriza.

Vegeta’s body went soaring into the water like a torpedo. His sights locked onto Kuriza, and his dirty little hand that was gripping onto the Elder. It was a good thing he’d damaged Kuriza’s arm. Ripping the victim away from just one hand would be much easier. Which was exactly what Vegeta did. The prince rushed right past the two struggling figures. Grabbing the Elder by his robes and Kuriza by the nape of his little neck. Ripping them apart. A stern kick to Kuriza’s sternum pushed them further apart, sending the tyrant towards the lake floor. Once he had the Elder alone, Vegeta darted for the surface. After dealing with Bulma, he knew it was only a matter of time until the Elder drowned. 

“There’s no way I’m letting you heal that bastard! Stay here!” the prince barked, setting the Elder safely behind a large rock formation. Shooting the elder a warning glare, he disappeared as quickly as he’d come. Zooming towards the body of water, waiting for Kuriza to meet him in battle once again.

* * *

Her POV

They flew for a little while, passing nothing but open spaces and trees. Eventually they reached a strange rock formation and a dome on top of it, and she could hear Dende in the back speaking up– _“That’s where the Grand Elder lives!”_ She looked over her shoulder to look at him with a raised brow, but before she could bother to ask more, they’d already landed. She figured rather than ask questions, they might as well just figure it out for themselves. She was set on the ground without an issue from Raditz, and while he was busy de-tangling the poor little aliens from his thick hair, she went to investigate.

As soon as she walked to the door, she was met with yet another Namekian walking out at the same time. She took a step back as he told them to leave, but… What the hell was that behind him? That thing… Was giant. Another Namekian? Was that the Grand Elder? Its stomach was swollen, and it certainly didn’t look like it was doing too good. …But it let them in. She glanced back at the others again before walking inside to meet him, and after a few steps in, Cargo and Dende ran past her to meet their… Mother? Parent?

“Grand Elder! There’s someone trying to collect all the dragon balls, and hurting people!” It was Dende that spoke up, though Cargo nodded his head quickly along with everything he said. “These are our friends! They want the dragon balls back so Bulma can wish her planet back. They’re solving the problem with the other foreigner for us! Can you give them the dragon ball that’s here? They have a radar, and it says it’s here!”

\----

Damn it! In the blink of an eye, the Namekian was taken from him! He suffered another injury, but luckily Vegeta did not just kill him while they struggled underwater. He launched back up with the Namekian, and Kuriza was left wondering what to do next. Healing was not an option. …He didn’t want to die. But he couldn’t just keep running. He supposed he could fly back into orbit? But did he want to run and admit defeat like this? His father would be disappointed in him.

“Gn…” He looked up to the surface, unsure if he wanted to come flying out. Vegeta would certainly be waiting for him. …He’d only wanted to bring back his father, why did it have to end up like this? He was going to bring back his dad and then he’d be with him again as they rightfully should have. They’d take revenge on his grandfather. That’s all he wanted. So… So why did it have to end up in his death? It certainly looked like this is how it’d end up. If it weren’t for the water he was surrounded by, Kuriza might have looked like he was crying.

* * *

His POV

The grand elder looked very pleased to see the two little Namekians, but there was a sadness behind his old, withered smile. He knew the things that’d invaded his world and were threatening his children. Nail had been good enough to not only keep him updated, but to collect one of the dragon balls for safe keeping. And there it sat, the shiny orange orb just over his big green head... When he heard the two children begging for it, and the kind wish of the foreigner, a true smile crept into his tired lips.

“My children, it’s good to see you’re alive.” the elder greeted his descendants, “I’ve seen the evil that’s come to our planet… terrible as it is. Nail has been kind enough to gather one of the Dragon Balls to keep the invaders evil wish from coming true.” The elder’s heavy lids slit open, just enough to peer at Bulma and Raditz, “...but if your friend needs them, I cannot think of a more noble wish. Just make sure that it does not fall into the wrong hands...”

With that, the big green alien plucked the Dragon Ball from atop his throne. Giving the large orange orb to Nail, whom promptly handed it over to Bulma. But not without giving Raditz a once over. Nail hadn’t trusted the big soldier since he stepped foot into the temple, but the grand elder seemed to trust them, so he didn’t have much of a choice either. Raditz on the other hand wasn’t masking his annoyance. Watching Nail. The two men obviously sizing one another up, but keeping civil for their leader’s sake’s.

\----

Kuriza wasn’t coming up… that shitty little coward, how dare he run from a fight! Vegeta watched his enemy’s numbers intently through the rosy view screen of his scouter. At least it’d given him plenty of time to hide the Namekian away. The prince knew he had to end this once and for all. To go all out. It was the only way to ensure the tyrant’s offspring couldn’t try another hostage situation like that. It was damn annoying, an intrusion to their battle!

What was the damn bastard waiting for, was he laying a trap? There was no way he’d allow that! Vegeta didn’t waste another moment, he shot right back into the waters depths. Grabbing Kuriza by face as soon as he laid eyes on him, beating him mercilessly. There was a new ferocity to Vegeta’s tactics. Everything was precise, every blow was one to damage vital organs, aiming to kill. Few battles had pushed the prince to test his limits, but he wasn’t holding back this time - he knew better than to allow Kuriza a chance. Vegeta didn’t see him as a child, he saw him as a tyrant to be, an enemy, a threat that had to be dealt with.

A large blast of ki jutted the majority of the water out of the lake, spraying like massive ripples over the dry land. Vegeta wasn’t far behind his attack, aiming for Kuriza’s head with a powerful round house kick, trying to snap the little aliens neck. Decapitation was his goal. He’d heard the rumors - that Frieza’s kind could survive mortal wounds, even the vacuum of space. He’d need to completely immobilize him, then blast him into ashes.

* * *

Her POV

Its children… So it had birthed all of them. It reminded Bulma a bit of bees. A bunch of male workers, and then the queen bee. Right? She eyed him nervously, still wondering in her head how the Namekians even… Reproduced. They had said there was one sex before, but how could she even believe that? There had to be something, they couldn’t just reproduce by mitosis. Could they? Her nose wrinkled at the thought, but the dragon ball was handed over, and Bulma’s thoughts shifted to what their next move would be. Kuriza seemed to be running around an awful lot. His number was dropping. …She had a feeling it’d be best to avoid his spot where he hid the dragon balls for now.

“We’ll make sure he won’t get any more of them,” she replied with a nod, taking the dragon ball from Nail. She looked down at the two Namekian children, debating if she should even bring them with again. …No, it’d be fine. They’d be dropped off, and they’d be alright. Vegeta got Kuriza under control, as far as she could tell. She held the ball tight and turned around to face Raditz, looking up at him expectantly.

“Come on. We have to get going. We’ll go back to the village and grab that ball, and you can deliver them to Nappa. Vegeta looks like he’s got Kuriza finished, so you can drop me off there and we can get the last balls together. …There looks like another Namekian there, actually.” Referencing her scouter, obviously. “We can stop by there and see how Vegeta’s looking. He might need to be healed again. Who knows.” Again, she was commanding them and ordering them around like she was the one that ruled over them.

“Okay. Let’s get going. We’ll take them back to their village, too. Safely.” She glanced up at the Elder Namekian again, trying not to seem rude by staring. But still. She couldn’t get over how odd it was. …And why did it feel like it was staring at her like it could read her thoughts? Gn… Whatever. She wanted to leave. She had the ball, she was one step closer to wishing her planet back, and soon she’d be back home.

* * *

His POV

There was nothing left, not even a speck of dust of what was once the tiny-spawn-of-a-tyrant that was Kuriza. Vegeta had hit him full force. Annihilated by a double galick gun blast after successful decapitation. It was quick and clean, and hopefully the last he’d see of the menacing lizard’s dictating family. The battle was over, the air as still, and the planet finally falling silent. Vegeta hung in the air for some time, reveling in his latest accomplishment and catching his breath. He’d need to gather the rest of the dragon balls next. Kami, this day would never end. At least there wouldn’t be competition now.

Meanwhile, Raditz was giving Bulma a hard glance over, back at the Grand Elders look out. The girl was trying to order him around again, and while he could hardly disagree thanks to the protectiveness she provoked out of his leader, that didn’t mean he didn’t question her commands. Reluctantly, Raditz agreed. Taking both the earthling and the two Namekian children back to the village. The newly acquired dragon ball given to Bulma to carry.

“Lady, you’re crazy if you think I’m leaving you alone in the village. Vegeta would never allow it.” Raditz commented, the wind zipping through his long hair as he flew back towards the village, glancing down at the girl in his arms. “...by the way, what the hell did you mean? That you’re collecting the dragon balls to wish back your planet. That can’t seriously be Prince Vegeta’s wish ...he’d never do something like that.” Raditz insisted, but his face twisted up with uncertainty, arching a curious brow. That sounded nothing like the Vegeta he knew, that he’d grown up with, fought alongside, followed. Though… his prince had been acting funny the past few weeks, particularly the last few days... could it really be true? Or as the girl trying to pull one over on the prince, or maybe fool the Namekians into thinking she was on a noble quest. Raditz wasn’t quite sure.

As soon as Raditz feet touched down in the midst of the village, he let slip the three passengers that were clinging to his massive build. He was just glad to be rid of the green rats in his hair, honestly. So busy pulling the children from his tangles, he didn’t notice the figure coming in from the distance until it was a few yards away. Bloody, bruised, but strong and alive, it was Vegeta. Followed behind by the Namekian elder. The prince had brought him back to the village, or rather tossed him to safety as soon as he’d landed. Vegeta hadn’t known what had happened to Bulma after he’d left her to fight Kuriza. His thick brow lifting in slight surprise when he spotted her with what looked to be another dragon ball, along with Raditz - whom he presumed to be dead.

* * *

Her POV

“Agh, I can handle myself. He looks like he’s finished with the battle, anyway.” She huffed and rolled her eyes, though he continued to speak and said something that made her nose wrinkle even more than it already was. He didn’t believe her. He didn’t believe that her wish would be to bring her planet back. That that’s why they were gathering the dragon balls. Did he honestly think she’d take part in being a terrible person, and let them wish for anything else? He was such an idiot.

“Of course we’re bringing my planet back, stupid,” she grumbled as he finally reached the village and set her down. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted since you assholes had to come and ruin everything. That’s what’s happening.” She dropped the dragon ball as soon as she was safely on the ground, and let out a long sigh. Not just from Raditz’s idiocy, but also from the pain in the butt the dragon ball was to carry. Seriously, they were so massive, and so heavy! Did they have to keep insisting on making her carry them all? Grrn… She ran her fingers through her hair as she fixed it up after being so wind-swept, and glanced around the village. …Everything seemed to be fairly normal. That one Namekian that Kuriza had killed aside. 

Cargo and Dende ran off to join their brothers just about as soon as they were untangled from Raditz’s giant head of hair, and it was then that Vegeta and the old Namekian came wandering back into the village. The old Namekian was greeted by everyone, but Vegeta went by ignored other than Bulma. She stepped up to look at him, covered in blood and sweat and dripping what seemed to be just regular water on top of it all. His hair was a bit deflated from being soaked, and he seemed to be rather curious about what was going on, judging by the look on his face. Time to catch up.

“I got a few more dragon balls,” she told him, pulling off her scouter and handing it over to Vegeta. “Nappa’s brought most of them to the cave and buried them just in case. Then there’s this one, one somewhere off somewhere, and there’s two others in a place I’m guessing was Kuriza’s hiding spot. Then that’s it. That’s all we need.” They were finally close to the goal. Though… She couldn’t help but feel strange about it all. She’d heard some of the conversation before he decimated Kuriza. Completely wiped his ki from the scouter. He wanted to wish back his dad. …He’d killed people, but at the same time, hadn’t Bulma? Something about it all left a sour taste in her mouth, even if she was still certain she wasn’t doing anything wrong. 

“…Here. Here’s the scouter. We can go collect them, and then bring them back to the cave. Unless you need to be healed again before we go?” She’d clearly gotten used to barking orders, to the point where she was doing it to even Vegeta. Hm.

* * *

His POV

Crowds didn’t interest Vegeta, and he was more than happy to be left alone from the masses that were greeting their returned Elder and children. He watched subtly, more so lost in his own fresh memory of battle rather than anything around him. He may have saved them but that’s now how he thought of it, they were all meaningless to him. A coincidence. All except one, the one that was brave enough to approach the blood bathed war lord. She always caught his attention, however stoic he may have seemed.

Had she noticed the curiosity in his eyes? Odd, most couldn’t really. Not even his own men could decipher anything past angsty in the prince from time to time. But she was answering his questions before he spoke. Giving her his quiet, subdued attention as he fixed his original Scouter to his face. Relaying Raditz scouter back to him, whom took it without complaint. Vegeta’s brow winged up in interest when she claimed she’d gathered most of the Dragon Balls. There was a hidden glint in his eye; he was impressed. He’d expected to do all the work himself, yet here was this girl not only taking charge, but getting things done ...and obviously making herself comfortable at ordering his men around.

“Raditz, take this Dragon Ball back to the cave. We’re almost done with this retched planet.” Vegeta barked his commands and Raditz obeyed, then his attention fell back on Bulma. “Like hell I need to be put in that pitiful state of healing again. This is nothing...” he spat, but there wasn’t much fire to his voice. Vegeta was just being his regular tough guy self. Then, his face suddenly lit up with a devious look, a smirk hooking at his tanned lips. “Oh, is that so? And is that an order...? You’ve clearly enjoyed ordering my men around...” he was clearly teasing, hiding his praise for her assertiveness. His tone dark and low, only meant for the two of them. He wasn’t allowing her demands to slip by as easily as Raditz or Nappa had. 

Though, just before he’d had his fun teasing her, he’d noticed something cross the girls face. A look of sadness. What was wrong now? What could possibly make her unhappy now? He’d defeated their enemy; given her the very thing she’d hoped for. What the hell was it with this woman?! Slowly, the haughty glint in his face faded away into steely coldness. The prince may have let her ache slip away into nothingness, but after watching the girl suffer, along with her attempts of suicide, he’d be nothing more than a fool if he didn’t investigate just a little. If only to keep one step ahead of the girl. Strutting towards the direction of the last three Dragon Balls (he’d caught a glance of her radar), but then paused, tossing his glare over his shoulder and asking, “ _What’s wrong now...?”_

* * *

Her POV

He looked pleased. Not that she cared either way, but at least he was on her wavelength enough to not skip much of a beat with finding the last three. Just a little bit of teasing, and then he glanced at her radar and began to walk. She followed him, having rolled his eyes about what he said about ordering him and his men around. Really, what of it? She wanted her planet back. Her friends and family back. She wasn’t going to wait around for Kuriza to murder Vegeta and the rest of them without at least trying to get her planet back. If even the worst had happened, if she successfully wished her planet back, the dragon balls there would be back. She’d come back to life next year regardless. 

“Nothing’s the matter,” she replied as she walked, keeping up with his stride and looking down at the radar. Blegh, was he really going to make her walk? She’d rather be carried. “I was just thinking about the guy you were fighting. He really just wanted to wish his dad back to life, right? His dad sounded like a bad person and all, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. I guess I shouldn’t, considering he even killed some Namekians. But…” But she had killed people too. She shrugged rather than talk about it further, her brows furrowing as she thought about it. It was just… Just a pity. He was a kid, wasn’t he? Maybe he just didn’t know any better. …It had to be done, she supposed.

“…You look like a mess, you know.” Anything to change the subject. She gave him a glance as they walked, and moved a bit closer to wipe blood off his cheek with her thumb. Was it his? Or the enemy’s? …Out of nowhere, she was thinking of the scenes she’d seen on Earth again. Her friends burnt to crisps, bloody and bruised and beaten. Gohan’s skull smashed in. Chi-Chi–… She took her hand back and crossed her arms. Something about touching Vegeta felt disturbing and revolting at that moment. He was helping her get her planet back, but how much had he changed? He was willing to kill a child, after all. A bloodthirsty one, but a child nonetheless.

“…What’s going to happen after we wish my planet back? Are you going to make me stay with you? Are you just going to go to the next planet and do exactly what you did to mine?” Would he eat more people? Murder more children? Rape more women? Sell more people like Bulma into sex slavery? …To think, she nearly ended up like… …Like those two girls. She’d nearly forgotten about them, really. What would happen to them after she made her wish? They wouldn’t be brought back to Earth…

* * *

His POV

He was glad when she met his quick pace, mostly because he wasn’t about to slow down just to listen to her incessant dribbling. Vegeta kept his eyes to the horizon, towards his next mission. Wondering to himself just when the girl would give up and stop following him. Her explanation over her sadness was met with the rolling of his eyes, continuing his fast pace forward (though he never met eye contact). Feeling sorry for a Cold. It was absolutely ridiculous. The fact that her planet wasn’t involved in the galactic collective was showing. Everyone knew the Colds were the worst of the worst. Vegeta in particular.

The thought of the lizards made him feel raw, angry... especially due to the information he’d just learned from the tiny tyrant... Though he was trying viciously to ignore anything other than contempt for his own people. He didn’t care, he was above them. But then why did the information feel as if it’d ripped open an old wound... It was a stab to his pride, one that lasted past defeating Kuriza. How exhausting. Vegeta was so lost in his own brooding, he didn’t notice Bulma’s closeness until her smooth fingers brushed his blood stained cheek. His thoughts unraveled and his pace faded to a halt. He looked at her, his gaze just as intense as her own. She’d amazingly grabbed his attention again. She was good at that.

“What the hell does it matter what the fuck I do once your damn planet is back.” For a moment he paused, looking his captive over. Captive. That’s basically what she still was, wasn’t she? Until he deemed otherwise. He refused to think on it, and focused on getting the Dragon Balls instead. Vegeta lifting his hands, as if he was about to scoop her up as he had so many times, but then he noticed the grim look on her face. She’d recoiled from him... and as much as he wanted to do whatever the fuck he wanted, whatever was called for to complete the mission, picking her up felt …unwelcomed. The bastard was starting to learn her signs, and realized she didn’t want to be touched for whatever damn reason was going through her head. Instead of picking her up, he turned away sharply.

“I’ll take you back to your damn planet,” he grimaced, refusing to look back at her. Picking up his pace again, his uneased and irrational emotions were showing - and he knew it. The prince really loathed allowing anything other than his superiority to show. He needed to get himself back under control. After distancing himself from the girl, he slowed just enough for her to catch up. He had a lot on his mind, but Vegeta wasn’t usually one to allow such things to show. Circumstantially it didn’t take him long to steel his emotions away like a vice trap and recall his stoic, uncaring scowl back into place. “But first I have to get the last of the damn Dragon Balls,” his voice hissed with sarcasm, “...so are you going to let me pick you up, or are you going to hand over the radar?”

* * *

Her POV

At first, his words worried her. Was she going to be stuck with him when her planet was brought back? She didn’t like that idea. Still being something of a slave. …Though he hadn’t called her that for a while. ‘Little slave.’ Her lips tightened as she eyed him, wondering what her life would be like. Would she still get pinned down and used? He hadn’t done it in a while, but at the same time… She’d been freely letting him. Her gaze turned elsewhere when she thought about that. For everything he’d done, she’d let him do things to her. Even just earlier she’d let him fuck her hard enough to make her fall asleep immediately after. Maybe she was still a slave, even if he stopped calling her one.

Just as she was dwelling on it all, however, he spoke up. Told her she’d bring her back to her planet. …So she would be free? She looked up at him again to see him walking faster. she picked up the pace to follow, though not quite as fast as he was going. Only enough to stay somewhat close by. So that would be the end then. She’d finally be free. What was she supposed to do then? She’d thought about expanding her company, but she… She still felt empty, thinking about it. She was scared that once the ultimate goal of getting free was no longer in her sights, she would just feel alone again.

“Ah…” At his question, she only thought about it for a second. She didn’t want to be close to him at the moment. Maybe some time to breathe would help even things out. She set the dragon radar in his hand and took one last glance at him before turning around. She’d find her way back to the cave alone. On foot. She needed some time to herself regardless. Time to think… She rubbed her temples. What would she do with herself…? She debated committing suicide anyway, but even that didn’t sound like much of a relief. She just didn’t want to exist anymore. Maybe she could wipe her memories… The cruel memories of just the past couple months…

Just as she was walking back in the direction of the village, she saw Dende running for her, with a look of relief that he found her. He was sweating a bit from running so much, and took a moment to pant and collect his breath as soon as he stopped in front of her. Not that he had too urgent of an expression. Was he just excited about something? She didn’t really want to talk. Not now. She opened her mouth to say that, but Dende beat her to the punch.

“Miss Bulma! We forgot to tell you- You need to speak Namekian to summon the dragon balls! Moori told me I could do it. Where are the dragon balls? You’ve gathered them all by now, right?” …So it was a good thing they ran into each other, after all.

* * *

His POV

The radar found his hands rather than the warmth of the girl’s body. Vegeta’s hand gripped the make-shift device. Glad for the coming solitude from their parting. Glad that she refused him. He longed for alone time, but... there was something about her refusal that left him feeling cold, detached. A precursor to what was in their coming future. Their separation. Something that he thought wouldn’t affect him in the slightest, other than mild annoyance from having an object he saw as his own leave his side, but that was about it. So why the hell was he stewing towards the idea.

Alone. That was the strange sensation whispering at the edge of his soul. He reveled in solitude, he made a note to keep it that way. So when the fuck had he not been alone? Since this damn female cursed her way into his life, that’s when. His mouth parted, the hard lined expression that was cutting into his face momentarily softening. As if he meant to say something, but his mouth pressed into a hard line instead; his gaze darkening. Vegeta had seen Dende running towards them before Bulma had ever turned away. Cutting the awkwardness just in the nick of time.

Vegeta was gone in a flash. Without a word he took to the sky. The breezy Namek air welcomed against his damp skin and hair. It helped clear his mind. To think he almost cared. Hah! As soon as he was done with this female he would never have to worry about such weakness again. He’d tried to leave her behind once, but worry had clawed its way through his instincts. Now he knew she’d be safe. Now he’d never have to look at her again. At least, that’s what he was telling himself. All the way through a single Namekian village that gave him another ball after some arguing, and to the small ship that the radar was leading him towards. It must of been Kuriza’s starship.

There were no guards, and the ship’s door was blasted off its hinges in no time. Then there were the last two balls. Gleaming in meek control room. With one ball tucked under each arm and the radar clutched in a hand, Vegeta headed back towards the village. Hoping that the girl was smart enough to stay put instead of venturing out on her own. His eyes rolled. There was really no telling with that woman. At least his head was cleared when he touched back down in the village. Hiding away any lingering thoughts behind an all business facade. Eyeing the crowd for Bulma.

* * *

Her POV

Of course she wouldn’t stay put; she was too anxious for that. Rather than stay in the village, she and Dende travelled off to go find the cave. She held Dende’s hand the entire time if only so they wouldn’t get lost, and the entire walk was shrouded with silence. Dende likely felt the air. Bulma was in no mood for chatting. She couldn’t help but continue to dwell on everything. …Maybe she should wish for the Saiyans to be gone instead. She could wait another year to wish her planet back. The people here were so peace-loving. She didn’t have to worry about being abused and hurt like she had on every other planet beforehand. This planet was even more kind than her own. There was just no crime.

But something made her turned off by the idea. Maybe selfishness on her part, or maybe something more. She knew she shouldn’t think that Vegeta changed, but… But… Maybe. He’d gone this far for her. He hadn’t touched any of the Namekians. He made sure Moori was brought back safely. But was that only because she requested it? How far could her requests go? Would he listen to her if she asked him not to kill any innocent people anymore? To not rape any more women? She gulped and shook her head silently. Probably not. Why would he? It was too much to ask for in his eyes. 

“Miss Bulma?” The sudden speaking up took her by surprise. She looked down at Dende, who was staring up at her with wide, innocent eyes. The kind of innocence she hadn’t seen in a while. Especially when looking in the mirror. She hadn’t really thought of how drained and exhausted she looked nowadays every time she looked in her reflection, before having something like this to compare it to again. He looked like a little puppy. It was something that would have depressed her further, had he not continued with the words he did: “I know your first wish, but what are your other two going to be?”

“Two? I get three wishes?” She blinked at him. That… That changed everything. She looked forward and cocked her head to the side in thought. Three wishes… Her planet back. Everyone back after that. And then… She could wish those two girls back to Earth, too. The idea of destroying the Saiyans was still fresh in her mind, but… She couldn’t rightly waste a wish on that when there were bigger goals she needed to reach. As they walked through the forest, with what seemed to be the cave far off on the horizon, she didn’t bother to speak too much. “We’ll see.”

* * *

His POV

There was nothing in the village for him. The girl had gone. He really shouldn’t have expected anything less. When had Bulma ever staid put? Even when in urgent care she seemed to slip through his fingers. Vegeta was starting to get the notion that he’d never owned her in the first place. The girl did as she pleased. Well, maybe it was a good thing he was getting rid of her after all. He didn’t need that kind of distraction dragging at him across the universe.

By the time Bulma made it back to the cave, Raditz and Nappa were chatting it up just outside. Raditz bragging that he could feel his power stronger than never before, thanks to his near death experience. Nappa complaining that he was still twice as strong as Raditz. It sounded as if there a brawl, a show of strength, about to break out when something showed up on their scouters. It wasn’t just Bulma who’d found their way back to the cave, but Vegeta too. Landing softly in the grass just behind the girl. A shiny orange orb tucked under each of his arms.

He didn’t say a word, nor was a glance thrown her way when he passed her up and headed into the mouth of the cave. The dragon balls were dropped and orders were given to retrieve the hidden stash. Nappa made quick work of digging the last five dragon balls from a pile of rubble that’d been hiding the valuable orbs in the shadows of the cavern. Vegeta standing silently, as stoic and commanding as ever, overseeing the progress of his men line them up. All seven. With all their gleaming stars displaying their number in chronological order.

“What’s with the kid.” Vegeta finally side eyed Bulma, glancing down at the young Namekian whom seemed to be clung to her side. To him it looked like she’d picked up another pet. The earthling was good at picking up strays. The funny thing being Vegeta didn’t see the irony in that. “This better work,” he said softly, “...and you better not waste it.” he ordered, though it was a halfhearted attempt at remaining his tough guy self more than anything. He was feeling soft and he hated it. Trying to hide any sign of thoughtfulness that may have lurked behind his dark eyes.

It was hard to look away once he’d caught the girl in his vision. Doing his best to not look obvious, though the thoughts that were dredging though his head was making that exceedingly difficult. The prince knew there was a chance she could wish him away. She’d hated him, and by the way she was distancing herself from him now, Vegeta wondered if she despised him still. Not that he held any contempt for her if she did. He knew he completely deserved it. He was a bastard, and he knew it. ...but would she use that against him? He’d known that from the start, that this was a gamble. But for whatever stupid reason, some part of the prince trusted her. Maybe that’d be his undoing. The next few moments would tell.

* * *

Her POV

She ignored Raditz and Nappa’s fighting when they got to the cave, and dropped Dende’s hand. He looked up at her quizzically, obviously wondering where the dragon balls were. It’s not like he knew they were underground. She opened her mouth to tell him when she noticed his gaze, but before she could, Vegeta spoke up from behind her. She turned around to see him with the last three dragon balls, glowing from the close proximity to each other and the other balls. Her lips pressed into a fine line. She didn’t enjoy being around him.

It didn’t take long for the dragon balls to be dug out of the ground and to be lined up in a circle in front of the cave. Dende looked a little nervous with how Vegeta had spoken to her, but either way, he summoned the dragon. The sky went dark- the same she was used to. But when the dragon went flying out, she raised a brow. It wasn’t like Shenron. This one called himself Porunga, and was extremely muscular and with more horns. Odd-looking for a dragon. She scratched her cheek and tilted her head to the side.

“Okay, Miss Bulma! What are your wishes going to be? I need to speak them in Namekian for you, like I said.” Dende watched her expectantly, and Bulma eyed the dragon. What would it be? Her gaze slowly turned to stare at Vegeta, her brows furrowing. She could get rid of him, if she wanted. Make sure he and the other two never did to another girl, what they had done to her. Never destroyed another planet. Never raped or killed or pillaged ever again. It would be the selfless thing to do. And yet…

“My first wish is to bring my planet back to its original state, before the Saiyans destroyed it.” She was watching Vegeta when she spoke her words. The sides of her mouth turned downward a little. Dende spoke to the dragon in Namekian, and Porunga announced that he had fulfilled the wish. So what would the next one be, then? That was obvious. “I want to bring everyone the Saiyans killed or kidnapped back to Earth.” That way, she could have a third wish, to–

**_That is beyond my power._ **

The dragon took her by surprise. She forgot about Vegeta completely to look up at the massive thing, her brows raising. What?

**_I can only wish one person back to life at a time. Any more than that is beyond my power._ **

…So… So this dragon was different from Shenron? But– But what was she supposed to do, then?! She couldn’t just wish everyone back to life one by one! That’s ridiculous! Her cheeks flared in anger, but then– …The dragon balls that were on Earth… Shenron could wish everyone back to life. She could wish Kami back to life. Even if Piccolo came with him, what was the chances that she’d run onto him in that big, big, big planet she called home? 

“Okay! I want to wish Kami back to life, then!” Dende spoke the wish in Namekian, and that was what Porunga said he could do. The wish was fulfilled, and Dende looked back at her– she had one wish remaining. To kill the Saiyans that tormented the galaxy? But… The two girls… Who knew what even became of them. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t just leave them there… So her third wish was used up.

“I want to bring the two other girls that the Saiyans kidnapped back to Earth– wherever Kami is!” It’d be horrible for them to be alone where they could starve to death, or stumble across Piccolo, if he really got wished back. But maybe Kami could do them some good. Dende spoke the final wish, and much to Bulma’s relief, Porunga relayed that the wish had been granted before he went flying off into the sky with the dragon balls. …It was over, and the Saiyans were still here with her.

* * *

His POV

She’d never said a damn thing about actually conjuring a dragon. Though what the hell else was he supposed to expect from objects referred to as ‘Dragon Balls’. If they could grant wishes, he supposed it only made sense it came from summoning a dragon, as preposterous as that seemed. His face never shifted from anything other than slight interest. Craning his head back to gaze up at the grand green beast. He could take it on, given the opportunity he had no doubts he could kill a dragon.

Vegeta focused back onto the scene unfolding before him. The girl’s silhouette shadowed from the glow of the impressive spectral. Her first wish had left him standing. She hadn’t wished him away, but by the sounds of it she still had two chances left to end his life. Oh yes. He knew. The prince could tell by the way she kept side glancing him. Giving him thoughtful looks that meant the wheels in her clever head were turning. She was planning on killing him, and Vegeta was completely aware. But why wasn’t he moving, ending it? His ears perked when she suddenly exclaimed her second wish. The return of a single life. What an odd choice, though he supposed it meant something to her. That was two wishes down. The last one could be his doom.

He caught her last glance and he knew it meant the end of him. The girl he’d grown to care for, if just in secret, was plotting to kill him. When hadn’t she? The thought creased his lips into a sly smirk. She’d been trying to kill him since he first had her in that pod. Maybe that was her real wish, maybe that’s what she’d wanted from the start. Maybe he should give it to her. His thoughts snapped. Shaking his head, the prince rid himself of the silly selfless ideas. Never, he was the god damn prince of all Saiyans. But then… why wasn’t he moving. Why did he continue to trust her? He could just as easily over power her and take the last wish for himself. To become an immortal god. To conquer the universe. The earthling had already gotten more then she’d hoped for. Why not take the last for himself?

Then the girl’s lips parted, and Vegeta knew it was too late. He was a dead man. He’d wasted his time and now he was paying for it. His eyes narrowed, his muscles tensed, and he was ready to meet death with as much anger as he’d been born with. But… nothing ever came. What… what the hell had she wished for? The safety of those two girls his men had first captured? The prince was, to put it simply, stunned. She’d sacrificed his death to save their lives. Well damn, did she always have to prove herself to be so bound in justice? Though, he could hardly complain... he was after all, still alive.

Once the sky had cleared, as if the giant dragon had never been, Vegeta’s gaze locked onto the blue eyed woman. She’d just had the chance to kill him. It was hard not to feel some sort of reserve towards her. Pressing his brows and tugging his mouth down into a defensive, stony manner. Though, some part of him respected her for it. He’d always respected her do or die attitude. She never held back, as always. The prince graced her with one all-knowing glance as he passed by. He had that look again, the leader, the all business tyrant. He was about to give orders, as usual.

“Pack up, we’re leaving. It’s time to see if this dragon was just talking out of its ass.” In other words, they were headed for earth.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wasn't sure if I had the correct amount of dragon balls. I didn't read this chapter top to bottom but from what I could tell I was short one, so I shoved it in real quick... Funny, because I had thought I had one too many.
> 
>   
> 


	39. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma reverses what the Saiyans had done.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

The clouds disappeared, and Bulma wasn’t sure what to do with herself. It felt odd, knowing things were at least almost back to how they were. …Would Vegeta really let her go back to Earth? She had unfinished business. But who knew how he’d respond if she told him that she had to go back to collect the dragon balls and wish everyone back. He may get annoyed and complain and outright refuse. He’d been kinder recently (to her, anyway), but she wasn’t sure how far she could get with him. How far would he let her go?

Dende tugged on her arm and told her that he hoped she came back to visit some time. Maybe she could tell them more about Earth. Bulma agreed, and they said their goodbyes before Dende ran off in the direction of the nearest village. It was a peaceful enough planet that she supposed a kid could run around as he pleased. She hadn’t even run into any violent wildlife, after all. She crossed her arms loosely and looked over at Vegeta as he barked his orders at his men. There was a look on his face that she couldn’t place. But… They were going to Earth.

She wasn’t happy with the idea of spending time with him in a pod, especially for as long as the trip between Namek and Earth was, but it’s not like she had a choice. At least she could rest knowing that her planet would be back to how it was before. And hopefully the dragon balls wouldn’t need to be recharged. If they were ready to use right away, then… Then she could wish everyone on Earth back. She followed Vegeta with some of the load she’d been carrying since they first met, lifted off her shoulders.

When they got to the pods, she shifted for a moment before getting in after him. She still wasn’t happy about being so close, even if he’d done so much for her. She couldn’t shake all the thoughts from before. All the things he’d done. He’d murdered a child. The bodies of her friends on Earth were horrible to see. …And he cared about her, sure, but what would he do when she was left on Earth? Rather than sit on his lap, she sat in the space at his feet again, and stared up at him in silence. Thinking.

“…Vegeta, when you found Goku– Uh, Kakarot… Who killed who?”

* * *

His POV

The feeling of wanting to be alone was mutual. When Bulma shifted herself into the floor of the pod Vegeta didn’t protest. In fact, he’d barely looked at her since he’d ordered them to pack up camp. While he’d been expecting her to crawl into his lap, he’d been the one ready to act aloof and cold. It was strange to see her acting so distant, and for whatever reason it only intensified what he already knew. He wasn’t one for feeling vulnerable, emotional or otherwise. The sooner they got this over with, leaving her ass on her pathetic planet, the sooner he could stop giving a damn.

Her words interrupted his thought pattern. Vegeta had been looking away, smoothing his knuckles over his lips in contemplation. She wanted to know whom killed who? What did it matter, when did she care? Normally the girl detested these sorts of things. Hearing her curiosity perked him up a little. If there was one thing Vegeta always found interested in, it was war and battle. Even if he was still acting a little grumpier than usual when he answered her.

“What does it matter? I don’t remember every kill... it all muddies together after a while.” he grumbled. The talk of killing slipping out of his lips as easily as a passing thought. He glanced at her then, and got the suspicion that wasn’t quite the answer she was looking for. Sitting up a little, he cleared his throat, giving into a little more information, “If he was strong then I killed him.” he said harshly, factually, “The weak are for my men to deal with. The strongest warriors I fight myself. ...There is no pride gained in fighting a weakling.”

He paused there, growing silent. The memory of his fight with Kuriza flooding into his head. “Kuriza was a mockery... I would have preferred to kill him full grown, at his full potential, but ...he was in my way.” his nose wrinkled, silently snarling. He hated that tiny lizard. The learning of his planet’s death was still hanging over his head. Vegeta wasn’t so much talking to Bulma anymore. War was something he could easily speak about. He’d opened his mouth, and that usually lead to a tirade if he wasn’t careful. Venting the steam that’d been building inside of him for the last few hours. Bulma was just there for the ride, and rare glimpse into his primal mind.

“I would have preferred to kill his father.” there was an ominous bite in his dark voice, “I should have allowed him to make his wish so that I could have killed the bastard myself!” his finger bit into the arm rest, but then suddenly he remembered something. Bulma had had the same chance to kill him. To destroy the creature that’d taken her planet form her …much like Frieza had apparently taken his planet from him. Was this what she felt like, all the time? How did she stand to look at him? The very thought of the lizards offspring disgusted him, let alone the creature that’d stripped his breed of their prideful existence. Natural disaster he could live with, but someone had purposely denounced his rights and taken his planet from him. His burning gaze drifted over her again, new realization setting in. He couldn’t help but ask, he had to know, “Bulma, why didn’t you kill me? You should have killed me.” he lectured, “You had your chance.”

* * *

Her POV

She watched him as he spoke. At first he didn’t seem to like the idea of answering. He beat around the bush, but after a moment passed, he tried to answer her more directly. …He probably killed Goku. If he saw someone strong on Earth, it would have been him. And he had been badly beaten. She supposed it made sense. She closed her eyes and pictured everything. She could imagine Nappa putting his head on Gohan’s little skull and… Hn. As for who had done that to Chi-Chi, who knew which one. She could imagine either of them doing it.

Her eyes opened when he continued to talk. She tried to make eye contact, but he wasn’t looking at her. Explaining himself for killing Kuriza. It wasn’t a comfort to know that he would have liked to kill him if he hadn’t been a child. He’d still done it. HE was still a bad person. Bulma had to remember that, every time she let him get close. It was wrong of her. She needed to remember the kind of person he was. She looked away again, out at the stars that and planets they were already zooming by. All the way until the conversation turned to her.

“Why would you think I’d kill you?” She wasn’t looking at him. If she did, she’d probably give away with her expression that she had been planning on it. Had it been that obvious to him? She let out a little sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. No use lying, she guessed. “I thought about it. But things were more important than that. I thought for a while of doing everything in a way where it was one wish, but… Things didn’t turn out. That’s all. It’s not as if you don’t deserve it.”

Her stomach rumbled, and she pulled her knees up so that she could fiddle with the dirty shoelaces on her shoes rather than sit straight and look at him. Geeze… She should have eaten before they left. What an annoyance. She shifted around some more, and turned over on her side. It seemed like she couldn’t get comfortable. Maybe it was from the conversation, or just the fact she was so close to him. She didn’t want to be close. It wasn’t quite as pronounced of a distaste as when he used to pin her down and violate her, but… She certainly didn’t want to be so close that when she turned her head, his knee was inches from her face.

“When we go to Earth, we have to gather more dragon balls. That’s why I wished Kami back. God… He’s another Namekian, apparently. He looks just like them. He made the dragon balls. But the ones on Earth are different. They’re really small, and they summon Shenron, who can grant one wish. And that includes wishing back multiple people. …I don’t really expect you to stick around, but… I still want to know what you’re going to do after? Just go back to destroying planets? Raping more girls like me?”

* * *

His POV

Vegeta wasn’t fazed when she admitted to her contemplating killing him. His face never moved and his stare remained stoic. He was listening, watching her finally, until she murmured that he did indeed deserve death. The prince wasn’t offended, quite the opposite. He was impressed to hear that she had in fact deducted her choices, weighed them carefully, and then chosen her best bet. A coy smile hooked into his lips. She was smart. Even if he didn’t agree with what she’d wished for. He’d have wished for death, while she wished for life. They were complete opposites in that sense, but he respected her for it. Though it did come with a gentle shake of his head, he should have realized she’d have chosen to save her fellow earthling females over taking his head.

“Probably,” he admitted darkly, but at least he was honest. More so then the girl probably realized. ‘Probably’ had a double meaning. He hadn’t really desired any other female in the last few weeks. She’d been the only one obsessing his mind, but he knew that things changed. Once she was dropped back off on her planet he could slip back into life. If one could call it life. There was something else on his mind though. The way he side-eyed her, he’d found something humorous in the way she’d worded herself. ‘More girls like her’. That couldn’t have been more of a lie. As far as he was concerned, there weren’t any.

An awkward silence hung in the air. The prince lifting the armrest console at his side and rummaging into its contents for a moment. After passing medical supplies and the rare vile of left over aphrodisiac, he found what he’d been searching for. In his hands was a package. One of the snacks they’d picked up on the acidic world. He’d stuffed it away for later, and this was a good of time as any. It was round and large, like a soft cookie laced with cream. Vegeta had noticed her hunger. It waking up his instincts, especially after trying to force feed her before. It was just ingrained in his brain now. He handed it to the girl at his feet.

“Bulma... I don’t think there is another female across the universe that is quite as infuriating as you.” after a sly glance, he rested back into his chair with complete control. He couldn’t just tell her she was irreplaceable. That he respected her over all others. That no other female had earned his respect nor did he plan on giving it. No, he had to turn it into an insult, a playful insult.

“I’ll should take on the Colds.” he continued his earlier thought, wondering his gaze aimlessly at the padded dome wall, “Kuriza...” he stopped, no he didn’t want to word it like that, he didn’t want to give the little bastard any credit, so he shifted his wording tactic, “Apparently... the Colds had something to do with the death of Vegeta-sai...” he winced; eyes narrowing and nose snarling. Why was that so difficult to say. When had it changed? He’d never given a fuck before, but there was something in him nagging at him to reclaim some piece of lost pride. “Those lizard bastards... I should wipe out their whole race.” he snapped, but quickly froze. Eyes wide, shocked by his own outburst. He sounded... he probably sounded just like Freiza, just before he wiped out his Saiyan race. It wasn’t so much that he cared, that he was beginning to realize. Where did he end and his lifestyle begin? When had the lines blurred? And most of all, did it even matter.

* * *

Her POV

“Probably…” She repeated it with a sigh. It’s not like she expected a different answer, but it was still bothersome. She ran her fingers through her hair some more and closed her eyes until she heard him shuffling around. She glanced over just to see what he was doing, just in time for him to hand her a snack. He heard her stomach rumble? She eyed him for a second but still took it, popping up the wrapper and eating. It looked like a cookie, but tasted something like ice cream. She would never get used to the weird things she came across in space.

“I’m that infuriating?” She chewed her food as she looked up at him, raising a brow. She supposed there was something nice in knowing that she managed to anger him enough that he considered her such. She looked away again, staring out of the window as she ate the large snack little by little. “If I hold that title, I don’t even know what you’d consider yourself. I’m nowhere near as infuriating as you. Or those other two you hang around with. …Hn.” 

Silence swept through the pod, as she debated what to say. What would he do, if she tried to convince him not to do anything bad? Would he laugh at her if she tried to request that he didn’t go around raping any more women? …Maybe the Z-fighters had gotten stronger in death. Maybe if they were wished back, they could beat the Saiyans into submission. But the idea of Vegeta being killed, especially even indirectly because of her, made her feel… Bad. Why? What a stupid way to feel. He deserved to die.

She glanced up again when he spoke, looking as if he’d been stewing about these thoughts for a while. He was angry because Kuriza’s species had destroyed his planet? …Maybe she should try to eliminate all Saiyans, with that kind of reasoning. Though as far as she could tell, they were the only three there were. She played with her hair absent-mindedly, the half-eaten snack in her free hand, as he went on.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t just get yourself killed? …I guess I shouldn’t mind that, though, if it does happen. …Maybe you could just use the dragon balls to wish your planet back. And then you can just stay there. If you guys don’t bother anyone else, it wouldn’t be that bad, right? You wouldn’t have to destroy other planets. …You’re a prince, right? Doesn’t it feel bad that you have to have a job? A prince shouldn’t have dirty work like that. That’s how I feel about it.” She was dancing around the matter– she didn’t want him to be what he used to be. He’d mellowed out somewhat, and hadn’t even killed any Namekians. But if she was gone, he’d just go back to how he was, wouldn’t he? 

All three of them would.

“What’s the point of causing so much destruction, anyway? Don’t you feel bad about it…? What’s wrong with living a peaceful life? Or at least only punishing those who deserve it? Kill other murderers. Not innocent people…”

* * *

His POV

He was intently watching her eat. Resting back in his chair with a fist propping up his angular cheek. Distracting him from the brewing hatred he had towards the Colds. She was good at that, at distracting him from his darker side. It was nice to know she found him just as infuriating, too. Oh, if only she knew just how much. He’d almost smiled at the thought, until she mentioned his royal stature and his probable death if he took on his biggest enemies. His lax facade knit into frustration. He didn’t want to admit it, nor would he out-loud, but she was probably right... Vegeta knew she was right.

“Dirty work, is that how you see it.” his tone was almost mocking, but not quite. A part of him was taking their conversation seriously, “I don’t give a damn about the job… I’m just looking for a fight, and no one in this universe has been able to give it to me.” He paused, “I actually thought, out of everyone, you’d be the one to kill me.” his smirk was wicked. Vegeta by no means had a death wish, but he did find it ironic, almost impressive, that this ki-less girl had nearly ended him, after so many had tried to kill him in a brawl. How could he not tease her for loosing? His amusement didn’t last long. Shifting in his spot, thinking about what she’d said. About wishing his planet back, about ruling.

“I can’t just go back,” he said bluntly, pressing his brow firm, “What do you expect me to do, just pick up where I left off? To sit still and rule? I’ve seen too much shit across this universe. Besides... It’d be pointless.” his eyes flicked towards her own, instilling eye contact, “If the Colds had something to do with the death of my planet, do you think they’d allow it to pop back up on the radar? My people may of been warriors, a feared army, but they had standards. You don’t rule a people by slaughtering the masses. The Colds have no honor, no dignity. I should know.” he snapped, “They make Zarbon look like kittens.”

He stopped short there, his tirade ending abruptly. Vegeta didn’t like mentioning that toad faced prince’s name, especially in the girl’s presence. It made him feel ...angry. He was aware of the state it put her in whenever her tormentor was mentioned. For a moment there he’d almost let his mouth run away with him.

“I don’t need them anyhow,” his voice was softer this time, “I’ve grown stronger now, then I ever would have on my home planet. I’ve risen above them.” it almost sounded like an excuse, but it was half true. Vegeta wouldn’t trade his progress in strength for the universe. Strength was what really mattered to him in the end, no matter how he got it, shitty life or otherwise. “The job is the closest thing I have to what already runs through my veins. _I need to fight_. Why should I care who gets in my way? “he arched a brow, suddenly curious of her opinion on the matter, “How would you know who deserves it or not? Am I to ask every one of their crimes?”

* * *

Her POV

He just liked to fight. It was like the rest of the boys she knew. The same as Goku, Yamcha, the others… They just liked to fight. That was all. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, still eating the snack bit by bit as he spoke. Went back to talking about those lizard people. The Colds, that’s what he called them. How he didn’t want to rule because it was pointless… Occasionally she opened her eyes again to look back at him, up until he made eye contact- then she kept watching. It was mesmerizing, almost. She’d never seen him like this before, acting that angry over something that typically didn’t seem to bother him.

…She wondered if he understood how she felt now. His planet had been destroyed by an outside force. He had told her things before about how she should just get over it, but now she could see how much it bothered him. How much he wanted revenge. Like she wanted revenge, before she managed to fix things. She recalled all the times she’d tried to kill him, maim him. She’d broken his scouter and tried to force it through his eye multiple times. Shoot him in the cock… She’d broken his jaw from shoving a capsule inside there once, and she could still hear the popping whenever he chewed his food. …The more she thought about it all, the more she understood what he meant when he called her the world’s most infuriating woman.

He mentioned Zarbon, and she looked away again. Gn… She was so stupid back then. Didn’t want to be reminded. At the slightest opportunity for a chance at freedom, she’d blindly trusted an idiot and ended up having to be saved by someone she had originally thought was her captor. She resisted folding in on herself and crying. No, she wouldn’t cry about it anymore. The wounds were still so fresh, but… She had to get over it, like he said. Though… As he spoke, he mentioned that he felt as if he was better in space, rather back home. …Her brows furrowed a little more. Maybe she should think about that. She tucked what he said away, and then steadily and carefully came up with her next words.

“…Back on Earth, we have comics and movies about superheroes. Goku was basically one, now that I think about it. He fought only people who did bad things, or sparred for fun. When we were kids… There was this army of people that terrorized the world. No one could defeat them, but Goku. He destroyed their whole headquarters single-handedly. I’m not saying ask every person if they’re good, but… Why can’t you be more like that?” She stopped speaking so she could quickly finish the rest of her snack, and when she swallowed, she stared at him again.

“I don’t want you to go back to how you were. I know you have to fight, because Goku did, too. But do you have to do it the way you do?”

* * *

His POV

He’d said too much. His introverted senses were tingling. He could tell by the odd way the girl was staring up at him, he’d allowed a little too much of his inner dialog out. And with nowhere to escape to in the tiny pod, it was time to clam up again. He regained his defensive posture. Stoic, tense, armed crossed over his chest. However, he hadn’t completely closed himself off to the female. Vegeta was still watching her, listening to her every word. Listening to her praise another male however, wasn’t as easy. He endured it if only to let her get her point across. Some of what she said making absolutely no sense, such as talk of ‘comics’ or superheroes’, though once she explained he got the jest. What perplexed him the most, was her unusual concern for what he did with himself.

“War isn’t usually pretty...” his voice was dark, whispered, “but… …my people did fight for others, from time to time...” his words trailed off. He meant he understood what she was getting at, that he’d think about it, but it was far from a promise. The life he’d lead had been the only one he’d ever known. Bulma had been the only interference in his life. Without her it’d be easy to slip into old habits. Before her, he’d never had a reason to care for an alternate route. He didn’t need one, it had met his needs just fine; if not just a little dryly, but that was to be expected with the stripping of his inheritance. What did he have to fight for? Other than himself.

His vision trailed away, trying his damnedest not to acknowledge the woman between his knees. He didn’t want to talk anymore. Speaking was unraveling his very existence, the way he thought of the universe. Who was she to judge him, to tell him to change his ways? She’d be gone soon, and he’d do damn well whatever he pleased. Though... for the first time there was an uncharted bitterness in the thought. Surely he wasn’t growing a conscience, that’d be unheard of. No, he simply didn’t want to talk anymore, that was all. He was an unsocial beast on his best of days.

“You should rest, I don’t want any hindrance in finding these damn things when we land.” he still refused to look at her, barking his orders and watching the stars whoosh by outside the large portal window. He meant he wanted to hit the ground running. But that meant he’d help her find the dragon balls. It was the prince’s indirect way of telling her he was going to see this through. As if he could trust her on an empty world and not get hurt without protection. Protection, he was still feeling protective, but that aside he was never one to leave a mission incomplete. He had full intentions of seeing her safe and content before he left for good.

* * *

Her POV

He… Didn’t outright reject her. That was both a surprise and a good sign. She blinked at him a couple times with a raised brow, not actually able to believe he hadn’t just dismissed her as being an idiot. A small smile came across her face. It was silly to be excited at just the idea of an evil man weighing the idea of not necessarily committing evils, but she couldn’t help it. She… She wouldn’t admit it, but she didn’t want to kill him. He was… …Well. He’d helped her out in the past how many times? She’d just like to think he was a decent person.

“I don’t expect you to not kill anyone if you only just fight wars. But… Killing innocent people, raping girls, murdering children… That’s all I wish never happened at all.” Space was a cruel place, however, and that was an impossible wish. More impossible than wishing everyone in her planet back to life. Regardless, when Vegeta went silent, she respected the quietness and sat in relief. Dwelling on his response. …How would she know that he’d stay like that, though? If she was in the comfort of her home on Earth, she’d never be able to tell what he was doing. She would desperately like to believe there was some amount of good in him, but was there really?

“Hn?” She was drawn from her thoughts by Vegeta breaking the silence. Telling her to rest. She shook her head. “I’m not tired yet. I still have too much adrenaline pumping in my veins. I’d rather stay up. Besides, the trip is so long! I’ll be able to catch up on any sleep I miss out on and more. It’ll be fine.” And with that, she climbed onto Vegeta’s armrest and sat there, deciding she could stomach being closer to him this time around. She hadn’t been able to shake what he did to Kuriza, but maybe he was right- she just didn’t understand. If half of what he said about them being worse than Zarbon was true, then… Then she had no reason to hold the killing against him, even if she still felt pity for the alien.

“…When we get to Earth, you can stay for a little,” she told him, crinkling and playing with the wrapper her snack had come in. “When we wish everyone back, I mean. You can experience Earth for what it is. I’ll show you around my house, we can have some authentic Earthling food, we can go to the amusement park… There’s plenty of guest rooms, too, so if you guys want to stay a couple days, we could do that.” Why was this even coming up? It was a stupid request. They were her captors, and probably had shit to do. And yet, out of some strange lonely affection, she was giving them a chance for a little vacation on her native planet. Why? What was the point? She was ridiculous.

“…There’s lots of things to do. It’s my way of saying thanks for helping me fix everything.” Even if they were the ones to ruin it in the first place.

* * *

His POV

He was a little bemused when the girl decided to climb her way into his presence. She’d done her best to avoid him so far, and he had returned the sentiment. However, he shifted his weight slightly, giving her room while retaining his dominance. The prince wasn’t quite sure what had changed their circumstances, but he felt the vibe in the pod ease comfortably. Finding himself slightly perplexed by the hint of smile that graced her perfect lips. The earthling really could be so confusing at times, Vegeta wasn’t always sure if he’d ever fully get used to it.

He was even more confounded by her offering of room and board. Entertainment even. What the hell had just gotten into her? Didn’t she remember how much she hated him? Maybe there were drugs in that road-side snack he’d given her… The prince arched a brow, trying to decipher the woman’s happiness. Happiness, that was the look gently beaming from her features. The same she so often wore when speaking fondly of her home planet. She had gathered his quiet attention. Trying to imagine the things she mentioned as best as he could, though he had nothing other than alien worlds to reference by. He wasn’t quite ready to climb out of his shell, but the prince was baited back into conversation out of curiosity.

“Amusement park...? Lecherous woman, and here I thought you found such pleasures revolting.” he couldn’t help but put a tease into his voice, purring out like velvet as he so often did when screwing with her. The back of his dirty gloved finger softly stroking her knee cap. Apparently Vegeta’s experience with something referred to as ‘amusement facilities’ had not been nearly as innocent as what earth had to offer. He had no idea what she was actually talking about. He half wondered if she was inviting him into her bed later, or offering to give him a slut or two at least. Again, he couldn’t hardly believe it was coming from her of all creatures.

“We will need to resupply,” his hand retreated, with or without Bulma’s help, “Food...” he murmured under his breath. The word got his attention nearly as much as the prospect of bedding the woman. He hadn’t eaten, slept, in over a week and a half? His stomach was making the decisions for him now. Besides... he was finding it very difficult for him to say no. His logical half was demanding he leave as soon as possible, to cut ties at the first chance. But... her offer sounded good, and she’d thanked him. She was the only being he could remember to ever mutter that phrase to him. Probably because she was the only one who’d he’d ever given a damn about.

“What’s the first thing you’ll do?” he was compelled to ask by unknown forces. His eyes flicking to meet hers. He’d like to think it was just him making plans, deductions, but some part of him was... curious.

* * *

Her POV

With the added space she was given, she set her feet on his thigh and leaned her back against the wall of the pod. She’d been so angry at him before, that… Now that there wasn’t a problem, it was nice to be close to him like this. Why was it so nice? She wouldn’t say she truly cared for him or anything. Maybe it was just because of all the times he’d saved her. Maybe she’d began to equate him with safety, that’s all. …Either way, he kept giving her an odd look, and at his reaction to being told about the amusement park, she realized why. She snorted and rolled her eyes, before shoving away the hand of his that had so gently brushed her knee. Really? He’d never been to a real amusement park before? 

“It’s not a brothel, stupid! I said amusement park! There’s rides and cotton candy! It’s fun, and you need to visit one if you’ve never gone. There’s things called rollercoasters, where you sit in a little cart and you’re zoomed around on a track through loops and stuff like that. Or there’s other stuff, like a ride where they spin you around in a circle really fast to the point where you feel like you’re going to throw up. I used to go to the one close to my house all the time with Yamcha. They’ve got a ton of good food, you’ll enjoy it. I think you’d like alligator meat.”

She rested her elbow on her leg and her head on her hand, watching him as he agreed to staying with her for a few days. Good. She… She’d feel strange, being alone again. She could tell even know that it’d be difficult to make the transition back. She tapped her finger on her lip and glanced away, thinking of how it’d be, going back to the old days. Would she even be able to look Yamcha in the face again? She had been so excited to go home before, but now the idea was starting to put a pit in her stomach. …What Vegeta said before struck her mind again. Should she just… Stay with them, maybe?

“First thing I’ll do…?” She looked over at him without moving anything but her eyes, before her eyes flicked back to stare at the window. It took a moment of deliberation before a smile crossed her face, coupled with a laugh. “I know what I’ll do. I’ll take a shower. I feel so nasty. Bathing in a pond isn’t as nice as the real thing. Yeah, a shower and a bubble-bath. That sounds perfect.” That was one thing she truly missed. Her bathroom. That massive, comfortable bath she owned, and the ceiling shower heads that were her shower. Pure luxury that she didn’t really get much in the past few months.

“What do you think you’ll do? Eat? Sleep? Those are usually the first things on your mind, I know that much. And I haven’t seen you do either of them in some time. Aren’t you hungry, or are Saiyans just that freakish that they can last that long without food? Is that why you guys eat so much?”

* * *

His POV

What was this female’s obsession with hygiene? Of course grooming would be her first answer, typical. Vegeta let out a little huff of breath in response. To him, she was like one of those germaphobes that carried around hand sanitizer and couldn’t eat anything other than non-antibiotic meat. It was one of her quirks that he found amusing. He’d slightly tuned out her explanation about an amusement park once he realized it didn’t mean it’d lead him to any action, but he was still half-listening. Especially when the name of her dead, soon to be ex-dead, mate popped up... His brows slumped but he remained silent. Secretly stewing over the possibilities that that implied.

He was willing to let her go if it meant she was safe, but he’d yet to hash out the idea of her mating with another male. He knew it wouldn’t matter once he’d rid himself of her, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t work up some damned inner turmoil between his logic and his instincts. He didn’t want her to mate with another male, he knew that true enough, but he couldn’t control it if he wasn’t around. His thoughts were interrupted when the word ‘food’ was mentioned. Perking up a little. Honestly, it was like a dinner bell to a starving Saiyan. There was a chance the term could halt wars if his breed was hungry enough.

“You know me so well, do you?” his rough voice badgered. She’d basically read his mind and he couldn’t let her have that kind of power over him. She already had way too much influence for her own good. “Unlike you, we only need to eat once a day,” but a lot of it, that was an unspoken truth, “My breed can go weeks without sustenance if we so desire,” Vegeta was getting a little braggy... Mostly because he was proud of his own endurance. Though it was time to back pedal, he wasn’t about to let her know he’d made a pack with himself. He didn’t need her pity. It was supposed to be a show of penance and strength, not whimpering like a hungry pup.

“That’s what I want.” he abruptly demanded shooting her a stern look; the manner of a prince, “I expect a royal feast once your planet’s been reinstated. Enough to feed a kingdom.” Oh yes, his stomach was definitely doing the talking now. Vegeta had left the building—err, pod. Only his ravenous hunger was at play now, and it was feeding that animalistic flicker into his dark eyes. Pointing at her as he spoke. It wasn’t so much that he wanted to be ushered in like the prince he was (though that wouldn’t be half bad), more than he expected to be catered and fed like one. Not to mention after all the shit he’d gone through to rescue her planet. They owed him a meal at least.

* * *

Her POV

“Weeks, huh? Humans can do that too, but it’s not healthy for us. It takes about a month to starve a human to death,” she replied, tapping her fingers on her cheek. “It’s strange to see you guys be able to handle it so well. I wonder if you have a second stomach that just holds the excess food? Maybe that’s why you eat so much. Back on Earth, there’s these animals called camels. They’re ideal for trekking across the desert because they have a sack in their stomach that stores excess water so they don’t need to constantly drink more when they’re thirsty.” It definitely was an interesting thought, thinking of what the anatomy of a Saiyan was like. Maybe if one of them keeled over, she could dissect them. It was only a matter of time before one of them was eventually killed, right?

“…I don’t know if I can promise a feast that big. I’ll give you what I’ve got, alright? You might have been the reason why we got everyone back, but you’re also part of the reason we needed to wish everyone back in the first place, remember? Nobody’s going to want to help you. You thought that I was going to kill you because of what you’ve done.” She raised a brow at him as she spoke, reminding him of everything. Hell, it’d be confusing enough to convince everyone not to just instantly maul them. It’d be entertaining to watch, if it weren’t for the fact that they’d probably end up killing some of her friends all over again. That’d be obnoxious to fix.

She leaned back again and dropped the wrapped her snack had been in on the ground at Vegeta’s feet, before letting out a sigh. She still felt nervous, even though they wouldn’t be landing for so, so long. Days. And who knew how long it’d take to find the dragon balls. She began playing with her hair nervously, trying to think of something else to dwell on. But what else was there to think about, but how her life would change yet again? Would she feel comfortable at home? Alone? …What’d Vegeta even say if she asked to come with? What’d it be like if she did come with? Would she end up being kidnapped again? Shoved face-first in the dirt and have her pants ripped off some more?

“…Vegeta, what would you think… If I decided to come with you? After Earth, I mean. We’d wish everyone back, and all my friends would be alive again… And then maybe I just did whatever you guys decide to do. I don’t… I don’t really want to be all by myself. I don’t think I’d be comfortable just living back how I used to live anymore. I want everyone back, but I can’t imagine myself just pretending like nothing happened.”

* * *

His POV

As much as Vegeta may not have liked it, the woman did bring up a valid point. There was a good chance the people of earth, let alone her close comrades that he’d murdered in cold blood, wouldn’t be willing to give him anything too soon. Sure, he could demand it. He so often did. Private V.I.P., whores, baths, meals, and lots of them. He expected the universe to get out of his way, to respect for his alpha dog status. But this... Even if it came down to it, and he wanted to kill the worthless bastards all over again he couldn’t for her sake. This was going to be difficult. 

And then he felt as if he’d been hit by a bolt of lightning.

She rattled him. It was probably visible by the way he perked up. At first Vegeta thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. Mentioning coming with him. His mind frantically searching for a logical explanation, but no, she’d obviously meant what she said. Or perhaps she only thought she did. The girl was considering leaving her planet permanently. At first Vegeta wasn’t sure how to respond. It felt like a trap, but he couldn’t keep from talking either. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want her to come, but another part of him, a very defensive part of him was snarling at the idea. He’d been walling himself off from her, and here she was breaking him down.

“It wouldn’t change anything,” he said lowly, finally shifting his eyes to her, “...you know the dangers.” his simmering voice masked any anticipation he may have felt. There was a level of understanding, sympathizing with her reluctance to return to her life. He wanted her to come, but he didn’t want to have to drag her ass all the way back to her planet if she decided she didn’t want that after all. Like so many times before when she’d reached out for her home world. He wouldn’t be willing to take her back once they left. He wanted her to be certain.

“It would piss off Raditz and Nappa...” he mused under his breath, stroking his thumb over his chin. Meaning it more of a pro then a con. “Would eat raw meat? You’d need something to defend yourself too...” he was definitely thinking about this. A sly smile slicking its way into his lips the more he thought about it. “I wouldn’t be taking you as a slave this time, Bulma,” his voice was serious, but then softened. It wasn’t easy for Vegeta to admit something, let alone let something go. His brow tightened and his fierce gaze shot up, making sure to pierce into her. He was only going to confess this once.

“You’ve more than earned your freedom. Make your own choice. 

...You’re no longer my captive.”

* * *

Her POV

She raised her brow at his reaction. He seemed shocked, but excited. Had he been hoping for an answer like that? For some reason, his expression reminded her of his expressions the times where she was first his captive. Where he’d have such a smug, excited look on his face as he pinned her down and restricted her movement to have his way with her. She kept watching him, but her heart thumped nervously at even just the memories. It wasn’t as if that was even that long ago. Around two months, judging by her cycle alone. Two months… Maybe she was just so broken now that she found it easier to be around a bunch of men that raped her, rather than be in the comfort of her own home. She wasn’t good enough for home anymore.

Her brows knit at a sudden surge of emotion that she held back, refusing to cry in front of Vegeta. She bit her bottom lip, trying to focus on what he was saying. Asking if she’d eat raw meat, and saying how she’d need something to defend herself with. And finally telling her that she was free to choose and do as she wanted– that she wasn’t his captive anymore. That’s what caused her to finally turn her head and refuse to look at him. To close her eyes and think. She wasn’t sure if his words about ‘earning her freedom’ were to be comforting or to sting. Why hadn’t she earned her freedom to begin with? …It was to be expected. Saiyans were cruel. Unbelievably so. 

And yet, she still felt like she couldn’t stay at home. Maybe rather than give an answer now, she’d dwell on it. See how she’d feel once she was home. It felt like it’d be such a difficult transition, but maybe when she actually got there and felt her soft bed again, it wouldn’t be so bad. Hn… She hoped so. She shook her head lightly and stretched out her legs so her feet rested on the opposite armrest, making a bridge just above Vegeta’s thighs. Though… Really? He was asking if she’d eat raw meat? What a jerk.

“I’ll… I’ll put more thought into it. I don’t know yet. But if I do, I want stuff. I want at least a bigger pod. And… A portable shower. And bed. I want a room, actually. A full room. And an oven. I won’t eat raw food, no matter how much you try telling me to. … … But that’s if I decide. I don’t know. I… Hn. We’ll see. …I’m feeling tired now. Can you try and move your butt over to give me some room? If I’m not… Not your… ‘little slave,’ anymore…” God, those words felt like barbed wire coming out of her mouth. They tore her throat and tongue as she spoke them. “Then I don’t want to have to sit on your lap or at your feet. I want to sleep on the chair.”

* * *

His POV

He saw something swell behind her eyes. A flash of raw emotion, before she turned her head away and cut short his intrusive staring. Her heart had picked up, he could sense that, but it wasn’t the spur of excitement that was getting to her. It felt like something else, something more familiar to his nose, like fear. His hopes dwindled. At least she was taking this seriously, he thought. At least she was smart enough to take his words and think about it. Vegeta was pleased to hear her senses hadn’t stopped working completely, however when she began to list off necessities he was starting to second guess allowing her to come with him after all.

“Don’t expect me to bring any of that shit for you,” he huffed, “...if you want to bring anything you better figure it out for yourself. Maybe pull it out of your ass like everything else.” he meant capsules, but he was too crude to put it lightly. That capsule technology wouldn’t be a bad idea to stock up on once they reached her planet, come to think of it. But then there was one more thing she wanted. His chair. The spot he’d cruised across the universe in multitudes of times. The pod was the only thing a soldier rightfully had. She was basically asking him to give up his bed.

At first the prince didn’t look interested, his brow lowering darkly. As off putting as a pit-bull and as unyielding as a planted stone. The woman really did love pushing his buttons. Testing his limits. If she hadn’t been so close to crying earlier (or so he suspected) he probably would have told her to make herself comfortable however she damn well wanted. However... between the talk they’d just had and witnessing her big doe eyes gloss over, Vegeta knew he’d lost at this game before she’d ever asked... God damn her sometimes.

“No, you’re not _._..” he hushed in response to her using his pet name for her. As much as he’d have loved to of toyed with her about the term, it still bringing a mix of lusty feelings with it, he relented. Moving as sleekly as water; he rolled up out of the chair and placed himself silently onto the arm rest opposite of where she sat. His boots propped up on the console in front of him, Vegeta slouched just enough that his upright hair all but flattened against the roof of the pod. He was comfortable, giving her a wry glance. His arms crossed over his torso. The comfy chair was all hers.

* * *

Her POV

He told her as strangely and crudely as possible about how she’d have to use her capsules if she wanted to bring all those things with, and Bulma rolled her eyes. Blegh, figured. Of course, with her saying she wanted a full room. …That gave her some time to think about it. She doubted they’d have much argument against staying a week or so after everyone was wished back once they saw how nice the Capsule Corporation was, and then if she decided to come with, she could work on making the capsules without a problem. Maybe she could even bring her own room with her. She missed it so much. Her soft, soft bed, all her stuffed animals, the motorcycle hung up in the middle of the room that she’d been tinkering with that she never even got to finish before the Saiyans came to visit…

“Hn…?” He got up as she was in thought, and in all honesty, she was surprised. She hadn’t expected him to get up so easily. She’d asked him because she wanted to sit there, but she really didn’t think he’d just get up and say ‘alright.’ But there he was, moving to sit on the armrest opposite to the one she was sitting on, to make room for her. She took no time at all assuming her newfound space to sleep, curling up in the chair. She hadn’t gotten to sit on it like this since she’d hijacked it before and ended up on that water planet. It’s not like it was totally comfortable, but it was much easier to roll up and find a nice position to sleep in than it was on the ground.

She rested her arms on the armrest she’d been sitting on and set her head down between them, letting out a little sigh. Yeah, she could fall asleep like this. Her eyes closed, but then her mind began to start wandering against. How would they act on Earth? Vegeta could behave himself, she was sure. But…Nappa? Raditz? She wasn’t so sure. And the more she laid there and thought about it, the more she began to be afraid of the idea of them raping more women. Killing more people. Just… Just doing terrible, terrible things. Everything she wanted to fix…

“Vegeta, when we get to Earth… Make sure Raditz and Nappa know not to do anything.” Her eyes stayed closed and she didn’t move from her comfortable spot, but she spoke with conviction. “I don’t want them doing anything to anyone. Ever, but especially to the people on Earth. If any of them kill someone… If any of them pin a girl down and do what they want with her… I… I’ll stay on Earth, but only so I can wait to collect the dragon balls again and kill you all. I swear I will.”

* * *

His POV

Vegeta was just as surprised as she was that he’d done as she’d asked. He was comfortable enough, that wasn’t a problem, it was just rare that the bastard of a prince ever gave up anything of his own, especially something so significant, to another. The girl was good at pulling that out of him. A side of him he didn’t even know he had. And she was doing it increasingly so. He watched her get comfortable. Fidgeting and shifting around like a dog trying to find its place. Honestly, earthlings were such picky creatures. Unlike his breed that seemed to be able to sleep wherever they landed.

He was staring past his own reasoning, watching the girl drift into slumber. She looked more like a curled up kitten now that she’d made herself comfortable. It was sort of nice to look at… Vegeta had assumed she’d fallen asleep when her soft voice broke the silence. It snapped him out of his thinking, but it didn’t show. He was as still and motionless as ever, quietly keeping a watchful eye over her as she rested. She wanted him to order his men not to harm any of her people. It was a reasonable enough request considering the circumstances. Though a part of him found it folly to deny his men anything they found for themselves. He went back and forth with the options.

And then she told him she’d kill him if he didn’t agree, and a smooth smile worked its way into Vegeta’s hard lips. Even when she was half asleep she had the ability to back him into a corner, to demand like a queen. He wasn’t angry with her for it, he enjoyed the display in spirits. A single, soft grunt huffed from his chest, a trailing and docile ‘ _Mmrmphhh_ ’. It meant he agreed. The pod went softly silent after that. The prince happy with his high ground, watching over the earthling as she slept the rest of the way _home_.

His mind traveled. Blistered by thoughts as he watched the galaxy go whipping by outside the glossy portal. Vegeta had a lot to think about. There was a lot of shit and ‘feelings’ to process that’d happened over the last few weeks. Being alone in the quiet of the pod for hours on end was giving him the perfect chance to digest it all, whether he liked it or not. Well, as best as he could at least. The brute still refused to acknowledge certain things. He hadn’t noticed just how the hours slipped by (thanks to the soothing aura of the pod) until the landing sequences began lighting up. Just the soft beeping of a flashing light. It meant her planet would be coming into view soon. Vegeta nudging the sleeping girl, forcing her to wake. He’d need to take back his seat if they were to land properly.

* * *

Her POV

He agreed. She was thankful for that, and eventually she was able to drift off to sleep. Deep enough that she had no clue just how long she’d slept when she woke up- it certainly felt like ages. Had she really been that on edge? Or maybe this chair was just the first comfortable place she’d had to sleep in a while. She rubbed her eyes as she finally came to enough to recognize the beeping coming from the ship as well as Vegeta prodding her. She glanced over at him with half-lidded eyes before she pulled herself up to the opposite armrest, and as soon as Vegeta was back in his seat, she sat down on his lap.

She continued to try and shake off her grogginess, but as it faded, nervousness set in. They were back at Earth already. She hadn’t thought it’d be such a short ride. She… She didn’t even feel ready yet. How was she supposed to feel ready? It was all coming together so soon. Hell, it was enough of a shock to her that she was starting to tear up. She could feel the sting of tears, and even though she tried to hold them back, they started falling. 

The landing went as smoothly as a landing could, with Vegeta holding her in place to make sure she didn’t end up going flying. But even when they landed… She hadn’t stopped crying. Actually, her crying had gotten worse. She hid her face as she sobbed in Vegeta’s lap, and as the pod’s door whizzed open, and she couldn’t stop. She wasn’t even entirely sure why she was crying so much. It felt like she’d been crying all the time since she’d first gotten kidnapped by these three men. Nothing had really changed.

“Gn… Hhhn…” She sniffed and whined as she cried, slumping against Vegeta’s chest more out of exhaustion than anything else. Why was it now that she was crying? The stress of everything had seemed like it’d finally hit her–or maybe just hit her again for the millionth time–and she couldn’t seem to be able to even slow down. How was she going to find the dragon balls, acting like this?

* * *

His POV

The landing was like any other for the Prince. Hurling towards a planet, followed by a crash and boom. He’d done it so many times, yet it felt faintly unusual to return to a world that he’d already decimated, let alone visited more than once now. This place in the universe was starting to feel oddly familiar. Vegeta assumed position as soon as the girl crawled into his lap. Falling into routine, all systems go ...until he noticed her soft whimpering. The taste of salt lightly scented the air. She was crying again.

The prince didn’t respond to her tears. He was focused, steady handed when typing in the landing code. His eyes on the incoming world below, up until the impounded the dirt. His large hand had been resting securely over Bulma’s skull. Keeping her fastened to himself, safe. However, when the dust settled and the pod door hissed open, Vegeta had yet to move a muscle. His eyes slid down to her, silently. The cool rush of spring time breeze wafting into the pod. The prince wasn’t sure why she was sobbing against his chest, but he didn’t stop her either. What was wrong this time? Shock, surprise, pain? Tears appeared the same to him.

“Woman.” his stern voice rasped out, trying to gain her attention. Trying to coax her to collect herself. After a long moment, the hand that had once been holding her frame loosened comfortably, holding her with more ease. The hand on her head smoothed down the back of her head, tracing her hair to her neck, and then disappeared. Another grass scented breeze filled the pod. Vegeta deciding it was time to take matters into his own hands, quite literally, seeing as he lifted her up and out of the ship.

The world looked much different from the last time they’d arrived. Green. That’s what the Saiyan thought first. So green and blue. More so then Namek. The colors here were vivid and chalked full of life. Much like the girl he was holding, she really did belong in this place. The most out of touch object for miles around were the Saiyan’s pods. Mounds of dirt agitated and piled around the metal husks. Truly destructive, even upon landing to this living world. He was starting to view the world through her eyes, to his own confusion.

Raditz and Nappa hadn’t landed too far away. Their shiny pods reflecting like mirrors in the distance. They were on their way, but before they reached them Vegeta wanted to be able to give orders. He looked down at Bulma, rolling his voice out over the top of her head, “Tell me where to head to first.”

* * *

Her POV

She expected him to just push her out or something. But he held onto her and let her cry, without even questioning why she was doing it. Not like she’d be able to answer. But every waft of fresh grass and nearly-formed dew made it worse. She sniffed and sobbed against Vegeta as he held onto her, becoming more overwhelmed by feeling by the moment. His hold on her helped, though even that was baffling. Why did they feel so comforting? Just a few months ago, she had to pretend they were Yamcha’s hands just so she didn’t go mad with disgust and horror.

“Mn…” He mumbled ‘woman’ quietly, though she realized after he said it that it had been a while since he’d last. He was more likely to say her name now. He’d said it so often just this last pod trip. She wiped her eyes and felt him grip her tightly, and then be lifted up out of the pod. Her fingers dug into him for support, even if he was more than able to carry her by himself. The sobs turned into regular cries as she became more in control, but the smells… The sights… It was back to how it was before. That bright blue sky… The deep green of the grass… The tears were still falling.

“Where to go…” She repeated what Vegeta quietly murmured against her skin. When had he ever been so gentle with her? …She wiped her eyes as she tried to take control of herself again, though it was difficult. Where to go… Where was the radar? Nappa and Raditz must have it. They were the ones that stored the things in their pods. …Though… Before searching for the dragon balls, it’d be nice to see Kami again just to run things by him. And see those girls. Though she hoped the sight of the Saiyans wouldn’t terrify them too much.

“There should be a palace in the sky somewhere,” she replied, taking her time with the sentence. She felt like if she tried to speak too fast, her voice would just crack. “That’s where Kami lives. I want to see him first. We can talk to him and go from there. For all we know, maybe the dragon balls aren’t even ready to use yet.”

* * *

His POV

A place in the sky? It sounded a little out of the ordinary, unusual for this technologically lacking planet, but if that’s where Bulma wanted to go first Vegeta supposed it didn’t leave him with much of a choice. At least she was calming down some, recollecting her senses. He’d thought the fresh air would clear her mind but it appeared to only do the opposite. At least she’d given him a command, something he could work with, and just in time too. Raditz and Nappa were coming up in their direction. Wading through the field of silky green, the grass rippling like an ocean tide by the wind. The Saiyans wild hair tugged towards the sunny horizon.

Vegeta still hadn’t murmured a word since ‘woman’. He was as calm and collected as ever. Some would say cold towards the sniffling girl, if they didn’t know him as well as Bulma had grown to. The prince was checking his scouter. Roaming the lens over the earth. Picking up small traces of life here and there until he got something. Something worthy of his attention, and high too. Exceedingly high into the atmosphere, where no bird nor dinosaur flew too often. That had to be it.

“I can’t believe we’re back on this fucking planet,” moaned Raditz, adjusting his own scouter too, focusing it into the direction Vegeta was staring, “...it’s too surreal. Did it always look like this?” Raditz didn’t seem to know when to shut up, earning a stern gruff from Vegeta. He was wearing his signature scowl and quiet demeanor. The one that meant he was all business. However, he’d yet to put Bulma down. Naturally he’d claim it was pointless since they were about to lift off again, but there was a strange protective vibe radiating from the beast. As it normally did after she shed a few tears.

“We’re going up,” Vegeta ground out harshly, turning his back on his men preparing to take off, but then he stopped suddenly. Remembering something, “...and don’t fucking touch anything...” his snarl only worsened, hot air blowing out of his nose as a show of superiority, “...I didn’t go through all of this damn trouble so that you could get your dick sucked.” Vegeta turned his back on his comrades once again, this time leaving them without another word. Taking Bulma with him.

The two soldiers knew exactly what he meant no matter how he worded himself. They weren’t to touch anyone, nor harm them if they suspected correctly... Damn, Raditz shoulders especially slumped. The two giant mounds of muscle following their leader into the blue of the sky. High, higher, and further still until a small bowl like structure came into view. Not a bowl, but a look out and as soon as their feet touched down it looked like they had company. An old Namekian had been expecting them.

* * *

Her POV

She rested her chin on Vegeta’s shoulder rather than let the two Saiyans see that she’d been crying. She was collecting herself more now, but still. She didn’t want any odd looks, or them mocking her like they were oft to do– especially since they likely easily found out that the rule against getting their cocks wet was because of her wishes. Though beyond that, her stomach still felt like a giant back hole. It just felt odd, knowing she was going to see everyone again. …Yamcha hadn’t talked to her for a while. Were they still with King Kai? Maybe they were all busy training. She wiped her eyes with one hand, watching the scenery go by as Vegeta raised into the air.

It didn’t take long until they got to Kami’s palace. He was waiting there expectantly, to her surprise. As soon as Vegeta’s feet touched the ground, she lowered down from being held, and walked slowly up to him. …She felt so dumb. She’d never seen him in person, but of course he’d be that Namekian. He was that one guy back when Goku fought Piccolo Jr. at the World Tournament. She’d almost call herself an idiot, but at the same time, everyone always did keep her out of the loop. Though it was kind of silly for her to be so scared of that group of Namekians before, now that she thought about it. …Hn.

_“King Kai talked to me,” he told her, looking fairly confident. “Explained to me the situation. You don’t need to go look for the dragon balls. I’ve found them all already. A fairly easy task, given I can see everything from my tower. I had some help, too. I’m not sure they’ll want to be around those three, so they’re resting right now. But I’ll go get the balls for you all.”_

Some help? It was those girls. That was the only explanation, she thought, as she watched Kami walk off into the palace walls. So they’d found him and were somewhere safe. She really didn’t blame them for not wanting to see those three, either; if it weren’t for how at least one of them had redeemed himself… If it weren’t for her getting over her fear of them, she’d probably cry just at the sight of their tails. They had done horrible things, after all.

It didn’t take long for Kami to come back with a bag, which he set down on the ground in the middle of the lookout. He pushed the sides of the bag down and revealed all seven of the dragon balls, glowing and ready to be used. They’d gotten lucky. They didn’t have to wait. Maybe it was a good thing they didn’t have a chance to use it before, when the Saiyans first came. It gave it time to recharge. 

She let out a sigh of relief and Kami called out to summon Shenron. The sky was dark again, and this dragon–one she liked much better than Porunga, to be honest–went flying up from the balls to await the wish he would be made to grant. Kami took a glance at Bulma, and right before she opened her mouth, she remembered. …She’d buried all her friends underground. In fairly deep graves, too. Shit. 

“I…. I wish everyone on Earth that was killed by the Saiyans were wished back to Earth, and returned to their homes!” Alright! That should work. Probably.

* * *

His POV

Vegeta remained cautious of the old wrinkled Namekian from the moment he landed upon the palace’s pearly courtyard. Watching from a distance as Bulma chatted with her fellow local. What was a Namekian doing on Earth? From the intel he’d gathered about their planet from his research, interplanetary travel wasn’t common among them. It didn’t matter though, as long as the ugly green slug could give him what he wanted. The Earthling dragon balls. To Vegeta’s surprise the old man handed them over without a fuss. The fact that the Namekian had been expecting them set the Saiyan prince on edge, but it looked like things were turning out in his favor. He’d let it slide.

The sky lit up much like it had back on planet Namek. Darkening first then bursting into a radiant golden light. Spewing forth it’s magical green dragon. This dragon looked much more slender, peaceful, at ease. Vegeta inwardly commenting to himself that he preferred the other buffer and stronger Namekian dragon, if he was being completely honest. The other one granted more wishes, too. The serpentine dragon’s voice bellowed out, vibrating through the entire floating palace. “Wish Granted.” before disappearing back into its beam of bright light and sending the dragon balls scattering towards the ends of the earth. It looked like Bulma got her wish. The people of earth would be restored, and into the safety of their own homes.

All three of the Saiyan men’s heads swiveled towards the distance. Their scouters were lighting up like the fourth of July. Alerting them to the new incoming of ki signatures in every direction. The Earth was alive and there was the proof of it. Below them millions of souls were returning from Otherworld, including Bulma’s family and friends. Or foes, from Vegeta’s standing point. Kami however looked very pleased, especially when a large turban wearing creature stepped out from behind a growth of palms. It was Mr. Popo. Kami moving as quickly as his old feet would carry him to welcome his old friend back.

“Thank you for all of your hard work.” Kami’s old voice gleamed, addressing Bulma. Vegeta gruffed, crossing his arms and turning his back on the disgusting display of celebration. He wasn’t cut out for this kind of shit. Kami continued, “Will you be rejoining your family and friends now? I bet they’ll be glad to see you. I heard they’ve been training hard.” the old man said with mirth, meaning no harm. Vegeta however shot a glance over his shoulder, his attention perked. He was ready to get them off that fucking look out and away from the silly Namekian and his ‘goody two-shoes’ vibe, but was starting to question what he was about to get himself into. Would there be a large welcoming for Bulma’s return? Maybe he’d just leave right then. Gatherings weren’t his style.

“Aren’t you fucking ready yet?” Vegeta’s voice ground out, a little more agitated than usual. He was already feeling the stress of seeing her comrades once again, and not being able to do a thing about it.

* * *

Her POV

She let out a long sigh when the wish was granted. The sight was pretty, but she still felt so nervous. She wasn’t even sure why she felt the way she did. It was the same as crying earlier. She just… Couldn’t handle her own emotions, it seemed. She was so clueless on what to feel, that it just tore her apart. Maybe that was it, or maybe she was just trying to find reason in nothing. Either way, she could at least be happy for Kami when he ran to embrace… Some strange… Thing. What the hell was that thing? She was really tired of seeing these disturbing creatures. She’d seen enough in the two months she’d been gone. 

“Thanks for collecting them all,” she replied to his thanks, giving him a little nod. …It felt like it was all happening so soon. Her stomach turned in knots until Vegeta huffed at her. She turned around and felt a bit of hesitation– did she really want to see everyone again? She sighed and walked closer, wrapping her arms around his neck to tell him she was ready to go. Did he know the way to her home by now? He’d visited it before.

“I’m sort of scared to go home,” she admitted, waiting for him to scoop her up into his arms the same he did before. “I don’t know why. I don’t feel like the same Bulma I was before, I guess. It’ll be strange, seeing everyone again. My parents… I saw them dead. I buried their bodies. And I’m supposed to just look at them and smile and say ‘long time no see?’ I’ve missed them so much, but… It’s just… It’s weird. It’s too weird to me. I don’t know how to feel.”

* * *

His POV

He was more than ready to leave. The insistent buzz of irritation around the prince made that clear. However, the moment Bulma snaked her arms up and around his thick neck all of that pent up irritation flew into new directions. He knew why she was doing it, he’d even instigated she come to him, but it felt far to akin to public affections. He knew it was anything but, but her movements were so soft, her skin so smooth, how could it not straighten his spine a little.

Part of that prior irritation melted away, replaced by a subtle embarrassment that put a color in his cheeks. The prince cleared it away soon enough, regaining his cold and ruthless demeanor. His eyes shaded under the dark of his brow, his face tight knit, stern. He had the ability to remain intimidating even when holding a beautiful delicate flower such as herself, bridal style in his arms. Vegeta seemingly ignoring her words, as if they were too sappy, too heart felt for him to give two shits to think on. He was still his cold heartless self, no matter how much he tended to the girl’s whims.

At least, that’s how it was until they were airborne and out of earshot of Raditz, Nappa, and Kami.

“Who the fuck said you had to feel anything? Feel however you damn well please,” his gaze glanced down at her, but Vegeta never looked directly away from the horizon, “...at least you have a planet.” his words rasped out a little harshly. It wasn’t something Vegeta would normally say, not before the information he’d learned from Kuriza. Now it came with a sourness, but it also forced him to realize what the girl had that he didn’t. How would he react if his planet was reinstated? Would he even bother to pay it a visit? He hardly possessed the ability to care towards its initial destruction as a child. Could he really say he’d want to go there now? He glanced down at her again, confused by his own inner demons.

He didn’t say much thereafter, even if she decided to comment thereafter. Vegeta making no more conversation then to grunt - his way of asking specific directions toward her dwelling once West City had come into view. The city was perfect. The buildings tall and gleaming, and confused but happy citizens enjoying the streets once again. And coming up in the distance, Capsule Corporate. The big white dome growing larger and larger, until three pairs of boots landed on the thick lawn of green. They had made it. She was home.

* * *

Her POV

She figured that he just didn’t want to listen to her complaining. She brushed off his silence and just accepted it when he picked her up and took to the sky, but it was only when they were finally alone that he finally spoke. Telling her something that was rather comforting, even though he wasn’t exactly one known for his ability to do so. He had a point. She didn’t need to feel any way but the way she decided she wanted to feel. But then he tacked it on with a comment that she internalized for other reasons– did losing his planet bother him now? Her brows furrowed in thought as she watched the scenery pass below them. Oceans, prairies, towns… And finally her city.

She supposed she should have happy. And yet, nervousness took over any happiness she felt like she could manage. He set her down in front of the Capsule Corporation, and for a moment she didn’t move. And just when she gathered her strength– Something hit her. She turned her body to look at the three Saiyans, and her face suddenly became stern. They might have a little bit of an issue here, especially with Raditz and Nappa. She moved a few steps toward the door, and as she did, she began to explain herself.

“Yamcha lives here. He’s going to be home. You guys need to stay here while I talk to him. Just give me a moment. Don’t move, I’ll be right ba–” Before she could even finish her sentence, the door opened and Yamcha all but lunged outside. Not for the Saiyans; the Saiyans could wait. He grabbed Bulma and all but swirled her around in the air, only bringing her close again to press their lips together. It caught Bulma so off-guard that their lips connected, and for a moment, she melted into it. Enjoyed it like she used to. But she remembered the task at hand and quickly turned her head toward the Saiyans so Yamcha’s lips instead connected with her cheek.

He followed her gaze, and as soon as he realized the ki he had felt wasn’t the ki of his friends, but rather of the Saiyans again, Bulma was shifted from his arms and pushed behind his back to protect her. His ki spiked, and a spirit ball formed in his hand.

“Yamcha! Hey! No, don’t do anything! They’re not here to hurt anyone, they promised they wouldn’t! Vegeta helped me get home! He helped me gather the dragon balls! If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have known about Namek! Did you know Kami was an alien?! That’s how we figured it out! He was an alien, and his planet had dragon balls!” While Bulma spoke quickly to prevent an attack, Yamcha listened but kept his stance. Even when he nodded his head, he still eyed the Saiyans as if they were a pack of wolves.

“Bulma, you told me before all the terrible stuff they did to you. How could people like them just turn around and change their minds? Come on. I’m stronger now, so you don’t have to be scared. I can kill them.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While asking Galactic/Lion for chapter name ideas, he brought up the point of how the RP sort of mimics the story of the Wizard of Oz. "Traveling with three knuckleheads to visit someone to grant her wish to go home." Thought that was interesting.
> 
>   
> 


	40. Rival Male

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma is overwhelmed. Vegeta is threatened.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

She asked him to stay back, to let her investigate the dwelling first. As much as Vegeta enjoyed watching her splay her peacock feathers over her homeland, something didn’t set right within the Saiyan prince. He stepped closer, slowly. Disregarding her requests with a snarl of his lips. Perhaps it was his protectiveness over her, or his drive as an alpha male to dive head first into a potentially dangerous situation. ...or maybe the name that she muttered in passing... Whatever the reason, he’d wished he’d listened to his initial drive rather than to fall back, because it’d have made ripping the rival male off of his female all the more quickly.

A rush of angry static crawl up Vegeta’s spine the moment Yamcha decided to embrace Bulma. His instant disgust reverberated in the form of a dangerous growl. His canines flashed, his fists clenched at his side, the growl penetrating anything and everything within his radius. They must have felt it, all of them. It’s probably why Nappa and Raditz took a cautious step back, giving their prince some room. They knew that look, the stormy darkness that was creasing into their leaders face. There was no more man then animal left in Vegeta, it was the look of a beast asserting his dominance. He was preparing for a fight.

It happened in all of a split second. Vegeta was on the opposing male like a wildcat on a piece of meat. He’d made a deal with the girl not to kill anyone, but he wasn’t about to allow a male, let alone an unknown male touch the female that he’d deemed his own. Vegeta’s massive hand went straight for Yamcha’s face. Slinging the poor earthling male towards the concrete steps. Away from the bubble of Bulma’s personal space, as well as Vegeta’s. It surely wasn’t enough to kill him; he’d boasted that he was ‘stronger now’. How pathetic. Vegeta wished he could fight the other male. In fact, he hoped for it. He’d love nothing more then send him back to Otherworld.

“You want to fight me, you sorry excuse for a male? I didn’t know you wanted to return to Otherworld so soon.” Vegeta mocked, flexing his stance dangerously over his newly formed rival. He was ready for a fight. Bulma may not of approved of it, but to Vegeta, Yamcha was basically asking for it by being in such a close proximity to ‘his female’. The prince was stalling, however. It was out of character for him, but he knew the wishes of the female. That didn’t mean he’d let this go however if the earthling male was dumb enough to confront him. He wouldn’t go easy on another male encroaching in on his territory. His pack leader mentality wouldn’t allow such an atrocity.

“ _Credits on Vegeta_ ,” whispered Raditz.

“That’s not fair, of course he’ll win!” protested Nappa. Though it was nice to see an outsider being punished for touching the girl other than himself for a change.

* * *

Her POV

“Yamcha, just listen to me–” She furrowed her brows at him when Yamcha turned his head to look at her and argue back, but before either of them could say something else, Bulma’s eyes widened as she saw Vegeta’s fist. It made contact with Yamcha’s face before he could even turn his head all the way back to face him, and her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?) went tumbling down to the ground, nearly taking Bulma with him just from her being unlucky enough to be behind him. 

“VEGETA!” She didn’t bother to help Yamcha up; he could handle himself. She had bigger fish to fry, as evidenced by the venom in her voice. Bulma had no problem stomping straight up to Vegeta and slapping him for his actions, something she hadn’t done in some time. And she wasn’t done just there, either– he was going to get an earful for what he’d done. “What the hell is wrong with you?! I told you to wait! Why did you punch him?! He didn’t even do anything to you, you asshole! You said you wouldn’t hurt anyone! Are you going to go back on your promise and let those two go off and have ‘fun’, too? I guess you don’t care at all! Why are you even still here, then?! Why should I even give you that feast you asked for?!”

Bulma’s railing off on him was a complete shock to Yamcha, though he didn’t bother to dwell too much on it. Instead, that ki ball he’d lost when he’d lost focus after getting punched was recreated and flung at Vegeta without a second thought. He got up to his feet, and before Bulma could even yell at him for retaliating, he launched at the other man as if they were on equal footing or something. He said he was stronger, but he’d only been training for a couple months! She pressed her face into her hands when Yamcha tackled him rugby-style, wondering why men were so insane.

Her parents had clearly heard the commotion as well, likely through the intercom in the front of the house, leading to her mother to open up the door and call her father over to watch the commotion. Saying something about ‘boys fighting over Bulma’ and how unfair it was that she was so popular with boys in ways that Mrs. Briefs ever was. And as it was all going on around her, Bulma began to recall why she’d get so angry whenever she was home. No wonder she went adventuring so often. She’d romanticized it and looked back on the past with rose-tinted glasses since she’d been gone, but this was a mess.

* * *

His POV

He saw the slap coming in more ways than one. His steely features motionless. His firm stature without a flinch. His equally angry eyes boring into the glare of the girl’s bright blues that were digging into him. He generally knew why she did it, but Vegeta partially couldn’t understand the girls furry. How was this time any different from the many instances he’d pulled males off of her? Where her people so important to her that he wasn’t allowed to put one in their place that had stepped out of line? (from his perspective). Hadn’t she wanted his protection in the past? To Vegeta it just didn’t make any sense.

“Woman! Do you honestly expect me to just stand here? Who the hell do you think I am! What’s the fucking point in a promise like that if I can’t protect you from a rival male?!” Vegeta’s dangerous voice roared right back at her, his face strained and his chest heaving with hot breath. Leaning in nearly nose to flaring nose, but he never touched her. Never laid a hand on the girl with whom he was in a tiff with. Oh, he was pissed though, more than pissed. Not at Bulma, but at the whole damn situation. What was the point of bringing her back to be ‘safe’ if he couldn’t protect her? But that was the thing, wasn’t it? Soon she wouldn’t be his to protect. His head pounded with the frustration, just in time for a ki blast to go flying towards his throbbing temple.

Vegeta saw it just in time, knocking it away from his peripheral vision with the back of his hand. The blue blaze barely grazing his cheek bone. Then the incoming attacker caught him by the waist and the two went flying. It was graceful but it was deadly. Vegeta slipping through Yamcha’s hold and back flipping a few yards to create distance, only to go hurling towards his competitor yet again. Yamcha could dish out as many attacks as he liked and Vegeta would parry them. Brushing off a hook swing, retaliating with his own powerful swinging kick. A dodge, a ki blast. The two males were definitely out for blood. Trying to protect Bulma from, well, each other.

“Man, I wish he’d go that easy on me. Does this mean the deal’s off?” Raditz commented, stepping up next to Bulma and glancing her way for an answer. She was basically second in command now. However, the moment he noticed he was standing fairly close, the long haired male took a step back. Keeping a safe distance from the girl in question.

“I sure as hell hope so...” murmured Nappa, watching the action. That is until the perky sight of a pretty little blonde caught his one good eye. “Check out the hot yellow.” the bald man’s eye clearly wasn’t focused on the fight anymore. He was ogling Bulma’s blonde mother…

* * *

Her POV

Rival male. Rival male! This idiot had gotten into this fight because he viewed Yamcha as a ‘rival male,’ as if she was some little doe for two idiot bucks to smack each other with their horns for! That’s definitely what it looked like, with the two of them going at it. Exchanging blows and acting as if their lives depended on it. It wouldn’t have happened if Vegeta hadn’t instigated all of it! Goddamn, did she hate men. Even worse, the other two idiots weren’t breaking it up– they were taking bets. And… And what?! What was that about a deal?! It was a good thing that Raditz made some space between the two of them when he did, because the look she shot him when he asked about the deal (had he been eavesdropping through the scouters before?) was a look that could kill.

“If you so much as think about touching another person, I’ll make sure that Vegeta castrates the both of you so we can put it in a museum in remembrance for what you guys did to this planet!” It seemed so easy to say, but perhaps to outside ears (if anyone had actually been listening to her in the first place…!!) they would have noticed a stark change in Bulma compared to how she used to act and speak. She was loud and annoying before, but there was a clear shift to being more violent. And certainly gorier with the details.

The other idiot started looking at her mother, and that’s when Bulma had enough. She grumbled under her breath, swearing off all three of the Saiyans and her idiotic (ex?) boyfriend before turning around and stomping inside, brushing passed both of her parents to do so. They both made some comments about her being a party pooper because she didn’t want to watch such an interesting fight. And right after, Mrs. Briefs made some sorry comment about her daffodils getting squashed. Eugh! It’s like these idiots forgot anything ever happened!

She stomped her way to her room, going through the twists and turns and levels of the house to get there. But when she got there, she couldn’t get any closer than just standing in the doorway, and… And staring at everything. Just as she’d left it. The teddy bears on her big, messy bed. The motorcycle hung up on the ceiling with the tools nearby. Her clothes strewn about, most of which hung up and around her walk-in closet. Just as she’d left everything. …She could feel Scratch rub up against her ankle and meow as a greeting, and that’s when Bulma began to cry for the umpteenth time that day.

* * *

His POV

For a moment Raditz thought he was peering into the eyes of Satan. Damn, it wouldn’t have surprised him if she had some heritage of his own Saiyan kind roaming around in her blood, with an attitude like that. It made the big male slightly flinch; a threat that would have made Vegeta proud. Once the fact sunk into Raditz thick head though, the fact that he wouldn’t be allowed to touch earthling females despite how his leader was clearly brawling it out with another male, made his shoulders drop. Not giving half a shit when Bulma decided to storm off towards the massive home.

Vegeta however, noticed. But by the time his furious gaze flickered into the direction of the female, she was already gone. He didn’t have time to dwell on her sorry ass or why she was so damn upset. The prince had a pathetic little mutt to put in its place. If he had been at full strength the fight would of been over. But Vegeta was still fatigued from his battle with Kuriza and his empty stomach was doing him no huge favors. It didn’t mean the fight was any less welcome. In fact, he couldn’t have been happier to have something to take all of that pent up frustration out on. He needed this more then he realized. Maybe that’s why he was taking his time with Yamcha. Meeting him blow for powerful blow in combat. But after a while it was clear who was overpowering whom.

“Stay down you fucking mutt. Learn your place!” he ground between biting teeth. One hand was pressing his opponents head firmly to the dirt, a boot held firmly to Yamcha’s torso, “You’re getting off damn easy today. Touch her again and I can’t promise I can keep my word a second time.” Vegeta sounded a little too happy, malicious, when mentioning killing the other male off for good. Oh, how he longed to just snap his neck right there. It’d be so easy. Every instinct he possessed screamed at him to do it, that it was his right, his duty. How good it’d feel. It felt unnatural to act otherwise! …but ...then she’d be angry with him. Not just angry, furious. That was enough to put a pit in his stomach, withering away any dark enjoyment he was getting out of tossing the other male around. His expression dropped, pushing at Yamcha’s head, before stepping off.

Meanwhile, Nappa had gotten a little too close to the one and only Mrs. Briefs. The big brute seemed completely oblivious to the fact that her mate was standing so near, or maybe he really didn’t care that much. More than likely the latter. Definitely the latter. Nappa was giving her the most horribly suggestive look he could muster, all while trying his best to keep his touching for a minimum. Around prying eyes at least. Telling her raunchy things like ‘I bet you look even better on a big cock’, or ‘you’re one of the prettier yellow’s I’ve ever seen’.

* * *

Her POV

Goddamn, why wasn’t he strong enough?! That’s what Yamcha kept thinking to himself, every time Vegeta would stop a punch. He did manage to get a few in, but it’s not like they caused much damage. And when Yamcha finally began getting worn out, he ended up getting tackled and forced on the ground– Vegeta’s foot firmly on his chest, and his hand shoving his head in the dirt. Goddamn it! He fought back, one hand gripping his wrist and the other trying desperately to get a few more punches to the face in. And all the while, the asshole had the nerve to call him names! Mutt!?

“F…. Fuck off! She’s… my girlfriend! Go to hell, after everything you’ve done…!! Get off this goddamn planet before I kill you!” Big words for someone being forced down onto the ground. But still, to think he’d come back to life and would end up just getting killed again so soon… When Vegeta finally let him go, he sat up and rubbed his face as he watched the man with the look of a beaten man. Goddamn it… Why was Bulma even around them anymore? Hadn’t she escaped? She had really been letting them stay around? He blew a gust of air from his nose in anger just thinking about it. Goddamn it.

Mrs. Briefs, meanwhile, seemed to enjoy the attention. Her husband had been far busier smoking and watching the two men fight, and as soon as they had finally stopped, he’d wandered out to go chat with Yamcha over whatever little thing. Clearly not paying any mind that his wife was being flirted with– or that she was flirting back. Sure, the comments may have been extremely sexual in nature, but Mrs. Briefs could have some fun with that every now and again. It was flattering to think a man would still think those ways about her!

“Ohh, you’re talking to me? Hehe, I don’t know what a yellow is, but I’ll take it as a compliment. You’re one of Bulma’s new friends? She’s always meeting such strange men. Especially ones with tails.” How many did this one make? So many. Sheesh. “Are you all hungry? Must have worked up an appetite from all the fighting you were doing. Let me whip you all up some food. I don’t know where my daughter’s gone off to pout to, but don’t mind her. Just follow me!” Before she was even done with the sentence, she turned around on her heel and headed off in the direction of the kitchen.

* * *

His POV

Yamcha’s threat meant little to the cold hearted bastard. Vegeta was done with him. Arms crossed, back turned, blowing off the useless term ‘girlfriend’ with a huff of hot air out of his nose. He was done with this whole damn situation. If the girl wanted any other male on her, that was her own damn business. He certainly wouldn’t care anymore. Didn’t care, never should have cared, he told himself. He’d be done with this planet as soon as they fueled up, and that’d be the end of it. In fact, if the mention of food hadn’t rung through his sensitive ears, turning his attention over his shoulder and towards the dome house, he may have disappeared for the rest of the night.

But food always came first. Especially with how ravenous his empty belly had been for the last few days. They owed it to him, it was part of the deal, as much as the deal was left that is. He’d take his promised meal and focus on getting off of this mudball. Vegeta passing up his two men, giving Mrs. Briefs an entourage the moment she turned heel and headed back inside, much to Nappa’s disappointment. He’d been enjoying the flirtation episode, and it felt remarkably good to be flirted back with. Mrs. Briefs was definitely on Nappa’s ‘to do list’ for the rest of the time they were stuck on this rock.

Yamcha had been seemingly brushed off. Vegeta’s arrogant and haughty nature shining through. He hadn’t looked at the rival male since he’d considered their sparring ‘over’. The mutt was beneath him, why the fuck should he acknowledge his existence? Sure he may have kept tabs on his presence as far as precautions went, but there were much more interesting things to call his sly attention. Such as how fucking big this house was and how many rooms it must have held. Seriously, did the bitch really need this much space?! It felt more like a military compound, or an oddly shaped palace, then a place to rest one’s head. Bulma hadn’t been lying when she’d lived like a queen...

“Doesn’t a pretty little thing like you have servants to do this kind of shit?” Nappa ‘kindly’ gruffed at Mrs. Briefs. As if he was handing her a complement. Yeah, a real charmer. They’d made it to the kitchen but not all of the Saiyans were accounted for. Raditz was snooping around in the next room and Vegeta was making himself known as little as fucking possible. Keeping an eye on his men, tabs on his rival, and suspiciously checking out the odd man with the pipe. Leaning against the furthest visible wall, Vegeta’s mind began to cool down just enough to start to make heads or tails of Bulma’s parents.

* * *

Her POV

“That was an entertaining fight,” Dr. Briefs snorted as he started down at Yamcha. He outstretched a hand to help the man up, which Yamcha begrudgingly took. He grumbled under his breath, and after some embarrassing jabs Bulma’s father made about his strength and how silly that cut on his forehead made him look, Yamcha headed back inside. The Saiyans all seemed set on the kitchen, so he took his chances with the fucking short little asshole that he’d fought with to go check on Bulma. Not like those idiots could navigate this house anyway. Took him at least a year to figure it out.

Mrs. Briefs lead the Saiyans into the kitchen, all the while giggling as Nappa continued to flirt with her. Flirting back, telling him how big and strong and handsome he looked. Adding on that she really, truly did love a man with good facial hair. As if she weren’t married. If Bulma was present in the kitchen, she’d probably be tearing her hair out. Especially when her father–who had followed eventually–didn’t seem to really care. Only making a short comment telling his wife to not get too carried away!

“Hehe, it’s no big deal,” Mrs. Briefs replied– to Nappa, of course. “I don’t have any servants, but my sweet, sweet husband is good at making me little helpers! I’ll show you.” She grabbed a little metal orb sitting on the counter and pressed a button, whizzing it to life. A hole opened in the middle of it to reveal its dark, camera-like eye, and two mechanical arms popped out of its sides. She let it go, and it went straight to work with going to get ingredients for food.

“It’s so cute, isn’t it? There’s some more. How big of eaters are you three? Will I need a few more? Her other little friend with the tail is quite the eater, does that mean you all will be, too?”

Elsewhere, Yamcha had gotten to Bulma’s room to find her still crying, with Scratch staring up at her in confusion. Needless to say he’d rushed to her and started asking why she was crying– but she didn’t have much of an answer beyond the obvious. And that sounded damn stupid.

“I just… It… It’s overwhelming, just being home again.”

* * *

His POV

Both of the older native earthlings were strange, that was for sure, but Bulma’s mother stuck out to Vegeta the most when it came to ‘creatures he couldn’t size up’. There was something about her, maybe that cheery look on her face, that made him somewhat uncomfortable. He could clearly see where Bulma inherited her looks from, but Mrs. Briefs certainly didn’t carry the prickly aura of her daughter. _An aura that he was starting to feel the absence there of._.. Maybe it was a good thing he’d taken to the farthest section of the kitchen to brood, because he certainly didn’t want to be getting involved with that level of hospitality. Quite the opposite to how Nappa was acting, ironically.

The one with the pipe was equally strange when it came to how relaxed his manners were. Vegeta’s brow twitched, assuming whatever ‘drug’ the man was smoking had something to do with his laid back attitude. His attention veered just in time to see the one other earthling he’d met so far, venture deeper into the house. Into the direction that Bulma’s fresh scent had been wafting from since he’d arrived into the compound. Did that mutt really think he could just slide by like that? Vegeta’s fist clenched. Whatever calm he’d had in the kitchen quickly flaring into unrest. Hadn’t he just told that useless punk to back off?

Vegeta’s ego had been keeping him away from Bulma. Too conceited to admit that her calling him off of another male had slightly stung his pride. But as soon as he saw Yamcha attempting to sneak off into her direction, every drop of instinct inside of the Saiyan drove him into action. Peeling his back from the wall, heating his blood, and giving him tunnel vision like a predator following prey. It wasn’t difficult to keep up while remaining unseen. The woman’s sweet scent laced through the winding halls. Accompanied by the fresh stench of another male following right behind her. 

He didn’t have to enter the bedroom to know she was crying. He could hear the whimpers, smell the salt in the air. Why the hell was she tearing this time? Was she damaged, had the mutt hurt her? He was certainly the only one in the room with her. God damn it, he couldn’t leave him alone for five minutes! Vegeta stood angrily in the door way, just behind Yamcha. The look in the prince’s eye when he gazed down at Bulma said it all, ‘ _did he hurt you?’_. The look he’d given her so many times when all she’d have to do was point and he’d decimate her enemy. His face flashed with furry, darting his gaze dangerously at Yamcha. Vegeta cursing himself inwardly for not killing him the first time. The prince didn’t give a shit if Bulma didn’t like it, if she despised him for it. He wasn’t about to let this mutt make a mockery of him by disobeying his orders, and then harming his female. She could hate him all she pleased, Vegeta was going to kill him this time. He was seeing red, and all it took was those big blue watery tears.

* * *

Her POV

“Bulma, it’s okay, just take some deep breaths.” He gripped her upper arms for comfort, but Bulma couldn’t stop crying. She supposed it wasn’t just the fact she was overwhelmed. It just felt so wrong. Everything felt wrong. She felt fake, trying to fit back into her old life. It was nice to be home, but she felt so different now. It was such a drastic change that it made her feel nauseous and on-edge. She hated it– all she wanted was for things to be back the way they’re supposed to be. She didn’t want to have to feel this way anymore. Vegeta had told her she could feel whatever way she damn well wanted, but… It wasn’t that easy.

She turned her head up to look at Yamcha, furrowing her brows. He looked so worried about her. And he seemed pretty beaten up from the fight before. She outstretched her hand to wipe the blood off of the cut on his forehead, but then she noticed something. Spiky dark hair, sticking out from behind Yamcha’s shoulder. There was no doubt about who that belonged to. And Yamcha seemed to realize she was staring at something, because his body turned to reveal–

“Vegeta!” Bulma tried to wipe away her tears, while Yamcha only gripped Bulma harder, if only for safety’s sake. The guy did look like he was ready to kill, and his eyes were locked on Bulma. How would Yamcha know what he was planning on doing? He’d heard what he’d done to Bulma from when she talked to him enough times before, while he was still dead. Maybe that’s the real reason she was crying. She was still scared of them, and they wouldn’t leave her alone. What sacks of shit. Bulma, however, knew better. She was used to his looks by now. She knew exactly what he was trying to say.

“Don’t have that look, Vegeta,” she huffed, not yet pulling away from Yamcha’s grip. “I was just crying for the same reason I was before. Yamcha’s not like that. People on Earth aren’t like people in space.” Yamcha furrowed his brows and stared at her, his mind reeling from the confusion. Why the hell was she talking to him like that? Like he actually gave a fuck about her? “…I just want to go take a bath, alright? You said you wanted to go have a feast, my mom can do that for you. I just want to have a bath. Like I said I wanted to when we were in the pod.” That’s when her eyes glanced to Yamcha– he let her go, and when she turned around and walked into her room and into the attached bathroom, he was left scratching his head. She’d been acting weird. So of course next he’d glare at Vegeta.

“Look, she’s not usually like this. It’s because you assholes are here. Why don’t you just leave and leave all of us alone? She’s clearly scared of you!”

* * *

His POV

She claimed the other male wasn’t harming her, but that didn’t stop the lethal look in Vegeta’s eye when he noticed Yamcha’s hold on her upper arm. Yamcha’s grip tightened and Vegeta’s glare narrowed. If it hadn’t been for Bulma’s tone of voice or the un-approving pout she was giving the prince, there probably would of been a second brawl. He’d come to teach the punk a lesson, but even the prince knew better then to push Bulma’s buttons too far. Still, Vegeta didn’t like the way he was touching her, standing so near. The protective nature that’d been growing inside of him over the last couple of months was starting to warp into something new; there was a hint of jealousy in his vexation.

The new sensation was brushed off easily enough, Vegeta returning to his naturally stony self the moment Bulma pulled away and explained that she wanted to groom herself. He answered her with a stern ‘ _gruff’_ that meant ‘ _fine_ ’. For the first time since he’d found the two, Vegeta’s shoulders began to ease down. Lacing his arms over his dirty armor, watching the girl waltz into her massive room and disappearing behind a distant door. But as soon as the bathroom door clicked shut, his steely gaze landed on Yamcha, who was equally giving the prince a stare down. Did this mutt really have the balls to tell him what to do? Hadn’t learned anything yet?

“ _Idiot_ ,” Vegeta huffed in passing, resting his shoulders against the same wall as the bathroom door. His hard-lined glare never loosing Yamcha’s. “If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have this god damn rock. I’m not going anywhere until I damn well please.” the prince’s stated confidently, holding his ground like the alpha male he was, “And don’t speak so lowly of her again,” his brow creased, biting his words in seriousness, “I would not waste my time on a pathetic weakling. ..She knows she has nothing to fear from me.” his voice tamed down, looking the other male up and down once. So this was Yamcha? The mutt she’d spoken of a few times. He didn’t feel threatened, just mildly annoyed.

“Aren’t you supposed to be her so called mate? Can’t you tell? ...she doesn’t know how to feel.” he murmured bitterly. The idea hitting a little too close to home. Vegeta had been feeling similar since receiving knowledge from Kuriza. “She has a brain ...let her figure it out for herself.” his words were as harsh as ever. Any sign of sympathy or defense on Bulma’s behalf going right over the Saiyan’s head. To him, he was just telling Yamcha off. Putting him in his place with words, since he couldn’t actually hit the man without getting an ear full from the earthling behind the bathroom door.

* * *

Her POV

“If it wasn’t for you, we would never have all been killed!” If it weren’t for Bulma’s wishes, and the fact he wasn’t exactly excited for another pummeling, he would have shoved Vegeta by now. He was so casual about everything. Leaning back and giving him a devilish look as he tried to prode Yamcha and act as if he knew Bulma more than he did. He was Bulma’s boyfriend, of course he knew more about her! Yamcha’s nose wrinkled, and he took a few steps closer to Vegeta to size him up. He was less intimidating when he could show the Saiyan how much taller he was than him.

“She said she’s overwhelmed. I believe that. But how much of this is because of you? You’ve been terrorizing her. Of course she’s nervous around you. She probably doesn’t want to say anything. That doesn’t fucking make her weak, either. She’s just scared of what you’ll do. I’m sure of it.” It did strike him odd that he seemed to give any kind of a shit about Bulma’s well-being, but he ignored it. It was probably just an act. Or something. There’s no way Bulma could actually tolerate this guy. …Even if she didn’t want Yamcha fighting him before. What the hell had that been about?

“Where are your buddies? Why don’t you go keep an eye on them instead of standing around here like you’re waiting for something? If you think I’m going to leave so you can go harass her, you’ve got another thing coming. I’m not going to let you touch her. You’re so worried about me touching her, but you’re the real issue here.” He was defensive. Of course he was defensive– he didn’t know anything about Vegeta than Bulma had told him. And she hadn’t told him anything positive, that was for certain.

And while they were having their conversation, Bulma could hear everything. What idiots, pretending as if she was out of earshot. It pissed her off in some ways, but she didn’t want to dwell on it anymore. At least they weren’t fighting. She turned on the bath if only so she didn’t have to hear their conversation, rather having it drowned out by the running water. She plugged the drain and began getting things together for a proper bubble bath, just like she used to love. Maybe it’d make her feel better. That’s what she was hoping, anyway.

* * *

His POV

_But how much of this is because of you?_ That stung a little. It was nothing he hadn’t heard before, from Bulma ironically. Vegeta knew he was the reason the planet even had to be re-birthed. The one that’d taken Bulma and tried to force her into slavery in the first place. But that was the part that was grating on Vegeta’s nerves. He’d tried and the girl had proven herself at every turn. She’d earned his respect, and in return he’d given her what she desired. They had a mutual agreement, there was some sort of strange understanding between himself and the earthling. This resurrected punk was acting like he knew anything of the relationship that’d formed between them, as fucked up as it was. It was making Vegeta more volatile by the second.

“Go to hell.” was Vegeta’s retort when Yamcha finished his speech. The prince’s teeth on display, his voice more of a roar or a growl this time. He was losing his civilized edge. “Since when does she not tell me exactly what she wants? I couldn’t get her to shut up.” his eyes rolled, “Don’t you think I’d have hurt her by now if I wanted to? I brought her back, didn’t I?” he huffed, looking sourly at the other male, as if Yamcha was a complete idiot, which to him he was so far. What the hell was Bulma even doing with a weakling like this? She deserved so much better. If anyone had been harassing, it was the mutt. He’d been on her since the moment he showed his pathetic face from the front door. What else was Vegeta supposed to think? He didn’t trust the other male like Bulma appeared to.

“I don’t give a damn, my men know their place. They can fend for themselves.” in other words, they didn’t need his protection. He’d be a fool to leave her with her track record, even on this supposedly peaceful planet. By now, leaving her alone felt unnatural. He was on guard duty. And with another male on the prowl? Even less likely to leave his post. Vegeta’s gaze burned up at the other male. Really, he was finding it terrible to have to look up at an opponent. He should of been used to it by now, but in the moment he was finding it irritating. So instead, he lifted up from the wall. Puffing his chest up and staring down Yamcha just as darkly.

It was just about then the sound of running water perked Vegeta’s ear. His eyes slid towards the closed door. The girl was bathing finally. It dawned on him then, could she hear them? His brow furrowed, closing in his attention on what the girl was doing behind the door, while trying to keep tabs on the other male. Vegeta was so use to keeping an ear peeled for her by now, he hadn’t realized it was odd behavior. To him it was natural, instinct. Only after he was sure she wasn’t in harm’s way, his sights darted back to Yamcha, narrowing yet again. If the other male wanted to stand around so be it. Vegeta was solid in his stance, he wasn’t going anywhere.

* * *

Her POV

“Don’t act like I don’t know! You have hurt her, you piece of shit! Just like you’ve hurt everyone else!” Feh, how dare this guy be the one telling him to go to hell? He’d be the one rotting in hell! If only Yamcha was strong enough. He’d pound this guy into the dust. But he was never fucking strong enough. He had to train harder. He’d protect her next time. He swore his life on it. Swore his life that he wouldn’t end up dead again when Bulma needed him. To make sure someone like Vegeta didn’t come hurt her again, or that other piece of shit Bulma had told him about.

“Gn… Look, asshole. I don’t care who can fend for themselves. You’ve all ruined this planet once. If you’re so worried about Bulma like you’re pretending to be, you should be keeping an eye on them so they don’t fucking murder her family like last time. You’re letting them walk around wherever they want? …” He glanced away for a second, his anger growing. And when Vegeta stood straight and puffed his chest out, Yamcha turned his head back to him and glared harder. He didn’t want to fight, but the pressure growing in his jaw as it tightened and the angry roll of his shoulders only came naturally to him. He didn’t even pay attention to Vegeta getting distracted.

“Don’t pretend that you’re so nice to her. I can tell even now, you weren’t good. She looks hungry and exhausted, and she smells like she hasn’t even gotten a bath in weeks. No wonder that was the first thing she did. She’s got bags under her eyes, and her hair isn’t even styled. I know Bulma, she’d never want to look that way, even if she’s still pretty no matter what. She hasn’t been able to take care of herself. This is your fault. This is your fault that she’s acting the way she is. It’s all your fault.” And those two douchebags in the kitchen, but Yamcha felt that went without saying.

The water didn’t do much to drown out their conversation as Yamcha’s angry tone grew louder. It was irritating to hear them bicker about her, as if she wasn’t in earshot. Really. How long until they started fighting again? She didn’t want to hear it anymore. She just wanted a quiet bath. She’d already set out candles and dimmed the lights and got the bubble bath and facial creams and everything, but she couldn’t relax, not with the noise pertaining to her well-being. So after Yamcha spoke, she opened the door just enough to glare at the both of them.

_“Go somewhere else.”_

Yamcha’s eyes went from Bulma to Vegeta and back again, his brows furrowing just so. …Damn it. Eventually he let out a huff and shifted his weight before finally turning and walking out the door– though not going much further than that. If only to make sure Vegeta followed her orders, too.

* * *

His POV

Pretend. Pretend?! The prince of all Saiyans didn’t fucking pretend jack shit! Oh, Vegeta was beyond pissed off. If the punk thought he could run his mouth off like Bulma had before, back when they’d first returned to Capsule Corp, he was severely mistaken. Yamcha was hardly on Bulma’s level with the prince. It was because he hadn’t mortally wounded him before, wasn’t it? This is why it was so important to put underlings in their place, to keep to the natural order of things. Vegeta had thought overpowering the mutt in their last battle would shed some light on rank, but apparently he’d been too easy on him. He wasn’t about to allow a lower ranked alien think he could bark in his royal face.

“Are you fucking daring to imply that I don’t take well enough care of her? Are you suggesting I can’t control my own men? Is this all your fucking species does? Is whine like a little bitch?” his voice bellowed like demonic thunder, the vein in his large forehead throbbing red. Vegeta’s livid glaring leaning into his personal space. Yamcha had hit a nerve, a prideful ‘I know what’s best for my pack’ nerve. Vegeta had been going against his natural behavior to see to it Bulma’s needs had been met. He took it as a challenge to his abilities.

“You’re right, I’m not good,” his tone was turning dark, “It seems you didn’t learn your lesson last time, mutt. If you’re so worried, I can turn you into my little bitch next.” the prince’s fists went out for the collar of Yamcha’s shirt, slinging the man’s back to the floor, finally giving Vegeta the high ground. “You’re not even worth a decent fuck. Since you’re so damn worried about my men, I can let you entertain them instead. They’re not so picky.” it was a threat, an empty threat, but that didn’t mean Vegeta couldn’t entertain the idea. It would of been a harsh reality just a month ago. What he really wanted to do was break the boy’s nose. Or jaw, jaw was good. Then maybe it’d shut him up. Vegeta was keeping his cool for Bulma, but there was only so much the prince could take.

Then the bathroom door whipped open, and both men’s eyes darted to a pair of angry blue hues. Damn it, they were in trouble, weren’t they? The moment Bulma demanded they leave, Vegeta shoved Yamcha away; out of his hands. The two men separated at her request, and proceeded to take it outside. Vegeta giving the girl one last glance before following Yamcha out the door. Not that he was obeying his lead. In fact, he nodded his head forward at the other male as if to say ‘get moving’. Once both were out in the hallway, Vegeta shut the bedroom door behind him. But he didn’t go far. His back planting right against the wall in his guard dog fashion, much like he had before. Only this time he wasn’t acknowledging the other male. Eyes forward, silent, trying his best to end another confrontation before it began. He really didn’t want Bulma coming out a second time….

* * *

Her POV

She watched the boys file out, and as soon as the bedroom door closed, she closed the bathroom door and went back to her business. She’d been lucky; it seemed that Earth had in some ways gone back in time– despite two months having passed, the cucumber slices she had stored away for spa days that she used nearly daily were still fresh and ready to use. And once everything was laid out by her bath, she stepped in and worked on covering her face in her facemask and setting the cucumbers on top of her eyes. Now she could really relax, and try to get back to how things were before. At least attempt to enjoy it, anyway.

Things weren’t so relaxing with Yamcha, though– Vegeta’d threatened to fucking rape him, of all things. To let his buddies do it, too. As if what he’d done to Bulma wasn’t enough. He’d followed Bulma’s orders easily enough, but that didn’t mean Yamcha trusted the guy around her. So when the asshole decided to just stand guard by her door like some kind of fucking guard dog, Yamcha’s nostrils flared and he got up close to the man again, as if he had a death wish.

“Listen, asshole. I don’t know where the hell you get off talking like you do, and I don’t care. But you’re going to get the hell off this planet and stop harassing us. Especially Bulma. I’m not going to let you destroy this planet again. I’ll make sure that even if I die fighting you, I’ll just keep getting wished back until I can rip that irritating smug look off your face with my bare hands.” But just as he was threatening Vegeta some more, Mrs. Briefs was hurrying down the hallway. She seemed happy to see them, whether or not she actually heard the subject of conversation.

“I was looking for you two! Is Bulma pouting in her room? Don’t mind her! Come eat dinner! It’s all finished, and there’s plenty! Those two are eating a lot, too. It’ll be all gone soon!” She grabbed onto Yamcha’s arm and all but forced him along, completely against his will. He wasn’t even that hungry! Gn… Damn. He stayed his ground for a moment, if only to lean closer to Vegeta and growl another threat quietly, just for them to hear:

“If I so much as hear that you might have touched Bulma when I’m not looking, you’re dead. I don’t care if you think you’re stronger than me. Even if I have to do it when you’re sleeping, there’s going to be some point where you’re not able to defend yourself. Maybe I’ll even make you _my_ bitch, if you want to talk so much shit about that.”

* * *

His POV

Was that fucking mutt still yapping? Seriously, Vegeta was beginning to suspect it was an earthling trait. He’d been doing his best to ignore Yamcha this time around, giving the opposing male the cold shoulder. Refusing to glance in his direction, but the male was once again getting under his thick skin. Vegeta’s eye twitched, his brow sinking irritably. He was half debating entering the conversation again, despite his better judgement, just when Mrs. Briefs daintily trotted down the hall. As creepily cheery as ever. It was the first time Vegeta side glanced since they’d moved outside Bulma’s door.

Yamcha had almost gotten away with it. Nearly ending the day getting away primarily unscathed. But then he just had to lean in and threaten the Saiyan one last time. Throwing his own words back at him, of all things. It was the last straw, as if the male’s close proximity hadn’t been enough to set him on edge. Vegeta’s gloved first went straight back from its crossed position on his chest. Smacking the back of his knuckles into Yamcha’s near face. Vegeta making sure to give the impact just enough force to send the male out of his personal bubble. He may have busted the guys nose, or lip, depending on how tough the earthling male was.

Vegeta, however, kept his eyes fixed on the wall opposite of him. He wanted to make a sly comment like ‘wouldn’t you have to have a dick first?’ but knowing Yamcha was being dragged away by that cheery woman seemed punishment enough. At least he was gone, at least he could breathe now. The prince’s blood pressure and adrenaline was running wild. The solitude of standing guard was much more welcome then joining in a feast, no matter how famished his stomach may of been. He needed solitude, a time to clear his head.

He waited, and waited, and waited. It felt like forever and a day. Just what the actual fuck was she doing in there? Vegeta considered himself a patient man when he put his mind to it, but his mind was beginning to wonder with worry. Did something happen, was she alright? Silently, his eyes slid back and forth across the empty hall. No one was in ear shot. Slowly, he opened the bedroom door, closed it behind him, then proceeded to tap on Bulma’s bathroom door. Looking for any kind of response. The bedroom smelt the same, aside from the new scent of soaps. He rasped his knuckles again, finally grunting, “You didn’t fucking drown this time, did you?” he was concerned, it was obvious.

* * *

Her POV

If it weren’t for Mrs. Briefs physically dragging Yamcha way, another fight would have happened. He certainly attempted to punch him back after that smack to the face that left a sting Yamcha figured would at minimum leave a bruise, but Mrs. Briefs was insistent that he needed to leave ‘their guest’ alone and get himself fixed up before dinnertime. But man, would he get that cocksucker back. He didn’t care if he was stronger than him by so much, he’d find a way to beat the guy into the ground! …After dinner maybe.

And while all this was happening, all Bulma wanted was peace and quiet. She could still hear the quietest of jabbering outside, but it was barely audible. So she could just lean back and relax as her bath filled up– which was taking plenty of time, given how large the bath was. Enough to fit quite a few people in it, that was for sure. But just as she was beginning to completely relax and feel a little like herself, acknowledge the fact she was home without wanting to cry from being overwhelmed, she heard the bedroom door open. And soon after, a knock on the door. Vegeta’s voice. What, was he that worried about her?

She let out a sigh and shifted further down into the bubbly water, but figured it couldn’t hurt to let him in. He’d probably be horrified by her facemask and the cucumbers on her eyes, but he was just as dirty as she was. She could just make him take a shower quickly before joining her. It’s not like there wasn’t enough room in her bathtub, after all. And maybe she could give him a stern talking in the meantime about not stressing Yamcha out. She didn’t want him to end up dead after just being wished back.

“No, I didn’t drown,” she called back, inwardly rolling her eyes. “If you’re so clingy, you can come in, stupid. But if you plan on getting in this bath with me, you have to take a shower first so you don’t ruin this bath with all your muck you’re always covered with. Got it?” She took one of the cucumbers off her eye to take a good look at him once he was finally inside. “You can probably figure out how to turn on the shower, right? It’s got two showerheads, just turn one on since it’s just you.”

* * *

His POV

The door was unlocked, that was the first thing he noticed. Leave it to Vegeta to always notice the lack of defense in a situation. At least he didn’t have to barge in; silently slipping into the bathroom and closing the door behind him without so much as a click of the handle. He tried shooting the woman a fowl look for her ‘clingy’ comment. He didn’t approve of that ...but it didn’t look like she could see his disapproval anyhow. There was something ungodly all over her face. The brute couldn’t stop staring at it, like a confused animal.

His attention was taken away when she mentioned the multiple shower heads. He grunted, both to mean he understood as well as ‘I know how a damn shower head works’. Bulma was right to correct him before he had a chance to just jump right into the tub, because that was exactly what Vegeta had in mind. The bath looked good. Akin to the ritzier bathhouses he’d visited over the years but apparently meant for one. How odd. The woman had a point though. He was completely caked in dirt, blood, and who knew what else. For the sake of another argument, he’d do as she pleased and shower first.

“What does one woman need with so much space?” Vegeta called as he undressed. His cracked armor hit the floor with a thud; a puff of dust lifting from the once pearly material. Damn, he was fucking disgusting. The shower head spritzed to life and Vegeta disappeared inside the elegant settings. Rising away a pound of earth, sweat, and blood down the drain. What he’d asked was a question he’d been thinking for a while. Her home already proving much different from the life they’d been living. The bathroom itself was massive, filled with scents and sights that he’d yet to recognize. There were enough bottles and candles to give it the feel of a brothel, but the prince highly doubted those were aphrodisiacs sitting along her bath side, after how she acted out when they’d first met.

The fall of water cut short, and Vegeta stepped out. Relatively clean compared to his former look. His features actually decipherable instead of hidden under grimy smudges. He didn’t step into the bath right away though. No, first he had to inspect whatever the hell was all over the females face. He leaned in, quietly, then pulled away. Wasn’t the point of grooming to remove shit from her skin? What the hell was that? She obviously didn’t mind it, which he found to be odd behavior. Well, whatever it was he was not going to groom it off. She could forget about that. Though, once his heavy body finally sunk into the bubbles opposite her own, he leaned in again. This time sniffing her face mask, poking it with a finger. Pulling a face that meant he didn’t approve of the taste. No, she could definitely groom that off herself.

* * *

Her POV

She raised a brow at him as she observed him with the one eye that lacked the cucumber. He was grumbling plenty, but he still went ahead and did as she told him– got in the shower. Her cucumber was set back in its place and she sunk down further, finding some relaxation in the noise of running water up until it stopped. But even then, she didn’t move. Not at first. Not as she heard him coming closer to her. Not as she felt him lean in enough to feel his breath and presence. She ignored him completely, hoping he’d just shrug it off and enter the bath and be quiet. That’s what she wanted. Quiet. She did get it, too– he came into the bath and leaned closer, but it wasn’t enough. He just had to bug her by leaning closer and poking her face mask. Sniff it. She could have even sworn he licked it, with the feeling she got and how he suddenly jerked back. That was when she finally took off both cucumbers and set them down to look at him with her brows partially raised and her head facing downward.

“What are you acting like this for? It’s a face mask. It’s for your skin, to clean out your pores and things like that. Stop acting so strange. The cucumbers are to make my eyes less puffy.” She huffed at him and turned a little away– only to touch her face mask gently and check it. Actually, it seemed that it was done. So she peeled it off, discarding the light pink mask on the side of the bath before splashing her face with the bubbly water– water that happened to be pink with some petals mixed in under all those bubbles, thanks to a bath bomb she’d thrown in shortly after entering the bath. She’d really gone all out, clearly.

“I hadn’t had one of those in so long. Geeze, it feels so nice. Here, I’ll show you.” She turned back to Vegeta and grabbed one of his hands, bringing the back of it up to her cheek to gently brush over her skin. “It’s soft now, right? And it looks brighter! I missed being able to do this. You’re such a dirty guy that you probably don’t understand what it means to do things like this, but it’s important for your well-being, you know. You’re going to get wrinkles really quickly if you don’t take care of yourself. …Then again, you do do a lot of fighting. It’s too gross for me to ever try, but there are celebrities that use blood as face masks because it’s got the same effects. Maybe that’s why you don’t look all that bad.”

“Who knows.” She shrugged her shoulders and dropped Vegeta’s hand in order to dip her body down to get her hair wet. She sat straight back up and grabbed her shampoo bottle (that definitely looked expensive; it looked more like a perfume bottle than anything else with the sleek design) and squirted some onto her hand. “…You can eat those cucumbers if you want, by the way. I know you’re a disgusting pig. It’s better than throwing them away, I guess. They’re warm from sitting on my eyelids for as long as they were, there’s no way in hell I’m going to be eating them.”

* * *

His POV

He’d gone relatively quiet since he’d entered the royal-esc bathroom. Sure, he’d drowned himself in fine oils and been bathed countless times by servants. But this time was different. The prince was out of his element, but the female was clearly in hers. She’d relaxed since they’d arrived to the compound. He’d slowly been picking up on that. From the girl’s mannerisms to how she flowed from one room and so easily into the next. Bulma clearly knew her way around the institution as if it were an extension of her own hand. But here, lying so leisurely in the oversized tub, proved it more than anything else he’d witnessed. She’d openly invited him into her bath, something she’d never have done before. Bulma was feeling in charge, acting like a queen, and Vegeta was eating it up.

The mask still made little sense to him, despite her explanation. That is until willingly grabbed his hand and placed it to her face. At first he was confused, surprised that she’d attempt something like that after keeping herself away from him for so long. But he had to admit, her cheek felt fucking fantastic. He’d half forgotten what he was doing in the tub in the first place, the brute was so taken by the sight of her rising from the water and slicking her wet hair back. He slow blinked, shifting slightly closer in the silky pink water.

“I’m not desperate, even I have standards.” he huffed, snapping back to reality at the mention of blood and food. He picked up one of the cucumber slices, only to sniff it and toss it in rejection. A dull scented vegetable? No thank you - if he was going to eat, he wanted meat, and a lot of it. His hunger was amazingly enough not his main concern. He’d felt the tension in his muscles drop the moment he’d entered the bath. He was inwardly enjoying this... Vegeta had thrown cash at bathhouses before, but he’d never experienced an aura like the one she’d lit in the room. It smelt nice, it felt nice, he could pick up her natural scent mixing into every corner of the expensive marble. It felt like a true royal; he had to submerge the urge to purr.

But this was a bath, and it was high time he started taking advantage of it. He eyed the bottle she’d picked up before, taking it into hand and sniffing it. It’d have to work. A handful went sliding through his massive mane of hair. Lathering it up until it was a mass of suds on his head. Easily rinsed out with a dunk and shake of his own head. Raking out the left over soap more like an animal, then the graceful show Bulma had given him. At least he was getting clean, and smelling a little more floral than usual.

* * *

Her POV

She watched his reactions to everything as she massaged the shampoo into her hair– the way he snorted and tossed the cucumber in rejection after giving it a sniff, the way his shoulders began to relax from the water and how he’d nearly begun purring, the way he sniffed her shampoo bottle and began washing his own hair with it after following her lead… It was obviously going to be entertaining to watch an alien attempt to assimilate and understand a new world around him. Was it this entertaining for him to watch her at each new planet they visited? She’d always been too busy being terrified of everything, including him, to notice. But things felt different now– she wasn’t terrified of him. She was more scared of everything else. Of her old life, and the idea of no longer having protection. It was silly, but she felt more comfortable with him now that she was no longer running away from him. Now that she’d gotten what she wanted.

“Try not to make a mess, alright? Shake like that and my candles are going to get all wet and go out.” A response to him shaking all the water from his head like a dog after dunking himself to get rid of the shampoo. She herself dunked under the water after him, taking longer to make sure all the shampoo was rinsed out and mixed with the dying bubbles and the colors of the water. And of course, next was conditioner. She squeezed water out of her hair and grabbed a fluffy white towel sitting folded nearby and dried her hair further, only to set it off to the side. She grabbed another fancy bottle– a short one this time, see-through with a scarlet red tint and equally as fancy of a design, and opened it up to scoop out a little bit of the gel. She worked it through her hair gently and slowly, her eyes still on Vegeta.

“…Do you want to do me a favor, too? You’re not doing much, after all. And think of it as a way of keeping you out of trouble.” While keeping one hand busy, she took her left hand and grabbed yet another bottle–similarly a deep red but looking more like a fancy stick of deodorant than anything else–and handed it to him. “Warm this up. Don’t make it super, super hot. But like… As much as you’d warm up food, you know? It needs to be hot for me to use it. It needs a microwave, and I do have one in my room, but it’s such a pain. Especially since you’re right here. I promise that you’ll appreciate it the same way you probably appreciate that face mask now.”

* * *

His POV

He was staring. A lot. His fascination only interrupted for a moment when Bulma mentioned his animalistic like behavior around the open flames. His nose scrunched and his brow twitched, but that was about it. A much more subdued reaction then his usual tendencies. He was quickly back to staring. Subdued in the warm yellow light and pink water, watching the beautiful woman so near to him primp and preen herself like a goddess at a fountain. Raking his gaze down the curve of her breast whenever she lifted her hands into her hair, or watched the droplets run down her soft skin whenever she moved. He was as still and quiet as his usual stony self, but there was something different, curiousness in the way he was fixating on her. 

His mind was reeling, though. There was some things Bulma did that made absolutely no sense to the off-worlder. She’d rinsed her hair only to lather it a second time. Vegeta knew she had an obsession with cleaning herself, but did she have to groom it twice? Then she left something in, and his brow knitted in confusion. Did she know, had she forgotten to rinse it out? Maybe it was due to her washing so many times... perhaps she was losing track... The more he watched, the more he was growing jealous of her fingers. He’d never admit it, but he wanted to feel her elegant fingers rake through his hair like that. He leaned a little closer, then her voice broke his concentration, and Vegeta’s eyes snapped towards her gaze once again.

She was asking something of him, handing him what looked like yet another bottle. Something that he could only suspect was as costly as the rest of her belongings, judging by its scent (of course he sniffed it as soon as it was in his hands). The prince shot her an un-approving look. What the hell did he look like, a convenient campfire? Though, what she’d said had caught his attention. Damn, so she’d noticed he’d liked the feel of her smooth skin... Though, if this was anything like before, maybe he could risk it. Besides, he was damn curious to see what the hell she’d put on her body next. She was beautiful, and it was engaging, if he wasn’t too careful he’d surely get an erection. Would she let him rub it out while he watched? He doubted, but he could fantasize.

“What the hell is it?” he ground out, arching a brow at the girl. His hands slowly heating up, melting whatever was in the container, all the while keeping an eye on Bulma. He was still wondering about whatever shit was in her hair, as well as what she’d demanded of him. He added, “...what the hell did you put in your hair? Aren’t you going to clean it out?” it felt an obvious question to him. He was having a little trouble assimilating after all.

* * *

Her POV

Surprisingly enough, he did it. She hadn’t really expected him to take it from her and do as she asked. It was never that easy– he was always a pain in the butt when she asked him to do things. Apparently he just really enjoyed the feeling of her skin. Because even if he had to make a sly comment, he still did it and handed it back to her, just as she washed the conditioner from her hands and dried them on the towel. She used the towel to wet her underarms and opened up the bottle, revealing a stick that looked like a mixture of deodorant and a delicious stick of red candy. Roll-on wax. She raised her arm and applied the wax on the hair that’d been growing on her underarm, listening to Vegeta all the while.

“It’s leave-in conditioner,” she replied. “It stays in and keeps your hair looking nice and shiny. It also makes it smooth and easy to brush out.” And speaking of brushing, she grabbed a brush sitting by her soap and began detangling her hair. She’d gotten only a quarter of the way through before setting it down and pulling off the wax she’d left drying on her raised arm– leaving her hairless. She gave the area a splash of water and dried her next arm and did the same, before going back to brushing her hair. The process was repeated and next she sat her butt on the side of the bath to focus on her legs, appearing to not mind if Vegeta saw her nude body. He’d seen it enough times, anyway; it hardly mattered.

“You guys don’t seem to grow hair; from what I’ve seen. I think you told me that one? You thought it was strange that the hair on my head was growing. The hair everywhere else grows, too, so I have to wax from time to time. But nothing leaves my skin feeling smoother than the kind I use. That stuff they’ve used on me in those fancy bathhouses were never that good. And they always smelled odd.” This time, after covering a good enough portion of either leg, she finished brushing more of her hair before she carried on. And so on, and so on, until her legs were smooth up to her hips. That was when she gave Vegeta a glance as if she was debating something, before she opened her legs to give herself a Brazilian.

“Don’t stare too hard, got it? You see that pink bottle over there, with the branches with petals falling from it? That’s body wash. Take a little bit of it and clean yourself instead of burning your eyes into my skin by staring too hard.” A simple command to just give her a tad bit of privacy. It was fine to be naked, but there was something more embarrassing about him watching while she had her legs splayed. It reminded her of that time in the brothel, where she sat on the edge, spread-eagle against her will for everyone to see. The only one here was Vegeta, sure, but that didn’t make it feel any less embarrassing. 

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t quite sure what she had in mind with the hot container she’d taken back from him. Vegeta watched with scrutinized curiosity. Eyes narrowing when she began to slide the hot liquid under her arm, only to let it sit there. What the actual hell? The man had absolutely no clue as to the pain she was about to inflict on herself. As soon as the ripping sound of wax from skin rang through the bathroom, Vegeta’s gaze widened. Fascinated. It wasn’t disgusting, just interesting. Though he’d been growing slightly use to the velvety blue ‘fur’ along her body, there was a growing need to run his palm along her skin, just to inspect. The process looked fairly brutal, but the woman didn’t even flinch. He knew she was a tough one...

She continued as if it were a regular anomaly. Speaking to him all the while. Was this something she often did on her home planet? Then a thought struck him, what the earthling male had told him. That Bulma hardly looked her groomed self. That she enjoyed this type of lifestyle. Vegeta’s brows pressed in contemplation. Was this normal for earthlings then, their natural way to groom? It felt as if that’s all her species ever did. Bitch at one another and groom themselves. Though the prince could hardly dispute it. His royal ass was sitting happy in the scented bath water. Relaxed, sedated, watching a beautiful woman primp like some strange tease.

“What’s wrong,” he retorted harshly, shaking his head out of his daze, “...it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” his smirk was back, the arrogant one that loved to toy with her. Vegeta couldn’t withstand it any longer, his hand had to slide along her freshly waxed leg. And god damn, was it soft. It was just begging him to brush his cheek along it. He could have sworn her flesh was softer than any fine silk he’d ever discovered. Her high perch on the bath-side made it easy for the man to run his chiseled cheek bone down the length of her thigh, all the way to her knee, where his exploring hands had found her calf - rubbing it casually between his fingers. She was right, he very much approved of the after effects. It was worth the hassle.

Did she really have to tell him to move off? He was enjoying the sensation of her smooth skin. Vegeta shooting Bulma a look when she pointed out the floral body wash. And things had just been getting interesting. He’d wanted to see her groom her sensitive bits, it would of been fascinating, and a bit of a turn on. But fine, fine! He knew by now he’d be more likely to be tossed out of the bath if he gazed much longer. So despite his own selfish wants, Vegeta turned around and reached for the far bottle. Finding a pink fluffy thing that he assumed was some native sponge to cleanse the dirt from his skin. Hell forbid he admitted it felt nice.

He didn’t stop there though. Reaching for the conditioner from before, cautiously sniffing it. Vegeta ran a handful of it through his hair. If it was good enough for her, it was good enough for his royal self. He was entitled after all. Still, it just felt strange, unnatural. Maybe she was playing a trick on him. He shot her another shrewd glance from over his shoulder, then returned to trying to wash the substance out. It was like medical cream but oilier and more difficult to remove from his fingers. Staring at the strange substance, rubbing it through his fingers, then trying to remove it like a cat trying to rid itself of a piece of tape from its paws. 

* * *

Her POV

She huffed when he decided to tease her rather than listen to her request, but he eventually did as she asked and focused instead on finding things to bathe with. It was tempting to watch him rather than focus on what she was doing, but she wasn’t going to end up pulling off parts of her skin for it. So she kept her eyes on what she was doing until she was completely finished, after much annoyance and moving around to get everything– and when she finally got to look up after making herself hairless, she found Vegeta attempting to get something out of his hair and off his hands. Judging by the open bottle of conditioner, he’d decided he wanted to try it. Great.

She set off all the used wax to the side where it wouldn’t be in the way, and lowered herself back into the water. She pushed herself closer to him and forced his hands away from his head, only to shove them under the water where she could help him get the conditioner off. Really, how stupid could he be? She huffed and furrowed her brows at him, taking a look at his hair, matted with far too much of the conditioner. She was going to just clean him herself, but then something occurred to her– She wasn’t his maid! Feh! He could take care of this himself!

“Dunk your head into the water and rinse it out with water if you hate it so much. If you still want it in, you put on too much, so you still have to take some of it out. Stupid.” She grabbed the loofa he seemed to have found as well as the body wash she’d told him to use earlier, squirting some onto the loofa to clean herself with while she was waiting for Vegeta. It was as if he’d never cleaned himself before. Though… That made perfect sense. He was always so damn dirty, of course he’d never cleaned himself before! At least not properly. Not to mention that it seemed he always just paid for slaves to do that kind of stuff for him. She never understood that. Why would she want people touching her body?

“…By the way, Vegeta. Stop harassing Yamcha, alright? I meant to say this before, but I might as well now. I don’t care how much you don’t like him. None of this ‘rival male’ stuff. Leave him alone. Don’t say anything to him, don’t hit him, don’t touch him at all. …I used to be able to talk to him, when he was dead. Whoever he was training with up there, he could communicate through them to living beings. So I’d talk to him and say how miserable I was. That’s all he knows– What I told him. He’s the reason why I was able to beat that thing in the cave, too. He told me what to do. Whenever you guys weren’t around, he’d help me.” Well, most of the time. There were times where he magically went silent, but Vegeta didn’t have to know about that.

“Just leave him alone, okay? It’s enough that I’m going to leave and he’s not going to see me anymore. Don’t make it worse for him by tormenting him like you keep doing. You know you’re stronger than him, it’s not fair.” Mixed in with the lecture was the obvious hint that she was going back with the Saiyans. That’s what she was planning. Being home was as weird as she thought it’d be. She’d take the best parts with her, but she couldn’t just pretend that nothing happened.

* * *

His POV

He’d been so focused on getting the conditioner off of his fingers and out of his matted hair, that Vegeta barely noticed the woman grabbing his hands until it was too late. He should of been surprised at her forceful handling of him, but he was too fixated on the fact that she was pointing out what he’d done wrong, or telling him what to do. Well, showing him what to do more like it. The prince grumbled and blew out a breath of frustration. Crumpling his face as she scolded him. Honestly, how the hell was he supposed to know? This is what servants were for. This type of behavior was supposed to be beneath him. How did she ever manage?

“Servants work,” he huffed, “I don’t know why in Kami’s name you’d keep a dwelling this big without servants!” he complained, but he was listening. As much as he hated to admit it, she’d helped him, even with her attitude. Vegeta hated the shit stuck on his skin and hair. It didn’t smell of anything familiar and it felt intrusive. Rising it out was a welcome relief. Plunging his wild mane back in the water and raking it clean until there was nothing but a fine amount left in his hair - that was good enough for him, he was done with messing around with the shit.

He turned to watch her bathe, just in time to hear her mention that other male. Having that name brought up at all, let alone when he’d been enjoying such a nice bath (more or less) was distracting. Unwelcome. ...but he tuned in. For whatever reason he wanted to know what she had to say. His grimace in place and his muscles tensed at the mention. There was no way in hell he agreed with her. The earthling male had asked for it. Vegeta still didn’t know how or why he was supposed to let that slide. He doubted he would again, he couldn’t for pride and namesake. He could feel his aggravation growing, his blood pumping under his tanned skin. He had half a mind to walk out of the bath, or push her out of it for such blasphemy.

Then she muttered something that simmered his growing temper. She was still planning on leaving with him. Not only that, she was stroking his ego perfectly. Telling him he was the stronger male of the two. Vegeta’s shoulders slowly dropped and the tension in his features slipped away. Somewhat regaining the calm he’d had before. He wouldn’t ask if she was sure she was leaving with him, nor would he show his pride in her decision. The prince wasn’t about to lower himself by looking hopeful. She knew well enough how he felt about the idea.

His stony, silent facade was in place when he looked at her. Lifting his hand from the floral water to brush a smudge of soap from her cheek. The subtle nod and mild “ _hmm_ ” he gave her meaning he understood, that he’d attempt to be good for her. It was becoming increasingly difficult not to show that pride he had in her decision the longer he looked at her pretty, soft face.

* * *

Her POV

“I knew it; you just don’t know how to clean yourself without servants! That’s ridiculous, you need to learn how to clean yourself without someone helping you!” She huffed at him and went about cleaning herself as he got rid of the conditioner in his hair, but it wasn’t long before he was sitting around pouting because she had the nerve to tell her to play nice with Yamcha. He only reluctantly agreed, but even that was met with a roll of Bulma’s eyes. She supposed she should be happy he agreed at all, though. That was unlike him. He’d been angry at first, but something of what she said clearly changed his mind on the issue. Enough that he tolerated reaching out and brushing the suds off of her cheek.

“Good. I don’t want you hurting him at all. Much less doing the things I’ve heard you threatening him for. If you tried anything like that, how could I forgive you?” She stared at him for a moment after she said it– making sure her words sunk in. She had somehow forgiven him for everything else he had done, but going back on that would make it impossible for her to forgive him a second time. Especially since there wasn’t truly forgiveness– she’d merely… Changed. Her stomach still twisted when her mind wandered to what used to happen to her. But he felt more like a necessity in her life than anything else. The lesser evil. The person who would keep her out of harm’s way, despite all the things he’d done to her before. The thing that she now found more comfort in than her old home.

She shifted herself closer to him again, setting down the loofa at the side of the bath and lathering off any more soap as she stared at him with the intense look. Less angry this time. Something else, from her mind wandering about how their relationship had changed so quickly over only a couple months. Or somewhere around it– her second period had just ended, and that was her only way of knowing how much time had passed. He’d gone from killing everyone she knew and gang-raping her until she puked and passed out, to giving her back everything she’d cry for at night and only doing what she’d allow. Only a crazy woman would actually want to be around this man anymore. But here she was. She hated herself for it, in all actuality. She still saw what he did to her when she stared him in the eyes, and yet she didn’t mind being this close. Being completely bare in front of him.

“…Vegeta,” she spoke up, at first to say something meaningful. But after a moment of hesitation, she decided against it. Instead, she broke the awkward silence that she’d created. “…We should stay around a little longer. It’s overwhelming, but I don’t want to leave Earth so quickly. It’ll be fun to show you things, too. Like the amusement park I mentioned before. Have you eaten any of my mom’s food yet? Maybe you’ll find out that you like Earthling food. Who knows? …I also figure… I can make some capsules in the meantime. Maybe I can even capsule my room and bring it with me. I don’t want to just leave everything here and go back to sleeping on the dirt ground or a crappy motel.”

* * *

His POV

What? So what if he’d threatened her weakling Earth mate? It was only natural to dominate another male when challenged like that, especially over a female. Or, ex Earth mate? Seeing as she was writing him off. Good riddance, she deserved better. She was a queen, there was no way that sloppy mutt was on her level. Vegeta was feeling his power and placement dwindle, something that he absolutely did not agree with. His disapproval of the growing situation plastered all over his hard lined, dead-panned face. Kami, how did he even get himself into this in the first place? It was that damn woman. Sometimes he could swear she was a siren in disguise, because she had him doing things that he’d otherwise deem ridiculous. The daze she’d spelled him into with the pleasant bath and view of her naked body had clouded his mind.

She stared into his eyes, and the beast dug right back into her. There was something hidden in her gaze, something he’d come to recognize over the weeks but had seen fade little by little. She hated him, the prince could see it hiding behind her blue stare. Those big blue eyes that urged the tension in his tight expression wish to soften. He knew she didn’t fear him, not like the other male had said, but she still held her venom. Something that he ironically valued in her. He wasn’t mad at her for her hatred, if anything he was glad to see it’s return. It was bright and fiery and beautiful. But recently it wasn’t something he could stare at for too long. It reminded him too, just why she had the rights to hate him. He looked away, burning his glare at the tub side instead.

She called his name; he felt his molten anger simmer. Tuning his ear into her soft, almost longing voice. As if she were about to reveal something important. He glanced back, calmer this time. What she had to say was welcome, breaking the awkward silence and lightening the shroud of tension that’d been growing in the room. She wanted to bring her things with her. Vegeta’s nose scrunched. He wasn’t quite sure how she was going to get away with that. Sure, she had capsules, but how much could they hold? An entire room? He gave her an odd look, then stepped out of the tub. Reaching for the pile of dirty clothing he’d left in the floor. His sopping tail twitching, dripping behind him.

“And just where would you put it?” he questioned, searching for the main hole of his shirt. A difficult task considering how many holes and rips were in his clothing now. “Would you stay outside the hotel on an alien planet? I can’t afford ritzy shit like your glamorous lifestyle every time,” there was power in his tone, “Some of us have to work for our credits.” he just couldn’t keep his big mouth shut, despite the fact that it was working against him. Sure, he was probably playing nice more than usual to insure that she had no reason to turn against her decision. He didn’t want to scare her away and just leave her on this backwater planet... He wanted her to keep to her word. But there was only so much kindness he could dish out in a day and he was at his limit. Besides... Vegeta knew he’d be shit out of credits soon, not that she needed to know. He needed to make this clear before she got any fancy ideas.

* * *

Her POV

She frowned when he decided to step out of the bath to get away from her. What’d she said wrong? He was just going to shake her off, just like that? Or did he just want to avoid talking to her anymore? She rolled her eyes and looked away until she finally heard him speak up, but when he turned in her direction, the first thing she did was grab onto his tail and pull. Sure, it didn’t do to him what it did to Raditz or Goku, but it was worth the try, given he was trying to put on dirty clothing, and was having the nerve to talk back to her like he was!

“Don’t put that stuff on! It’s disgusting! What’s the point of taking a bath if you’re going to put on dirty clothes right after?” She jerked his tail again to make a point, before glancing down at it. He never actually cleaned it while bathing, had he? Without even thinking much about it, she grabbed the little scrub brush she had sitting beside the bath, scrubbed it against the bar soap sitting beside it, and began cleaning Vegeta’s tail. She scrubbed the fur in little circles, her nose wrinkling. “You didn’t even properly clean yourself. Sit down, stupid. I’ll find you something to wear when I say we’re done.” Sure, she was now technically doing servant work, but… It didn’t matter that much if he didn’t think of her as a servant, right?

“…What does it matter where we stay, anyway? Most of the places are in the middle of nowhere or too dingy to even bother staying in a hotel. I don’t mind the nice hotels, but what about all the times we have a campfire? I want a capsule so I can live indoors instead of sleeping on a rock. I’ll never have to worry about freezing to death. It’s protection from the elements. It’s necessary,” she explained herself, still cleaning up and down his tail, taking her time with creating the suds all along the furry limb. 

“Besides, it’s not like I can’t earn money. I’ve made money for myself the times I’ve managed to get away from you. I was thinking… I could expand the Capsule Corporation into space. No one else in the universe seems to have this kind of technology. I can create an expansion of the company so we can have a steady source of income. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about killing people for money. …You say that you do it because you like to fight, but… Hn. You can find a better way of doing that other than killing innocent people. Other than being a mercenary, even, like you were considering before. …My dad always told me I have a good eye for business, I think it’d be a good idea.”

Her eyes flicked back up to him, to observe what he was doing. He couldn’t exactly just leave, with his tail full of suds. It was a way of forcing him to stay and listen to her ideas and requests. And not just that. For some reason, she felt worse when he wasn’t around. If she was left alone in the bath, she knew that it’d only cause her anxiety. She wanted to be around him, as counter-intuitive as it sounded.

* * *

His POV

A zing shot up his back. It wasn’t unpleasant nor did it sting, but damn did he notice it. Vegeta’s back instantly straightened, dropping the clothing he’d been searching through. She had the nerve to pull his tail! And then a second time! And then, ah, it felt as if her fingers were brushing through the soft fur. Against the grain, with the grain, his shoulders visibly shuttered. Silently, Vegeta darted a wicked glance over his shoulder. Spying to see what the fuck she thought she was doing to his furry appendage. It was covered in bubbles and wound between her nimble fingers. Now it made sense when she’d said he wasn’t finished bathing. She was grooming his tail.

How the hell was he supposed to move now, let alone be angry? What had he even been angry about? He couldn’t recall. All Vegeta could focus on was the sensation of his sensitive fur being whisked and pushed into tiny circles, all the way down to the twitching end. It couldn’t have occurred to her now intimate of an act she was performing. Tails were personal. Grooming and tail stroking was something only pansy ass mated pairs did for one another. He may have felt possessive of her, but they were in no way mated, not in his mind. He debated pulling it away, but... it felt damn good. He was aware she’d seen something dirty and her obsessive mind had to clean it. Besides, like hell the selfish bastard was going to pass up something as nice as this.

A soft groan rumbled form his chest as he sat back down on the edge of the tub, giving her the full length of his sudsy tail. The end of it coiling lightly around her wrist, like a monkey’s tail clinging to a branch. What had she been talking about? He’d been so sensationalized by her little fingers running up and down his tail, that he’d only half heard the beginning of her argument. She was a clever thing... he had to give her that. She had a good point about looking after herself, as well as her own cash. Something he wouldn’t be handing out if she was a freed slave. He wanted her to take care of her own. Then he could war to his heart’s content. Vegeta still wasn’t sold on giving up his lifestyle of battle. Even as she made a formidable case for that, too. Would he make more crash ripping the heads off of criminals than civilians? The glance he gave her was contemplative. He was weighing her terms.

“I do prefer a good fight.” he could agree to that. Hunting down those that were known for their killing sprees and battle skills was worth thinking about. It sounded like a challenge, even if his usual way of life was so ingrained in his brain. Easy. Too easy. Not every world gave up a good warrior to best him. Some were worth less to him then the credits he cashed in. Hunting mercenaries would just have to prove stimulating enough, such as war did. He did enjoy killing things, there was no denying that.

“Your capsules would catch the attention of the trading rings. There is always money to be made transporting cargo. Trade corporations would pay a lot for technology that could carry a ships worth in their pocket. But you’d have to sell it yourself.” he was complementing her, in his own way. Telling her it was a good idea, leaving it to her to figure out. All the while the docile tail in her hands swept it’s tip across her nude belly. Her little treatment had calmed him down.

* * *

Her POV

He stopped, just like she wanted him to. She eyed him as he sat down, seemingly in a trance from her scrubbing. Even his tail was gentle to some degree, it seemed. It was kind of cute, actually. She glanced up at him every once in a while as she cleaned him, raising a brow at him as she performed the act. He was shivering, even. Not from the cold of stepping out of a warm bath into the open air, but because apparently the little circular scrubs made him feel that good. Evident even more by it curling around the wrist of the hand that kept his tail steady.

“Exactly. It’s a huge market here. Everything on Earth uses it, basically. It’s what made my dad the richest man on Earth. We could even become the richest people in the universe if we plot things out right. My family and I, I mean.” She reeled back discussing her wealth being Vegeta’s wealth. She didn’t want to let the connection they had go too far. She looked up at him again as she traveled with her scrub further up his tail, closer and closer to his body, until she eventually reached his tailbone. Then she let him go.

“You can lather your tail yourself. You really should clean the rest of yourself, too. And while you’re at it… There was something I noticed before. Back when we were on the other planet, with the plant aliens. Namek, was it called? …Your breath is awful. Have you ever brushed your teeth before? I realized my teeth were starting to feel disgusting from not being able to brush them often enough, but I feel like you must not do it at all. I have extra ones I haven’t opened from the packages, so you’re damn well using one of them.”

She washed the suds off herself and pulled herself back from the side of the bath, staring at Vegeta still. It was obvious what she wanted– she wanted him to come back into the bath with her. It had ended prematurely by him deciding to just leave. It was lucky that she was able to get him to stop in his tracks just to let her continue scrubbing his tail. Something she would have hated doing if she was still considered his ‘little slave’ like he had liked calling her so much, but something that now felt almost natural. Like scrubbing Yamcha’s back whenever they took showers or baths together. Though she’d hardly consider him a replacement for her (ex?) boyfriend.

“Come on, I’m waiting. You have to wash the rest of you off, then I’ll make sure you brush your teeth and dry your hair. Just hurry up and come back in, okay?” Her drying hair was slicked back behind her shoulders, and she went to playing with the remaining bubbles in the massive bath. Fluffing them up and just messing around with them while watching him. …His back was so toned, and covered with scars. Something that was obvious, given all he did all day was fight. And yet when given a moment to stare, she found it… Nice. It was a pleasant thing to look at, much more pleasant than his front– maybe because whenever his back was facing her, it was typically because he was protecting her rather than hurting her.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Rather than two chapters, because I'm short on time because I took a short nap between the stuff I had to/have to do today, rather than two chapters, it's just a chapter that's on the long side. Sorry about the wait!
> 
>   
> 


	41. Testing Boundaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma sees how far she can push Vegeta, given their new relationship.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

His ear pricked just as much as Bulma’s when she mentioned ‘their money’. Vegeta felt relatively the same way she did. Relieved when she corrected herself. He wanted her to fend for herself. It was their way of doing things. Handouts were for the weak. Unless he was entitled to it, say if she was his slave, he’d take it without question. But this was her business. Relying on her funds across the universe was too big of a commitment for the likes of him. No thank you. He equally felt the need for some form of wall between them. Though, some barriers had obviously come down. He’d have never considered taking advice from anyone, not even his own men. She had status in that sense.

“Why would I do that? My kind aren’t susceptible to infection or rotting like most. Our teeth are strong; our immune systems are strong. There’s no need...” he cut short, slowly turning to face her. He’d been slumped with his elbows on his knees since she’d been toying with his tail. Relaxed. Until he noticed the look she was giving him. His head tilted, his brow pressed. She wanted him to bathe more? Honestly, sometimes he could read her with a mere glance in her direction. Other times he couldn’t make heads or tails of what she wanted next. His eyes rolled, but he slipped back into the warm water. His tail swishing back and forth under the surface. Ridding it of most of the suds.

“...not many cultures practice kissing.” his voice was lowly and smug. A hint of teasing in the glance he gave her. It’d be a lie to say he hadn’t thought of it since - the girl’s soft tongue and her talent for lavishing his mouth with it. The memory cut his thoughts short, attentively staring at her pink lips instead. She may have thought his mouth tasted terrible, but Vegeta found her taste to be quiet good. In fact, thinking about it, he wanted another. His gaze lifted to her hair, realizing she’d taken to rinsing herself again. Her body perfectly glowing in the waning candle light. Of course he was shamelessly staring, but there was a part of him that refused to turn away. That is until he began to follow her lead. Rinsing the residue and drying soap bubbles from his dark skin.

The warm water poured over every inch of his hard body. Rinsing away years of muck until every scar shown through. His skin was surprisingly golden under all that grime. The smaller, lighter marks across his body visible, and there were a lot of them. The prince was probably cleaner than he ever had been in his homeless life. Lifting his forearm from the water, he sniffed his wrist. The native floral scent of Bulma’s soap masking his natural Saiyan musk. It was an unnerving, but he was sure he could still scent mark things if he wanted to. That’s when his attention went to the girl across from him again. If there was anything he wanted to scent mark on this planet, it was her.

* * *

Her POV

He went down into the bath and followed her orders without much more than a glance in her direction, which led to a smile on her part. He began to clean himself, which made her not mind how he seemed to enjoy staring at her so much. He really was eyeing, like she was some kind of goddess, or something equally as stupid. She watched him in return, casually putting the bottles back in their rightful places and attempting to clean up as he washed himself. He was doing a good job this time, too– the pink water was losing some of its hue as the dirt he had on him faded. She hadn’t realized just how full of dirt he was, even after that shower, until now. It really clung to his skin and was only coming off now.

“You’ve got more scars than I thought,” she murmured as he forced the muck off his skin, letting more of the scars and dents and tint show that had previously been hidden away. Hell, she wished she knew he always looked like this. He always had a slightly brown hint to his skin when it was so caked with dirt. But once it was rinsed off properly, brown turned to gold. His skin color was more bright and shiny, in a way that she only caught glimpses of when he’d work up a sweat from training and fighting. It complimented his dark eyes and hair. Did he know that? She doubted he cared.

“I don’t care if not many cultures practice it. You like it, and if you like it, you need to keep your mouth brushed. I don’t want to taste rotting meat every time I press our lips together.” She said it much more eloquently than she expected; maybe it was because her mind was so focused on it. Her gaze hovered on his for a moment longer before she decided she was finished with fixing the bottles and got out of the bath. First to take all the garbage, from her used wax to the cucumbers, and toss them out. Next, she went to the counter and found an unopened package of toothbrushes. She pulled one out and set it aside while she grabbed her brush and brushed her own teeth, before taking the brush again and wetting it before putting a dab of toothpaste on it.

She walked back to the bath and sat on the side, tilting her head as she stared at Vegeta. Mostly done with cleaning by now, she decided without warning to force his lips open with her fingers and brush his teeth herself. It’s not like she trusted him to brush properly, obviously; he’d do a half-assed job, like he nearly did cleaning himself before she scolded him about it. This was something she had to take into her own hands.

“Your mouth is gross. …Is it really natural to not brush your teeth or anything? Your teeth never fall out, never get cavities, never have anything like that happen? How? Maybe it’s the same kind of ideas as why your hair doesn’t grow.”

* * *

His POV

He was staring just as much as she was. It didn’t go unnoticed, though. Were his scars so unusual to her? Come to think of it, her way of life did appear much more peaceful than that of planet hopping. Nearly every situation he’d considered natural during their trips seemed new and dangerous to her. Yes, he’d been noticing her culture shock over the last few months, but only now was he realizing just how prevalent it must of been in her eyes. The things she’d seen must have shocked her... why was he only realizing that now? He never thought, never gave a damn before.

Her comment about kissing perked his attention. So, she’d considered it again, too. She must have, judging by the way she said it with such command. He liked that, he liked it a lot. The girl was making the big brute frisky. He’d be on her in a moment if she wasn’t careful. Luckily for Bulma, before he could slide a little closer for a brush of her skin, she stepped out of the bath and began prancing around the bathroom. Vegeta may of been a little disappointed in letting her slip away from his side, but it was worth it to see her glossy wet ass walk away. Especially at such a nice angle. Oh yes, he definitely wasn’t finished with her yet.

He watched her move her belongings around on the sink counter. His arms crossed on the side of the elegant bath, paying attention to every little thing she did. Sticking something in her mouth, the brush she was on about probably, and setting a second aside. He eyed the second brush. She wasn’t really expecting him to put that in his mouth, was she? What the hell was wrong with kissing as they had before? It felt good, surely she couldn’t be serious. Oh yes, she was serious. She was damn so, he could see it in the way she looked at him. That stick hanging out of her mouth, while she eyed his firmly pressed lips. His brow hardened. He didn’t like where this was going.

She was damn lucky he found her sliding her fingers across his lips, trying to pry his strong jaw apart, somewhat attractive. Otherwise he may have never opened his maw at all. Teeth and lips gently nipped at her finger tips, a warning. Vegeta made eye contact again. “Of course not,” he tried answering her question, but it gave her just enough space to fit the brush in, much to his dismay. It tasted nothing like he’d eaten before. Something akin to a plant, he deducted. His tongue moved uncomfortably. Then, his teeth bit the brush, un-moving. Threatening to snap the invasive object; staring at the girl above him. It was just a power play, it was never easy for Vegeta to admit submission, to allow someone else control. But eventually his muscles fell lax and he allowed her to do as she pleased. With minor resistance, of course.

* * *

Her POV

“Too bad Goku and the others hadn’t killed you all. You would have been an interesting specimen to take apart for the betterment of humanity.” The words were cruel and yet slipped passed so easily. It was the same as how she’d so horribly threatened Raditz with castration earlier; she’d changed to be far more violent, at least only in speech, than she used to be. The Saiyans had rubbed off on her. Similarly, while she may have been afraid a long time ago with how he nibbled on her fingers and gave her a hard glare, this time she only glared back at him until he finally stopped with the power play and allowed her to brush his dirty, disgusting teeth.

“Not that I’m one for biology. I focus mostly on engineering. That’d be done by someone else. Really, though, finding out the genetic makeup of something that can reproduce with humans, has hair that doesn’t grow, and teeth that don’t rot? It’s amazing. Maybe I should leave my dad some of your DNA.” She finished brushing his teeth and set the brush down, sitting straight and taking her fingers from his mouth. “There you go. All done. Spit out anything left over.”

She got back up and grabbed one of the large, fluffy white towels hanging on a rod on the wall, and began drying herself off. What was the point with practicing kissing while wet and cold? She may as well fix things up and get herself dry. Besides, she still need to use a blow-dryer. And… It’d be fun to tease Vegeta for a while longer. He seemed to really be antsy for kissing. Why not make the wait more difficult for him? She at least was sweet enough to leave the towel sitting on the counter after she dried herself with it, rather than wrapping it around her body.

She searched in the cabinets and found her blow-dryer, plugging it in and immediately going to work with drying her hair. She stared at Vegeta through his reflection in the mirror, still going by candlelight. Was he irritated that she was taking so long? Good. It made her feel more comfortable, knowing she could make him wait. That he would willingly wait, not just grab her and take what he wanted without any concern for how she felt. Times had changed, obviously.

“You should dry off, too. Unplug the drain when you get out. And don’t you dare try to put those dirty clothes back on, now that you’re finally properly cleaned up. You’re not getting a single kiss if you do, I hope you know that! It’s so ratty and stained that it should just be thrown out, to be honest. I’ll get you new clothes.” …Actually, that’d be a good idea. She made all her own clothes; that’s why so many of her clothes had her name on it, or the Capsule Corp logo. She could easily make outfits that would fit him. Outfits that could stand the test of time and not instantly be destroyed like all his outfits seemed to. …It shouldn’t be too hard to do. She could do it between making more capsules.

* * *

His POV

The scenarios she wove may of been cruel, harsh, cold to a human ear, but to Vegeta it was pure unadulterated dirty talk. Did she know she was revving him up? Tensing his muscles under the surface of the water and toying with his already perversely active mind? She was talking like a survivor, a conqueror, a Saiyan. He could have purred in her hand, if she hadn’t been rooting around in his mouth with a stick, brush, whatever the hell she called it. His smug smirk tried to hook into his lip but failed due to all of the toothy scrubbing. Though his jaw line did manage to slip leisurely into her palm - the hand that’d been keeping his mouth open. Her speaking was making him all the more manageable. Up until she slipped away and turned back towards the far sink.

“I plan on keeping my DNA intact. _Unless you’d like to tell me what else you’d do to me_.” he teased right back, turning on the bathtub faucet and cupping a few mouthfuls of water, trying to rid himself of the odd taste. He’d swallowed half of the toothpaste despite her telling him to spit out. The roar of the dryer drowned out the sound of the draining bath. He wiped his hand across his bubbly mouth, reaching for a towel himself, but it was quickly tossed aside too. He eyed her questionably, but quietly. Stopping to stare long enough to watch the girl mess with her shiny hair. The ear piercing noise of the blow dryer not enough to distract his staring. Bulma didn’t usually show herself in the nude so casually. It was kind of ...nice.

The seductive sway in her step was calling to him like a little doe to a ram in rut. He could feel heat rush throughout his body the longer he watched her move. Muscles flexing, movements calculated, stepping away from the empty bath. There must of been a hook in his grin now, basically licking his tongue over his pearly white teeth in anticipation to take a bite of that bare ass of hers. He may have made a promise not to touch her for her betterment, but the instinct was still wild and alive. Mapping out the various ways he could overpower her fuck her to his heart’s content; until her voice went hoarse. Against the counter, pinned to the hard floor, perhaps over the side of the tub. His approach had slowed, steadied like an encroaching predator. The desire was loud; he was forcing himself to resist.

Did she know she was teasing him? His gaze trailed up the sway of her back, up to the damp hair that glistened across her shoulder blades. Then he caught her reflection - returning his stare right back at her. He wanted to say something, it was on the edge of his lips, which he licked like a cat watching a mouse. But the dryer was intrusive, noisy, and the only thing keeping him at bay when it came to touching the female he wanted to press up against. It didn’t stop him for long, though. Vegeta always pressed for what he wanted. Standing behind her, he pushed down her hand gripping the screaming machine. His other palm smoothed up her silky belly. The damp tail behind him quickly following, coiling itself over her wide hips. His gaze flicked to hers again in the large mirror, brushing his lips against her neck. The prince wasn’t being forceful, not really. Despite the half hard erection pressing up against her ass cheek. He was asking.

* * *

Her POV

His response was… Strange. What, did he take this as dirty talk? She raised a brow at his reflection, watching him get out of the bath and slowly walk closer to her, checking her out all the while. Though it did fit him perfectly– of course he loved being told such violent things. Why wouldn’t he? All Vegeta was about was violence; that’s all he ever knew or cared about. He’d changed recently, but otherwise, that’s what he was. Of course he’d find this kind of talk to be pillow talk, in the same way he had found her crying and running from him and getting scratched up as she fought against him the times he’d try to pin her down and rape her as some kind of foreplay.

Her eyes hardened somewhat as she thought about it. She was playing around with her rapist. She bathed with him and was close to having consenting sex with him for the… what, third tim e? Her gaze left his as he stepped closer in order to feel her up. Less rough than he ever did before. He didn’t bite her, squeeze her, force her into whatever position he wanted her in. She knew she was stupid to even find that any kind of blessing; he’d still done what he had done. And yet she didn’t mind it. Her mind reeled when she focused on the past, but simply looking at his reflection in the mirror and feeling his closeness did not hurt her. 

Maybe it was simply that now, she had some semblance of control. She guessed she was fucked in the head. Her parents were both weird as it was, and she had been dating a man who had likely killed people before she met him. All the other men she’d had interest in… Maybe that was it. She had terrible, horrible taste in men. And somewhere along the line, she decided she liked a man like Vegeta. Her gaze shifted to his hand holding down hers. She hadn’t finished blow-drying her hair, and she could feel Vegeta’s was still wet, dripping against her skin.

She pushed him away and jerked her hand back. Not roughly, just enough to get her point across. Maybe she would have sex with him, but the thoughts she had caused her to want to regain some confidence in herself. Take control. Remind herself that she was capable of doing as she wanted. She went back to drying her hair, though she did turn around to face him, their bodies only a few inches apart from one another. She could still feel his erection brushing the top of her thigh. She ignored it for now, instead turning the blow dryer on Vegeta to dry his sopping wet hair. She was silent about it, doing it as if it were the most normal thing in the world. 

In truth, she just really wasn’t sure what to say about her actions. Or about the situation at all. Dirty talk felt wrong with him. And now that she thought of it, she’d never really done it with him– the times they’d had sex before, it just happened, either because she let it or because she used it as a way of thanking him and getting what she wanted. Like a prostitute. It wasn’t like with Yamcha, where she’d call him ‘big bad wolf’ and whatever other silly things they’d come up with. This was different, in every way she could think of. And not necessarily positively. 

* * *

His POV

The softness of her skin was inviting. Vegeta’s hand brushed up the length of the girl’s narrow torso, steadying just below her ribs. Dotting his nose and mouth across the length of her shoulder line. Indulging in the position of invading her space, little by little. It was easy to get swept up in the overwhelming aroma wafting off of her clean body. Soaps, oils, all masking the natural flavor of her scent that he loved the most; the scent he was searching for. It was spicy and sweet, but overall soft and inviting. Did she know that? Her very aura begged him to fuck her, at least to him it did. It lured him deeper than any female before her. His gentleness could of been mistaken for affectionate behavior, if he wasn’t just subtly controlling his more beastly urges. A breath, a glance, a brush of her skin.

His gaze met her own again in the dimly lit reflection. She was thinking something; he could see it reeling in the back of her head. What was she thinking about? Perhaps a decision, her stare was distant enough. His nose brushed up the length of her neck and his tail flicked against her inner thigh. He was asking permission again. Instead of getting the reaction he wanted, Vegeta found himself being pushed away. Lightly, sure, but it still flashed his animal side to life. He didn’t like rejection, he never accepted it before her. The more primal part of his brain was telling him it was unnatural to let her go. That he could easily push her down and spread her legs. He wanted to.

Do it. Everything inside of him told him she deserved it for flaunting herself so easily around him, teasing him. What was the point of playing nice if he didn’t get anything out of it? What, had he done something wrong? Was there some earthling ritual he wasn’t aware of? His mind raced, frustrating; but then a memory broke over him. Her crying face and big blue tears when he’d held her down under the palm on the beach planet. The sound of her sobs against a shower wall, thinking he’d been hurting her when it was a sound of pure rejection. His teeth clenched. Slowly his hand and tail slid from her curves, just in time for her to turn around and face him. 

The blast of heat from the dryer gushed over his face, bringing him back to the moment, back to his surroundings. It was like flying through a hot desert. The prince dodged the hot air, giving her a dulled expression. He wasn’t impressed with the machine. Though it did give him that natural windblown look he was always wearing. His hair glossy and softer than usual, thanks to the too-much-conditioner he’d mixed into his mane earlier. The distraction helped tame down his growing erection, too. He was tempted to press back in. It’d have been so easy force a kiss, or press his fingers between her thighs, but he could tell what she wanted. Bulma wanted control, and though it meant giving up some of his power Vegeta relented. Stepping to one side and giving her space to finish grooming herself. Leaning against the counter beside her, watching.

* * *

Her POV

For a moment, she thought he might argue with her. When he was the one trying to come onto her rather than the other way around, he was never one to willfully give up the fight easily. The last time they’d had sex even, she wondered if he would have forced himself on her anyway if she ultimately denied him. But after thinking, he let her go. She watched him a second before going back to blow-drying her hair, letting out a little sigh as she did so. His hands on her bare skin had felt nice, though. But she couldn’t help but wonder if she could even get away with rejecting him completely. Her eyed turned back to him as he rested his side against the counter.

She wanted to test her boundaries. To see if he was really only being nice for the time being or not. She set the blow-dryer down and turned to put the towel away, taking the fuzzy pink robe on the wall that hung right next to it. She pulled it on and looked over at him again– just gauging his reaction at a subtle way to reject his advances. She did come back to him, at least– picked up the blow-dryer again, and rather than blowing it in his face, she grabbed his tail without warning and began drying it.

“I was thinking,” she spoke up, wondering if she’d have a chance at not making him too mad if she could distract him. “I could make you armor that will last. Clothes that will last. It shouldn’t be too hard to make something that won’t be torn apart every time you have a fight. It seems like you constantly have to buy new clothes and armor, but if I make something more durable, you shouldn’t have that problem anymore. I can take a look at the armor you have that bends so freely and come up with something better.”

Her gaze turned up to him again as she dried his tail, her wrists making little circles so the air blew in a similar way that her fingers had scrubbed the fur earlier, when she’d been washing him and refusing to let him out of the bath. Again, this was something a slave or a servant would do. But some part of it held a means of control for her. It made her feel more comfortable. It made her feel less weak. She wasn’t a slave; she could do what she wanted, and Vegeta would allow it. Or at least, she hoped that he would– that’s what this was about. 

She wanted to see how much freedom she really had and if he honestly had changed from who he was before. Would some frustration cause him to go back to the man that would force her down in the dirt and do what he wanted with her? She didn’t really have a way of fighting back here. And hell, if he knocked her down here, she’d probably end up unconscious from all the hard surfaces. But she had to hope that he really had changed, like he seemed to be trying to imply every time he took seriously her requests about him no longer killing innocents.

* * *

His POV

The woman was playing with fire. The Saiyan didn’t blink, didn’t budge a muscle while watching Bulma continue to blow out her damp hair. There was something in the silence between them. He’d given her what she wanted - space. But there was still the tension of an alpha predator in the room. Vegeta was still the one in control, the dictator of the situation. Was she happy with the freedom he was giving her? He’d told her before, she’d earned it. This was her choice, though he may have found it repulsive and against the natural order. He may of been respecting her wishes, but it was clear he was still mulling over the idea of why he shouldn’t fuck her. The dryer clicked off and their eyes met again. 

For a moment he wondered if she’d finished what she’d started - the way she’d been prancing around in front of him. But no, the earthling told him without the use of words just how much she was rejecting him. The pink fluffy robe was more than unwelcome. The next time she turned around his gaze had narrowed, clearly unhappy about the turn of events. He’d been enjoying the view, even if it was a cock tease. Had he frightened her so much? Had she been so uncomfortable with his advances that she felt the need to create a visible barrier? His tail swatted in irritation across the counter, his chest flexed, and a chuting sound huffed from his voice. She was frustrating him, but he hadn’t moved.

The moment she grabbed for his wet tail, Vegeta’s gaze shot down. It was something he’d expect a slave or servant to do, but she was doing this of her own free will. Why was she touching him? Why had he ever groomed her? Well, she’d been a slave, a possession. Strangely enough, that’s how she was making him feel for the first time in his life. His knee-jerk reaction was to reject it. To growl and snarl and pin her down. She touched him so easily, yet he wasn’t allowed to touch her. He shifted again; did she know her toying was only making him want her more? She was teasing a pacing animal. At least he could still look, and he was doing plenty of that. Roaming his hardened glare down the opening of her soft robe possessively. Wanting to peel the damn thing off of her. The idea of it coaxed his hand to lift, as if he were about to touch her. But then he willed his fist shut, tucking it across his chest instead.

“If you think you can improve it, it’s all yours.” he finally answered, glaring at the wall opposite himself. The soft circles the warm air was creating in his fur tempting him to relax. It did feel good, exceptionally so. The tip of his tail twitched against her arm. Slouching his posture ever so slightly against the counter, lulling his dazed gaze towards the floor. He breathed out, still horny, but giving in. Silently submitting to her lead. She literally had him at the end of a rope, or tail. There was nowhere for him to go. It was to be tamed or to face rejection and tears. Her soft voice was helping to distract him from his own animalistic temperament. His eyes softly closed, his muscles relaxed, tuning into the feel of her fingers through his fur. The scales were shifting; the girl was gaining more control over the situation. 

* * *

Her POV

She saw how his demeanor changed. He looked irritated when she put that robe on, but as soon as she began blow-drying his tail, things changed a little. He eyed his tail rather than her, and began slowly relaxing. Even so much as closing his eyes. She watched him as she dried him off, taking her time all the while. He wasn’t forcing himself on her. There was a moment where he looked like he was going to grab her, but he seemed to change his mind. He just let her do what she wanted. It was… Comforting. In some meaning of the word, anyway.

“Alright.” She nodded her head absent-mindedly, even letting out a little yawn– relaxing in the bath and being around all the dim lights of the candles had made her a little sleepy. She ignored it, and once she was satisfied with how dry his tail had become, she went back to his hair. She tried not to blow the hot air in his face, but let it pass along his scalp to make sure it was dry beyond the air-drying it had gone through already. …It was funny how fluffy he became under the warm air. Both with the hair on the top of his head, as well as his tail. The hair became puffed up like the fur of a tiny kitten’s. It couldn’t be helped that her free hand still ran along his tail to feel the soft fur.

She finally set down the blow-dryer, and slowly began pushing her fingers through his hair and along the skin of his scalp. It was softer now, and shinier– even if it looked a little silly from how puffy it was. It felt nice to the touch. Funny how much just a little care could do. Though she still couldn’t help but wonder how strong his hair could be, that it stuck up in the way it did. How long would something like leave-in conditioner work for him, if his hair seemed to have a mind of its own? Her hand traveled down to cup his face.

She didn’t give much warning– she didn’t want to. But she leaned in and pressed her lips to Vegeta’s. Softly and gently, but they lingered. She coaxed his mouth open as she closed her own eyes, and her other hand finally let go of his tail to instead rest on his shoulder, before finally sliding down to his chest. Even though he’d been wet and standing in the cold air after the bath, his body was warmer than her own. It seemed like that’s just how it was; he was always so warm. It indirectly brought back fuzzy memories of the cave, where she came to by the feeling of his warm body pressed against hers, forcing her back to life.

“You’re still not a very good kisser,” she murmured between breaks in the kiss to breathe. If only just to taunt him a little– it was to be expected, given that he’d only gotten his first kiss... what, a couple weeks ago? She found it difficult to try and keep a steady timeline beyond months, and even then that was only so accurate; it’s not like her periods literally lasted exactly a month. “You need to practice more.” She moved closer yet, pressing her robed body against his naked one as if it were the most natural act in the world. She was doing this with a man who had destroyed her planet. Raped her. Nearly killed her on several occasions. 

…But at the same time, she was doing this with the man who had saved her life on several occasions, waited for consent, and brought her home and all her loved ones back to life. It didn’t excuse what had been done, but for some reason Bulma didn’t mind it as much as she probably should have. Maybe it was just because of the influence the Saiyans had had on her. Maybe she was part Saiyan now, too.

* * *

His POV

It was becoming difficult to gauge the female’s moods. The soft slip of a yawn passed her lips and Vegeta flicked his gaze towards her. Though he hadn’t moved from his statue-esc stance, he felt more at ease. His blinking languid. The woman had a power over him, and she was flaunting it perfectly through her actions of touching his tail and hair. Something he’d ripped others limbs off for. The hot gust through his fluffy mane felt good, better when her feminine nails joined in. Better than how she’d been toying with his tail even. Though that tight knot in his belly refused to subside, he was choosing to focus on the moment. The Saiyan’s eyes drifted shut again. It felt like the royal treatment he deserved.

She was so close; he could hear her gentle breathing. All he’d have to do is reach out and take what he desired. As her fingers raked down his scalp his mind traveled. Was this all he’d ever get? It was occurring to him that giving her this kind of power meant he could be rejected at every turn, no matter how much she decided to taunt him. His lip curled at the thought. Was that what this was? Was she paying him back, or was she taking her time? His brow knit and he felt her hand slip down to his jaw. The softness of her touch reminding him that it really didn’t matter. He’d made a vow not to harm her, and he couldn’t refute that if he wanted to. Damn. What a waste of a perfectly fuckable female.

He hadn’t expected it. The soft press of her plump mouth against his lips. Suddenly, the prince’s gaze slit open. Finding her face so close to his own that their noses brushed. It confused him at first, but he didn’t hesitate. Opening his mouth at her request, allowing her tongue to slip inside. She was kissing him; that promised kiss she’d spoken about as they bathed. It instantly lit a fire under him, but he held his control. His muscles flexed and his palms begged to brush up her spine. The same as her hands were dancing over his bare skin. His now fluffy tail coiled around her robed waist, pulling her in closer for a deeper taste of her mouth. Vegeta was pushing his boundaries, too.

“Only if I get to practice on more than just your mouth.” he taunted right back, sending her a dark smirk, before lapping up her bottom lip yet again. She tasted damn good. It was hard to believe he’d been missing out on such a stimulating act all these years. Then again, it did put him in a very vulnerable position. It wasn’t like holding someone down and raping them. It took cooperation, trust. A part of him still told him it was wrong, but he was too selfish to end it now. He wanted more. He always wanted more.

He was finding rhythm, in both their mouths and his hips. Their foreheads bumped less and he found it easier to follow her lead. The brute was getting antsy, turned on worse than before. One of his warm, rough palms slipped past the drape of her robe, pushing up the curve of her waist. Pulling her close enough to close the gap between them, securing his growing erection against her inner thigh. He was testing her limits. Sis second hand slid into her robes too. Roaming up her side to smooth over her breast, only to dip back down again, following the curve of her thigh with a gentle squeeze. Trying to tempt her legs open.

* * *

Her POV

She let him wrap his tail around her and hold her close. While she refused being touched before, she accepted it now that they were finally kissing. It felt… Nice. Really, really nice. She accepted it, letting him kiss her but still keeping the lead and trying to show him just how to kiss. It was easier to fall into it now that she was in control, and didn’t feel coerced or if she was only doing this because she wanted something in return. It was also innocent, despite his erection pressed against her thigh and the fact he was completely nude, or even his mumble that he wanted to kiss more of her. There was still something more innocent here than anything she’d dealt with in the past couple months. 

So when he began trying to feel her up and force her to spread her legs, she resisted. Not at first; she let him feel her breast, but as soon as his hand lowered and tried to force her legs to open, she resisted. She grabbed his hand and forced it away, only for her grip to loosen so her fingers could fall down and she could hold onto his hand sweetly and gently. Her other hand pulled her robe closed again, holding it in place. No, she didn’t want to have sex yet. Not yet. She wanted to keep control, and let it stay to just kissing, at least for now.

She pulled back but kept close enough that their noses still touched. Her eyes lingered on his, raising a brow as she watched him. Would he get sick of her and just force her down? There was still a pit in her stomach just thinking about it; the idea that he could have sex with her any time he really wanted, whether or not she wanted it. He could, if he really wanted to. He’d done it before. What was stopping him from doing it now? She furrowed her brows just thinking about it, and her grip on his hand tightened for just a moment before she let it go.

She blew out all the candles in the bathroom, and went straight to the bedroom. She gave him another glance before going and sitting down on her bed. She didn’t say anything, again feeling that there was nothing for her to really say. Instead, she just sat there and watched him, waited for him to act. While he hadn’t really done much for her to think he would, she still kept waiting for him to suddenly force her down and rape her. She just expected it. How could she not, after everything she’d been through? He had decided he didn’t want to listen to her cry when he did it, but how much prodding could it take?

She just didn’t trust him, even after he went so far to bring her home and all her loved ones back. How could she?

* * *

His POV

Finally, it felt as if he were getting somewhere. As much as he was indulging in her strange act of kissing, he wanted more than the warmth of her mouth. The prince’s lusts were growing more confident by the moment, the more she allowed him to advance in on her. He was sure he’d be working his way between her supple thighs at any moment now. His hardened length begged for entrance, brushing under the fabric of her robe. Vegeta was staying docile; innocence being the ideal word for the situation. He couldn’t do anything without her permission. Nor was he well versed in kissing. There was something virgin about it. This was all new to the Saiyan. What would she do next?

Ah, she pushed his invading hand away, that’s what she did next. A soft growl rolled from Vegeta’s lips and into the girl’s mouth, nipping at her lip. It normally would of been a sign of domination, but it was harmless, merely showing his frustration. It was even worse when she closed her robe. This was not going according to plan... As soon as she pulled back, his black hues dug right back at her. A little more starry eyed than usual, until she sipped from his fingers. Bulma was truly testing his limits. Limits that Vegeta wasn’t even sure he had control over. He’d never been tested like this before. Winding him up and then turning him down, he could feel the growing tension in his gut. He needed to fuck something, he needed to fuck her.

The times before when they’d had some agreement to sex, he’d still felt in control. Even the last time he’d fucked her it’d ended in his domination over her. He stood stone stiff against the counter, watching her blow out the candles. His eyes forever following her. The throbbing erection hung heavy between his legs, he had no choice but to cup himself, giving himself some slight relief. It was hardly enough. There was a driving need to pace, to follow, to fuck. Vegeta’s blood racing, a needy grumble curling his lip. Did she know how much control he was keeping for her? His eyes darted to her just in time to catch the last glance she gave him, a soft subtle look that told him she wasn’t done, before she disappeared into the bedroom.

He followed, but not on her heels. Vegeta took the time to pace the doorway like a caged beast, letting his drive subside before deciding to join her. He still wanted control. He was always in control of himself, so why the fuck was this so difficult? She was sitting so pretty on her over-sized mattress. Dainty and waiting, the very smell of her asking him to come a little closer. If he couldn’t dominate her, couldn’t advance on her, how was he supposed to initiate sex? Vegeta was at a complete lost, but that’d never stopped him before. Keeping his calm, he stepped forward, until his knees were just before her own. Eye contact was a must, and he made sure to catch it before leaning in. Slowly, slowly, his free hand pressed into the softness of the bed, until his nose brushed past her own. It was gentle, yet gauging, whispering, “ _Bulma_ ,” her name, it was a quiet plead for acceptance.

* * *

Her POV

He was clearly being driven mad by her antics. He rushed around and held himself as she essentially blue-balled him, and even after she went to sit on her mattress, she could see him pacing as he tried to decide what to do with himself. When his sights finally set on her again, she was scared. Honestly, legitimately scared– she thought he may try something. That terrified her. She watched him, silent and being able to handle her emotions so they didn’t show, opting instead to try to look rather deadpan. He walked closer to her, and her heart jumped, still thinking of what she’d do if he just forced her down and took her regardless of whether or not she wanted it. Would she want it? Every time he touched her, she felt a little more wet. Would she even stop him if he tried to force himself on her?

He didn’t, though. He leaned in, closer and closer, slowly. Ever so slowly. Their noses brushed. She stared up at him, breathing in and holding her breath. She wasn’t sure what she expected. A demand, probably. But he didn’t demand anything from her, even though he was leaning over her with his hands on either side of her. He didn’t demand anything. He… Requested. She stared up at him in silence, her lips parting just so. He’d begged her to not taunt her, given her a quiet request by whispering her name.

She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. Stared up at him in silence still. Her thumbs ran along the skin of his cheeks, gauging his reaction. She could tell him no. Some part of her wanted to know what would happen if she did. The other part of her was terrified of what would happen if she did. She didn’t want to risk it. She didn’t want to just be shoved on the bed, have her robe ripped off her– and who’s to say that wouldn’t happen? How far was he from raping her, really? What was stopping him from doing it? He really could do it at any time. If she wasn’t Bulma, she was sure he’d already done it by now. What made her so special, anyway? So special he’d fight with Yamcha, so special that he’d constantly check on her to make sure she’s safe, so special that he’d be so gentle with her despite it being against her nature?

“…Would you hurt me?” She whispered even quieter than he did. She wasn’t even really sure why; maybe because she was still scared. Her hands slipped down to his chest, and she tilted her head to the side. Still watching him. She opened her mouth slightly, took a little gulp of air, and finally her eyes turned their gaze to the side. To his hand, pressed into the soft mattress. She began to shrug off her fluffy robe to reveal more of her skin. “I don’t want you to hurt me. To pin me down, grab me, anything like that. I want you to be… Gentle. You’ve never really been gentle. Not really…”

* * *

His POV

She was scared. It was clear to him the girl was attempting to mask it. Hide her fear away under a blank expression and dulled demeanor, but Vegeta had looked into the eyes of the fearful too many times not to recognize it now. Even when just a glimmer. Was it the same reason she’d put on the robe before? Was she truly afraid of him, or was it her way of keeping him on a chain? The man honestly couldn’t decide. He’d never had to think of the well-being or mental state of his victims. Trying to decipher the girl’s moods was becoming increasingly difficult. Irritating. It didn’t help to have that mutt’s words rattling in the back of his brain. That she was only keeping him around out of fear of what he’d do if she rejected him. Like he had so many times before.

She should be afraid. Very much so. He’d done horrible things to many more then herself. He hadn’t sworn off that bad behavior either. Vegeta was still very capable of the worst acts mankind could imagine. He had no remorse nor care, aside from the damage to her homeworld. The only one he’d ever cared about was the girl sitting in front of him. Would he hurt her? Her soft question lingered in his head, drowning out all other thoughts. His sharp cheek sunk against her hand, returning her stare. No, he wouldn’t hurt her, but words were meaningless. He’d told her before he wouldn’t. How could he prove it to her? His brows knit, then slowly he lifted himself up, enough to stare down at her.

Gentle. She wanted him to be gentle. The confusion must of been written all over his shadowed face. Wasn’t he gentle enough last time? There was more? How? Would it even be considered sex if they moved any slower? Gentle. The word plagued him, as if it hadn’t been in his native vocabulary. God damn it, if he was to show her he meant no harm, it didn’t look like he had any choice but to abide by her wishes. Ignoring the ache between his legs, he moved at what he considered a snail’s pace. Flicking his quiet gaze back up at her, he crouched between her knees. Her bare flesh more prevalent thanks to her loosened robe. The word ‘gentle’ was starting to feel like the word ‘give’. What could he give her? She’d scolded him last time for moving too fast. He’d have to be tactful.

“Gentle,” he repeated the word, smoothing his fingers under the back of her left knee, coaxing her thigh to lift. His lips brushed over her soft skin, relishing in the feel of her waxed leg (she was right, he liked it). His fingers lavished over her calf, tracing the length of her thigh and back again. Repeating the process until his mouth traveled up to her hip. As much as he wanted to taste her elsewhere, he was taking his time. Watching for any sign of fear, resentment, or the soft sound of fresh tears. His eyes darted up, just as his lips found her lower belly. Was she still merely allowing it, or did she want it. Did it matter? If she was letting him, it’d be a lie to say he wouldn’t take it. Still, he was going to give her one more out. Catching her lifted leg over his shoulder, he peeled away the remainder of her robe. Asking a question of his own, “Would you tell me if I hurt you?”

* * *

Her POV

He was clearly trying to be gentle. Rather than pushing her down, he started simply getting on his knees and rubbing his cheek against her leg. Kissing it. That’s what he said he wanted to do–practice kissing elsewhere but on her mouth. His lips dragged along her body, moving the robe out of the way where it was, and she let him. It felt nice. The fear still lingered deep inside her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t think about how much she wanted it. She wanted to be close to him. She wanted to be held. She wanted to be kissed. Her eyes closed as his lips reached her thigh. Her clit tingled.

His lips traveled upward yet, on her stomach. Her fingers ran through his hair, and she let out a sigh. As he got closer to her breasts, she felt a shiver run up her spine. By now, she was too focused on the feeling to notice him staring at her. To protest her leg being raised with his shoulder. She heard him again whisper that he’d be gentle. The fear was beginning to subside, but even in her current state, even as he took the robe off her body without asking but without her protest, she had a feeling that the fear would always, always be there. No matter what. He asked her a question, and she opened her eyes again.

“…Would you stop if I told you you were?” A fair question. His hands were soft and sweet now, with how they treated her legs. He was more gentle than she ever remembered him being before. And yet, he could easily hurt her, if he got fed up. Would she end up becoming a novelty eventually? Would he get sick of her and stop caring if she cried in pain from his actions? She no longer belonged on Earth, but how much would she endanger herself by staying with him? Her arms hooked around his neck, with her hands splayed down either shoulder blade. Rather than watch his gaze, her eyes found comfort in admiring his body. The new golden hue she’d found under the dirt that had been scrubbed off. New scars she hadn’t seen before, too light to show until now. She hated the scars Yamcha had; she thought it made his face look less cute. But the scars like these… They felt more like works of art.

“Do you want to kiss me some more? It seems you like it just as much as I do.” Her eyes wandered between her legs. He was close to her. Her thigh pressed up against his body after having been raised. It was just about when he wanted to enter her now. The jitters she felt inside were of fear, but also of want. Almost the same kind of thing she’d felt before. She used to cry and sob as she was forced down and raped, but– but she’d still orgasmed before. Intensely. There was pain, but the fear just added to the adrenaline. It had only made her feel more excited; only added to the feeling pooling in her belly that craved more.

* * *

His POV

He felt more accepted this time. Aware of the small shivers trembling just below her skin, he could feel her body slowly start to relax under his skimming touch. Vegeta wasn’t about to fool himself this time, though. Knowing fully that she could protest at any moment. Pull away if she wanted. Leaving him literally hanging for what would feel the thousandth time within the hour. He knew it, but it didn’t stop his pursuit. Her fingers ran through his hair, and the prince could tell that some small part of her wanted it. Perhaps not him, but sex. He could smell the arousal between her legs, he could feel the increasing heat of her body under his own. Would she choose to reject him again? Would he allow it at this point?

Her answer came in the form of a question, pricking his sensitive ear. The arms around his neck felt good; oh yes, he liked her hold on him. It made his hips want to move, to bury themselves between her thighs, but he was still waited. Despite how painfully solid he’d become. His gaze flicked to hers but she wasn’t reciprocating. He found her staring at their close torsos. Did she like what she saw? It’d never occurred to him to matter what the female thought, or if she found his display exceptionable. He knew he was a desirable male, he’d been told before, but by whores and those looking for a random fuck. It’d never mattered to him before, he’d use them. But for some reason a part of him was wondering if she lusted after him, too.

“I’d stop if you asked.” he murmured, brushing a hand across her cheek to gain her attention. He meant what he said; only honesty was looking back at her now, but he knew he’d have to prove it to her at some point for her to believe him. He could respect that, but he still had to make sure she knew the power she held, even if it seemed unlikely to the both of them. His hips lowered in the same soft manner. Dropping her thigh from his shoulder, down into the crook of his arm, he sank between her welcoming thighs. Just lightly, just enough to imitate the act of sex. Even with the easy movements he could tell how wet she’d become. Her soft skin slicking against the hard length trapped between their bodies. His swollen tip rubbing against her lower belly now and again. It felt good, he couldn’t help but groan.

The only thing that could have made it better was the feel of her hot mouth. Honestly, the more uses he thought of for kissing, the better it sounded. She’d asked for a kiss and he was more than happy to give it to her. The trail of affection didn’t start at her pouty lips, though. His mouth found her collar bone and quickly traced it. Only nipping here and there, knowing he couldn’t get away with it. His free hand brushed up to find her nipple, thumbing over it before giving her breast a gentle squeeze. Gentle, he reminded himself. Keeping his fondling at a minimum, opting to smooth his palm over her body instead. Up the sway of her back, cupping her neck while he sucked against the other side. Moving his kisses across her jaw line, and finally her mouth. Dipping in.

* * *

Her POV

He was still trying to quell her fears, both with his touches as well as with his words. At the feeling of his hand against her skin, she looked up at him. His eyes were as dark as they always were, but decidedly not menacing. He was trying his hardest, that much was obvious. And yet now that she skidded the line, she couldn’t help but wonder how much it would take for him to just ignore her wishes. She didn’t dwell on it, or at least… She tried not to. Instead, she wanted to focus on the feeling between them. How good it felt. He lowered her leg to catch it in the crook of his arm, and his cock began sliding against her.

“Hn… Ah…” She let out a slow, deep breath as he moved. Her eyes closed again, and the stimulation to her clit caused her to curl and uncurl her toes excitedly. Her hands slipped to his shoulders and then to his chest, her heart fluttering as he felt her up more. Kissed her is more. His lips were nice. Sweet. Gentle. How often did he try to be this gentle? Truly gentle, not just ‘not rough.’ He’d taken her request to heart, and she enjoyed it. Even if she should hate it, even if she should be afraid, even if she should be crying and refusing to have sex with him any time in the next billion years… She enjoyed it.

He squeezed her breast and thumbed her nipple, and finally his lips went from kissing her skin to pressing to her mouth. A hand reached down to softly press his cock against her body; to add tension and friction between the both of them every time he’d slide along her clit. Her fingers tickled him with gentle rubs along his cock as his hips swayed. He’d gotten better at foreplay, she realized. By now he’d usually pin her down and fuck her with growing relentlessness. But he didn’t even seem to be getting tired of the wait. He seemed alright with the buildup this time around.

“Mn… Vegeta…” She pressed her hand to his chest gently so that she could part their lips, and stared into his eyes for a moment. Was he mad that she yet again told him to wait? She wouldn’t leave this time. No, she just figured they’d get more comfortable. He was nearly off the bed. She pulled herself backward, slowly making her way further onto the bed until she was just about in the middle of it. She let her back drop to the mattress, and curled her body just enough that she could still watch him from her new position. She gave him a smile this time, telling him she was ready for the taking.

“Can you touch me more like you were, Vegeta? I like what you were doing. Run your hands over me like that some more.” Giving him commands was another way to feel more in control of the situation, she supposed. Though it wasn’t as if he’d just ignore the requests; they were things that he wanted to do. Maybe that’s what made her so confident in giving them.

* * *

His POV

He could get use to this. As dragging as he found the pace, he found that as long as he indulged in some part of her it wasn’t so unbearable. The fingers playing across his hard length making the sensitive tip tingle. Longing to brush into her caresses a little more each time. It came so easily to her, this gentleness business. The way her hands smoothed across his build. For Vegeta, it didn’t come naturally at all. It was something he had to think about. Is this what stimulated her? The slow grinding and tension building between their legs? He remembered her telling once of how Earth males mated, but he couldn’t recall details. He hadn’t valued the information at the time.

The hand at his chest was a surprise. He’d been enjoying sucking on her bottom lip. But when he felt her presence leave him, the prince sat up just enough to watch her slip away. Was she rejecting him? Wait, was she using the power he’d just given her? His heart visibly sank; knees planted firmly on the edge of the bed, staring in disbelief. She couldn’t be serious... She wasn’t serious. The smile she flashed him told him so. His tail swatted behind him, eagerly crawling into a new position over her as soon as he realized what she was up to. If Vegeta wasn’t feeling possessive before, he certainly was now. He’d almost let her slip through his fingers.

“You like it when I touch you.” his rough voice teased arrogantly. He’d taken to hovering over her on the bed, brushing one of his palms up the length of her calf, to her knee, and eventually thigh. Stopping just long enough to circle his fingers over her budding clit. Oh, he liked it when she wanted him. Bulma may of been in control of their fucking, but he felt power when he made her want more. It was stimulating. A smug smirk had curled its way into his lips. Lowering his torso between her thighs a second time, he trailed his mouth across the sway of her hips. Scooping his hands over her curves, lifting the sway of her back to meet his mouth. His tongue lingered over her clit just enough to tease her, before trailing up her silky skin.

He was slowly re-positioning himself. Climbing his way up between her legs until his cock brushed against her inner thigh. it was a slow crawl, but eventually his mouth met her nipples. Lavishing one and leaving it cold and wet in the air before turning to the next; ending with nuzzling against the crook of her neck. His hands had swiftly followed. Tracing over every inch of her delicate skin in soft, slow circles. Across her thighs, swirling into the dip of her hips, and up her shoulders until he had her trapped between himself and his strong arms. He knew how delicate she was, but he craved a little more. His head buzzing with need, both of them. The thick tip of his member sliding between the soft folds of skin between her legs, bumping against her tight entrance. His slow grinding hungrily waiting to push inside.

* * *

Her POV

“Why wouldn’t I?” She watched as he crept closer, encroaching on his prey. But he stayed gentle, like he had been. His hands smoothed over her soft skin. His hands slowly made their way up her legs to let them tingle, making their way up until he could begin circling his thumb at her clit. It was something that got a response from her, in the form of a little moan she tried her best to suppress as his lips followed suit by pressing against her body. Slowly making their way along her until they could replace his hands at her clit. He only gave her a taste, but it was enough to make her reach up and press her hands appreciatively along her back.

She could feel his cock pressing against her again after he’d repositioned himself. She was putty in his hands, despite power making her feel more in control. It was easy to give herself to him. Maybe that’s part of how she’d changed since before. She was so used to being in the powerless situation that it just felt so easy to… Well. The soft mattress could also have been the reason. As soon as her back had it, it had become much easier to relax. She hadn’t been able to sleep on a mattress this soft since before she was kidnapped. All those days where she fell asleep on stone or dirt floors had come back to her.

“Hn…” He’d begun sucking on her nipples. She shifted and arched her body, an aching need growing the more he’d teased her. He’d gotten really good at this. She watched him as he worked, fondling her soft skin and licking her before leaving the sensitive skin to cool in the open air and moving on to the next one. She shivered, and she could feel a tingling, ticklish feeling from her breasts to her clit, pooling in her stomach. Was this his payback for her teasing him and leading him on before? Or maybe he just wanted to show her he could go this slow when he set his mind to it. Either way, she appreciated the wonderful torture of being felt up and licked until she couldn’t get enough.

He let her breasts go to nuzzle into the crook of her neck, and his arms wrapped around her. This part was a surprise– being held like this… It’s not something she would expect from Vegeta. He was holding her so protectively and lovingly, for a moment she wondered why she’d ever been scared of him. But then she recalled how easily he’d broken one of her clones in half. Her hands ran up and down his upper arms slowly, but she still held the memory in her mind. She watched him, and her thoughts faded again as he pressed himself inside her bit by bit. She stretched her legs, gripped his arms, and closed her eyes again, with a quiet murmur leaving her lips.

“Nn… Vegeta…”

* * *

His POV

He liked to hear her taunt him back. For a moment he did want to toy with her. To bat her around like a cat to a mouse. From the moment he’d crawled up over her, he’d felt possessive. Lapping at her skin, marking every inch of her with the scent of his hands and mouth. It was easy to slip into that naturally frisky nature of his, but he resisted it for the time being. He was proving a point; that he had no intentions to hurt her. It would of been so easy, too. Her curves were basically melting into his hands like butter. It felt wonderful, enthralling, burning him up from the inside out knowing he had her under him, so easy for the taking. But the memory of the clones past though his head too. It helped remind him just how gentle he had to be. Steadying him.

He’d been enjoying worshiping her body. He could feel the tension in her muscles build by the way her back arched, or her legs spread; expecting her to pop at any given moment. While going slow was a thought process for him, it was worth it to flex that kind of power over her. But there was only so much he could take himself. He’d already been thoroughly tortured in the bathroom. It was becoming difficult to hold back the drive to pound relentlessly between her legs. It took a large amount of his control to slowly dip himself inside of her, stretching her around him little by little. A lowly groan churning from his chest, vibrating against the column of her neck the deeper he wedged himself inside.

Kami, don’t let her tell him to stop now. Vegeta wasn’t sure if he was fully in control of his actions anymore. It felt too good. The enticing heat of her insides pulling and sucking at his cock whenever he stroked in or out. The next push better than the last. Was she still holding onto that fear? He only now lifted his gaze to check. He’d been concentrating so hard on gauging his movements, he hadn’t noticed the slip of fear that’d crossed her mind. He noticed her now though, groaning in satisfaction as he lifted himself up onto his elbows for a better view of her moving body below him. One of his hands cradling her head, tangling into her hair.

“I always forget just how damn tight you are,” he purred out, smoothing one of his hands up her thighs. Keeping it clamped to his hip. His eyes searched her own. Searching for pain, hoping for pleasure - that’d surely stroke his ego. The pace was kept relaxed, steady, slowly bouncing their joined bodies on the softness of the bed. If it felt too slow to him, he was probably doing it right, he told himself. The gentle caress of her fingers trailing his biceps caught his attention, soothing his mind; coaxing the muscle underneath to jerk and flex. He wanted another taste of her, starting with her sternum. The hand at her thigh slipped down to their grinding bellies, pushing between to press calmly against her clit. Just for the extra stimulation. 

* * *

Her POV

When she kept her eyes closed, it was so easy to just slip into the pleasure of everything. She could focus on feeling alone. The feeling of his body pressed against his, of the friction of him slowly moving in and out of her, of his hands holding her tight. She could hear his groans of pleasure, the shift of his body, and, when he pushed himself in far enough, his balls brushing her bottom. Her grip lightened, and though she never let go of him entirely, she ran her hands up his body and held them at his neck, massaging the skin with his fingers. She debated speeding things up a little by rocking her own hips, but decided she liked the pace as is, and enjoyed seeing just how slowly Vegeta could go without driving himself nuts.

“Hn…?” When his hand cupped the back of her head, she opened her eyes. She’d realized just about then how sleepy she had been. Had she been nodding off? Her eyes focused in on him as the pleasure continued to overtake her. He was staring at her like a hawk. Murmuring to her about how tight she was. She stared back at him, forcing her fingers over his muscles and massaging out the knots in his neck and shoulders while he thrusted. She could feel his hand slowly slipping down, and when he pressed his fingers against her clit, just enough to make her shiver every time her body shifted with his movements, her eyes fluttered.

Her hands slowly moved down his arms again, until they finally found a comfortable spot laying on her side, with her hands on either side of her shoulders. He was still going so slow; did he mind it? It felt better than any time they’d been with each other before. Just enough to make her shiver and moan, but not enough where she felt as if she couldn’t think, or that her brain was being rattled from being shaken too hard. She liked it better this way. She could see what was happening, and just go with the flow. It felt like waves of water rushing over her every time he’d push inside her again.

She closed her eyes again. Her shoulders rolled, and her back arched. One of her feet found one of his, playing footsie while they were in the act. Being this close to him again should horrify her. But it didn’t. She liked it. Loved, it even. Especially when he tried his damnedest to be so gentle and loving for her. He said he didn’t want to hurt her, and she believed it, with how he was treating her. Like a little porcelain doll, able to be shattered with the slightest amount of force. And that wasn’t accidental– he knew how easily she could break under his hands. But he was being so gentle. Like little ocean waves. Relaxing…

* * *

His POV

There was no sign of fear in her eyes when they finally fluttered open. No shutter of pain or wince of torment. The look he was met with was something serene, the deepest of blue he’d ever seen. Vegeta had expected to at least find that pouty look she so often gave him when they mated. Or the fiery spirit that told him what to do. It was a little odd to see the girl so dreamy under him. Did she enjoy the softness so much that it left her so relaxed? He wasn’t sure what to make of it. Normally whomever was caught under him was screaming in fear or agony; there was no time for them to drift in pleasure. He sort of liked it... This tranquil look she was giving him...

The soft circles her fingers were making in the back of his thick neck were coaxing him down, down, down to relax with her. Their chests met, his washboard front brushing over her soft torso whenever he moved in or out. The warmth of his build enveloping her like a protective blanket. He knew to be careful, Vegeta was still focused on his level of control, but could he really be blamed to purr with how good it felt to drive into her a little deeper each time. Or feel her soft pants beat against his near face. Her eyes closed again and Vegeta found himself burring his nose into her fresh hair. The faint murmur of his content groaning rumbling past her ear.

His powerful shoulders rolled, planking his forearms to rest against the welcoming bed on either side of her. After his level of concentration, the prince found the best way to get what wanted out of the girl was churn himself deeply between her wet legs. He’d find a sensational spot, and rub into it. It was a way of fucking, that was for sure, but he wasn’t completely against it. If anything, he was falling into the methodical rhythm of grinding the sensitive head into her sweeter spots. Putting his own self into a sensual daze the more he focused on the satisfying heat and tingle that was drowning his hard cock. It was much, much better than last time.

He’d lost track of time. There was a good chance that by now he’d normally have been finished, or more likely on his second round. It was like some fucked up form of training. Testing his will power and muscle control. Beads of sweat had begun dripping down the valley of his spine; caused by the heat that was sweltering up from his body. He was turned on, more so then he thought he would be. The strain and tingle burning through his thighs telling him he’d come sooner than later. Carefully, he risked a little speed. Just enough to switch from grinding to proper fucking. He kept it light, though. Pumping into the woman under him until the new friction hardened his cock beyond measure. He wanted to come in her, but not quite yet. His breathing heightened, licking the shell of her ear.

* * *

Her POV

“Ah… Nn…” His body moving against her felt so, so nice. In, out, in, out. Beyond the buzz it gave her that made her clit tingle (something made more intense by the pressure of his hand), the physical closeness was something she enjoyed. His body shifted yet again, and she was met with the welcoming, sweet noise of him all but purring against her ear, his face buried in her hair. Her head again rested on the soft mattress, and the more he moved so gently, the more relaxed she found herself. She’d been so tired before, but now… Now, she felt like it was overtaking her. She was trying to stay awake, but… It was hard.

She opened her eyes again, if only just to keep awake. She stared at his body as it moved over her, namely at his shoulder that was just below her chin. So many cute scars… They made him look distinguished, she decided. She liked it. She smoothed her hands over his forearms, easily reachable for where she’d decided to lay her arms. It was even better to be so close like this. …They’d really never had sex this way, slow and lovingly. This is what she’d call ‘making love’ when she did it with Yamcha. Was it worthy of the name when it was with Vegeta?

…Her eyes fluttered again, eventually shutting. His movements almost had the same kind of idea as rocking; it was lulling her to sleep. It felt good, sure, but that’s what made it so relaxing. Again, she slowly started focusing more and more on the feeling rather than where she was. Like waves washing over her again. She stopped smoothing her hands over his forearms, and her feet stopped playing footsie with his. Slowly slowing movements. Still awake, but not all there. Little sighs and moans still left her lips, but she wasn’t really paying attention to what Vegeta was doing other than the pleasure she was being given by him.

By the time he had risked slowly going faster, though, she’d drifted father off. The sound of snoring began, gentle and soft but still there. She’d completely fallen asleep, even during the act. It was to be expected, after having such a relaxing bath and foreplay, and after having so much energy expended worrying about her home and crying about being so overwhelmed. As soon as she had hit the mattress, sleep became easy. So easy that she hadn’t even dreamt, she just went straight to pure sleeping.

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t going to last much longer, but little to Vegeta’s knowledge the woman under him was going to drift to sleep before he ever got the chance to feel her orgasm. Not that it mattered too greatly. His own release was long and drawn out. His slow bucks pressing up into her languid body until every muscle he possessed tensed and strained, bursting with static heat. What it lacked in intensity it made up for in wave after wave of physical pleasure. Rolling over him, until his ears throbbed with the rush of his own blood.

He’d barely noticed her soft snoozing until he was riding out the tail of his climax. His face lifted, staring at her rosy cheeks and closed lids. She’d fallen asleep? At first it had to register; sleep and sex never went hand in hand for Vegeta. Not unless he was forcing someone to pass out cold, or sling an unconscious body out from under him once the deed was done so he could get some shut eye. She’d fallen asleep... He should of been offended, yet a part of him took pride. He’d proven his point; she trusted him enough to completely drop her guard around him, during sex of all things.

After a while he made his way back into the bathroom, retrieving his pants. He knew he’d get bitched at, but what the hell else was he to wear? He wore just the pants. There wasn’t enough left of his top to justify wearing it anyhow. Food, his belly protested. That was next on the list, but not before giving the slumbering girl one more glance. She was bare and uncovered. Her head lolled carelessly to one side. He hesitated at first, feeling the need to leave now that he was satisfied, but he decided to pull the thick blanket from one side of the bed, tucking it around her. Carefully, he lifted her head next, and slid one of the downy pillows under her. Then, the door closed behind him. Leaving her to sleep.

She’d be safe, he told himself. He wouldn’t be gone long. He had a one track mind now. Eat meat, and lots of it. His nose led him straight into the kitchen. His bare-feet as quiet as a feline’s. A large portion of food had been left over for him. Complements of Bulma’s mother, he was sure, and sectioned away just for him by his men - that much he knew without a doubt. He was always saved the lions share, and he went into gobbling it down in no time. Kami, he’d forgotten just how fucking much he loved food. He couldn’t swallow fast enough. One plate, two, three. He was a ravenous animal. Those weeks of fasting were catching up.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was early enough that it's actually still Sunday right now! 
> 
> I don't know if I said it last time, but I do wanna say that we're slowly coming up toward the end of Captive. The roleplay is still going on obviously, we're just planning on ending this book at a certain point. Then I'm going to update Badlands for a while, and then we're going to post a new fanfic that's a continuation of this roleplay. It'll just have a different name, since the focus of the roleplay changes so much after a certain point. That way there'll always be one finished fanfic even if we never finish the roleplay, and also it'll be easier for people to jump in if they didn't like how brutal it was. There's still pretty brutal stuff in the roleplay now, but it's definitely different.
> 
>   
> 


	42. Comfort In Sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma finds comfort in Vegeta's arms.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

While Bulma was fast asleep, snoring off all the stress of the past few months, Yamcha was in the kitchen. Holding an ice pack to his head, and not necessarily because he’d been beaten up– he had a bad headache from what he’d dealt with. Really, why couldn’t Bulma just let him beat the shit out of that asshole? Or at least go get Goku so they could do it together. But no, they weren’t to fight. And her mother had even set out a meal for the three men, even made sure the missing one had gotten leftovers. He’d been gone too long. What was he doing up there, standing outside Bulma’s room? He should go check. But he didn’t want to get into another fight. Goddamn it… His nose wrinkled at the thought, but just as he was dwelling on it, the devil himself walked in, shirtless.

He glared at him and set down the ice pack, dropping it in the sink. Like hell he’d try to make the guy feel good about the fighting they’d had. His arms crossed tightly, and his gaze narrowed as the Saiyan immediately torn into the food without so much as asking if it was his. What a selfish, greedy piece of shit. And the Briefs willingly let him into his house. Without even thinking about it, Yamcha uncrossed his arms only to start cracking his knuckles from anger alone. Boy, did he want to kill that piece of shit. He wished he had the ability. …He took a breath and glanced away, reminding himself to reign himself in.

He had no appetite, but if only to subconsciously show that he belonged in this house too, he turned and searched through the cabinets if only to pull out his stash of protein bars. He grabbed one and unwrapped it to start eating, and only then did he get to the table and sit down across from Vegeta to stare him down long and hard. Piece of shit. He wanted to kill him. He really, really wished he could. What was he doing up there so long, anyway? He was missing a shirt now. His hair was silkier than before. Yamcha’s brow twitched with irritation.

“When are you finally going to be leaving?” The words came out of his mouth suddenly, but with venom behind them. The faster this piece of shit could get out of his life, the better. Then he could try and work on getting Bulma into a better state of mind. Help her forget the kind of trauma she’d gone through at the ends of pieces of shit like this. He bit into his protein bar rather aggressively just thinking about it. “You’re leaving soon, right? I’m sure you know you’re not fucking staying here.”

* * *

His POV

Was that a cooling pack? Cute. It hadn’t gone without notice when Vegeta strolled into the room. Though the prince had chalked it up to the mutt not being able to handle a beating - he had no inclination it was due to a headache. He hadn’t made eye contact with the other male, but he knew he was there watching him. Vegeta was treating Yamcha much like he had Bulma when they’d first met. Like he treated everyone. As if they were beneath him. It was his way of showing his status and his heritage. Besides, he was much more interested in the mounds of food that were calling his name. Digging right in and ripping large chunks of meat from the bone. That is, until Yamcha decided to join him at the table.

It was the first time Vegeta’s dark gaze flicked up into Yamcha’s direction, but he quickly refocused on his meal. The softest of grumbles warning Yamcha to stay away from his food. At least the earthling was smart enough to bring his own snack - he noticed that. God damn, was he hungry. He didn’t want to show his starvation though, much the way Yamcha didn’t want to show his pain. The rate of shoving food into his mouth became a little more reasonable.

“I told you before, mutt, I’ll leave when I’m ready.” Vegeta had barely paused long enough to speak, quickly swallowing a large chunk of …steamed vegetable? He wasn’t quite sure what all the shit was he was putting into his mouth, but he was too hungry to care. ‘Mutt’ was his new name for Yamcha. Similar to how he’d called Bulma ‘little slave’. There were two things the prince rarely gave anyone, and that was eye contact and recognition. Learning someones name was giving them status in his elite world. Bulma had value, even Nappa and Raditz had a kind of value to him. So until he found value in Yamcha, he was simply referred to as ‘mutt’.

His nose twitched, picking up the smell of Yamcha’s protein bar. It smelt weird, like something Bulma would insist upon putting in her mouth. His gaze lifted, eyes narrowing at the wrapper suspiciously. How was that suppose to fill anyone up? He’d wished the mutt would just get fed up and leave him to his meal, but it looked like Yamcha wasn’t going anywhere. Typical, much like last time, and getting rid of him would mean pissing off the female. As much as it grated on Vegeta’s nerves, he started to question the other males presence. Bulma had spoken of him a few times.. actually he had a few questions about Yamcha, himself. He may as well make use of the time he was stuck with him.

His gaze didn’t lift, shoving another bite of food into his maw before mentioning, “I was told you spoke to Bulma while you were in Otherworld..” it sounded like a question, though dull and drawn out, “..you helped her kill an ice beast. I thought she was going crazy at the time.” he was looking for confirmation about the story. It would almost be worth noticing, if it were true. He put away an empty plate in exchange for another. That made his sixth platter of food so far.

* * *

Her POV

“Then when will you be ready? Because that damn well better be by morning. If you’re here any longer, don’t be surprised if you get shoved into the pod and hurled out of Earth’s atmosphere just so we don’t have to look at your fucking face anymore.” He continued to glare at Vegeta, not letting his gaze waver as Vegeta continued to eat. He occasionally took a bite of his protein bar, but otherwise he was still, simply sizing the man up and trying his best to contain himself. He really didn’t need to get into another fight. Goddamn it, he’d just come back to life, and he had to try and be nice to a guy like this…

And now the douchebag was asking him questions. What the hell did he want to know for? He eyed Vegeta suspiciously. Worse yet, why was Bulma even telling him things like that? She wasn’t being forced, was she? He wasn’t torturing her into giving information and punishing her for talking with him, right? Because god help him, if that was the case, he didn’t give a single shit if it got him killed, he’d beat the living shit out of this guy just for Bulma’s sake. 

“Yeah. What about it? We talked a lot when I was dead. She told me what a piece of shit you were. She told me about Zarbon, too. She’d talk to me just about any time she was finally left alone and no longer being harassed by any of you jackasses. I’d try to help her, but it’s not like I could do much. Because, you know, some piece of shit decided that he was going to kill me.” His gaze narrowed further yet. He set down the protein bar, and his other hand balled into a fist. Man, did he want to fight him again.

“What the hell is it to you, though? It’s not like you actually give a shit about her, don’t pretend like you do. I know the kind of stuff you’ve done. No wonder she’s acting so strange, no wonder why she wants to be alone, because she’s been stuck with people like you for months. You’re a piece of fucking shit, you know that? That’s why I’d talk to her all the time. King Kai hated having to be a telephone constantly, but if she called to me, I was damn sure going to talk to her, considering ther was no other way she was going to get someone to help her and comfort her when she was surrounded by people like you.”

* * *

His POV

The other male spoke a big game, but he wasn’t instigating a brawl this time. Vegeta it felt more like peacocking. The mutt must of been governed by the females wishes too. It was almost laughable, how ironic that was. She had power over both of them. The mutt was clearly still festering from his presence, though he could hardly blame him. In fact his darker side found it amusing. Vegeta knew he was another male coming into a new territory. A territory that this male had previously called his own. His earthling smell was everywhere, but that wasn’t going to make the prince start packing up now. No, he was still more focused on his meal. Perhaps that was Vegeta’s way of keeping from a fight, too.

Vegeta stopped chewing when Zarbon’s name was mentioned. Shooting Yamcha a deadpanned, dark eyed glare. He obviously didn’t like the name. So, he knew about that did he. That just proved the female had been speaking to him while dead. Yamcha may of been able to fake knowledge about the ice beast, but there was no way for him to know that unless told directly. On top of that he mentioned King Kai. Vegeta had no choice but to believe the both of them now. He glanced up again, understanding the mutt’s placement in Bulma’s life a little better this time around. Though he didn’t outwardly show the recognition, what little he had for the earthling male. It didn’t change how the prince felt.

“Is that what she called me, a piece of fucking shit?” a grin hooked into his lips, taking it as a complement. Yes, that sounded like something she’d spout off. So, the mutt thought he was comforting the female from her tormentors, did he? Vegeta couldn’t help but wonder what all Bulma had told him, but he was too proud to ask. “At least now I know she wasn’t losing her fucking mind.” he added. The sound of bone breaking crunching through the kitchen. The prince was downing the left over bones from his last plate. Good calcium, he always insisted.

“I still think she could of killed it on her own,” he prodded, “I’ve seen her hunt things, kill things.” he trailed off, licking the juice from his bare fingertips. Vegeta was still fishing for information, all the while finding it somewhat entertaining to see how the mutt would react. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to have him fume at the dinner table after all, if it meant getting information like this. “..did she tell you I brought her that piece of shit’s head? Don’t mention that frog face, Zarbon, to her again. He’s rotting in hell where he belongs.” the prince said it with malice, pride. He’d enjoyed ripping that frog’s head from it’s shoulders. But more then that, he didn’t want Yamcha bringing it up so casually around Bulma. Vegeta didn’t want her reverting to that timid state of mind again. He wouldn’t admit that he cared, not to anyone, but his actions dared to show it.

* * *

Her POV

“So what if she did call you a piece of shit? Are you going to punish her for it or something? You can take that thought out of your head, because I’m not going to let you touch her again. Hell, I shouldn’t have even left you unsupervised. I don’t care what Bulma says.” He still didn’t trust the man. Now could he? He glared at him, tapping his fingers on the table as he watched him. What was that grin for? He’d glared at him so awfully when mentioning Zarbon, but as soon as the idea of Bulma insulting him came– he grinned. Hnf. Maybe he just liked the idea of Bulma being tormented by him, but only him.

“You act like I give a shit,” he grumbled as the man finally railed off his success in defeating Zarbon. His eyes rolled, and his brows furrowed. “Do you think you’re some kind of hero to her because you killed the guy that was worse than you? You’re just a polished turd. You know what would be even better for her? If you were to leave, so she could finally relax and forget about you, too. You’re not her savior or something, jackass. A little bit of believing in her doesn’t mean you’re someone that she needs to be around. You’re a waste of space.” The insults kept coming. If Yamcha couldn’t get his frustration and anger out through physical fighting, he could at least do it by verbal fighting. 

He turned his head away, trying to stay calm. His fingers ran through his hair, and his eyes gazed down at the half-eaten bar that he’d angrily put down before. He let out a sigh and grabbed the bar, starting to eat again. His eyes turned back to Vegeta, reminding himself mentally not to get into a fight with the douchebag. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t. Goddamn it, he wanted to beat the shit out of that guy so badly.

“I taught her how to hunt things, anyway. She hates camping with a passion, but she used to humor me and we’d go out every once in a while. I taught her how to make spears, hunt fish, things like that. I’m not surprised she’d be smart enough to remember that stuff when she needs it. Especially since she’s always been a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kind of person. She acts and then worries about her situation later.” Whether that was a good or bad thing depended on her situation, he supposed. It worked out rather well for her in the hellish situation she’d been put in, after all.

“Look. Can’t you just let her go? She’s clearly still scared as hell. You have to realize that she doesn’t want to be around you, so why are you still here? Get the fuck out of here already. Maybe then I can make sure that she doesn’t suddenly burst into tears just thinking of everything that’s happened to her again. Maybe if she’s fucking rid of you, we won’t have to worry that she won’t be able to transition back into her normal life again.”

* * *

His POV

“Oh, I’m nobodies savior.” he agreed darkly, wiping his hands from grit and fatty residue. “But I’m not her punisher, either. Get that through your thick head, mutt.” Vegeta was getting a little fed up with having to repeat himself. It was annoying, but some part of Vegeta also acknowledged that this mutt was attempting to scare off a threat. If Yamcha had been one of his men, he would of put stock into his actions. Vegeta may of desecrated her before, sure, he wouldn’t deny it if asked. He was a bonafide villain. Only here to fix things, to respect Bulma’s wishes, and shut up her crying. And maybe due to that still small voice in the back of his mind that told him he truly was sorry for his actions towards her. But that was a voice Vegeta could barely hear, let along say out loud.

The mutt was clearly distressed by the prince’s being there. Yamcha’s body language just screamed ‘I want a fight’. Vegeta had to resist the urge to answer his challenge, knowing better. It was becoming harder and harder not to taunt the earthling male. This whole damn planet was like some sort of sick test for his self control and calmer demeanor. Though he had paid close enough attention to hone in on what Yamcha said about teaching the girl survival skills. It quailed his growing anger, flicking his dark eyes in the mutt’s direction across the table.

“You idiot, I’m only here because she asked me to be. Do you think I want to be on your backwater planet? I wanted to leave in the morning, but she insists on forcing some sort of amusement, park, on me. I don’t know what the hell she’s talking about. If you have such a problem with it, you can take it up with the woman.” he ground out bitterly. That wasn’t something Vegeta wanted to admit to, he’d been trying to avoid that topic. It felt too much like revealing that there was a leash around his neck, but anything to shut this mutt’s mouth up. Lifting from his seat, he sniffed towards the cabinets and refrigerator. The ten empty platters of food hadn’t been enough to settle his appetite. Maybe there was something in the fridge, he cracked it open and began rummaging around through the containers and cartons.

“She was a slave and I am a prince. I was enjoying the spoils of war. At least I was trying to,” he bit out, pausing to reminisce. The memory of their first few encounters were bitter sweet now. “She fought me at every turn.” his voice boomed. He’d found a cheesecake. A ripe, delicious, too sweet for his taste but he’d stomach it, cheesecake. Leaning against the counter, he held the whole damn thing in hand and ate it slice by slice as he spoke, “She proved to be brave, strong, smart, even when she knew I could kill her. ..she was never really a slave.” he murmured that last part. “She proved to be a survivor, a warrior. She demands respect.” he barked, glaring at Yamcha, as if commanding him to respect her, too. Did the prince really need to explain things? He thought this was a given.

* * *

Her POV

…Bulma wanted him here? Goddamn it. He didn’t know what was wrong with her, but it was driving him nuts. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he thought about it. Maybe she was just too scared to tell him to leave? Maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome or something. She thought she needed him around because of the whole time that he kept her under his thumb. Goddamn it, he felt so useless. He wished he could just kill the guy and have it over with. But if he got in a fight, he’d probably lose it, even if he had gotten stronger. Unlucky for him, Vegeta also seemed to have gotten stronger since their last meeting. What were those douchebags saying back when they fought about him going easy, too? Shit, he felt completely useless. It wasn’t right.

He glanced up when the mad got up from his seat– he’d been hoping that Vegeta had decided to leave. But no. He began raiding the fridge, as if he lived here. This asshole was really trying to take his spot, and as someone who’d used and abused Bulma like she was a piece of meat. Bulma hadn’t even eaten yet, and this guy and his buddies were taking all their food without even caring if she’d have anything to eat when they were finished. …He debated going and checking on her, but just as he set his hands on the table to push himself up, he decided against it– Vegeta had begun to talk about how she had been his slave. And… And the most disgusting, revolting shit he’d ever heard in his life.

Maybe Vegeta thought he was praising Bulma. But to Yamcha, all it was was bragging about everything he’d done to her. Forced her to fight for her life and her dignity at the hands of a fucked up alien that Goku somehow shared ties with, despite being absolutely nothing like the friend he knew so well. Did he really think that he was saying anything positive when he was essentially just bragging to her boyfriend about how he’d raped her? How he’d ‘enjoyed the spoils of war’ completely against her will? Sure, Yamcha had done terrible things before he met Bulma, but nothing like that. Ever.

“You’re talking about respect in the same breath as talking about how you fucking had her as a slave! You’re a sick piece of shit! You’re sick! Talking about respect like you know what it is!” He shot up from his chair finally, pointing a finger in Vegeta’s direction. “You’re already eating all her food when she hasn’t even had her first meal yet! All while bragging about the kind of shit you pulled before! I don’t give a shit if she wants you around, you’re not good for her mental health! You’ve left her fucked up! She’s scared and sobbing because of you! It’s all your doing, you piece of shit! She should have never had to be your slave and fight you in the first place! You deserve to have your face smashed into the ground and kicked until you don’t have a face anymore for everything you’ve done! Maybe I should do it for you!”

* * *

His POV

The mutt was really pushing his limits; really getting under his skin. Vegeta had been playing pretty for Bulma’s sake. He’d already broken his promise to her once by engaging in a fight (he didn’t think he started that), he wasn’t planning on breaking his word so quickly a second time. ..but the mutt was really asking for it. Truly. Yamcha had even called him out, insulted him to his face, and dared to say that he didn’t understand the meaning of respect after he’d just spoken highly of the woman in question. Respect was at the top of the prince’s list when it came to things important to him. He demanded it, governed his life by his status. How dare this pup try to put him in his place, like some illiterate 3rd class commoner..

“Oh, trust me, you’ll know damn well when I’m bragging. Like when I’m pissing on your grave.” his tone was rough and monstrous, flashing his teeth. A growl ripped through the kitchen, followed promptly by a mouth full of cake. Vegeta aggressively chomping the fuck out of the cheesy desert. His tempter was flaring, pulsing a vein in his prominent forehead. One more word and the prince knew he’d take the mutt up on his weak words and beat him into the dust. It tempted him, oh, he wanted to more then anything now, but he was still holding onto the tail end of his self control. This mutt wasn’t worth the headache. He’d already beaten his ass once before, what did he have to prove? Other then allowing the earthling to get the best of him - which he didn’t want.

“I’ll tell you what I told her. Shit happens, playing the victim isn’t going to get you jack shit. The universe isn’t a pretty place. She was smart enough to figure that out.” his tongue clicked behind his teeth, cutting his words short. Any more information spilling and he may be doing it with his fists. He really wanted to punch that incompetent pup, but a part of him could slightly see his side of the coin. After all, Vegeta would be fighting tooth and nail if one of the Colds had stepped foot on his planet again. Let alone fucked his female.. and recently, too. Not that that was any of the mutt’s business. That was between himself and Bulma. Still, Yamcha’s protective nature was somewhat understandable. Hadn’t he been doing the exact same thing?

“She promised me food, and I’ll damn well take what I want. Now why don’t you get out of my sight.” he barked, finishing off the last of his sweet meal. He sounded harsh, but Vegeta was reeling in his temper. His time and talk with Bulma in the bedroom had calmed him. Telling him to expect this type of behavior, asking him to ignore it. This place had been new to him when he’d first arrived. Now that he was feeling comfortable, his ‘I don’t give a fuck’ nature was showing. Not to mention, Vegeta wasn’t feeling quite as threatened by Yamcha now that he knew Bulma’s intentions to leave with him. The prince wouldn’t have to put up with him much longer. He’d give him once more chance to back off. Gulping mouthfuls of water from a bottle he’d found.

* * *

Her POV

He really, really wanted to kill this guy. The more Vegeta talked, the more he wanted to. He was nearly shaking in his seat, just thinking about how much he wanted to pound the guy into the ground. He wished he could. He really, truly wished he had the ability to. He felt like a little kid, unable to beat up his bully. But it wasn’t even his bully. This was about Bulma. About her safety, her dignity, her honor. He couldn’t even keep her safe. That’s why all of this happened. Why did they have to pick her, goddamn it? Why did she have to be so loud and proud that she had to fight back and make them entertained? 

“Is that what you fucking told her? Is that how you tricked her into wanting to be around you? Telling her to just put up with the fact that you basically tortured her? You want to act like you’re this great fucking guy for giving her Zarbon’s head, but how different are you, huh? Telling her to pick her head up out of the mud when you were the one to shove it in there in the first place? You’re still acting like her fucking master, eating her food and ordering people around like that. Who gives a shit what she promised you? You ate like six fucking plates of food. How about you fuck off?”

His hands clenched into fists, and his head throbbed from anger alone. It was taking everything he got not to maul him. He wanted to. He wanted to so goddamn bad. But he had to hold himself back. He wasn’t going to destroy the kitchen getting his ass beat by the jerk again. …How long would he even be here? Damn, he’d really have to talk to Bulma about it later. But first, he had to calm down. He could feel ki making his hair stand on end, but he had to hold himself back. Deep breaths. …God fucking damn it. 

“You hang around too long, and don’t fucking expect to continue living. Even if it doesn’t happen now, eventually I’m going to find a way to fucking murder you. I’m going to train until I’m strong enough that you won’t even know what fucking hit you. I’m going to kill you and those two buddies of yours for everything you did. Don’t think you’re just going to be able to sit pretty and ‘enjoy the spoils of war’ or whatever crap you were spouting. Leave soon or you’re going to fucking be sorry.”

* * *

His POV

A loud roar ripped from the Saiyans chest at the mention of Zarbon. He really, really didn’t appreciate that comparison. He was nothing like that fraud of a prince! He wasn’t even a prince, he held no pride or responsibility for the title! He was a god damn bastard that’d hit it lucky by being born into credits. He was nothing like that piece of shit. Vegeta was better then him, then all of them. The comparison wasn’t completely lost on him, though. He had raped Bulma himself. Left her to be tormented by his men when he’d gotten angry with her, knowing full well what they were capable of. He may of regretted it afterward, but he’d still allowed it. That stinging truth was enough to make his ki spike.

“Is that a fucking threat? Don’t make me laugh.” he mocked, burning his deadly gaze right back at the earthling. There was just no getting through to this mutt, was there? He was a lost cause. No amount of sex was worth this. It was a miracle that Vegeta had even lowered himself to engage in conversation with the man. Now Yamcha was just royally pissing him off. No, he wasn’t about to stand for this. Flicking his tail behind him, Vegeta stormed right past the vexed male. He wasn’t leaving because Yamcha told him to. Hardly. Vegeta was simply putting his wants first. Brushing off the other male as if he wasn’t worth worrying over. Which to him, he wasn’t. ..as much as he’d like to pummel his sorry ass.

“Whenever you think you’re ready for this so called fight, please, be my guest. I wont go easy on you next time, mutt. Until then.” his ki dimmed down, shooting Yamcha a strange all knowing look. Smug, but amused. There was some amusement in the words that Yamcha was spouting. The prince could of sworn he’d head the same rebellious talk from a certain blue eyed earthling before. Telling him she’d kill him, that she’d find a way. Those were still some of Vegeta’s favorite memories. The image of her fiery passion and hateful stare. He’d rather see this type of behavior from an opponent then for the mutt to roll over and play dead. Giving up his woman without a fight. He wanted to fight him. Vegeta longed to fight for what he thought he was entitled to, but he knew he couldn’t. Not this time at least.

He headed back towards the bedrooms. Out of the kitchen and through the winding halls. Not giving two shits if the mutt had the guts to follow him. Eyes forward, ears alert, he was ready for an attack, but he wasn’t about to give Yamcha the satisfaction of thinking he’d put the prince on guard. Walking away felt enough of a burn on the pups pride. It was the least he could do since he couldn’t outright punish him for his words, like he normally would have Raditz or Nappa for such reckless behavior. And of course, he was headed towards Bulma’s bedroom.

* * *

Her POV

Goddamn. He was basically laughed at. But at least Vegeta left. Wait– Left. Who the fuck knew where that piece of shit was going. He couldn’t just let him go wherever. He briskly followed the shorter man, even if he wasn’t going to fight. He wanted to fight the piece of shit so bad that his blood was boiling, but he couldn’t do it. No, he couldn’t fucking do it. He kept debating it, though. Wondering what’d happen if he tried beating the shit out of him, at least when he was distracted like he was. He kept staring at him, wondering what his odds would be, when Bulma’s mother appeared seemingly out of nowhere, coming just around a corner.

“My missing guest!” She gripped Vegeta’s arm without a single thought otherwise, and quickly tugged him away from his destination– Bulma’s bedroom. “I already showed your two friends to where they’re staying. I’ve got a place for you, too! I had been wondering where you were this whole time, where had you run off to? You look like you just had a nice meal, I’m guessing Yamcha showed you the dinner I left out for you? You tail-having men sure do eat like crazy, I’ll tell you that! I’ll be needing to make a giant trip to the store tomorrow to keep up with you guys! Come on, now! Follow me.” She tugged him along, not even paying attention to Yamcha beyond a silly wave.

His brows furrowed and he let out a hoarse, irritable huff. …He wanted to check on Bulma, but maybe she just needed her own space right now. She’d wanted to be alone. If she wanted his attention, she could come find him. …He itched his head in thought, before turning around. He’d go make her something to eat out of what was left that the Saiyans hadn’t all gobbled up. She hadn’t eaten her first meal since she’d come back yet. Whenever she decided to leave her room, she’d probably be starving.

Mrs. Briefs led Vegeta to a guest bedroom. It was massive, with a single bed– though there was a closed door on the side that was connected to Raditz’s guest room, and another in Raditz’s that connected to Nappa’s. The Briefs’ had so much space it was essentially a 5-star hotel; each with their own bathroom and everything. And complementary clothes– Mrs. Briefs made a mention of his tattered clothes being in need of replacement. The clothes were Capsule Corporation originals!

* * *

His POV

So, the punk wanted to follow him again, did he? Fine, just fine. Too prideful to tell Yamcha to back off, he’d let follow all the way to Bulma’s bedroom door and slam it in his whiny face. At least, that’s what Vegeta was hoping for, yet he knew better. He knew full well that if he didn’t tell this pup off before he made it back to her bedroom that there was a good chance that Yamcha would wake the sleeping lioness, or worse, get him kicked out a second time. He really didn’t want that.. the bastard of a prince just wanted to sleep, and away from this hounding pup. How did Bulma put up with this guy, honestly?

Neither of them would make it that far, though. Just as Vegeta was turning around to tell Yamcha to shut his yapping trap, Mrs. Briefs rounded the coming corner and had the big brute by his burly arm. God damn, how did she- where the hell had that woman come from?! Vegeta eyed the blonde doting on his personal space. Leaning away, looking down his nose at her, staring in utter disbelief. While he may not of seen Yamcha as much of a threat, this woman …this woman. There was something about her that made him very, very uncomfortable. To the point that Vegeta froze up when Mrs. Briefs decided to drag him down the hallway.

She just kept blathering.. didn’t she knew who he was? Did she even care? Something about the woman told the prince that even if she knew his status, his kill rate, that she wouldn’t give a damn at all. It was a little unsettling, still he followed. Managing to shoot Yamcha one last dirty look around the corner before disappearing out of sight. Ending up at not Bulma’s door, but a bedroom all for himself. He couldn’t say that he was disappointed. It was his own personal space, something that he rarely had; normally bunking with his men. After giving the strange blonde female one odd look over, he entered the quiet room. Hearing the door shut soon behind him.

He was alone. It quickly took his curiosity. Despite just being riled up by the mutt, the tranquility of the room was quickly calling his name. Bulma would be fine, she could take care of herself. It was one of the qualities he valued in her. If she couldn’t be safe in her own territory, where the fuck could she be trusted? Besides, that massive bed was looking damn inviting. He stiffed around at first. Inspecting the clothing Mrs. Briefs had pointed out. Nosing around the dresser, the television, picking up the scent of his men in the next rooms. Looking for anything that may lead to a sign of threat. The room was nicer then most places he’d stay between worlds. He just may of approved.. After deeming the room useful, his back hit the mattress and the exhausted Saiyan was out like a light.

* * *

Her POV

Hours had passed before Bulma woke up. It was pitch black outside, but hunger compelled her to get up and do something other than sleep. The pangs in her stomach gave her a bit of a jolt, causing her to sit up and hold her tummy for a moment as she became accustom to her surroundings. …Someone had tucked her in and placed a pillow under her head, but she was still nude. She’d… Ha, she’d fallen asleep while Vegeta was having sex with her. Just the idea made her snort, but that’s when something hit her– She’d been so goddamn tired, she’d forgotten to demand that he use a condom! Her hands smacked into her face and she let out a groan, hating herself for being so forgetful. Shit. Well. What were the chances that one time would have gotten her pregnant? …She hoped she wasn’t pregnant, anyway.

She got off the bed and to the walk-in closed, before she searched through her drawers to find some clothes to put on. Her favorite pair of undies that were basically briefs (but looked totally cute on her), and a long shirt she was sure probably belonged to Yamcha at some point in the past, but that she had long since claimed her own. That was good enough. She’d probably go back to sleep shortly after, anyway. So just like that, she trekked out to go get food. The thing was… Everything was darker than she remembered it being at night. All the lights were off, and she could hear creaking. It was stupid and childish to be afraid of, and she knew that to be true, but… Something about being in the dark in a large house like this reminded her of Zarbon.

Her brows furrowed and she shivered just thinking of it. It became harder to keep walking, but somehow she managed, putting one foot in front of the other as she trekked to get to the kitchen. But she couldn’t help but continue wondering where Vegeta was. She’d feel safer around Vegeta. Why hadn’t he just slept in the same bed as her? He hadn’t left or something, had he? If he’d fucked her and then left the planet, then she… She wouldn’t even know what she’d do, honestly. And the fear and pressure began making her have a case of the sniffles, with a couple tears here and there. It was only when she heard someone moving around in the kitchen when she got close enough, that she wiped them away and made sure she looked presentable.

It was Yamcha. Pacing around in the kitchen, a few plates of food sitting on the table, looking completely frustrated. When he turned and saw Bulma standing in the doorway, he took a look around as if he was nervous someone had come with her (of course; he was looking for Vegeta), before taking a few quick steps to her, grabbing her by the arms, and quickly pressing their lips together. Longer than last time. It helped quell her fears, and it apparently helped calm him down, because he didn’t look as nervous anymore when he leaned back to look at her.

“Bulma. We’re finally alone. That jackass has been around too much. Listen– He tells me you want him here. You don’t have to lie to him, you know. I can fight for you. You can go over to Goku’s house or something, and we can beat the crud out of him together and force him to leave Earth. I swear, Bulma, I–”

“No, I… I want him here. I’m not just saying that. He’s like a guard dog, I guess. He keeps me safe to make up for everything he did. He’s not a good guy, but he’s not that bad anymore. He doesn’t hurt me or anything. I…” She really should tell him she was leaving with him. She should. Damn. He’d be heartbroken. But before she could form words, Yamcha let go of her and went to the food, grabbing the plates and shoving them in the microwave to heat up one at a time.

“I made you food! You haven’t eaten since you got back! I’m sure you’re starving by now, you look like it. Just… Try to stay calm and relax, alright? You can eat and stuff and tell me if you really do want him around. You’re… You’re sure, right?” He couldn’t just tell Bulma how to feel, but… It didn’t feel right to him. At least he could at least talk to her without him hovering around, and could put food in her stomach, but still. 

“I do. I wasn’t lying. Actually…” She sat down at the table, and as Yamcha put plates in front of her as they warmed up, she furrowed her brows and gathered the energy to speak. “I’m going to go back with him. Into space. That’s what I decided.” Yamcha made a loud outburst somewhere between ‘huh’ and ‘what,’ but Bulma continued nonetheless. “I don’t feel comfortable here. What if someone else comes? …Vegeta can keep me safe. Besides, I don’t really feel at home here anymore. I’d rather explore space. I decided I’m going to branch out the Capsule Corporation. You can stay here, my parents basically treat you like a son, but… I’m not going to stay around.” It wasn’t the kind of conversation to eat during, but her stomach compelled her to dig into the food Yamcha gave her. She thanked him quietly while he stood in silence.

Her meal was awkward, and afterward Bulma gave Yamcha a little kiss on the lips for it all. Reminded him that she loved him, but just… Couldn’t be around anymore. It must have been far too much for him to handle, because he didn’t even say anything when she left the kitchen to go back to bed. …Not to her own bed, though. As she trekked the dark again and yet again began to worry about Zarbon and everyone else she’d dealt with while his slave, she began checking the guest rooms. And eventually she found it, with him sleeping noisily on the large bed.

She made her way over to the bed and crawled in beside him, gently stirring him awake by prodding his cheek and shaking his chest.

“Vegeta. Vegeta, wake up. …You forgot to tell me that we need condoms, you asshole. I can’t believe you wouldn’t even pull out. And don’t lie to me, I know you didn’t pull out.”

* * *

His POV

He’d passed out cold the moment his back hit the mattress. Entering a deep, dreamless sleep. His body felt heavier then usual, sinking like a stone into the bed. After pushing himself, relying on his stamina more then anything else for the last few weeks, Vegeta hadn’t realized how exhausted his body was until he finally found a place to sleep. Normally his subconscious self kept avidly alert. The slightest crunch of grass under foot could be an angry enemy, coming to slay him in his sleep. The softest movement could be an other-worldly beast deciding he looked like a tasty snack. But no, not here. Even with the mutt lurking around, there was some semblance of peacefulness on this planet. Was it any wonder that he didn’t notice the girl crawling into his bed until he was being prodded awake?

At first his instincts jumped to life. His dilated eyes honing in on the intruder, seeing Bulma’s near face perfectly well in the dark room. It was just the girl; his body relaxed, releasing the initial reaction to grab her by the throat (he hadn’t touched her, thankfully). Just what the fuck was she waking him up for? Protesting to her nonsense, he turned back over, but Bulma insisted on lecturing him about …pulling out? It was enough to gain his cranky attention, turning his hard, reflective gaze on the girl. That’s when he noticed her change in appearance. Her clothing and her smell.

“God damn it woman, what are you bitching about?” his voice was hoarse with sleep, “You wake me up for that? Of course I didn’t..” Suddenly it dawned on him - it was strange that she was seeking him out. Something didn’t feel right. That she’d disturb him simply to scold him. Usually the girl aimed for her own space, away from him whenever she could. So what had her coming to him now in the middle of the night? Vegeta sat up, inspecting the girl next to him. Running one of his rough hands up her side, pressing his nose into the belly of her shirt. He wasn’t feeling her up (not much) he was searching any sign of injury or abrasion.

His nose found its way up to her neck, and that’s when he pulled back. Giving her a once over, his expression was something of curiousness, confusion. She didn’t appear harmed, nor did she whine in pain when he touched her, but there was a faint scent on her.. It was hidden under the smell of food. Good, at least she’d eaten. It was the aroma of that other male. It wasn’t strong enough to be from a fuck, but it told him something of the recent hours. He didn’t give much of a fuck, but his tongue did dart out and dot over the bow of her lips; repainting his scent. His sights swept the perimeter next. Like a true guard dog, he was ensuring she hadn’t been followed, or something unwanted had slipped into the room when the door had been opened. Sensing no sign of threat, the Saiyan relaxed. Reclaiming his former spot on the bed, giving her his back, resting down onto his side.

“If you’re going to stay.. can you at least hold off your whining until the morning? ..I need sleep.” it was his informal way of saying she could stay.

* * *

Her POV

The way he reacted when he woke up nearly gave her a heart attack. But he calmed down, and instead just grumbled. What was that? ‘Of course he pulled out?’ She opened her mouth to lecture him further, especially about complaining that she was ‘bitching,’ but before she could even get out any words about how stupid he was for trying to get her pregnant, he suddenly grabbed her and began sniffing her. She went dead silent, brows raised and eyes wide as he shoved his face into her belly. …God, she hoped that this didn’t mean he sensed that she was pregnant.

He slowly sniffed up her like he was checking for something, and she was still praying to god that it didn’t mean what she think it meant. Please, please don’t mean that she was pregnant! Please! She stared back at him nervously as he leaned back and eyed her, but then he leaned in again– to tongue her lips. Bulma jerked back from his arms and wiped her lips furiously in disgust (as if she hadn’t kissed him before) and let out a huff when he went back to laying with his back turned to her. So what? He hadn’t sensed anything? She sure fucking hoped not. But it’s not like she’d just leave him like that.

“…You put on that same pair of pants when I told you not to! Hey! No sleeping yet, you asshole!” She leaned over him and slapped his cheek lightly to make sure he wasn’t falling asleep, and began forcing his pants down his hip best she could. “Take them off, I’m giving you real clothes! You’re not going back to sleep until I say you are. …But seriously, if you don’t pull out again, you’re dead. I don’t want to get pregnant. If Goku had a kid, that means you can get me pregnant. That’s not going to happen. No way in hell. Got that?” She shook him again just to make sure he wasn’t falling asleep despite all her movements, before quickly climbing off the bed and heading to the dresser.

She looked through it and eventually pulled out a pair of underwear, sweatpants, and a t-shirt. Enough for sleeping in. She brought it back to the bed and climbed back on, being sure to make as much movement as possible to disturb him. He wasn’t going to get any sleep until he listened to what she wanted.

“Put these on. Put these on, and then you can go to bed. But not before. Only then. Hurry up.”

* * *

His POV

He thought it was over. He was oh so very wrong. The slap to the cheek got his ornery attention back again, but just enough for him to grumble and growl like a wild animal. His face still firmly sunk into the thick pillows and cool sheets. The prince was trying to warn her to back off.. it was that lazy sound he gave so often when he wanted someone to back off, without actually having to stop whatever he was doing. In his mind that should have been the end of it. What was he thinking? This wasn’t his men, or some imposing animal he was dealing with.. He was dealing with Bulma Briefs. Since when did his cranky side scare her off?

That’s when he felt it, the tugging of his clingy pants slipping inch by inch down his muscular buttocks. He shot up onto his forearms, digging his glare back at the girl. Honestly, what the hell did she think she was doing! Vegeta was bewildered, for the moment. “God damn it woman, what difference does it make?!” he roared. He’d been sleeping just fine, she’s the one that disturbed him! Relief washed over him as soon as she drifted off the bed to who knew where. His nose went straight back into the pillows (he was tired after all). Kicking off the remainder of his ratty clothing. Fine, he’d just sleep in the nude. He had no quarrels with that. If anything it felt better.

“Why in hell would I _want_ to get you pregnant..” he moaned, not really finding the topic worthy of talk. He had no need for an heir, but he certainly wasn’t going to pull out or worse, wear one of those damn contraptions again if he could get by with it. Certainly her kind had birth control? Let her deal with it. The thought played through his head as he attempted to get back to sleep. All the while he could hear her moving about the room, being generally noisy. Only this woman, he annoyingly told himself. Only she could get away with this sort of behavior around him.. and he’d allow it. Just lie there and take it, all the way until she started shaking the bed again. Great.

He wasn’t going to get any rest until he humored her, was he. Fine, fine! The brute sat up. Groggy eyed and tassel headed, he ran a hand through his messy hair. She’d brought him clothing, Earthling clothing. It wasn’t so bad, he supposed, picking up one item at a time and giving it a sniff and glance over. The shirt was rejected, as were the underwear. Briefs, really? He gave her a deadpanned look, tossing the underwear off the side of the bed too. That left the sweatpants. After a sigh, Vegeta slid his bare ass off the bed and dug his foot through the leg of the martial. As soon as they were up his narrow hips he sat on the mattress’s edge. Was she happy now? He knew better this time. He’d make sure she was satisfied before he tried to hit the bed again.

* * *

Her POV

He kept roaring and grumbling, getting increasingly irritated. How strange that she could go from being afraid he’d pin her down and rape her for making him so incredibly frustrated, to tormenting him like this with no problem. Maybe it was the lack of sexuality involved. When things were no longer sexual, she found no fear. Especially when the things around her only made her more scared; it was Vegeta that brought her protection and a feeling of safety. Even in the irritated state he was in. He wasn’t hitting her. He wasn’t trying to hurt her. He did no more than give her irritated looks and yell at her, but… Ultimately complied. He had rejected the shirt and undies, but he’d put the sweatpants on without complaining TOO much.

“If you don’t want to get me pregnant, then don’t cum inside me, you idiot.” She let out a huff as he pulled on the clothes, watching him reject a pair of underwear as well as a shirt. Her lips pursed. Damn him. …At least he put on the sweatpants. What did he have against the underwear, though? Honestly… She grabbed the discarded clothes and again got off the bed, putting them back in the closet and knowing she wasn’t going to get much further with him. At least he was wearing clean clothes this time around. It was better than the ratty, disgusting piece of cloth that he’d been calling ‘pants’ for far too long.

She got back on the bed and watched him for a little bit. Thinking. …Mainly about how odd it was to be home and still be staring at him. She looked down at the sheets, finding some kind of comfort in the fact that they weren’t her own. It felt a little too weird, sleeping in her own bed. Wasn’t that silly? She let out a tiny sigh and pulled herself under the covers, signaling to Vegeta that she was satisfied and ready to sleep. For the time being, anyway. She’d slept for how many hours now? Then again, Vegeta never really seemed to sleep as long as her. Maybe Saiyans didn’t have quite as long of sleeping periods as humans did.

“Alright. You really should wear underwear, by the way. It’s weird if you don’t.” She wasn’t really one to talk, given that she skipped wearing bras so often. But still! She eyed him again, before rolling over. “At least come under the sheets instead of just sleeping in the middle of the bed like some weirdo.” Though honestly, that was partially just an excuse to figure out a way to get him to tolerate being close enough for her to feel more safe. 

* * *

His POV

He was staring down between his bare feet, waiting for the girl to make herself comfortable and hopefully passing out. Leaving him to finally get some peace and quiet. The squishy carpet under his toes felt expensive, everything in this damn house smelt like money. Was this really her origins, the life she’d lived? No wonder she was so high and mighty sometimes, though Vegeta liked to think that it was mostly her personality rather then her upbringing. After all, he should of been born into a life like this, but it was his ruthless nature that clung onto his pride. He imagined that even without all of this priceless shit around her, she’d of still retained that fiery nature of hers. Her time trying to escape him had shown him that trait of hers.

Once she was finally cooing and comfortable, egging him on to join her in the bed, he glanced over his shoulder. Finding her perfectly content under the mounds of blanket. She had everything she could possibly want at her finger tips. Back where she’d begged him to take her, so what the fuck was she doing crawling into his bed? Something about it puzzled the prince, something about it felt off, like there was a part of information he was missing. Nevertheless, he wasn’t about to pass up sleeping once again. Vegeta wasn’t normally one to allow anyone near his sleeping space, but the girl was a special case. They’d spent so many times together in the pod it was starting to feel natural. Not to mention letting her crawl up next to him in the ice caves for some protection and body heat.

“What’s the point?” he murmured, but he was actually kind of curious - he was talking about the underwear. Pulling back the edge of the sheets and blanket, he crept under. Letting out a relaxing sigh once his head hit the pillow. His eyes closed soon after, not waiting for her to reply. If sex wasn’t on the menu, Vegeta really didn’t give a fuck how the girl slept. To each their own, it was usually his motto. However, her scent did lace past his nose, and her soft breath did catch his sensitive hearing. It was kind of nice.. sort of soothing in some strange sense. Perhaps because he knew she was near, that she was protected and not running a muck somewhere. Having a pretty girl warming his bed wasn’t half bad either. So without a second glance her way, he began slowly drifting to sleep.

* * *

Her POV

You wear underwear so you don’t get your pants stained and gross. Knowing you, I’m sure you do. It’s also to keep everything nice and tucked together.” She explained it as if it were the most simple thing in the world, even for an alien, as he got comfortable beside her. But silence came, and Vegeta nodded off to sleep. Bulma’s eyes stayed open, and she looked around at what was around her. Darkness. Her eyes had mostly adjusted, but that’s still what it was. Darkness. Shadows everywhere, the occasional noise of things going bump in the night. Despite Vegeta lying next to her, she felt alone. And when she closed her eyes, she could all but imagine being woken up by someone’s grubby hands on her. Forcing her face down into cold tile ground. Tying her arms up. Doing… Things.

She kept her eyes open so not to think too much about it. Her head turned, and she glanced at Vegeta again. Lying still. …Had he fallen asleep? She pulled herself closer to him, finding the gap between them too large. She waited a few more minutes, before the fear became too great again. She grabbed his arm and raised it so she could slide closer yet, and proceeded to wrap his arm around her body. She watched him breathe in and out slowly, and tried to find comfort in his warmth. …She felt her heart rate slowly coming down, and finally her head lowered onto his chest. No one could grab her when she was in Vegeta’s arms like this. Vegeta freaked out when stirred. If she was grabbed from here, he’d wake up. He’d know. He’d protect her.

His heartbeat was comforting. She closed her eyes. Imagined the times Vegeta had protected her. Over and over and over again. He’d promised not to hurt her anymore. He’d brought her Zarbon’s head. …She let out a short, shaky sigh as she calmed down, and clung onto his warm chest. Her breathing got slower, and eventually she nodded off completely, falling asleep without any fear about Zarbon. As long as Vegeta was by her side, nothing was going to happen to her again. She could be sure of that. And even if she got kidnapped, he’d always find a way to her again. She was safe.

* * *

His POV

His eyes slit open; someone had grabbed him. Vegeta wasn’t accustomed to sharing his space, let alone his bed. His eye lids quickly shut, realizing it was the female readjusting herself beside him. The deep sleep he’d gotten himself into the first time he’d passed out had subsided. Naturally, he was more alert this time around - she’d easily woken him up. Quietly, he waited, curious as to what she was trying to do. Get herself comfortable, he assumed, but he wasn’t quiet expecting what she did next. Her warm body cradled itself right under the crook of his heavy arm. The brush of her soft cheek ran over his chest, and he could feel the soft sigh of relief that left her breath flood over his bare skin. She was moving closer to him, again, of her own free will. How peculiar.

Her body was warm, the flutter of her heartbeat unusually high. Was she frightened? He remained still, seemingly asleep. Then it dawned on the prince - she was seeking out his protection. Was that what this was all about? Her coming into his room, perhaps even her insisting that he stay for the time being. Vegeta knew she’d used him as as a means of defense a few times, but what was she running from now? He was at a loss for an answer, but he didn’t reject her. Allowing the girl to curl herself snugly against his side. Going as far as securing the arm she’d put around herself safely over the dip of her waist. There was no safer place in the universe, he’d make sure of that himself.

Within the hour, the prince was once again fast asleep. It could of been said that having the softness of Bulma gently pressed against him aided in that peaceful sleep he was getting. It was a good rest, rejuvenating, and well ..slightly stimulating. By the time morning light began to creep into the luxurious guest room, Vegeta had shifted his position. The arm that once draped protectively over the girl’s side was under her now, his other arm resting over her, keeping her securely in place. The brute was on his side, facing her, burying his nose into the top of her hair.The scent his movements were kicking up were playing with his subconscious. Even in sleep, he could smell her, feel her pressed against his own. It was giving the prince a bad case of morning wood.

It wasn’t like the prince to sleep past sunrise, but he’d felt so damn comfortable. His languid body shifted again, pressing the hard shaft caught in his pants against the woman’s torso. Ah, it felt so nice. There was a good chance that the damn animal was having a wet dream. And it probably wasn’t consensual judging by the way he was grunting and thrusting gently in his sleep. His dream state subsided and his movements calmed, encircling his arms around the girl instead. How could she really blame him for getting a little horny? There was the scent of a beautiful female next to him in bed. His body wasn’t about to pass up having something soft and sensual to rub on before waking up. He was still Vegeta, the bastard prince, after all.

* * *

Her POV

She noticed the arm around her before she fell asleep. It’s what ultimately helped her nod off, with the knowledge he was perfectly aware of her presence and there to keep her safe. She dreamt without problem for the first few hours, but eventually, thanks to all the stress she’d been enduring as of late, her dreams turned negative. She was tied up. Cold hands pulled her clothes off her and ripped them until she was completely nude, freezing, and afraid. Someone started choking her. She could feel a tongue running down her back. Someone fingering her against her will, no matter how much she’d grunt and whimper and try to move away– she tried desperately to move her body, but nothing seemed to happen. 

Someone was having sex with her like she was a fuck-toy. She could hear his grunting in her hear as he pressed his weight against her back and his face into the top of her head. There wasn’t so much pain as there was humiliation; more so when she felt herself get wet, and could physically hear the squelching noises from him going in and out, in and out, thanks to her body deciding it liked it. She was groped and grabbed, and coupled with the grunting, she could hear men laughing every time she moaned or gasped in pleasure. She kept trying to fight, but she couldn’t move. She kept trying to tell them to leave her alone, but someone grabbed her by the cheeks and turned her head, forced her jaw open, and shoved their cock inside her mouth as a gag.

Grunt, grunt, grunt. The little movements of being jerked around and the sound of thrusts against sheets. Even if she tried to fight, she was frozen, all the way up to her coming to. She opened her eyes quickly the moment she awoke, letting out a loud gasp. At first she didn’t even realize she was awake; she could still hear the grunts of a thrusting man, and could feel movements, but– Oh. Oh. It was Vegeta. Vegeta was holding her. His cock was pressed against her stomach, gently thrusting against it. She held her breath, and after a few moments, he settled down and more tightly wrapped his arms around her.

She laid in silence for a while, resting her forehead against his chest. She didn’t move other than curling in slightly on herself, bending her knees a bit and curling her arms against her torso. She could still feel his cock against her belly, even if his hips weren’t moving anymore. He had morning wood, though… Though he was innocent enough, holding her close and pressing his face to the top of her head similar to how she’d wake up in Yamcha’s arms. …She was still wet. She could feel it between her legs. How lubricated she was every time she shifted her thighs. The underwear she was wearing itself felt like it’d gotten a little wet, too. She’d gotten wet from her dream. From being raped.

Worse yet, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Not just the dream itself, but about how wet she was. Every little movement reminded her. _Sex. Sex. Sex. Release. Release. Release. I want someone to touch me._ The thoughts rolled through her head over and over, until eventually she planted her hand on Vegeta’s chest and tried to stir him awake again. Her breathing was uneven and her cheeks reddened, but slowly she moved her hand from his chest, down his body. She smoothed her fingertips down his happy trail. They slipped below his waistband, and at the base of his cock, she slowly moved her fingers in little circles, trying to get enough stimulation to wake him up. She’d call his name, but for some reason, she felt too nervous to speak.

* * *

His POV

Bulma wasn’t the only one dipping into wet dreams, Vegeta’s mind was playing into them too. It couldn’t of been more opposite to her own. He was the one in power, he was the one calling the shots. Dominating the squirming figure under him. Pushing a nameless, faceless female into the dirt over and over again. It was pleasurable and exhilarating, yet frustrating. As if he just couldn’t get satisfied no matter how far he rammed his cock into his victim. No matter how he made them scream. The smell of burning flesh spread around him, the darkness of a dying world flickering in his foggy dream state. It was a dream woven by reality. From memories he’d performed too many times to count.

Slowly, his soft grunts fizzled into hard breaths. Still half erect and drifting through sleep. The gentle session with Bulma the evening before just hadn’t been enough to state him. He was feeling pent up, the need to dominate plaguing his subconscious mind. Having Bulma against his skin wasn’t helping. But just as his sexual frustration was taming down, leaving him be, something started stirring his erection to life again. Vegeta shifted in his sleep, reacting to the girls gentle caress. The muscle of his belly tensing, twitching the growing length against her hand. A soft groan passed his lips, getting restless again. His hips were bucking. Slow, drawn out rocking pushing his stiff member against her smooth hand.

His dream state changed again. No longer on a burnt planet bathed in smoke and blood, but inside his tranquil pod. The soft blue light of the universe casting through the large portal. Blue. That’s what his minds eye was seeing. A peaceful, glittering blue bobbing in his lap. The image made him shift again in the waking world, pressing his finger tips up Bulma’s spine, arching himself closer into her palm. The female in his dream was teasing him with her playful tongue; sucking at his base and dragging it up the thick length, only to tease the head. Damn that wench, why wouldn’t she just put it between her lips already? His body tensed, rolling his powerful build against the girl next to him in his bed; his pawing hands dragging lazily down her back. All he wanted to do was to fill that pretty little mouth of hers.

That’s when he began to come to. At least, he supposed he was awake. His entire body was tingling, hot, pent up and restless. The ache between his legs begging to be tended to. Only, there was already a hand down his pants. His hips had been moving of their own accord since his dream started. Rolling and rocking his massive member in the girl’s invading hand. Kami, he was still dreaming, wasn’t he? He’d been so caught up in his resting, that he’d yet to escape the in-between realm. His gaze slid down the girl next to him. She smelt needy, looked needy. Fuck, all he wanted to do was to pin her in the bed right there, but he knew better. She was touching him on her own, though. He wasn’t about to stop her. Actually, his wondering hand at her back slid down into her cute underwear. Cupping the round of her ass, giving it a gentle grope. God damn, she was wet too. His fingers traveled a little further, dipping in between her swollen lips. If keeping the female content meant waking up to this, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

* * *

Her POV

He didn’t wake up at first. He stirred, but only to start thrusting against her hand and grunting some more. The noise reminded her of her dream, and she stopped what she was doing for a moment– only until Vegeta came to. He shifted and looked down at her, and she responded by looking up at him. He still looked groggy, hilariously enough. His hair slightly matted and going in weird positions. Though looking at him helped her find some calmness. It wasn’t like in her dream. This was Vegeta. She kept insisting she didn’t love him, but whatever she did feel toward him… It made her feel comfortable even in intimate situations. At least when she wasn’t scared of him pinning her down. But he hadn’t done that in so long. He hadn’t done that even yesterday, when he was given the chance. He had patience.

His hand lowered, and soon he was squeezing her butt under her underwear. She couldn’t help but gulp as she felt it, especially as his hand moved further down yet. She could feel his middle finger circling around her entrance and just barely prodding between her lips. It was almost embarrassing, how wet she was. Just from a horrible dream that happened to contain the act of sex in it. Her back arched to help with his reach, pressing her butt up against his arm. She tried to stay quiet, but little coos and sighs left her lips just from being touched lightly. She looked up at him again, before deciding to bury her face in his chest. His warm chest. It was hard, but he did have a little layer of fat to pillow her head and soften him to the touch.

“Ah…” She gripped him more tightly, slowly jerking him off rather than just tickling around him. Her other hand slipped under his pants as well, just to cup and massage his balls. It wasn’t sex, but there was something relieving in even just touching each other like this. It was stupid that she’d think that, but nonetheless, she found it comforting. She nuzzled into his chest as she worked on giving him a handjob, avoiding looking into his eyes again. Just focusing on feeling alone. Softer feelings, that made her feel less used and humiliated like that dream had. Geeze, that dream had felt terrible. Being forced down and raped while they laughed at her enjoying it… It brought back negative memories. So many of them. It made her so much more calm to be able to listen to Vegeta, be touched by him, be so close that she could press her face to his chest and breathe in the scent she’d begun to think of as comforting.

“Nn… Touch me a little more, Vegeta,” she murmured, whispering quietly. “Touch me a little more.” She pressed her lips to his chest, giving him a kiss. “Nn… I didn’t have a good dream last night.” Why was she telling him this? He wasn’t her therapist, and didn’t seem to really care. “I dreamt about being tied up and blindfolded. I couldn’t move. Someone ripped all my clothes off. I… I want you to be close to me, Vegeta. Touch me. I feel safer when you’re around me.” And there it was. She admitted it to him. Told him outright that she felt like she was protected when around him. That was the real reason why she came around to him last night. “I want you to hold me more.” 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't got much to say here. I'm graduating soon! I got through the worst part of the end of the year just fine. Just a handful of things left to do! After this week, I'll have like, nothing to do. Heh.
> 
>   
> 


	43. Breakfast and Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma can't get over her past, even when seemingly surrounded by safety.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

She was liking it. It was more than a little power trip that was quickly going to Vegeta’s head. However, he knew better then to risk her trust, and rather to tease and test to see what he could get away with. It was an anomaly he was still getting used to, her accepting his touch. His once captive, who’d bite, scratch, slap, and shoot him at any given chance, was huddling herself up to him, as if she was seeking out his warmth or basking in his scent. He couldn’t understand it, but there she was, pressing up against him. Arching the sway of her back further against his hand, allowing his curious fingers to dip a little deeper into her warm, inviting flesh.

She nuzzled into his chest, and Vegeta couldn’t help but stare down in bewilderment. He could have sworn she was ...scent marking him. Smearing her feminine odor all over his bare skin. The understanding of affection or need for closeness went right over his primitive head. To Vegeta, he interpreted her actions as saying ‘this is mine to fuck’. Something he’d never allow anyone to attempt, let alone get away with. Perhaps it was his surprise that was steadying him, or his admiring her taking initiative. For whatever reason, he reciprocated her actions in his own way. Rolling his cheek bone and nose over her hair, and stroking his hungry length into her fist with a little more life. His way of saying he accepted, he wanted to pleasure himself with her, too.

Then, she took him by surprise yet again. The nightmare, what she claimed to be a nightmare at least, wasn’t the most shocking part (it sounded more like his first dream to him, only a bit more kinky considering the blind fold in her version). It was her admitting she was looking for his protection, but in a manner he could barely fathom. She felt safe, when close to him? He stared down again, his needy hips slowing their pace against her grip. The free hand that’d slowly been trailing up and down her spine, slowly, gently, reached up to her face. Tilting her jaw line just enough to look into her face. Vegeta was trying to decode her, understand the female that so often sent him for a loop.

“I had a dream too,” his velvety voice was surprisingly smug, considering it was a touchy topic. “A certain blue Earthling was being a complete cock tease.” his lips hooked and his bucking drove a little harder. Pushing the thick head between her delicate fingers. It was his attempt at getting her mind off of her experience - having her in such a frightful mood wouldn’t serve him. Sure, he omitted the first dream, but she didn’t need to know about that. His second vision had been much more enticing to him anyhow. The hand cupping her face slipped down, smoothing his rough skin over her curves, down to her pantie line. He was going to do as she asked, he was going to touch her.

A finger hooked into the elastic, dragging the wet pair down her thighs. The wetness from her center trailing from the soiled underwear, painting her inner thighs. He had to inhale - Kami was it difficult to control himself when she was turning him on to new levels. Still, he steadied himself. Next, his large hand engulfed her own. Guiding his solid cock between her legs, where the heavy girth could rub against her tender clit. The fingers that’d been eagerly bobbing in and out or tiny entrance began prodding a little deeper, stroking her inner walls, stretching her around his large fingers. Now that she was properly stimulated, he could touch her all he pleased. Their torso’s meeting, his hand smoothing up her thigh, going as far as guiding her knee over his side for a closer feel.

* * *

Her POV

He obliged. She could feel him nuzzle against her scalp, and hold her closer. His hand felt so nice on her back, running up and down as a means of comfort. Her eyes stayed closed as she breathed in his scent, almost forgetting about actually giving him a handjob, up until he slowly moved his hand upward and touched her face. She looked up at him with her brows raised, her eyes wide– what? Would he try to comfort her? She expected that he may kiss her. Instead, it seemed he just wanted to gain her attention. She couldn’t fault him. He was trying to comfort her in his own way. Through sex. Through touching. Through teasing.

“Is that why I woke up to you moaning and digging your morning wood into my stomach? I wish I was having the dream you were having.” She laughed, lightly twirling her fingers around Vegeta’s cock, spinning her wrist to add to his experience. His hand slowly moved down her body, and she let out another giggle as he pulled her panties down. She pressed her face to his chest again, kissing the skin as she moved her hands, paying extra attention to his balls this time. Little gasps and sighs left her lips as he continued to finger her, but even better was when his hand overtook hers, gently and warmly, and he led her closer. She scooted to make it easier as he showed her what he wanted, pulling herself up so she was his level rather than at his chest. His cock rubbed between her lower lips, and another little moan came from her mouth.

She let go of his cock and instead wrapped her arm around his shoulder to get closer, and her other hand left his balls if only to allow for her thigh to hook over his side without getting in the way. …When had they really gotten like this? He was so close to her. She liked being this close. She liked it a lot. It was so different from before, and somehow it felt so comfortable, even though there was no reason it should be. It made her feel like she was at home again. More at home since she’d felt since… Well. Being home. He made it feel natural, somehow. The person that she used to hate and be so terrified of was now someone she could go to for protection and comfort. Silly…

“Nn… Vegeta…” She murmured his name for no particular reason, but nonetheless leaned in and nuzzled against him. She brushed noses with him and pressed a little kiss to his lips, and again her hand found his balls, caressing them gently and occasionally moving her fingers to tickle the bottom of his cock, at the base. She was purposely lacking any firmness or strength in her movements or touches, wanting to continue to keep the… atmosphere. He made everything feel nice. She wanted it to continue to go slow; she didn’t want to ruin it by having it become animalistic fucking like thing so often did with Saiyans. Though now that she thought of it… It hadn’t last night. 

“…Was it funny, when I fell asleep last night?” She brought it up suddenly, but didn’t skip a beat with any of her movements or even the continuous little kisses she kept leaving on his face. “I was so tired… And you were so gentle… It was nice, you know. I want it to be like that more often. I really liked it. And I promise I won’t fall asleep next time. I promise. I’ll be perfectly awake to yell at you for cumming inside me.”

* * *

His POV

The stocky Saiyan pulled a face when she commented on his morning wood, but it was forgotten quick enough - thanks to the hand playing friskily over his genitals. It pleased him to see her body relaxing. Flicking his black gaze over her softly sighing form, noticing her arm fall limp over his shoulder. Though her soft giggles confused him at first, he deemed it more acceptable than watching her fears drain the light from her face. In fact, it made her appear brighter. Her doe eyed worry had made him feel like a predator waiting to see if its prey would flee into a flight or fight response. Having her content made controlling himself all the more reasonable, rather than giving into the knee jerk response to pin her down and sink his teeth into her shoulder.

“Oh, just what I need, to be told to pull out when it starts getting interesting.” Anyone would have feared his mocking tone, but he was teasing. Playing with her in his own fucked up way, even if he half meant it. He had taken pride in her falling asleep... His tone turned velvety, soft, blunt, “I can’t always be gentle.” Meaning he needed rough sex from time to time. Gentle was something he only did for her. Though his free hand was still playing over soft skin, reveling in the silky feel under his rough fingers. He was comfortable; how bizarre. He was comfortable during sex, well almost sex. His stiff length was working its way leisurely between her lower lips. Fingering her casually, teasing her opening as if he were about to guide the thick tip in, only to slide away on a silent groan.

“I’d much rather you finish what you started in that dream of mine, since you want to be in it so much.” His taunting tone was back, grinning like a villain between her storm of kisses. He hadn’t really been responsive to her affections up until now, focused solely on the pleasure he was getting between his legs, but it was getting harder and harder to resist nipping at her supple lips. Especially while feeling a little frisky; his tail twitching behind him. After a quick nip to her bottom lip, his tongue traced over it, then sucked her into a kiss of his own. Just as his fingers slid out of her, replacing them with the massive tip of his cock. Plunging himself between her thighs, filling her mouth with a satisfied groan.

His pace remained gentle, relaxed. Like Sunday morning sex, or an ape enjoying a lazy fuck from his favorite female. Kami, did it feel good to finally push inside of her though. Enveloping him in her sweltering heat, slicking him down inch by inch, the further he drove in. He may have acted selfishly, but the prince was still watching her. Holding her leg steadily over his hip, cradling her in his other arm, beating himself slowly between her open legs. The bed gradually creaking to life under them. Even through her oversized shirt, her bra-less breasts were obvious against him whenever the moved. They were close, closer than usual, yet she wasn’t fighting away. To think he could enjoy something so slothful, but damn, was it starting to feel intoxicating.

* * *

Her POV

“You shouldn’t think things are only interesting when you cum, you know! Things can be fun before then. Foreplay is fun. The act itself is fun. It should be fun just reaching orgasm.” Yes, he was only mocking, but she tried to get her point across nonetheless– she didn’t like the idea that he only found sex interesting when he was about to orgasm. That kind of sex is what had made her struggle with being able to accept sex. The kind of sex where a man would pin her down and use her only as a means to an end. She couldn’t stand it. The only thing worse was rough, unforgiving sex that was coupled with the idea of only having sex to orgasm. So when he told her about how he can’t always be gentle, she furrowed her brows– even if it was difficult, with him still fingering her and slowly rubbing his cock against her clit.

“Nn… If I finished what I started, it’d only be to tease you more until I drive you insane,” she replied, and had just been about to make a point by turning from him. But he didn’t give her the chance, instead taking his fingers out from inside her and replacing them with his cock. The action took her off-guard enough to let out a gasp, but ultimately she more than accepted the gesture, even pressing her body further against him as he slowly thrusted. He kept it gentle still, despite his previous warning. But in the back of her head, she couldn’t help but remember how careful she’d have to be. What were the chances of Vegeta trying to pretend like he forgot that she tried to yell at him about pulling out? That was not something she wanted to risk. She was already scared the last time might have gotten her pregnant– letting it happen again would make things even worse.

“…Listen. If you ignore what I said before, and still try cumming inside me, you’re dead meat. Okay? I’m not on birth control right now, I’d end up getting pregnant after so much of this! If you said you don’t want me to get pregnant, then make me believe it by making sure not to risk knocking me up!” Her hand traveled up as she spoke, holding a stern finger at him rather than bothering to play with his junk anymore. She raised a brow at him before deciding the little rant had her feeling confident in having gotten her point across. The eyeing stopped, and instead she returned to nuzzling her face against his and peppering his skin with the occasional kiss.

The bed was starting to creak from their movements, and she could feel herself holding onto him a little tighter. She wasn’t near orgasm yet, but she could feel the pressure building up the more he kept going. Her feet turned inward, and her sighs of pleasure became slightly more heavy. The best thing was that it felt so innocent; he didn’t try to go faster, or touch her more than he needed to, or demand more than she wanted to give. It was just slow morning sex, filled with chaste kisses and gentle caresses. The kind of stuff she and Yamcha would do together. The kind of stuff she had enjoyed the best back in the day. She’d missed sex like this. And she supposed in some way, it was helpful; it helped remind her that sex didn’t have to be about being raped or prostituted. It reminded her of why she loved sex in the first place.

* * *

His POV

Fun, while going slow like this? This woman was making sex more and more complicated, he could of sworn. Vegeta had barely begun to grasp the concept of ‘being gentle’, the idea of bringing fun into it felt counter intuitive. Though he’d never admit it, _ever_ , she had a point. He’d been finding sex more and more pleasurable since finding the female in the first place. The prince had paid more attention to the act, rather than just pinning some poor woman down or fucking a prostitute senseless. Somehow, in some way, it was becoming less nameless and more in depth. Who would of thought playing and teasing someone else’s body would bring himself stimulation, rather than focusing on solely pleasuring himself.

His hips gave her a solid jut when she scolded him about pulling out; just enough to get his point across - that he found it irritating. She glared into his eyes, and the prince bore his stare right back at her. His hips still rocking consistently, his arm still tucked firmly around her waist. This stare down was sort of turning him on… he could feel his blood rushing. Bulma may of been trying to back him into a corner, but it was sort of Vegeta’s brand of foreplay. Somehow he managed to grow a little harder. However, her angry facade smoothed away and he found himself in a flurry of more kisses. Somehow it brought down his own temper, released in a deep, churning groan that vibrated their joined chests. He was giving into her, again, he could feel it. If only to forget the foolishness and sink into the moment.

“… _Mmm_ , get some damn contraception...” he darkly whispered past her ear, “...some proper contraception...” he added, hating the memory of those damn condoms. It was his unspoken promise that he’d pull out, this time. No need in risking having a brat running around. Now he could focus on the warmth of her body. The gentle rhythm of her tight pussy lapping at his cock, the muffled sound of their steamy mixed breath, and the subtle slap of her wet thighs against his hard body whenever their hips met. Again, it was taking him longer to reach climax than usual. Not that that was a bad thing. He was sort of getting use to this. And like the girl said, it was a nice climb up when it was feeling this invigorating. Warm and tingly, like some sort of drug.

He could hear her breathing in his ear. His nose buried into the crook of her neck, Vegeta took a generous lick up her jugular. Her soft body pressed tighter against his hard muscle. His body was hot, and only growing hotter. Slowly, his fingers edged along the round of her hip. Drawing small circles into her rosy flesh before gripping it firmly. He began rolling her onto her back, sinking her deeper into the softness of the mattress under his heavy weight. Moving into a position where he could get a better feel of her inside. His thrusting was hitting nearly to the hilt now, but still held that control and tension that made it a slow, lazy fuck. Bracing an arm on either side of her, it was easy to stare down into her face. Watching the pleasure etch across her face whenever he drove into her again.

* * *

Her POV

He jerked his hips to try and answer back to her, but ultimately seemed to agree with pulling out. But not before telling her to get ‘proper’ contraception. What was so terrible about condoms? What a baby. …She could actually get another implant while they were back, though, now that she thought of it. It’d be a smart decision before they finally returned to space. She’d have to keep that in mind in her growing list of things that she had to accomplish. …Maybe she could convince him to get something other than a stinky cramped pod, too. He’d gotten rid of her last space ship, after all. He didn’t seem to like the idea of riding in anything that wasn’t a pod, and why that was escaped her. The thing was cramped and dirty! Luckily, however, Vegeta got her mind away from it when he buried his face in her neck and so lazily licked her skin, before beginning to shift her around.

He slowly moved her onto her back as he licked her neck, a gesture to let happen. Her back sunk into the mattress, and she shifted her body to wrap both legs around his waist, and hold her hands at his shoulders. Again, he’d controlled himself with his movements. He was so sure to never be too harsh, even when it may have otherwise been so difficult for him. She stared up at him, returning his gaze. Why was he watching her like that? So intent on taking in the expression on her face. Something about it felt odd to her. Those times before, men didn’t really bother to stare her in the eyes unless they were humiliating her. When they were just having sex like this–or rather, when they were simply raping her–hey would force her to face anywhere but at them.

Her brows knit, and not simply from the growing pleasure as he felt her up and thrusted more inside her. She began thinking about what it was like. Having all those men. Especially at once. And one after the other. It was one thing to be overpowered by one man, but to have a group of them was something else. It was so humiliating. It made her feel powerless. …She kept staring up at Vegeta. Would he let her say ‘no’? Would he listen to her at this point, when they were getting far more into the sex? Yes, it felt good, and yes she wanted to keep going, but… But… She wanted to know. Just how much control did she really have in a situation like this? Was it just something she liked to pretend she had? Had she been lying to herself the whole time whenever she’d insist mentally that Vegeta thought more of her now? He said she wasn’t his slave anymore, but… Was that really true?

“Hn… Vegeta… Stop. Stop.” Her hands went from holding his shoulders to pushing him away by the chest. Her legs unraveled from his waist, and she began to actively attempt to force him away. Not thrashing, at least not yet. She just wanted to see if she could get away with it. He would only go as far as she wanted him to last night, but what about now? When they were actually in the act? …He’d continued to have sex with her after she had fallen asleep. Did consent really still matter to him? He was still a Saiyan, why would it? He was still the same man that raped her multiple times. Let his comrades rape her. Had he really changed as much as he tried to pretend he did?

* * *

His POV

He was starting to get into it. This new position stimulated him much better. Vegeta may not have had the woman pinned into the dirt, or even face down in the mattress, but it still felt good to stroke in and out of her, and at a growing rate. He kept it steady, though. More so focused on the strange expressions splaying over her flushed face. It was always interesting, watching her fall into ecstasy. Something between inflating his ego and curiously watching something new. And though it may not have been by his choosing, it wasn’t so bad. Some expressions he couldn’t place, but others were delicious. It was endlessly intoxicating to watch her writhe and moan under him. Those soft moans, it’s something he’d craved since the beginning.

His heavy body sunk deeper between her spread legs. Her nimble footing over his back letting him know she didn’t just accept it; she was enjoying it. Maybe he could risk a little more speed, a little more power behind each and every thrust. His wide chest brushed over her own, resting against the woman he was fucking so thoroughly. Vegeta was starting to feel more beastly, more like an animal. Filling her ear with his own set of rumbling groans the further he slipped his face past her cheek. Ripping his sights from her intense face, his eyes closed. Focusing only on getting what he wanted out of the moment. To feel her quiver and wiggle under him while he brought himself to climax.

He was almost there; he could feel it. The building tension in his legs, the winding heat and sensitivity coursing over his cock. In the back of his brain he knew he’d promised to pull out, but could he at this point, if he wanted to? His brain was going so fuzzy it was hard to say. He didn’t think much of it - until he felt a firm hand press into his chest. Trying to push him away. His initial reaction was to growl, to cling onto the female he was currently claiming. Teeth flashed and fingers gripped into her shoulders, capturing her under his imposing frame. Then her voice seeped into his head and the fog began to clear. That didn’t mean he wasn’t annoyed though. Far from, as soon as he began loosening his grip and peeling himself back, he looked down right pissed.

“God damn it, woman... What is it this time?” his brows knit, piercing a deadly glare. His tail was whipping on the bed behind him too, but he had sat up. Rolled off of her and onto his knees, pulling himself out of her in the process. He was agitated, that was clear, but he’d done as she’d asked. His hard up member twitching from the loss of her heat; leaving it throbbing. Then his mind began to race. What, had he hurt her? He was sure he hadn’t hurt her... It was because he’d risked going faster, harder, wasn’t it? No wonder pinning down females was the norm. How were you supposed to fuck otherwise? Slow, gentle, fun, lazy, it was all so god damn confusing. At this rate maybe he should find a random female to fuck. It’d be easier. He huffed, roaming his steely gaze over her. What did she want from him?

* * *

Her POV

At first, she thought she’d made a mistake. His arms wrapped around her and his fingernails dug into her skin. She could hear him growling. Her heart jumped in terror, but– but it only lasted for a moment. He let go. He leaned back. He removed himself from her and stared down at her, albeit clearly irritated. He’d let her go. She stared up at him, her voice stuck in her throat and her heart still beating like crazy. He may have stopped, but that expression in his eyes… He wasn’t happy about it. He was pissed off. She’d expected him to be irritated, but he just looked so angry about it. It didn’t sit right with her. Her stomach was turning and making knots.

“Mmn… I… I wanted to see if you’d really stop. I was scared you wouldn’t,” she replied, worried he’d get even more angry that she had him stop for such a stupid reason. “I… I don’t know if I want to keep going anymore.” Sure, the feeling of an unfinished, unreached orgasm was a shitty one, but the fear of him pinning her down was more compelling and horrifying at the moment. She pulled herself up to a sitting position and continued to stare him down. Would he try to rape her? …He’d stopped, sure, but with how he looked right now, she wasn’t sure. He might.

…She felt stupid, for being so scared. But the more she thought about it, the more it terrified her. After all, it’s not like he’d never done anything like that. He hadn’t been the most brutal kind of rapist, but he’d certainly raped her before. Why didn’t he want to anymore? Her eyes turned to the ground. She bit her lip, before pulling her panties back on and getting up off the bed. Would he stop her? She didn’t want to look him in the eyes. But at the same time, she wasn’t sure if she could make it back to her room. Her legs were shaking from fear.

She had been so worried that she wouldn’t fit in when she got to Earth, but she didn’t even feel entirely comfortable with the people she did feel like she fit in with nowadays. What the hell was wrong with her? She guessed it’d be normal to be so scared of a man that forced himself on her, but… She had a feeling that even if she was having sex with Yamcha, the fear would come back up. She’d be scared of him, too. It was something else. Maybe she was just broken. That felt so stereotypical to say, and yet… She didn’t have much else of an explanation for how she felt. She felt wrong.

“…Vegeta, you’d protect me from others, right? You want to protect me. But… I’m scared that you won’t be so different, you know? I’m scared eventually you’re just going to pin me down. You probably think it’s dumb and don’t really care how I feel, but…” She rubbed her scalp, and before she knew it, she was crying. Goddamn it. She couldn’t help herself. How stupid of her, crying over something like sex. “I’m scared all the time. I don’t want to be alone, because I feel like if I’m alone, I’ll start thinking about this stuff. But then I’m around you, and I think about it, too. And I’m around my family, and I think about how stupid it is that they seem so simple and happy now. I don’t know what to do with myself anymore.”

* * *

His POV

Bulma was right in her thinking - Vegeta did find it a stupid fucking reason to stop right in the middle of it all. However, despite his growing irritating, he didn’t retaliate, merely stewed. He could understand her motives. She was testing him. Not unlike how he’d pushed his men from time to time to test their limits and loyalties. Only this was a little more personal, she was purposely trying to put him into a position to hold him at his word. It stung his ego a little, but Vegeta was always one to put more stock in actions then words. He’d have done the same thing. Oh, he was angry, he just refused to be a hypocrite.

It was difficult to watch her slump off of the bed; pulling up her perfectly wet panties. His hand found his painfully erect member. Reduced to jerking himself off in his hand. At least she’d left him at the worst possible time - ready to come and completely slick from her insides. It made rubbing one out all the easier. Kami, what a waste. She appeared absolutely fuckable, on the outside at least. However, that look she’d given him had unsettled him. The earthling had looked so afraid, as if she was ready for him to go for her throat. She even stated herself that she expected him to pin her down at any given moment. Honestly, he was surprised in himself for lasting this long. A part of him desperately wanted to take her up on that fact and pin her down on the floor, finishing what they’d started.

He was just about to orgasm when her words filtered past his ear. It was too late, despite his concentration leaving his tight fist, he splattered the thick sticky mess all over his abdomen. It came on a reserved, “ _ahh_ ,” a sound he couldn’t control. At least now he could focus more on what the hell she was trying to say to him, and figure out what in hell’s name had happened. It took a few deep breaths and a shiver of his shoulders to come down off of the less-then-fabulous high his climax had given him. His stern gaze found her, albeit more calm then before. He had time to process her words. It left him feeling a little shitty, despite having just jacked off, and it wasn’t due to him having to pull out early.

She was crying. It stopped him cold in the middle of the bed. After a moment of listening to her sniveling, refusing to look at her, he wiped the residue on his stomach away with the sheets. It wasn’t just her crying forming a dark pit in his stomach, it was ...something else. A feeling that he was trying desperately to ignore, but here it came, bubbling up like black vomit in the back of his mouth. Vegeta knew this was his fault, he was, for once, remorseful. And not just to shut her up. He swallowed. Tucking himself in his sweat pants, he rose from the bedding, coming to stand just behind her. His voice deep, commanding, but gentle in his own sort of way, “You do think too much,” he agreed amusingly, “...you idiot, do you honestly think I’d allow you to be left alone? Let alone touched?” he paused, his voice trailing, “...you haven’t eaten today. Why not think about food instead.” he grouched, but he was trying.

* * *

Her POV

She was ashamed to be crying over something that felt so trivial compared to the actual things she’d been through, but she couldn’t stop. She wiped her eyes, trying her best to keep herself together. Crying in front of a man who was busy jacking off was even more humiliating. It’s not like Vegeta really cared. Of course he didn’t. He had other things to worry about. She sniffed and covered her face with her hands, trying to will herself to stop crying. But the more she thought about how out of place she felt, the worse it got, until she finally heard Vegeta arise from his place on the bed. He stepped behind her, and she waited for him to tell her to shut up.

…And while he did sort of imply that, he was… Gentle about it. Like when they were in bed. He was trying. She looked back at him with slightly raised brows as he spoke, telling her how she hadn’t eaten yet. Somehow, his words were comforting. He’d passed the test. He’d shown her that he wouldn’t hurt her, or let anyone else hurt her. …She couldn’t even explain the feelings going through her head at that moment. She wouldn’t say she loved him, but he made her feel so safe and protected. Even though there’s no reason why he should. She turned around and gave him a kiss on the lips. Short and sweet, before backing away again.

“You have a point. I haven’t brushed my teeth again yet, either. I’m… Going to go to my room for a little bit. I–” She was going to tell him that she’d only be a minute, but then she thought of what he said. That he wouldn’t let her be alone. And the last thing she wanted to do was be alone. So she grabbed his wrist and began pulling him along to the door. “I want you to come with me. Then we can go eat breakfast. I’ll make pancakes, okay? And waffles, and eggs, and crepes. You probably have never eaten anything like what I’ll give you. I didn’t get to see your first experience eating Earth food before, so I don’t want to miss out this time.”

She opened the door and walked down the hall in the direction of her room, doing twists and turns until she had brought him all the way to her room. It wasn’t too long a walk, but it certainly must have been confusing for someone who didn’t know the layout of the huge house. But once they got there, she dropped his wrist and went for her closet, picking out her clothes for the day. …It’d been so stupid of her to cry before about not feeling comfortable. She missed this. She missed her clothes. She missed her walk-in closet. She was certainly going to find a way to bring all of this with her.

“I’m thinking, too… We can go to the amusement park today. And then I’ll do some stuff in the lab when we get back. I want to show you how Earthlings live, like I said I would. …And by the way, you’re going to brush your teeth again today. You guys should keep up with that! Or, you at least. I don’t care about the other idiots. But you have to, if you want to keep kissing me. I’m not going to kiss you if you keep tasting as gross as you do.”

* * *

His POV

And just like that, her excessive crying dwindled to a simmer. There was no way of knowing if he’d been of any aid at all, in fact he felt more like a fox in a hen house. Cranky and out of place. But never the less, her mood lightened, and surprisingly she placed a soft kiss to his hard pressed mouth. He wasn’t expecting it, but it did help sooth his stagnant irritation. The tension he’d been holding in his shoulders since her sobbing had begun, dropped. At first he expected it to end there. For her to walk away and demand her privacy, as she so often did. But it never came. Instead, he found her reaching for him yet again. His nose scrunched, but he allowed it.

“You didn’t miss much,” he murmured; he’d eaten his last meal so fast he hadn’t had time to taste it. Still, food sounded good. Vegeta noticed the steady grip she still had on his arm, listening to her babble on about nonsense. Teeth brushing and amusement parks that had nothing to do with sex. Excellent, he’d been denied his morning fuck and was now being forced into grooming again. Was there even a point in kissing if he wasn’t completely sure he’d get to fuck her in the end? Kami, what was he doing. At least her spirits had brightened, at least that sinking rock in the pit of his stomach hid its ugly head.

“Don’t bother sparing any expense on my behalf. I can’t imagine your world looks any different from the rest.” that was a bit harsh, but it was his thought process. He’d been so many places, how could Earth different? Though... he had to admit, his experience on her planet so far felt like the twilight zone, completely different. Vegeta sat on the edge of her massive mattress. Watching the female flutter around her room like a happy little lark. She did look different in these settings. More so then the rest of the house. Bulma looked like she fit here, and he couldn’t take his eyes away from her odd behavior. Clothing, grooming, it seemed it took her mind off of things without her even knowing. He was learning.

“I’m much more interested in these labs of yours,” he followed up. Crossing his arms over his bare chest, he watched with further intensity. Wondering what next feat she’d pull out of her closet. Her labs really did interest him, too. Ever since she claimed she could improve his suits and armor. He had to say, it was something worth sticking around this planet for if she could pull it off. Who knew what other technologies this earthling had up her sleeve. She did have a reputation for pulling things out of thin air, after all.

* * *

Her POV

“How do you know that? You haven’t seen it. My world’s much different than anything I’ve seen in space! It’s better. There’s less fighting. I mean, there is… But not the parts I want to show you.” She took a while to look through her stuff, before eventually picking out a white tube top, some cute jean shorts, a black sports jacket, and a pair of white sneakers that she loved wearing so much. …It was nice, having her whole arsenal of shoes back. She really, really wasn’t leaving those behind! And with her whole outfit in her arms, she walked back out of the closet and dropped everything on her bed as Vegeta continued to talk. Her lab, hm? Yeah, of course he’d be. 

“That can wait till later,” she replied as she sat down at her vanity and began pulling all her makeup out from the dressers, relieved to see everything back where it was. God, it’d been so long since she last wore makeup! Much less makeup she had bought herself! Too bad for Vegeta, this would probably take a while. She pulled her hair back and out of the way with a headband, and immediately began applying all of it, going through her usual motions that would typically take at least half an hour to complete. But it was nice; not just with Vegeta there to talk to. It was nice to be able to do this again. She felt more like herself. She could control her appearance.

“What are we going to do when we go back to space, by the way? You’re probably going to go pick up a job, right? I want to be able to help pick which one you guys go on. Since I’m coming with you, I deserve a say, right?” She focused only on looking in the mirror at herself as she worked, using all kinds of brushes and sponges to apply makeup. Though in the middle of it, she looked a little strange with her contouring job, with little spots all over her. It was perfectly natural to her, although she was a tad bit rusty by now, but to Vegeta it must have looked like she was performing some kind of ritual.

“Like… I said before how I didn’t want it to be a planet with innocent people. There’s got to be planets with only bad guys, right? …Heh, sort of like your planet, before… You know.” Maybe it was in poor taste, but she couldn’t help but reference it. She was sure she knew all three of them were bad, anyway. He never seemed to really mind when she called him a monster, an asshole, and whatever else. “We should go to a planet like that. I wouldn’t feel bad at all! Or a planet that’s… You know. Like that one planet that we went to, that I almost froze to death in. I hate the cold, but no one seemed to live there, right?” Not that she knew of, anyway. “We should go do another job like that.”

* * *

His POV

So, the little earthling was still planning on going back with him, was she? Vegeta had to admit he’d expected her to have second thoughts by now, considering that morning. Not to mention how completely comfortable she appeared in these strange settings. But by the sounds of it, Bulma wasn’t just planning on returning with him, she was already making plans of upping her status; having a hand in calling the shots. As if he’d ever allow it. She may of had placement and value to him, respect even, but hand choosing jobs was under his dictatorship. It just came along with being a prince. What, now she wanted to be an adviser, an equal? He had to hand it to her, she had tenacity. A small smile crept into his lips at the thought.

Then she said it, the mentioning of his planet, and Vegeta felt a sting run through his body. The likes that wiped the pleasant look off of his face. He remained silent, though. His elbows on his thighs, fingers pressed tip to tip between his knees; still and unemotional. As if she hadn’t said anything at all. He really didn’t give a damn, not about his people, but something about it didn’t set right. And it all came down to what Kuriza had told him just a little while ago. The wound was still a little fresh. The prince refused to think about it. Blowing off the sensation as easily as he blew out a hot breath of air. Sitting up properly, crossing his arms, talking to her in his stern and usual princely manner.

“You’d willfully go back into conditions like that?” his brow arched, surprised. The female whined the entire time they were on that frozen rock. All to save a few ‘innocent’. His head shook, she really was something else, something strange to him. “If you’re looking for a planet like Vegeta-sai, you’re never going to find it,” he bit out, he just couldn’t hold his prideful tongue forever, “...the Saiyan race was one of the finest in the galaxy.” ah, now his ego was properly inflated, now he could continue, “A few planets have bounties on them, the same as your so called criminals. Issued by their enemies or aristocrats looking to expand. Other planets, uncharted planets, are free reign. Easily sold for a few credits if you can bring them into the ring. When I go to the Trade Federation, I choose the most suitable job at the time.” In other words, it had to do a lot with his pride and status, the trust placed in him by his men to make a decision.

Vegeta found himself staring at the girl’s reflection in the vanity mirror. Spellbound by the odd display that was her applying makeup. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen. Could he stare any harder? For a moment he could barely recognize her; putting him in some kind of warped daze. He’d been so caught up in watching her brush the soft blush over her cheek, or dot the strange substance onto her skin, that he’d rattled on more than he usually would have. Spilling information that he usually kept to himself. Why was he telling her this, anyhow? Why was some part of him expecting her input? Probably because he knew the female always had something to say... Still, he was curious, enough that he continued, “…it’s unusual for anyone to accompany me into the Trade Federation,” he said lowly, meeting her gaze in the mirror. She’d already been in twice with him, hadn’t she?

* * *

Her POV

“If I have a nice warm room and some warm clothes, I’ll go back. Just so long as we’re only there for so long. Just till you guys complete your mission.” She shrugged her shoulders and watched him through the reflection in the mirror, finding it entertaining to watch him attempt to figure out what she was doing with herself. She did look silly at the moment, sure, just plastering her face with things as she got ready to contour. …And even better, he was listening to her without dismissing her. He seemed to like the idea of selling planets of criminals rather than innocent groups of people. That was good to know. She wouldn’t have to worry too much, then. He wouldn’t be going and pillaging the planets of innocents. 

She began blending her makeup together, and as she did so, Vegeta caught her gaze again. Mumbled something about people not coming with him to the trading post that he sold planets at. Now that he mentioned it, Nappa and Raditz usually waited outside. But she always came with. Usually because he didn’t trust her alone nor with his men. Was he trying to make a point here? …She knew she was important. Raditz and Nappa listened to her commands on Namek without arguing too much. She was an important member of the group. Hell, she could get away with ordering Vegeta around. She could get away with telling him ‘no.’ Considering the three acted like a group of apes with their hierarchy, she knew she was a unique case. She kept quiet, instead focusing on her makeup until enough time passed that she felt she could speak up again.

“…Anyway, I want to come in with you next time we go and help figure out which one we’ll go to.” She stuck to her guns as she blended her makeup, and when she was finished, she went on to eyeshadow. Spending a good few minutes getting the colors just right, and giving it just the right amount of shine. When she was finally done, she added some eyeliner, filled in her eyebrows, and added mascara. She lined her lips and covered them in a dark pink lipstick, and finally, finally, after what felt like at least a good thirty minutes of doing makeup, she pulled her headband off and… Started on her hair. Yeah, this was going to take a while. That was obvious enough as she began combing it out.

* * *

His POV

There were always conditions to the girl’s demands, weren’t there? Vegeta rolled his eyes, but continued listening, intently staring through the mirror. It seemed Bulma understood what he was getting at when it came to her status in their ranking if she was to go with him into the Trade Post. Good, it really wasn’t something he wanted to have to admit to out loud. An unspoken respect, a change in her status that they both understood. If her status climbing grew any from there was yet to be seen, it would be difficult for her, too. It was amazing that the girl had gotten to where she was with the trio of ruthless apes, let alone survived their tyranny and animalistic ways. In fact, strangely, she was beginning to fit in.

“I don’t need any help... the most you’ll be doing is observing.” he said matter-of-factually. The prince wasn’t ready to hand her over that much power, even if she would just be playing the role of an adviser. That was his job, his crème de la crème. Soldiers obeyed, generals gave orders, but initial decisions of war and rampage only came from an elite. Like Vegeta. At least in his culture. That thought normally would have filled him with an over-bloated sense of pride, but he was distracted.

Vegeta was completely devoted to watching the female apply her make up. His ravenous soul soothed by her smoothing her fingers over her milky skin, and amazingly change her face right before his very eyes. It reminded him somewhat of the looks of whores in a brothel, but with more class. She looked beautiful, he had to admit. While he may have preferred her natural appearance, there was something entrancing about how drastically she’d changed her facade. Even the unease of that morning had been all but forgotten by the prince.

“You’re still not finished?” he absentmindedly spouted off his surprise. Arching a brow and shifting his weight on the bed, eyeing her suspiciously. What the hell could she possibly do now? And to her hair of all things. Hair care was something that may always escape Vegeta, seeing as his returned to its natural form no matter what. He may have looked annoyed with the revelation that she still wasn’t finished, but that same perplexed look soon over took him. And he was staring... again. Paying attention to every little move the female made. Not only through the mirror this time, but to her very being.

* * *

Her POV

“Why? I’ve done plenty of observing already,” she complained, though only half-heartedly. She was far more focused on what she was doing– and ignoring his dumb comments about her not being done yet. She began sectioning her hair, clipping certain parts up and out of the way, and… Grabbed a pair of scissors. Hair scissors, sitting in a little cup in the corner of the vanity. She played with a section of hair for a bit, getting it to the correct position so that she wouldn’t screw up, and she began cutting her hair. Not too much; only enough of a trim to get rid of the split ends and breakage that had formed in the two or so months she’d been gone. She glanced over at Vegeta after she was finished, just gauging his reaction. He’d been surprised before even just at the fact her hair grew, right? He’d certainly be horrified now.

“I’m cutting off the split ends. It’s getting messy,” she finally answered, looking down as she began getting another section of hair ready. She began cutting, taking her time. She still had to style after this, but she’d rather make sure not to fuck up, even if her stomach was growling from hunger. That could wait. She was used to surviving on scraps and having long periods of times before meals; she would have no problem waiting another hour longer. So she kept cutting her hair, section by section, until she was finally finished some ten or twenty minutes later.

She combed out her hair again after that, and finally, she began styling. Putting all kinds of product in her hair to make it more voluminous and interesting. She teased her hair, looking in the mirror as she decided what exactly to do with it. She began to hum as she worked, mostly just messing around with her hair as she tried to decide how exactly to style it. Finally, she decided on just leaving it teased and fluffy without doing anything all too interesting. That’s when she finally turned to Vegeta to see how he thought of it.

“How do I look so far, huh? You’ve only seen me in makeup one time before, and… I don’t think you were really paying attention until I was crying too much for it to still look nice.”

* * *

His POV

She must have seen the blatant question in his eyes the moment she began snipping off chunks of her own hair. Vegeta even had the inclination to stand from his seat. As if the girl was about to harm herself, as if she was about to do something completely outrageous. Which to him, she sort of was. He didn’t sit back down, but rather stood with his arms tucked firmly over his bare chest. Watching, oh so intently. It must of been Vegeta’s most ‘what the fuck’ expression yet.

His eyes narrowed, his mouth pressed, and he could have burned a hole through her if he had the power of laser vision. The soft flutter of her dismembered hair pooling at his feet the closer he crept up behind her, until he was practically hovering over her dainty vanity chair. He glanced over her new appearance again, both in the mirror and down at her questioning face. Come to think of it, he had noticed her hair growing over the last couple of months. It had been shorter when they’d ‘met’. Though the ‘make up’ comment went completely over his head. She was right - he hadn’t given enough of a damn about her back then to notice.

“ _Grnnn_...” was his only answer to her question of how she looked. He shrugged, turning his attention away as if he cared even less than before. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, anyone could have seen that, but Vegeta was never one to wear his heart on his sleeve. His gaze traveled over the surface of her nearby dresser. Topped with things he couldn’t place, but one item stood out. A framed photo of what appeared to be a young girl and two young boys, one older than the other. He stared at it. The female in the picture looked like Bulma, it had to be Bulma, only a very younger version. Youth was kind to her, she was lucky she hadn’t been found at a younger age. The black market would of had no mercy on her with those looks.

“I’ll be buying your planet,” he decided to finally admit; said as casually as idle chatter. It wasn’t something he’d planned on revealing until off planet. But since it seemed like the girl was hell bent on entering the Trading Post with him, he might as well tell her now while he was in the mood. Besides, she’d need to know that her planet wasn’t doomed to repeat its history if she decided to stay after all. It also meant if she did decide to stay, he’d know she’d be safe. Something that pushed his motives to buy the planet more than anything else. Vegeta’s vision never left the youthful photo, but he did add, “...it’ll keep your backwater planet from coming up on the market’s radar again. I’m not dealing with this shit a second time.” In other words, he was covering his tracks, in other words he was keeping her people safe, and in his own name no less.

* * *

Her POV

He pretended not to care, but he’d gotten so close, and had a somewhat worried look on his face. She snorted in response as she got off her chair, leaving Vegeta to do as he pleased while she got to the bed and started stripping off her clothes in order to change. She had begun pulling on her new outfit when Vegeta spoke up suddenly, causing her to look over her shoulder with wide eyes. What? Wha– Why did he look so calm? Her mind instantly had gone to the worst, assuming he meant to buy it to do terrible things. But– But… He didn’t look guilty. Or ashamed. Was that because he just didn’t care? No, there was something else.

She turned to him as she pulled her shirt on, the tension loosening from her brows somewhat as he explained. …He wasn’t doing something terrible. He was just making sure no one tried to kill off all humans again. A smile formed on her face, and she finished getting completely dressed before walking to the dresser next to him. She followed his gaze to see him staring at a picture of her posing with Goku and Yamcha back when she was just a teenager, but shrugged it off to start looking through her dresser. Filled with Yamcha’s clothes.

“You need to get dressed. Things are going to be a little too big for you, but it’s better than letting you just wear those sweatpants. If I’m going to be dressed so cute, I don’t want you looking like a homeless person in comparison.” She began weeding through the dresser, which was by now clearly Yamcha’s– at least when he slept in Bulma’s room. All her stuff was in her walk-in closet; the dresser was specifically for him to put his clothes.

She took out some black trousers, a grey shirt, another pair of underwear, and a black leather jacket. Stylish, but simple enough she figured he wouldn’t complain too much. She handed it all over to him in a heap and closed the dresser drawer, before resting her hands on her hips and staring at him.

“There. That’s what you wear. Put it on, and we can go down and get breakfast.”

* * *

His POV

He wasn’t surprised when the girl strolled up beside him so casually, but what did take Vegeta off guard, was Bulma’s lack of chatter over the subject of him buying her planet. It was a relief, to say the least. The girl seemed to accept it and understand his motives without the use of meaningless words. He may of been expecting an ear full, or perhaps even a little backlash for his decision, but finding her quiet was a pleasant surprise. However, that cool facade he was wearing quickly faded as soon as Bulma drew open the dresser drawer…

It smelt terrible. It smelt like another male, and not just any male, that mutt that’d been lurking around the compound. She expected him to wear this? Vegeta made sure to gain the girls eye contact, drilling his un-approving snarl into her direction. Forcing him into the baggy sweat pants were one thing, but expecting him to wear clothing that was heavily scented with another male? Just who did she think she was dealing with here? He was a prince, and should be treated as one! Not given hand-me-downs like some popper or homeless- …wait, isn’t that just what she’d called him? Told him that he looked homeless? Well... that was difficult to disagree with... As much as he’d never admit it, Vegeta felt as if he were currently wearing servants’ rags. Plus, well, it meant food. Was there need for more of an argument?

“If you’re going to strip me of my suit, I demand proper clothing as soon as possible!” he argued, but took the clothing regardless. Proper clothing meaning a fresh set of spandex; Vegeta was still holding her to her word of preparing him a more durable set of clothing. Teeth gnashed and nose snarled, curling his lip up over a growl as he stripped of the sweat pants and slipped angrily into the underwear and trousers. At least the underwear were trunks rather than briefs this time, and at least they smelt unused. He had to pull them up as quickly as possible to resist the urge of doing what he really wanted to do - track down his tattered, smelly suit pants and boots, and wear them instead.

“Food,” he ground out - demanded more like it. The leather of his jacket collar swept up much like his jet black hair. He looked frustrated, but at least he was getting over it the more he settled into his new attire; even if the pants were a little big on him. His wide shoulders and chest filled out the shirt and jacket nicely and he took whatever footwear she gave him with only mild complaint. Aside from the tail draping from his backside, it was hard to tell he was anything but human at all. Vegeta didn’t utter a single word. No, only the steely look on his face told what he was thinking now. He tore for the door, ripping it open and heading out of the bedroom door, shoving his hands in his new pockets. The sooner he had food in his belly, the sooner he could get his mind settled onto other things. For instance, getting this day over and done with.

* * *

Her POV

“I will, I will.” Eventually. Ugh, she had to make a suit for him, right. She’d nearly forgotten, really. She let out a little huff and closed the dresser drawers before turning around and letting him change. Soon enough he was demanding food, and Bulma looked over her shoulder at him and snorted before nodding her head and heading out the door. Leading him to the kitchen, which took some time as always– and revealed that not only had her mother already started on breakfast, but the two Saiyans had been up for some time. And her mother had given them clothing.

She was cooking lots and lots of eggs, lots and lots of sausage, lots and lots of bacon, and so on. The Saiyans sat hungrily at the table, waiting for their food. …It was odd getting used to, and something about seeing the men in the environment of her safe, sweet home made knots in her stomach. She gulped down her fears and tried to ignore it as she walked over to her mother to check what she was doing– pancakes and crepes and waffles, too. All kinds of breakfast foods. Good, she’d said she’d want to show Vegeta what food on Earth was like.

She glanced back at the Saiyans again, finding Nappa’s eyes seemingly locked on her mom’s butt. It made her feel sick some more. If it wasn’t for the fact she hadn’t eaten anything since last night, she’d probably have no appetite at all. She didn’t want to eat, but she was starving. She gulped and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to keep calm. It seemed stupid, to feel the way she did. But something felt like it’d hit her since she’d walked into the room. And the more she stood there, she was feeling more heavy. She couldn’t help but just think of… Everything.

“Bulma, dear, you should start putting everything out for everyone to eat! I’m glad you made it down without sleeping in too long, I was just waiting for you to wake up! Your father’s already had his food and headed downstairs to work, and Yamcha and Pu’ar went out for a walk, so it’s just all of us! It’s so exciting, it feels like a party! I love this, I can’t believe you have so many interesting friends!” She said it so calmly, as if she didn’t remember everything. But that’s how she always was. Both her parents. They could be faced with the end of the universe, and they’d still be smiling and calm. Geeze.

She glanced back at the Saiyans again, but did as her mom said after a moment of hesitation. She began taking plates of food and dropping them off on the table for any of the three to grab, from eggs (of various types; scrambled, sunny-side-up, poached, whatever) to bacon to sausages and toast. Whatever her mother had put out. …She felt so odd. Like she was in a daze, doing it. Like she wasn’t all there. She hadn’t even spoken since coming into the room.

* * *

His POV

It wasn’t difficult to find his way to the kitchen, with or without the earthlings help. The smells rolling up the stairwell were… amazing. It smelt like food, but… coupled with something else. Something almost earthy but not. It’d be a lie to say Vegeta’s curiosity wasn’t peeked when it came to earthling cuisine. He’d heard Bulma rattle off about it enough, and now that he was getting his first accounts of the strange meals (cooking rather than cold and saran wrapped) his stomach began audibly making itself known. As soon as the two breezed through the doorway, Raditz stood to attention, having to jab Nappa in the shoulder to get his eyes off of Mrs. Briefs butt and stand alert as well.

Vegeta ignored his men casually, taking the open seat at the table like he owned the place. The sunny colors and hiss of frying meat in the lavished dining area overwhelmed his senses. His attention only faltered once or twice though, staying fixed on the girl and her ever growing odd behavior. Bulma was acting strange. She’d shown such boldness against her fears during their travels. But here in the place she begged for, her homeland, she seemed - afraid. While his men may not have been able to detect it, he could see it in the way she moved and her unnatural silence. The sapphire even began doing as the yellow woman commanded. Since when could anyone tell her what to do so easily? He eyed the yellow earthling... That one… she must of been the highest of the hierarchy in this place.

“No, no, you gotta do it like this, see.” it was Nappa, scolding Raditz over his ‘form’ of pouring tea from the tea pot on the table. The big man smacked the younger’s hand away. Picking up the pot and pouring it angrily into the tiny floral cup. Obviously something that Mrs. Briefs had shown him in the short time they’d been on the planet. What else the two had gotten up, only kami knew. Raditz however, was totally disgruntled. Crossing his arms and impatiently waiting for food, any food. Tea just wasn’t enough to entertain a hungry Saiyan. Well, that is unless you were a puppy-love struck Nappa.

The moment Bulma began dispersing plates of meat, the pecking order roared to life… It was a scene from a cave all over again. The two soldiers drooling over the steamy platters. Vegeta growling as interference and taking his picks first. Only after his plate had been filled beyond capacity with every type of meat available, were the two allowed to munch. And oh, munch they did. They seemed to be enjoying the tastes of earth. Vegeta in particularly... Now he understood the odd scents he was picking up earlier. It was in the fucking meat. He paused, eyes growing wide, his brain visibly flickering to life. Then... he really began to dig in. Eggs didn’t taste of egg, ham tasted of honey, what the hell?! The spicy sausage seemed to have his special attention...

* * *

Her POV

Bulma finished putting all the plates down, but stared in disgust at the sight before her. It never got any less strange to watch them fight over food. …She looked back at her mom, who was still cooking, and went back to help her. Not necessarily by doing as she said this time– just by getting two plates and filling them up with a proper amount of food so that the Saiyans wouldn’t eat everything before either of them got a chance. She was used to going hungry by now, but… She really wanted to enjoy Earth food while she was here. And she didn’t think she’d be around much longer.

She brought her plate to the table and sat down next to Vegeta, eyeing him as he ate. Like pigs at the trough. Gobbling everything up even more aggressively than usual; did that mean they liked it? …Her stomach growled hungrily, but she still didn’t have an appetite. She’d eaten similar to Saiyans before thanks to being starved so many times, but certainly not now. She began to eat, but rather than a pig, she looked a lot more like a bird with how sparse and small and nervous her bites were.

The food tasted delicious, but something about it unsettled her. She knew what it was– it made her think of how long it’s been since she tasted it. Months. She’d gone so long eating dusty crumbs, burnt meat, raw mushrooms, whatever she could get her hands on just to survive… And now she was able to eat a real breakfast again. She felt so stupid for how many times she’d cried since she’d been home, and yet here she was again. Crying at the table, as she slowly ate her scrambled eggs. She must have looked like an idiot. She was thankful the Saiyans all seemed too interested in their food, and her mother was more focused on cooking. 

She couldn’t explain why it’d been so hard for her. Everything felt difficult. She just felt wrong. Broken. She wanted so badly to belong, but the more she stayed and enjoyed what her house was like, the more she thought about the times before this. How many times had she nearly died by now? How many times had she been shoved in the dirt and stripped of both her clothes and her dignity? She wasn’t like how she used to be, no matter how much she really, truly wished she was. It wasn’t like how she imagined being home. It made her feel even worse knowing that. She couldn’t even enjoy being home, because all she could think about… Was everything she’d been through.

She stared down at her bacon and sniffed. She felt like a little kid, crying into her breakfast like she was. Her gaze turned back to Vegeta. …What’d he think of her, now that she was back, and constantly crying? Maybe he’d decide to not even bring her with. It must be annoying. …She’d have to hope not, though; it’d be hell, being stuck here in a place where she no longer fit in. With people that couldn’t protect her. Sure, Vegeta would be buying her planet. But… But still.

* * *

His POV

To say the Saiyans were enjoying their meal would of been a drastic understatement. They were in hog heaven, eating mostly pig ironically. Nothing seemed to be able to detour their attention away from the heaping piles of food that Mrs. Briefs kept shoveling onto their plates. Nappa particularly made sure to show his appreciation with gross, flirty glances. They’d demolished most of the meat. Vegeta staring down a towering stack of pancakes, wolfing down one after another. Oblivious to the girl picking at her meal beside him …that is until his ear caught the soft sound of her sniffling.

Vegeta stopped short; his jaw clenching mid bite. He didn’t move, rather his eye rolled over in her direction. The girl’s food appeared untouched, her chest softly rising like that of whimpers, he even caught notice of the dark lines her makeup was forming from her tear stains. She was crying. Why the fuck was she crying this time? Hadn’t he done everything she’d asked? The irritation of it all forced a rough, gravelly sigh from his chest. Bulma was right about one thing, Vegeta found it annoying, but he wasn’t as cruel about it as she may of anticipated.

She was close enough for him to nudge shoulder to shoulder, just barely, before returning to his meal. To some the nudge may have meant ‘cut it out’, but not Vegeta’s. It meant ‘eat’, she’d need the nutrition. His gaze never lifted from his next bite, but he was fully aware of the girl this time. His jaw pop, pop, popping whenever he took a larger than usual mouthful. Honestly he’d given up on his fork and had resorted to sandwiching bacon between stacks of the pancakes and biting into it like a breakfast burger. His mouth fully extending open just to fit the massive thing in, then, pop!

“Where’s that cute boy? If you’re going to have someone to flirt with, I could at least look at some good tail.” murmured Raditz to Nappa. A little pissed off that he hadn’t been able to hunt down anyone to fuck in a while. The choices here were slim, and honestly the male from before was kind of cute.

Vegeta grunted, interrupting, “...now I know why you wouldn’t shut up about this crap.” he gave Bulma a back handed but well-meant complement about her planets cuisine, sinking his teeth happily into another bite. Then, he paused again, glancing silently her way. Was she eating yet? He grunted again, urging her to pick up her fork.

Raditz nor Nappa noticed or cared about her sniffling. But Raditz was eyeing his orange juice… After a sip, he stuck out his tongue, “…uh, I think the milk here has gone sour.” It was creamy, why not think it was dairy?

* * *

Her POV

She couldn’t stop crying. She remembered that she had put makeup on, and that it was probably slowly getting ruined by her getting over-emotional, but she couldn’t stop herself. She wiped her eyes as gently as she could so not to ruin her makeup more than it already was, and was able to stop herself from crying… Mostly. She was definitely crying, but at least the tears only came on occasion instead of in a steady, thick stream. She got control over herself, just as Vegeta elbowed her and tried to gesture to her to tell her to eat. She sniffled and tried her best, eating it bite by bite and much, much slower than her usual pace, much less the pace of the Saiyans.

She glanced at Raditz as he started talking about the ‘cute boy,’ and it took her a moment to realize that he was referring to Yamcha. Yamcha, of all people? She wasn’t aware that Raditz was into the other gender. …Good thing her ex-boyfriend wasn’t around in the first place, or he’d be more than pissed to know what one of his killers had been saying. The last thing she needed at that moment was stress from another fight. She had plenty of stress as it was, and didn’t need a lick more of it. She could barely even focus enough to keep a conversation. Vegeta was talking to her. Attempting to, in his own way, compliment her on the food from her planet.

She managed to finally quell her crying after she was half-done with her meal, but she still couldn’t really keep herself under control. She kept thinking of how odd and wrong things felt. About how she thought going back home would be, versus how it ended up being. Perhaps it was the presence of the Saiyans in her home that was making her so nervous, but at the same time, they were what made everything feel more natural. When she looked at them, it gave her the most unusual feeling of comfort that she didn’t feel when she looked at anyone else. Her mother, her father, Yamcha… …Now that she thought of it, she hadn’t even seen Oolong or Pu’ar yet. Maybe they were making themselves scarce. She couldn’t blame them, with the Saiyans around. It might make her feel even more uncomfortable to have them around, anyway.

“…That’s not milk, it’s orange juice,” she replied, though just as quickly as she spoke up to Raditz’s complaint (though in a quiet voice, thanks to her still feeling down), her mother took Raditz’s cup from him and set it aside. She replaced it just a moment later with a cup of milk instead, and gave him a sweet pat on the top of his head.

_“Just tell me next time if you want milk instead! It’s no problem for me, you’re a guest! I’d be so rude if I didn’t keep track of my guests and make them feel as comfortable as possible.”_

* * *

His POV

He couldn’t understand what was going on. Something was wrong with the woman, that was clear enough, but Vegeta couldn’t pin point a damn thing when it came to how she felt. He’d given her everything she’d wanted. He’d brought back her planet from the brink of death, what more could she want? She wanted to cry, apparently, and to the stern hearted Saiyan, that just wasn’t going to cut it. The sapphire needed to get herself out of this homecoming funk, it didn’t suit her in the slightest. Ironically, he was just the one to force her out of it, one way or another.

“What the hell are you crying about now?” his brow twitched, his patience was beginning to recede as badly as his hairline. “God damn it woman, I’ll go wherever the fuck you want, just…” just stop crying - it was obviously what he was getting at, but that felt a little too caring for Vegeta’s liking. Instead, he followed up with a soft but annoyed, “…. just eat your damn food.” At least he meant that, too. His anger simmered and the prince went back to his meal. Whittling away the last remainders of breakfast until there was nothing left but a few pancakes. One of which he slid onto Bulma’s plate after a long thought about eating it. If asked, he’d say he didn’t prefer the taste of sweet cakes, but the reality was he’d gotten into the habit of making sure she’d eaten her fill.

Nappa had long since left the table in order to pursue the unknowing blonde that was Mrs. Briefs. If the big bloke couldn’t touch her, he could still loom over her shoulder and put away the plates for her like a ‘big strong man with nice facial hair’ couldn’t he? Raditz, however, was on his third glass of milk (he really liked it apparently and kept ‘ordering’ more), giving Bulma and Vegeta the oddest of looks from across the table. Something had definitely changed about the two since they’d landed, and it wasn’t just their clothing. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think his prince was worried. But what for? They were going to leave the female, weren’t they?

Vegeta caught the obscure glimpse Raditz threw him, and instantly barked like a mad dog. It meant ‘fuck off’ and Raditz took it literally. Sighing and chugging his last glass of dairy, Raditz backed away from the table, but not before muttering, “maybe I should go bother my brother.”

Vegeta merely grunted, standing next. His men knew the rules - no purging while they were on this world. As long as Raditz kept his nose out of his business, or didn’t muck anything up, he really couldn’t give a damn what he did. Vegeta’s only regard was towards Bulma, and getting her out of that damn house as soon as possible. He didn’t like the effects it had on her. It reminded him too much of her reaction from her time with Zarbon.

* * *

Her POV

He was chastising her. She could hear him, telling her off and complaining about her crying. She’d stopped, but it’s not like she intended to cry like some stupid idiot. She just couldn’t help it. The atmosphere of the home made her feel so exhausted and sad all that felt right to do was cry. It wasn’t her fault. She just felt so compelled to cry. Even now, the only reason she wasn’t was because she didn’t even think that she had any more tears to spare. She gripped her orange juice and guzzled it down to make up for dehydration, and caught Vegeta putting a pancake onto her still half-full plate. …He still never seemed to understand that she couldn’t eat like a Saiyan could. Her body was different.

“…We’re going to that amusement park, then,” she replied, nodding. She continued to eat, still slow, and glanced at Vegeta. He used to not care the slightest about her. She couldn’t help but wonder why it had all changed. He could dump her here and leave forever, if he wanted. But he had been excited when she said that she wanted to stay with him. He told her she wasn’t a slave anymore, and did his best to keep her safe and comfortable and happy. Going so far as to promise to buy her planet in order to protect it from being conquered and sold again by someone like him. …Or someone like how he used to be, given that now he was willing to try and change his ways and no longer hurt innocents. There was no reason for him to do all this, and yet there he was. Worried sick about her.

It took her a while, but she finished her food. She was damn full by the end of that pancake, but she knew he’d bother her if she didn’t eat it. So she struggled through, and… In the middle of eating the bites she’d cut, she reached out with her free hand and grabbed his. Holding his hand silently as she ate. It… Was comforting. More so than his words or gestures, though they did help. She wanted something a little less Saiyan and more human to make her feel better, even if he didn’t understand the gesture. She kept ahold of his strong hand, too, even when she finished. She got up and pulled him up as well, pilling the dishes together and taking them only to the sink. Nappa seemed to have dish cleaning (and mom-watching) duty under control so… She’d just leave, then. It made her nervous, but at the same time, so did everything lately.

“…Come on, we’re going to go to that park. You can tell me how you like that. But first… I didn’t ruin my makeup too badly, did I?”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One problem with these chapters is that you can see the series really starting to slow down around this point for a bit. It was hard for us to get through this arc when writing it! It makes sense as a 'falling action.'
> 
>   
> 


	44. Amusement.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta and Bulma go to an amusement park.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

‘Amusement Park’. That’s all she could talk about since she’d arrived back on her homeworld. What it was, Vegeta hadn’t the slightest clue. She’d shot down any similarities he knew of in his own culture, so he really had nothing to go on. That didn’t mean he’d willingly go, however. The prince was just as stuck-up and stubborn on her planet as he was anywhere else. It’d take a miracle to get him to go anywhere near a crowd of bustling carnies and screaming children. Lucky for Bulma, and unluckily for Vegeta, he assumed his agreeing to go with her had shushed her sobbing. She’d finally stopped. It was worth putting him through …whatever she had in mind… if it kept her tears quiet.

She was eating too, making his sacrifice to join her doubly worth it. What he wasn’t anticipating however, was her reaching out and taking his hand. Holding it. His brow cocked. Why the fuck was she holding it? His head tilted in contemplation, staring at the odd behavior. Did she fear he’d run off and leave her? Was the girl so uncomfortable being left on her own? She had crawled into his chambers the other night… Vegeta hadn’t the slightest clue that the act was bringing the girl comfort. Simple solace. Earthlings.

Her touch was cool and delicate, so contrasting compared to his much larger paw. He never returned the sweet, human gesture, but he did allow the girl to twine their fingers as she ate. He’d long since finished off his meal and had taken to just ...watching. Silently. Stoically. It was no fun trying to force the woman to eat, so when he witnessed her finish off the cake of her own accord he was more than pleased. A solid huff of air puffed from his chest, meaning he approved of her clean plate.

“You look fine,” he grouched without so much as a glance in her direction, turning his head away as soon as he stood. Then, he finally looked her way; his gaze roaming down the curve of her face. Well, she did sort of look like the panda-eyed aliens from the dark sector, but it wasn’t that bad. There was something war-paint-ish about the dark marks around her lashes. The grunge did little to detour from her beauty, so why the hell should he care? Before he could remark with a rude comment, the male disappeared around the kitchen doorway, heading for the nearest exit. Vegeta could never stay put for too long, especially if it meant getting himself into an awkward conversation.

* * *

  


Her POV

He told her that she looked fine, without even looking at her. Maybe saying that embarrassed him, because he suddenly left the room without even waiting for her to follow. He’d broken the hand-holding. She pursed her lips and took another glance at Nappa and her mother– …For once, Nappa didn’t look particularly vicious, and her mother seemed capable. What was she supposed to do even if she did stick around and keep an eye on them? She let them be, instead opting to turn around and follow Vegeta. He was so goddamn impatient; couldn’t he wait a little? She didn’t even have her wallet on her. And she highly doubted that they’d except whatever alien cash Vegeta kept on him.

“Hey! Wait, hold on a second!” She caught him heading out the door, to which she huffed irritably. …What was he going to do, go without her? As if. Rather than argue with him further, she hurried off to her room again to grab a purse and put her wallet inside. Just as she was about to leave, though, she got distracted by a glance in the mirror. What a damn liar, she didn’t look fine! She had raccoon eyes! Grn… An extra ten to twenty minutes were spent fixing the problem, and by the end of it she was fairly certain that Vegeta was probably stalking around near the entrance of her room somewhere. There was no way he’d be so patient.

As soon as she finished fixing her makeup, she grabbed her purse again and headed out. Not even stopping to look and see if Vegeta was there; he always seemed to know where she was, so she figured that he’d be able to keep up regardless. She went straight out the door of the Capsule Corporation, and that’s when she finally stopped. …She didn’t have any capsules on her, did she? …. Would Vegeta even tolerate capsules? Probably not; he’d think they’re too slow. He’d prefer to fly there, she was sure. She ran her fingers through her hair carefully so as not to mess up her hairdo, and spoke up, expecting Vegeta to be listening.

“You can fly us there. I’ll give you directions. It’s a few blocks right from here. With how big it is and all those roller-coasters, you wouldn’t be able to miss it once it’s close enough. …Maybe then we can do some different things, too. And you can tell me how much you’ve decided you like Earth after all of it.”

* * *

  


His POV

What was taking that damn woman so long? Vegeta had been sure he’d made his escape towards the front door inevitable. But no, there always seemed to be one more thing the female just ‘had to have’ before they made a complete run for it. To say Vegeta was growing ornery would be an understatement. His chest heaved with an irritable gruff, his muscular arms were so tightly bound across his chest that it was pushing his pecks up, and if he scowled any deeper his face may have imploded entirely.

But he followed her, discretely of course. Vegeta wasn’t about to risk a second awkward conversation by stepping inside her bedroom and waiting around for idle chit chat. Who knew what she’d force him into next, if he allowed it. Besides, he was being stubborn. His one tracked mind was determined to focus on nothing more than leaving the house. Bulma had been right in her assumptions, by the time she made her way from her bedroom door, there stood Vegeta. As broody and as off-putting as ever, but standing there waiting none the less.

“Took you long enough,” his voice thundered, but he was following, listening. “So what am I now, your personal transport?” he complained, but he didn’t mean it. Bulma had known him well, of course Vegeta would rather fly than waste time in some slow moving contraption. He may of been being difficult, but the Saiyan still complied. Swooping the girl up into his arms the moment they stepped out of Capsule Corp and into the inviting sunshine, Vegeta finally got a full glimpse of the girl’s face. Her ‘war paint’ was gone. That must of been what she was doing in there, he may have taken a quick moment to stare.

Thanks to Bulma’s directions, coupled with Vegeta’s keen sight, it took no time at all in landing just outside the high gates of the park. The prince allowed the girl to slip from his grasp, taking in the new verity of sights and sounds. The roar of roller-coaster tracks, the giggling of younglings, the scent of cotton candy and sweet fried foods, along with a million other oddities flooded his senses. His nose twitched, aiming it towards the incoming wind; the breeze ruffling his hair and leather collar. Vegeta was not in his element, and the way he was surveying the area made that obvious. He’d just as soon attempt to walk straight into the park without admission (expecting her to follow), if Bulma wasn’t careful.

* * *

  


Her POV

He made some snotty comment like he always did, and finally went ahead and picked her up. She huffed audibly at him, not really in the mood for his attitude. As if she’d ever been in the mood for it. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she looked elsewhere as he began to fly; out at the scenery. Out at her city. Everyone was bustling around as if nothing had ever happened. Maybe everyone just thought it was a dream. She knew her friends and family would know better, but the average person? …She wouldn’t put it passed them, honestly. With how content they all look… There was no way they were as cheery as her parents were and knew what had happened. Her parents were just odd, that’s why they didn’t seem to mind. The average citizen was different.

It was all the more clear that that was exactly the case when Vegeta dropped down to the amusement park. It was crowded, full of people and children. She furrowed her brows and looked around. Really, no one even seemed fazed. It had to be that everyone had collectively decided it was a particularly vivid bad nightmare, then. She shrugged it all off and searched in her purse to get out some money, and handed it off to the person giving out tickets. Enough for two, and she made sure to point at him so that they knew the second admission was for him as he so casually waltz into the park. As soon as their ride tickets were handed out, she caught up to Vegeta and observed him as he… observed everyone else. He, for once in his life, looked out of his element. He clearly wasn’t happy with the crowds.

“Hey. You’re probably hungry again. You monkey freaks always eat like crazy. You can have some of the food they sell here. I want to see you try to eat cotton candy.” She grabbed his hand again and pulled him over to a stand selling it, with a line surprisingly short. She handed money off to the man to give him three cones, and he went to work– a blue and two pink cotton candy cones were created quickly and seemingly out of nothing, and Bulma gave all three of them to Vegeta. There had been an unnerving feeling for her, standing around with all these other people, but as long as she tried to stay focused on the fact she was with Vegeta, things felt better. She’d been around him for so long by now, it calmed her nerves.

“Here, eat this. Then we can try going on some rides.” Though something told her that the food would be far more entertaining for him than the rides. …Would the rides even do anything at all for him? He flew around faster than a car on an average basis, she wouldn’t be surprised if he found them completely boring. She could write those off as being more for her sake than for his. _She_ could still find them fun.

* * *

  


His POV

What an odd situation he’d landed himself in. There was nothing about his surroundings that Vegeta could instantly recognize, aside from the various vendors begging for the public’s attention. That seemed to be a commonality no matter what sector of the universe he found himself in. Everyone had something to sell, but surprisingly enough he wasn’t finding the merchandise he was accustom to. It felt …innocent, in its own way. The civilians around him appeared oblivious despite the chaos he’d caused; much like the girl he’d once called his captive.

It was working in his favor; the crowds around him couldn’t recognize him apart from their own kind. The garb Bulma had given him that morning had come in handy after all. Besides the tail twitching behind him, there were no _tell-tale_ signs he wasn’t one of them. While the idiots bumping into him (and slowly pissing him off) couldn’t pick him out of a crowd, it seemed his little earthling could always catch up. Bulma’s voice pricked his senses, and soon enough he found himself greeted with three large cones of… material? No, sugar. It had to be plant based, perhaps floral, it smelled too sweet to be anything else.

“Sweets …really?” he barked, crinkling his nose. While he wasn’t one for sweets, Vegeta wasn’t about to pass up free food. Tackling it as he always did a meal that was set in front of him, Vegeta ripped right into the mass of blue cotton …only to have it disappear in his mouth. It dissolved instantly over his hot, wet tongue. What the fuck- where did it go? He looked completely bewildered. Was this some sort of joke, a trick? After eyeing Bulma suspiciously he tried again, viciously biting into each flavor, finally getting a portion big enough so that it wouldn’t melt instantly in his mouth.

“What the actual hell, Bulma? Am I supposed to eat it or not?!” he demanded to know, shoving one of the half eaten pink fluff balls into Bulma’s hands. He wanted to see her eat it… to make sure she wasn’t making a fool out of him. It was just about then that Vegeta felt a gentle tugging at his tail. Instantly, brute jerked around, raising his fist, ready to hit the damn fool that dared to intrude on his personal space. He was greeted by the sight of a young boy no more than six years of age, with ashy blond hair and big blue eyes. The kid was pulling o the prince’s tail… and the prince did not look amused. His blood shot anger flared up. Knitting his face, he hissed though his teeth “ _Why you little_ ,” ripping his tail from the kid’s reach, curling it around his waist.

However, the brat didn’t seem to notice Vegeta’s dangerously irritable state and asked, “Hey Mr., Where’d ya’ get the tail? I want one!”

* * *

  


Her POV

The face he made when eating the cotton candy was priceless. He clearly didn’t understand it, and the more he tried to eat, the more entertaining it became. She was able to forget about the problems that kept arising in the back of her mind for a moment, just to watch him struggle with something so simple. She snorted as he all but shoved the cotton candy down his throat, and raised a brow when one of the cones was shoved in her hands. He thought that she was trying to play a trick on her, huh? Trying to make him eat something that couldn’t be eaten at all? She pulled a piece off from the cone and dropped it in her mouth, just as a little boy grabbed both of their attention.

She stared at Vegeta warily. He didn’t act out other than taking his tail back and yelling at the kid, but at the same time… She was nervous. It was so easy for him to kill the little boy if he felt like it, and the boy wasn’t even aware of it. He had no clue how dangerous of a position he was in at that moment. Her lips pursed. She eyed the boy. That familiar feeling of disappointment and dread that had been following her around since she returned to the planet began coming back. The innocence of her old life as a backdrop of her new life, surrounded by dangerous men and no longer the same person she used to be.

“Vegeta.”

She grabbed his jacket and gave him a tug. Her brows furrowed and eyes narrowed at him for a split second, before she turned around and began dragging him elsewhere in the park. Anywhere but around the kid. Anywhere… …She gulped her feelings down and tried to think. She didn’t want to start crying like an idiot again, though her heart was feeling heavy. What else could she do, what else could she do… … …Her eyes turned upward to see a cart of entertained, screaming people falling down the slope of a roller coaster.

“I want to show you what it’s like to be on a roller coaster,” she told him, as if that was the reason she’d pulled him away, and not just because she wanted him to get away from the kid. It seemed like a good enough excuse to her.

* * *

  


His POV

_Vegeta_. The simple murmur of his name pulled his death glare away from the brat and back towards Bulma. It was amazing, with just a whim of her voice she could grab his attention. It hadn’t been that way just months before. At some point in time she’d wiggled her way into his psyche and latched onto it like a helmsman. That didn’t mean he didn’t still want to kill the kid, though. That damn punk, he was getting off easy! If it hadn’t been for the promise he’d made the girl earlier, he’d have toasted the incompetent kid on the spot.

Slowly, Vegeta lowered his fist, allowing Bulma to tug him into a different direction. His shoulders, however, refused to relax. This whole place was crawling with screaming children and hordes of moving bodies. It felt as if they were intentionally attempting to bump into his royal self. At one point a group of wondering males got a little too close, and Vegeta’s hand ghosted over the sway of Bulma’s back, guiding her away. Was this really the place she wanted to go? His gaze drifted towards the girl beside him. She was being uncharacteristically quiet; her face contorted in thought. Just what was going through that blue head of hers?

“Roller coaster?” he said as if she was speaking Greek. At least it was an answer to his internal question. Soon enough, they were at the base of one of the larger rides in the park. The main attraction. ‘Ride the Chariot of Death’ it claimed in big letters across a large banner. Vegeta couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Nothing about this place could pass as deadly in his book. If anything, this was one of the most peace ridden worlds he’d visited. The only thing more impressive than the coasters hype, was its very very long line…

“What the hell is the point of this form of transportation? It isn’t going anywhere.” he blurted out, as if it were obvious. Vegeta had been scoping out the twist and turns of the contraption. It didn’t appear to have a destination... Then… then what was the fucking point?! It was just like that damn cotton candy. The theme of amusement parks must of been trickery. There was no other explanation. “If you wanted to go somewhere, it’d be much easier to fly.” he followed up - he clearly wasn’t grasping the concept. But when had ‘fun’ ever been a part of Vegeta’s life. The only type of entertainment he’d ever been exposed to came from the seedy under belly of the universe. _This was all so new to him._

* * *

  


Her POV

Vegeta was dragged along, though that didn’t stop him from talking the entire time and still acting defensive and in ways that scared her. He had a certain look in his eyes when someone bumped into him. When someone got too close to her, he’d hold onto her. Still like she was his property. Though she wasn’t scared of him doing something to her– mostly, she was scared of him doing something to others. He’d promised he wouldn’t kill or rape, especially when on that planet, but how long could she trust him with that promise? He looked suspiciously close to putting his hand on the child that had grabbed his tail.

Maybe she should just abandon him. Maybe she should just stay here. But things felt so claustrophobic. She didn’t feel right. Everyone pretended like nothing happened. They did keep getting stares as if some kept thinking when seeing Vegeta, ‘this man looks familiar,’ but… No comments otherwise. And there were so many people here, too. The line for the roller coaster was long, something Vegeta pointed out once she got to the end of the line. She glanced back at him and stared, her brows slightly lowered.

“It’s not transportation. It’s a ride. You have fun on it. That’s the point of it,” she replied, pushing the cotton candy cone that he’d forced her to hold into his hand again. She wasn’t hungry anymore, thinking of how violent Vegeta could be if he really wanted to. The thought often edged out into the back of her mind, but whenever it came back, it really, truly scared her. She felt sick, but tried to ignore how she felt. She wanted to try and enjoy herself. That was all. 

“Just… Be quiet and wait in line. It won’t be that long. The line’s moving pretty fast, see? Just wait…” Would he even bother? She remembered how impatient he often was. He didn’t like waiting for things. She gulped her feelings down and looked up at the roller coaster, trying to focus on that instead. But for some reason, she hadn’t been able to get out of her own head lately. It was proving increasingly difficult to do. She just didn’t feel like herself here. There were many memories that reminded her of who she’d become, and what she’d been through. Like a soldier coming home from war, she supposed. Things just felt… wrong.

* * *

  


His POV

It was happening again. She was getting that strange, distant look to her face, Vegeta could sense it from the corner of his gaze. It was the look he’d slowly been learning to recognize for the past month or so. It confused him, yes, but Vegeta was learning the signs to Bulma’s signals, little by little. Beforehand he wouldn’t of cared. There would of been a great chance he wouldn’t have even noticed, but not now. Not since having put so much effort into keeping her sane, alive. If there was anything Vegeta was good at, it was perseverance, and that just may of been the thing Bulma needed at the moment.

Only... it was coming by means of the prince’s very rough and tough way… He just couldn’t be completely gentle with any situation, could he? She’d said to be quiet, to wait in line, but the moment Vegeta spotted that ghostly expression seep into Bulma’s face he had her by the arm, tugging her towards the front of the line. Past the random ‘oof’ or ‘hey!’ and shouldering his way to the top. He obviously didn’t give a fuck, he was a prince on a mission - to snap the girl out of her idiotic daze and back to reality. And if this damn ‘roller-coaster’ slash ‘pointless-means-of-transportation’ would do the trick, then so be it.

“Like hell I’m waiting like some commoner,” he spat, finally grimacing at the girl. Slowly, he released his grip, reeling back his usual temper. The coaster operator looked a little stunned by the mob of a crowd just behind the two, but no one was willing to put up too much of a fight with Vegeta, especially with the daggers he could throw. Naturally he slid in first, but his glare never left Bulma. This was her idea, after all. Getting the beastly ape to buckle into a cart, however, would be a whole other problem.

The rides operator was met with a grumpy “not likely” at the suggestion of ‘lowering his bar’. The bastard shot Bulma the most disgusted look yet; mingled with confusion. Was this really how it worked? Seriously? His pod was a natural disaster itself and it didn’t have as much as a safety strap. However, after a hardy gruff, Vegeta settled down and the bar clicked in place. He wasn’t amused, not until the cart began to jostle a little. That got a glance from him - the thing had actually caught his attention. As stupid as he found it, maybe he found it curious, if just a little. At least they were at the front of the ride.

* * *

  


Her POV

She blinked at the feeling of Vegeta grabbing her arm. He began tugging her along and bitched about waiting in line, and while she was about to argue, she figured… Nah, there wasn’t any point in arguing about it. She shook her head and let him do as he wanted, leading her all the way up to the front, where they were let in by a very concerned park worker, eyeing the irritated people behind them. But with the look on Vegeta’s face, why would he ever bother to try and argue? So Vegeta succeeded in getting them to the front of the line, as well as the front of the roller coaster, without trouble.

She glanced over at Vegeta as they sat down, quick enough to see the look he gave her as the bar came down to keep them in place. Everyone else piled into the coaster, and Bulma raised a brow at him. It was… Interesting, to see how his expression changed. She doubted he’d be entertained by this at all once it got started, but it was still funny to watch the different expressions pass over his face as he experienced even just the coaster jostling. Her mind was no longer wandering like it had been before. She could focus again, and just in time for the coaster to begin moving.

She grabbed Vegeta’s arm as the coaster moved, though it was a slow crawl at first. Enough to give jitters in everyone’s stomach as it slowly rose up a long, long, looooong hill. It got slower and slower, until it just about stopped right before it was about to fall– Bulma clung to Vegeta’s arm tighter as the coaster slowly began to tip downward, showing how far up in the sky they were. Maybe this was nothing unusual for Vegeta, but for Bulma, the nervousness still got to her. Hell, it got to her enough that when the coaster finally started going down the hill, picking up insane speed and pressing Bulma back into her seat from the force, she didn’t hesitate at all in yelling her lungs out. 

* * *

  


His POV

Good, at least they were finally moving. At least, he assumed so, it was so damn slow. Bulma’s tight grip on his arm got the big lug’s attention away from the sights and sounds, and back on his main agenda, that being Bulma. She was the only damn reason he was in this situation, after all. However, the way she reacted towards the contraption she’d strapped them into confused him more than the actual ‘ride’ itself. Hadn’t she said that this was supposed to be entertainment? Then why the hell was she clinging to him like a frightened pup to its mothers back?

The coaster picked up speed after it’s high assent, and Vegeta barely even felt it… His stomach didn’t drop; his taught features didn’t ripple in the wind. The only visible give away that he was moving at all was the way his hair swooshed backwards from the high velocity. With his arms ever present across his chest, Vegeta didn’t watch the earth come closer and closer into proximity as the ride zipped down into the blackness of a tunnel. No, he was side glancing Bulma, and slightly wincing from her screaming in his ear... He found her array of expressions just as interesting as she found his. It was strange to witness her scream in fear, willingly.

In fact, the whole damn train of people were screaming! What the hell? At one point, half way through the experience, Vegeta snapped his sights over his shoulder just to make sure something wasn’t chasing, or perhaps attacking the rows of people behind them. Earth, it just kept getting stranger. These people were feeding off of a fright-trip... It was a good thing he didn’t care to understand humans, because he just may never grasp their weird ways. The woman digging her nails into his arm being the only _partial_ exception, of course.

The ride clanked to a jerky stop, after a few high and mighty dips and loops, and right back to where they started… She hadn’t been joking, they really hadn’t gone anywhere. At all. Vegeta was somewhere between baffled and bored. It’d been little more than a breezy flight of fancy for him. The most interesting part had been watching how the woman handled herself. And of course, posted on a nearby board, were photos for a fee.

* * *

  


Her POV

The ride took the air out of her lungs and was fun enough to get her mind off of things– up until the loop. Then she was just feeling sick. Rather than get to get a look at how uninterested Vegeta looked at everything, as soon as the ride stopped and they were all let out of their carts, Bulma stumbled out to the nearest trash can, proceeding to puke. A lot. So much for that large breakfast. But all that exertion and all that yelling had just knocked everything loose and forced it to come up the way it had come.

“Gn… Ahgh…” She sputtered and spat everything out, and after a couple minutes, she looked helplessly up to look for Vegeta. It didn’t make sense for her to be looking for him like a puppy looking for its lost mother, but… She supposed it was just remnants of what had become of their relationship. She’d relied on him for so long that it felt natural to look to him for help. She gulped and wiped her face, sniffling a little and trying to ignore the concerned and disgusted faces of passersby. It’s not like she could help it. …She didn’t usually puke so easily, either. What had even happened?

“…Nn… I need water or something,” she mumbled, turning her gaze away. “I have money; can’t you go find some for me?” Her gaze landed on the booth that housed all the photos of those on the rollercoaster. Her yelling and looking a little sick, and Vegeta looking completely bored. Just like she expected from him; he wasn’t entertained in the least. Though that in itself was kind of funny.

* * *

  


His POV

It wasn’t normal to watch the girl loose her constitution so easily. It was surprising that such a silly thing, a ride that wasn’t a fraction of the horrors of his space pod, make her lose her breakfast. Her feeling sick just didn’t sit right with him. But what could he do? They weren’t exactly alone. So instead, he pouted. Naturally. Her begging for water didn’t go unheard, however. He’d read her mind and had a bottle of water handed to the girl in no time, offering it with a sturdy _‘grunt’_. It had been stolen from a nearby drink cart, of course. The vendor still yelling for his money, even as Vegeta completely tuned him out. The prince was eyeing the odd photo Bulma had found.

And then it happened. Just as Vegeta was daring to glance Bulma’s way, indirectly checking up on her, he was called out by yet another vendor. But this time it was a games vendor, and he was picking a fight with the wrong guy. “Hey short stuff” the vendor yelled, “you look like a tough guy,” still Vegeta didn’t answer, “What’s wrong, scared of a little show of strength?” Ah, that one got Vegeta’s attention. He very begrudging glance. This couldn’t end well.

“What the hell did you just say?” Vegeta groaned. The game’s vendor knew he made a mistake. Still, the vendor tried to make a quick buck, and taunted yet again with a, “...why don’t you put those muscles to use? Unless you’re all show.” Ah, this guy had a death wish. Vegeta’s eyelid was already twitching. His fingers jerking. Oh, he wanted to kill this shit. For some reason, perhaps subconscious approval, Vegeta glanced Bulma’s way, giving the vendor just enough time to set out a single ball on the counter. It was one of those ‘knock down the target’ games, and it was obviously rigged. It only took a moment for Vegeta’s quick fingers to grip the ball, and send it flying... Blowing out the back of the stand and scaring the vendor to death. Someone screamed in the distance, and car alarm went off a few miles from the park…

* * *

  


Her POV

Vegeta pushed a water bottle into her face within moments, without even asking for any money. She blinked but took it nonetheless, glancing at the vendor who was yelling for money. …Geeze. This felt more like she had an untrained puppy, than a man trying to take care of her. She screwed open the bottle and took a swig of water, cleaning her mouth and throat of bile. She wiped her face and gathered herself together again, just as Vegeta wandered off… Somewhere. Ergh. He got so angry whenever he heard a challenge, didn’t he? Whatever, as long as he kept his promise to not kill anyone, it’d be fine. She hoped.

She, meanwhile, continued on to the vendor and paid the price of the water bottle, as well as a tiny bit more for the trouble. She glanced back in Vegeta’s direction to see he’d become acquainted with some stupid rigged game, and was looking rather… …Well. It didn’t look like it would end well. She desperately wanted to lay down, but it looked like she’d have to keep a hold on him and remind him what he’d promised her. If she wasn’t his slave anymore, he’d listen to her, right…?

She came over to him as he threw the ball, just in time to witness him being unable to control his strength. She blinked a few times at what remained after the throw– a hole in the back of the stand, and plenty of people looking horrified. He hadn’t killed anyone with a throw like that, had he? There’d been a scream… She gulped and looked him over, trying to get her point across through emotion alone. Don’t do that, control yourself… But then again, he never liked listening to anyone else. He was the leader. …She screwed the cap back on the bottle and held it to her forehead. 

“Look, I’m… I’m going to go sit down,” she mumbled, before wandering off to find the closest bench. She really wasn’t feeling good. At least she didn’t feel like she was going to puke again, she supposed. That was a plus.

* * *

  


His POV

The dilemma of aiding Bulma back to better health was all but forgotten the moment a challenge arose. However, as soon as Vegeta was finished proving his point (or just being an ass) his sights turned back to his main target. The disgruntled look Bulma shot him didn’t go unnoticed… His brow arched over a frumpy frown. What? He hadn’t even put much power behind that toss, to him he was letting the vendor off easy. Like a cop letting someone off with a warning, or better yet, an alpha dog snapping at an unschooled pup.

She wasn’t looking well, though. He noticed that. Vegeta was being more nonchalant then usual when it came to the girl’s well-being. Normally he’d be barking orders, demanding she look after herself, but it was obvious the crowd was making him a little uncomfortable. He followed, however. Trailing behind like a well-trained body guard, or hired muscle rather than a man taking his woman out on a date; like so many couples seemed to be doing in the park. ‘A nice day out’ went right over the soldier’s head.

His shadow fell over the girl from behind the bench, shading her from the western sun. He was watching her, allowing her to rest in his own quiet way. But that wasn’t all. The prince was slowly giving into people watching… Of all the worlds he’d visited, this one had to of been one of the strangest. A bunch of hippies so to speak, with their peaceful natures and obliviousness to the evils of the universe. No slaves. Low crime (to his standards). Had this been what Bulma had been like before he’d met her? It was hard for him to fathom her as lowly as these creatures. She was above the rest, her fiery nature made it so.

“Is this what you did all day?” he finally ground out. He was warily questioning about her earth life before they’d met. Was it all amusement parks and big breakfasts? Smiling people and sunny days? Perhaps this planet wasn’t _so_ bad, if one wanted to turn soft. Of course he’d _never_ want to end up here. _Live like an earthling?_ With what, a family? Not in a million years. Battle was his game. Still, if there was a quiet, safe corner of the universe, this would have to be it. His hard features flickered with contemplation, maybe even contentment under that narrowed scowl of his.

* * *

  


Her POV

She buried her face in her free hand when she reached the bench, and only peeped up to take a glance at Vegeta. He’d followed her? Of course he did. Even now, he was incredibly protective. In some ways the appreciated it. But in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but think that maybe she was no different than before. Someone’s slave. Maybe that’s why she didn’t fit in so well here anymore. …The more she dwelled on it, the more uncomfortable she became. He was still looming over her. He spoke up and asked her a question, and her eyes focused on him rather than having that hundred-yard stare she’d developed that seemed to be appearing so often.

“Not all day. This is a place people go to have fun. But I… Don’t feel good. … … …You know, you’re missing out on something. When you beat the little stalls like you just did, you’re supposed to get a prize. You forgot to pick it up.” Partially to tell him seriously, partially to just get him out of her hair. She wanted to be alone. …Though at the same time, she didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to leave, but at the same time, she wanted to stay here. She wanted to be how she used to be, but the more she tried, the less she felt like herself. Her brain hurt. …Why couldn’t things just be easier for her? Why did she have to feel this way?

She tried calming down by drinking more of her water and trying to force her mind elsewhere. …She still had so much to do. She promised some new armor for the Saiyans. She wanted to make some stuff before they headed back out, off of Earth. Her brows furrowed. She felt so compelled to tell Vegeta that she wanted to leave, to go back and fix and make the stuff she said she would and just go without any goodbyes, but at the same time, something about this life held her here. She didn’t want to go just yet. She wanted to enjoy it before she did. She wasn’t enjoying it at all, but… She wanted to try to. That was all. She wanted to try.

Her brain was still throbbing. She rubbed her left temple as her eyes began to wander, eventually focusing in on a house of mirrors. …She wondered how Vegeta would react to that one. She couldn’t imagine he’d react well, that was for sure. It could be entertaining. Maybe she’d finally be able to calm down. It was wishful thinking at this point, but… Maybe. 

* * *

  


His POV

Something didn’t set right. It was the way the woman insisted that he leave her side. Vegeta knew a bluff when he heard one, he got them far too often in the midst of war, but the sapphire’s demands always managed to tug at his attention - even if it was his irritable attention. This was different. Instead of demanding he leave her, she was mildly trying to get rid of him. Maybe she was finally changing her mind, the way she tried to fend him off. Vegeta suspected Bulma was finally going to make a run for it. He’d been expecting it since they’d landed on her homeworld. After so many times of having her slip from his grasp, he came to expect her to vanish eventually.

But ...he did as she requested, if only to tame his own curiosity as to what she’d do once he was away from her. Her presence was forever in the grasp of his peripheral vision. The further he strutted from the bend where he’d left her, the higher his senses kicked in. She was different on this planet, but why? As much as the brute didn’t want to put any stock into caring, he couldn’t help but be a tad curious after all they’d been through.

He may not have given a damn about the state of the game-stand he’d obliterated earlier, but the shivering stand owner sure did seem to mind it when Vegeta made a re-appearance. The prince had barely noticed the man’s sniveling. His walking away had only been his way of calling Bulma’s bluff. He really hadn’t planned on collecting... whatever shit she said he was due. What, credits? Whatever passed as currency on this back-water planet. No, nothing of the sort. Before Vegeta could open his angry mouth, the stand owner was shoving prizes into his hands, begging him to ‘take whatever prize he wanted’ as long as he didn’t try to play again.

Vegeta was not amused by the display, but he didn’t have time to argue. Bulma was missing. God damn, he knew it. He’d only looked away for a moment, and she was gone. Whatever crap he held under his arm was forgotten (some form of stuffed animal no doubt), he was on the girl’s trail in a matter of moments. It led him all the way up to ‘the house of mirrors’. His lip curled. For a moment he debated following at all... Why should he? Yet, something compelled him to follow into the black abyss and down the winding corridors of twinkling mirrors of various shapes and sizes.

* * *

  


Her POV

She took a glance at Vegeta at the stand as he got his prize, but she figured that he’d find her, so she didn’t wait when she went to go to the House of Mirrors. He always found her, so what point was there in waiting around? He was like a bloodhound. Even if she wanted to get rid of him, it was impossible. She knew that well already, having had plenty of experience with it. She waltzed right in the house instead, and was met with a wall of mirrors. She glanced down a corner where there was a slight passageway and followed it, slowly making her way through a hall of mirrors that eventually began to change her appearance. It went from being a jarring mirror image to something that began to elongate her appearance, to widen her head, to make her look like she had freakishly wide hips. Sort of entertaining, and it got to the point where she forgot she was even only going in to see how Vegeta would react in the first place.

She kept going, walking through the house of mirrors as a strange sense of dread began to form in the back of her head. Why was it so quiet in this room? She could hear only her footsteps. And seeing various mirrors at different angles, just different versions of herself staring at her anywhere she could glance, even up– Something that had been funny at first was beginning to make her stomach churn. She gulped, and kept going. No choice in going back now, anyway. Besides, she could see a new dark hall in her line of vision, where you’d walk down a bridge surrounded by circulating, moving walls.

She headed in, and her eyes adjusted to the darkness as she walked. It was long enough she thought she was just imagining it and wasn’t actually getting anywhere, but another step, and suddenly everything lit up. That wasn’t really shocking to her; obviously it was just motion-activated, or some kind of trigger at a certain step. But she was staring back at a mirror version of herself just in front of and above her, that she hadn’t even seen before. Her head, massive, with wide eyes digging into her own. It’d all but given her a goddamn heart attack, seeing it, and while she tried to maintain her composure, she could hear her breath starting to go faster. Why was her heart beating this fast? …Why was it staring at her like that? It was the way it was staring at her. It was so jarring. Did she really look like that? There were such deep bags under her eyes; was she imagining that? Her cheeks looked sunken. She must have looked like that on more than one occasion in the past few months. 

Not even just her time with Zarbon. All the time with Vegeta, too. She felt the ghost sensations of starvation and aches and bruises from being abused. Of being so thirsty her throat felt like it was on fire. …She turned around shakily, hoping to just go back. But the rotating walls– She squinted forward, and her brain ached as she tried to focus. She was wheezing more, and she could feel a terrible ache in her chest. God… God… She wanted to leave… She wanted to leave… She covered her face, shaking.

* * *

  


His POV

The darkness didn’t faze him. Vegeta could see perfectly well as it were, but with the aid of so many glimmering mirrors, well this was turning out to be a walk through a park for him. Albeit a very disorienting one. The mirrors caught him off guard from the get go. At first he’d puffed up like a cat seeing it’s reflection for the first time. He snarled and blew it off, acting as if he’d never lost his cool. What a strange place. Passing mirror after mirror, he could barely recognize himself. One reflection made him look like a stubby little troll doll, while another left him looking misshapen. Then there was an image that caught his glance. A reflection of him at least two feet taller loomed beside him in the dark. It was scowling back at him with his own face. For a moment Vegeta felt an unpleasant, reminiscent feeling fall over him. It looked too much like his father frowning back at him for his liking. He passed it and hurried his pace.

If he hadn’t had the sweet perfume of Bulma’s scent to follow, there was a good chance even the prince himself could have gotten side tracked a time or two in the twists and turns of the mirror house. But he did have it, and he was following it like a golden thread. He was getting closer; he could sense it. Like a predator sneaking up on its pray, his heart rate grew expectant, like it did so many times before when tracking her down. But then something happened... The sickening feeling of dismal foreboding put Vegeta on high alert. He was the lion that’d just knew he’d been caught. The tension in the air akin to a heard of fleeing antelope that’d picked up on danger. But was it him? What the hell was the sudden charge in the air? Something was happening…

The closer he got, the narrower his tunnel vision drove. The spinning room nor the bridge of mirrors side tracked the prince this time. Vegeta knew Bulma was just in the next room; he could have sworn he could even hear her breathing. And that’s when he found her. Several of her, all cast in one circular room. It was as bright as day and as glamorous as a diamond, but the room was anything but welcoming. That sensation he’d picked up on before, the thick anxiety that hung in the air, it was coming from her. It was coming from Bulma.

Instantly the beast bared his teeth, darting his sleek vision one way and the other. It probably wasn’t the smartest move to flash his canines at a time like this, but how was he supposed to know? All Vegeta knew was that there must be danger nearby, and he intended on finding it and weeding it out with his bare hands. His reflection towered over the sweet silhouettes that Bulma had cast, blotting out the fragile light with his warped and manipulated images. Angry, beastly, and in every direction…

* * *

  


Her POV

Okay. Okay. She could do this. She gulped and tried to control her breathing, no matter how difficult it was. God, she was so dizzy. But… She could keep going. She turned around to face forward again, her eyes widening for a moment when she stared down that mirror again, before making a short turn into the next room through a doorway beside the mirror. It was well-lit, and… God, it was even worse. There were mirrors all over the place. It was a circular room, and there were so many pictures of her. Over and over. All looking sickly, at least to her eyes. God. She wanted to puke. She started wheezing again, seeing all these different pictures of herself, showing what she felt was how terrible she’d become.

She kept trying to keep her cool, looking around to try and find the way out of the room. She took a few more steps into the room, deciding her best option was to look down. Don’t look at the mirrors. Don’t look at the mirrors. God, her heart felt like it was going to explode, going as fast as it was. Maybe it was ironic, that her heart was beating so fast even though she felt like she could only go so slowly. She could try to go quicker, maybe, but all her energy was used on making sure she didn’t collapse because of all her shaking.

It was fine. It was okay. She could get out of this, like she’d gotten out of everything before. She’d be fine. Fine, fine, fine… She breathed in deeply, trying to cast out memories that those strangely distorted mirror images of her brought back to the front of her brain. But… …Is she… Could she hear footsteps? Her breathing quickened, and rather than go quicker, she ended up being frozen in place. Wh… Someone was coming for her! No, it had to be her imagination. It was fake, it was fake! Completely fake! She covered her ears to block out the noise of the heavy footsteps, but just as she thought she was beginning to calm down, she made the mistake of looking forward just as Vegeta walked into the room behind her, filling the mirrors with images of himself and his baring teeth.

She collapsed. As soon as her body fell to the ground, she curled up in a ball and started rocking, her forehead pressed to the white tile floor. Now she was really crying– sobbing her eyes out pathetically and like a child, the embarrassment of it only making her succeed in crying even more, though not half as much as the fear that was also propelling her to continue to beg _‘go away, go away’_ under her breath over and over. This… This was all his fault, anyway, and he’d come to take her again. He’d want to pin her down and strip her of her clothes and her dignity again, like he’d done over and over, and maybe she’d be unlucky enough to get passed off to someone even worse again. She wanted to die! But even dying wasn’t enough. She’d be sentient still. She’d be conscious. She’d just be in Otherworld. She didn’t want to have these thought or anxiety, that was the problem. She just… She wished she didn’t exist anymore! She wished she never existed! 

* * *

  


His POV

It wasn’t easy to keep himself calm when he witnessed Bulma’s body collapse to the ground. The sad sobs of a broken heart rang through his head like an invading siren, causing him to grit his teeth. At first Vegeta had no inclination that he’d caused her reaction at all. And then it struck him, as soon as he caught the sound of her soft, mumbled voice ‘ _go away’_ he knew. All of that fear, the pent up anxiety, it was aimed towards him. But as to why, he couldn’t figure out. His heated blood suddenly felt unpleasantly cold.

To say that he didn’t know what the fuck to do would of been an understatement. He had no idea the traumas that were running rampant through her psyche. When it came to handling a panicking doe, well Vegeta was drawing a blank slate. His lip curled over his canine in frustration, feeling the need to bark orders for her to ‘get up’ but he resisted by tightening his fists. Stepping closer, his sights flicked up towards the ring of mirrors that surrounded them. In every direction a little piece of his earthling lay curled on the floor, sobbing. And there he was, towering over her like some criminal that’d come to devour her. Oh, he knew it, he saw it. The truth was staring him dead in the face from all sides. This wasn’t like her. This was his fault, and the prince knew it.

He’d shattered her.

“Bulma. Get up.” he said as ruthlessly as ever. Maybe it was his way of refusing to believe that she’d finally been broken. And here, of all places? The very place she’d longed to be? He wouldn’t accept that, not easily at least. Then he dared to crouch down, resting his large, warm palm on the girl’s shoulder blade. She was shaking - he knew that before he’d ever touched her. He could smell the fear, the confusion. It wasn’t becoming to her strong self. Vegeta knew what he had to do, he had to get her out of this mad house of mirrors and back towards sanity.

She said for him to go away, but she couldn’t have meant it, could she? God damn, it was so difficult to read the woman sometimes. He’d promised he wouldn’t touch her without consent, but he was done with this place and what it’d caused. Without another word, Vegeta attempted to pick her up, as he had so many times before. His strong arms slipped around her body, forcing her up and away from the tiled floor and into his firm grasp.

* * *

  


Her POV

He got closer. She could hear his footsteps. She gulped and tightened further into a ball, hoping to God he’d just leave her alone. Please, please… But he didn’t move. He was silent, but he wasn’t budging. She peeped over to see his shadow looming over her. She managed a glance at his shoes. …Maybe he’d finally gotten sick of her. She couldn’t help but shake; what if he decided he’d go back on his promises and just rape her? She was acting like prey, and that was the kind of things Saiyans did. They preyed upon people like her. She wasn’t acting strong and fighting back. She wasn’t defending herself and acting like she was the one in charge. She was submissive and sobbing. She was acting all the ways that he’d told her was pathetic before. She was acting the ways he’d said was the behavior of a slave. Would she get demoted again?

By the sound of his voice when he finally gruffed out a command, it seemed like it. She turned her head further into her body, refusing to look at him. Ignoring him. Still hoping the problem would go away, or maybe that she’d die first. She was still wheezing, so it felt like it was a possibility. But still, she ignored him, squeezing her eyes shut and murmuring still that he goes away, over and over. Go away, go away, go away, go away… She could feel a lump forming and getting larger in her throat, and her stomach was doing flops that made her feel nauseous. If she had anything left in her stomach, maybe she’d have puked by now. But all she could do was cry and hope she’d be left alone to calm down. Yet… Just as she was thinking she may be starting to calm down, Vegeta grabbed her. Wrapped his arms around her small body in the same commanding, dominating way that was all too familiar for her. What else was there to do but snap?

“LET ME GO! GET OFF OF ME, GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!”

Rather than calm down, she started screaming at the top of her lungs. Her throat ached from the strain she put on her vocal chords, but she still thrashed and screamed, even if she wasn’t saying anything comprehensible. Anything to get off of him! She didn’t want to go through everything again! No! She wouldn’t be put through it! She kept kicking, trying to knock into a nose or an eye or hit his knees hard enough he’d let go. Anything. She was fighting with the same amount of energy as she had every single time she’d been abused and violated, as if her life literally depended on it. But hell, as far as she was concerned, it was. He’d raped her how many times? The way he was acting, even if it was just her imagination and her state of mind, certainly made her feel like he was about to do everything again.

* * *

  


His POV

There was nothing strong about her in that moment. Vegeta was having a hard time sensing any sign of strength in the girl’s being; that fire in her that he’d chased across the universe. Her body shook horribly under his touch and her crying was nearly unbearable to his sensitive ears. The wheezing of her voice was taunting his wilder side. He’d always hated that fucking sound. It was vocal proof of her torment, of his powerlessness, and he hated it with a passion. The prince felt he’d do anything to make it stop, but would he?

Everything inside of him screamed for him to take control of the situation, and by any means necessary… This was no warrior huddled helplessly at his feet. She was indeed calling to him like wounded prey, like a slave. _You’re only a slave if you act like it_ , his memory recalled. That’s exactly what she was in that moment. Not a fighter, not a survivor, but a helpless female crying for his mercy. The thought turned his gut in disgust, and his instincts urged for him to leave her. _Weak_. That’s what she was, that’s how she was acting. After the status he’d given her, she’d fallen victim to becoming a weakling.

And then he did the unthinkable - he picked her up, completely ignoring the voices in his head. Vegeta knew he was battling against nature. The way she kicked and screamed the moment he lifted her up off of the ground was proof enough of that. He should break her neck, pin her down, or leave her completely. But no, not to his little earthling. Kami, did she have to be so damn difficult though? It was taking the majority of his will power not to crush her, let alone fight back. Gentle, that’s what she’d told him before, but how the fuck was he supposed to do that when she was smooshing her fists against his face? It was god damn annoying!

“God damn it, woman. What the hell’s gotten into you?!” his voice ripped throughout the room. Was she really so terrified of him now? What the fuck had changed?! Vegeta was a predator, a warrior. The battlefield was his home and remaining on guard was his lifestyle. Asking him to recognize someone coming down off of that high was folly. So, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He grabbed both of her wrists in one of his big hands, and caught her around the waist with his other arm, pinning her back to his torso. He recognized her panic, but not the reason behind it.

“It’s me, you idiot! I’m... I’m not going to hurt you!” he ground out just behind her ear.

* * *

  


Her POV

“LET GO OF ME!” The more that he tried to stop her from squirming, the harder she fought. Even when he managed to grab her arms and hold her wrists in place, she started kicking as hard as she could, trying to smack her heels into his knees and shins and just trying desperately to get herself free. No matter how much he tried to tell her that he wouldn’t hurt her, she kept struggling. She wasn’t listening anymore. Her ears were turned off, and she just kept fighting nonstop, screaming and continuing to sob and cry in ways that must have just looked like a child. There was no other way to describe what she was doing right now, other than a temper tantrum. A child’s temper tantrum.

“LET GO, LET GO, LET GOOOOOOO!!” She bit down on his arm, the one of the hand holding her wrists in place. She bit down as hard as she could, but it all felt the same as before. When he’d pin her down and rape her and do whatever the fuck he wanted with her. It was the same thing. It was horrible. She was helpless, and she couldn’t really fight back, no matter how much she tried. She tried to get herself free, but all she was doing was expending energy and making herself freak out more and more. She couldn’t even breathe, between all the screaming and gasping and how fast her heart was beating. 

“STOOOOP! STOP STOP STOP!” She was just wasting energy, but she kept going on until she couldn’t fight back anymore. She screamed and screamed and gasped to get a full gust of air to her lungs in order to scream again, and the more she fought, she was getting slowly dizzier and more lightheaded. She had stopped listening and completely tuned everything out long enough ago, but her vision was starting to go black, too. She was still conscious, but her fighting was getting weaker. Yet she still continued to fight back, though her hits were not as strong and her screaming gave way to mostly just wheezing and gasping, coupled with wines.

She struggled and fought still, though she was clearly getting more dizzy the more she wheezed. She seemed to get more wobbly, less oriented, and… After a few minutes, that was it. She passed out. Her head fell to the side, with her mouth still open from wheezing and yelling. At least she wasn’t fighting back anymore. 

* * *

  


His POV

It’d all be over soon enough. Bulma may of been putting up the fight of her life, but the rock hard force behind her just wouldn’t budge. Vegeta stood tall, bracing the woman’s incoming blows like an unmovable object. It was amazing she hadn’t busted her hand, or foot, with how hard she was kicking him. Oh yes, he knew she was giving it her all, he could feel it in the tension of her body, and the way her muscles slowly began to shake and shiver from their strain of strength. It would of been an amazing sight, if the bastard wasn’t half worried about the idiot.

What the fuck was wrong with her? The prince couldn’t figure her motives out, not that it mattered. He was too concerned with submerging the urge to pin and rape her, or eve more, resist fighting back. It just wasn’t in Vegeta to take a hit, any hit, and refuse to retaliate. Did she realize how badly she was toying with him? Confusing him, egging his ego on and rearing every nasty instinct he possessed? That unexpected bite to his arm didn’t help (his eye’s certainly went wide in that moment). She was a wild animal caught in a bear trap.

And then, ever so slowly, her will power began to fade. Vegeta could feel her heart beating against his chest like frightened dove wings as soon as the woman fell lax against him. Vexed, he watched her shallow breathing, but at that point it was too late, Vegeta was already fed up. Finished with trying to reason with the spastic woman. She clearly wasn’t in her right mind, which was exactly why he’d refused to let go in the first place. Kami, at least she’d finished beating herself to death against him. One more moment and he may have made a snap decision...

And then she passed out… Vegeta hadn’t been expecting that. It looked like her body (or perhaps her mind) had given up on her. As much of a pain he found carrying her to be, the prince was somewhat grateful for her unconscious state. It made moving her around much easier. Not that it’d be too easy on the prince this time. Bulma’s frantic screaming had drawn a crowd. The few park-goers who’d ventured into the mirror house behind Bulma and Vegeta were slowly funneling into the round, mirrored room, but with gawking eyes and wide opened mouths. And just in time too, here came security…

“Hey, stop harassing that poor woman!” cried one civilian, “Did you see what he did to her?” speculated another, “Let her go already!” screeched a young girl from behind. “Security, security! What seems to be the problem?” the guard finally showed up, just as Vegeta was pushing his way out of the final door, leaving the security guard pinned behind the opening door. His teeth ground together, brainless aliens, what did they know? He certainly wasn’t about to drop her, not now that there was so many closing in. He may have made himself a spectacle, but Vegeta didn’t give a damn. After one final glance and glare, he lifted into the sky, leaving the park behind and taking Bulma with him. He wouldn’t stop now until he reached the door step of Capsule Corp. Where he could deduct his next move, and what to do with the infernal woman.

* * *

  


Her POV

To be honest, Bulma wasn’t passed out for long. Maybe a half a minute at the most. She woke up to the sounds of people freaking out and telling her to let go of him. Her heart started thumping harder again, but… What could she do? She was more exhausted and tired before than she had been before fainting. She didn’t bother struggling. She just… Did the only thing she could think of doing? Playing possum. She pretended to still be knocked out as he brought her away, all while people yelled at him to let her go and while security was called. What was he going to do with her now? He was carrying her like a piece of meat. Eventually he took to the sky and the voices faded, but her fear remained, and she continued to just pretend to be unconscious.

Meanwhile, Yamcha was pissed. Why wouldn’t he be? He’d finally met up with Bulma again, only for her to be acting strangely and saying that she wanted to go back in space with those assholes– the ones that had done all of this to them in the first place. The ones who had killed him. Kidnapped her. Everything. He was furious, but at the same time he didn’t know what to even do about the whole situation. She was an adult and could make her own choices, but– But goddamn, he couldn’t just let her do that! He had to figure out something to do! Some way to convince her. He had very little sleep last night, and when Pu’ar tried to push him to calm down and have breakfast, he didn’t have more than a slice of toast before going out for a run to try and cool off and think of what to do.

He’d just…. Talk to her. That had to work. What else could he really do but that? He just had to talk to her and hope for the best possible outcome. She clearly wasn’t right in the head. It was probably from spending so much time with those pieces of shit, to be honest. They screwed with her head. He just had to sit her down and have a long talk and convince her that she needed to get some help. Even if it meant they still weren’t dating anymore. That’s not what he cared about at the moment. She couldn’t just go back into space. This thinking out what he would do to try and convince her that she needed to relax and re-think her options was making him calm down. Too bad that by the time he came back to the Capsule Corporation, he had an all new reason to be pissed, when he saw Vegeta walking up to the front steps with a passed-out Bulma in his arms.

“HEY!” He’d already had his ass handed to him by this man in particular a handful of times already, but he couldn’t help but approach him again, feeling his blood pressure rising yet again. He all but ran up to him and blocked his path, his face full of both worry for Bulma and rage at whatever it was that Vegeta had done. Because there was no way this was anyone’s fault but his! Only an idiot would think otherwise! “What the fuck did you do?! Why is she unconscious! Where were you?! What’s wrong with her?! Let go of her!” He reached out to try and grab Bulma, holding onto her waist and just waiting for that fucking asshole to let her go so she could be in more safe hands. He supposed he was a little lucky in this sense– it’d be hard for Vegeta to fight him while they were both just trying to hold onto Bulma.

“Let her the fuck go, and get out of here, you piece of shit!”

* * *

  


His POV

It was an unpleasant flight back to the compound. Vegeta couldn’t get the thought of her screaming, frantic fighting out of his head. What had he done, had he caused it? Was the female losing touch with her reality, or did she really hate him that much? Well, she certainly had reason to despise him, and while she hadn’t voiced her hatred of him in some time, Vegeta couldn’t help but consider that maybe she’d been masking her contempt for him this whole time. But why would she? Bulma was always a bold woman, so what made her snap now? The only thing that made sense to the brute, was the notion that maybe, just maybe, all of this was his fault. He just couldn’t shake the feeling.

Bulma’s playing possum worked wonders, Vegeta hadn’t suspected her act, much. He’d made it all the way back to the large dome-like building without managing to wake her (or so it seemed), and just in time for that loud mouth mutt to show his face again. What, really? This little punk had to show up now, of all times? There was no measurable method of telling just how pissed off the prince was in that moment. And to make things worse, the rival male was making a display of himself. Yelling, squawking, blocking his way to the front door, and then Yamcha grabbed for Bulma’s waist… and everything fell apart from there.

“Silence, you miserable mutt!” Vegeta’s face crumpled, biting his words in a much more whispered tone than usual. And then his foot went flying right into Yamcha’s stomach. It was a front kick, just enough to send the male back against the homes siding. A tap by Vegeta’s standards (though he wanted to do more). His hands had instinctually curled around the body in his arms the moment he’d separated Yamcha from the girl. He was protecting her, but he looked more like an angry serpent then a loyal guard dog.

“Can’t you shut your fucking yap?” he ground out, again - quietly. The dirty glare he was shooting Yamcha darted down towards Bulma, as if saying ‘don’t you fucking wake her up’. Then the man stood proud and tall, puffing up like the alpha male he was, despite Yamcha being taller than him. He didn’t need this shit, so why should he bother answering any of the mutt’s questions? Then again… if he didn’t, there was a good chance Yamcha would try to follow him. Disturb him. And that was the last thing Vegeta could bring himself to tolerate right now. If it meant getting this mongrel off his case, he supposed he’d clue him in, a little.

“She just passed out.” he managed to admit, though it felt like vomit when talking to this guy, “I didn’t do a damn thing… I guess the park was too much excitement for her,” his words slicked out, though he knew it was a lie, more or less. Something had gone on in the mirror house, something Vegeta was sure to find out one way or another. “She just needs rest.” Vegeta argued, though he was half trying to convince himself of that. That there wasn’t something mortally wrong with the woman. He pushed his way past and inside the front door. As much as he’d love to put the mutt in his place, seeking a place of solitude for Bulma had become his main priority.

* * *

  


Her POV

He really should have saw the kick coming. But he didn’t, and went flying right into the wall of the Capsule Corporation. If it had been made from wood, he would probably have crashed right through it, but being the hard material it was, he just smacked his back right into it. God, if he wasn’t essentially a superhuman, something definitely would have cracked. He stumbled up to his feet and glared Vegeta down as he gave him the crude explanation, though he wasn’t sure how much of it he really believed. The park…? Too exciting? What, had she passed out on a ride or something? What the fuck? Why hadn’t someone called the paramedics or something?

Of course Yamcha wouldn’t give up that easily. He followed Vegeta into the Capsule Corporation and shut the door behind them, ignoring the pain in his stomach from where he’d been kicked. Goddamn it, he wished he was stronger. If only he could use the dragon balls. He’d wish for infinite strength just to beat the living shit out of this jerk. Just looking at the back of his head was making his blood boil. Goddamn it! Goddamn, it was so fucking unfair! He needed to be as far away from Bulma as possible, but every time he tried to get her away, he was met with punches and kicks by this goddamn piece of shit, as if he hadn’t tortured Bulma enough. What a load of shit! He’d talked to her enough while he was dead to know that he wanted this guy away from Bulma! Far, far away– even if that was an impossibility, given Vegeta’s strength in comparison to his own.

“So?! Give her to me and I’ll take her to her bed so she can be left alone! Why do you have to hold her, huh? Ever think maybe you’re the reason she’s been stressed out recently?! You’re what’s new! You’re what’s changed! It’s got to be you!” Bulma was listening to all of this, though she was still having to deal with forcing herself to calm down more. Fighting over her again. Not that Yamcha didn’t have a point; she wanted to be away from him as soon as possible. Who’s to say what he’d do when left alone with her? He didn’t feel trustworthy. Not at the moment. Maybe it was her anxiety and paranoia that led her to believe that, but she couldn’t shake it. She didn’t feel safe around him at the moment. She couldn’t stop thinking he’d do something.

She had calmed down and was no longer having a panic attack, but the idea of him taking advantage of her still felt so likely after everything. Even though he’d turned away from acting like that. She kept thinking about how he’d told her how she needed to act like she wasn’t a slave, if she didn’t want to be one. She was acting like a slave. Like prey. Freaking out in ways that used to make him so horny. Who knows what he’d do. Who knows…. Who knows… It put a pit in her stomach just thinking about it all. Even more, who knows what he would do if she showed him he was awake? She couldn’t think of what he’d possibly do, but that didn’t make her any less afraid of the possibilities. She stayed silent and kept her eyes closed, but she could still hear the sound of Yamcha’s footsteps over Vegeta’s, following him and refusing to leave Vegeta alone with her.

* * *

  


His POV

“Like hell I’d hand her over to the likes of you, what are you, jealous?” Hot air blew out of the man’s teeth, rolling his eyes, finding Yamcha’s redundant need to reclaim his long-lost-female pointless. Hadn’t he already bested the male in battle? The prince was hardly in the mood to put up with a horny male. At least that’s how he was taking it. He’d stopped just short of staircase. If he went any further without addressing this mess, he may have the mutt hounding outside of Bulma’s bedroom door all night. He wasn’t about to allow that, not after the shit he’d put up with in getting her there. Especially not now that the mutt was so insistent on taking her from him. Something taken, from Vegeta? That was attempting the impossible. Yamcha had successfully awoken Vegeta’s possessive side.

“She never acted like this before,” his harsh glare glanced in Yamcha’s direction, “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with her. She only began acting this way when we landed back on _this_ planet.” he stressed the point, trying to get across that it couldn’t possibly be because of him. Though, Vegeta was still battling that fact himself. Yamcha’s words had struck him; somewhat validating the assumptions he’d been trying to deny. That this was his fault, and the strong female he’d come to know was missing. Broken, thanks to him, much like that image of her back at the mirror house.

The only problem was, Vegeta was the last creature in the universe that knew how to handle a broken spirit. He thrived on strength, on pushing himself. Even now, his instincts, along with the voices in his head, were alerting him to the same, dark, dismal fact. That he should leave her, once and for all. Not just because he’d caused it, not because he was useless to her, but because she was now useless to him. He’d let her go, given her her freedom, and this is what she’d done with it. She’d reverted to her lowest stature. She was no longer a strong female desirable for fucking, she was a broken slave. And broken slaves were always discarded with the trash.

“What the fuck would you do with her, that you think I couldn’t manage?” It sounded like a threat, and it was meant to. Vegeta was making a curious question with his brutal nature. His gaze drifted down to the limp woman against his chest, scrunching his nose. His fingers then curled deeper into their grip, looking somewhat defeated. He was trying to get some information out of the pup without Yamcha’s suspicions being roused. Vegeta wanted to know what to do with her, perhaps what an earthling would do. He knew he should let her go. Hell, giving a broken female to a weak male even sounded reasonable. His jaw clenched at the thought. No, absolutely not. He wasn’t sure why, but he certainly wasn’t giving her up. Not just yet anyway.

* * *

  


Her POV

“She never acted like this on this planet before! It’s all you, you fucking asshole! Maybe she’s stressed because you won’t leave her alone! She’s got back home, but she still has to deal with you! Why haven’t you fucking left yet?! Why are you still here?!” Yamcha clearly would not be giving up any time soon. He continued to follow Vegeta all the way to the stairs, seething with anger more and more with every passing moment. Ugh, that piece of shit. The things he wished he could do to him. Who did he think he was, anyway?! He’d kidnapped Bulma for a few fucking months, and now he acted like he had ownership over her! He really was treating her like a slave, even now. Maybe Bulma had Stockholm Syndrome, maybe that was why she was so fucking insistent on staying with him. She needed help.

“What the fuck does it matter what I’ll do?!” He spent no time at all running his mouth as soon as Vegeta posed a question at him. “Go fucking die! I’ll protect her from you, that’s what I’ll do! She needs more than just rest, she needs help! She needs– I don’t know! Therapy! Something! She doesn’t need any fucking more of you, that’s for sure! I can tell you that with absolute certainty!” He was yelling anything he could think of, even if he knew it wouldn’t really convince Vegeta of anything. Convincing him was basically impossible. Vegeta wasn’t stupid; he knew that. There was no way that he’d randomly decide that he had a good point. He clearly wasn’t one for listening, given all the times he’d beaten Yamcha up by now.

Bulma’s brows furrowed the more she listened to the yelling. Th... Yamcha thought she was crazy and needed therapy, huh? …Maybe it was true. She’d seen so much shit and it was scaring her to have to deal with being in Vegeta’s arms… She was acting weird, wasn’t she? She didn’t feel like she could fit in, and even Yamcha could tell that. Too bad she couldn’t just kill herself and be out of both their hair, and not have to worry about Vegeta going back to his old ways again. Like she kept thinking before… Even if she killed herself, she would just end up in Otherworld. She just didn’t want to exist anymore. Goddamn, if only it were that easy. …Besides, maybe she may not even end up in Otherworld. Thinking more about it… She’d killed people, hadn’t she? She may end up in the same place Vegeta would surely go to upon death. She may go straight to hell. 

“Look, you need to let go of her. I don’t give a shit why you’re so attached to her, but you’re not good for her! You fucking came and killed everyone and ruined her planet and kidnapped her and did everything you did, and you think that you’re not the cause for any stress? What kind of stupid asshole are you? Try hitting me again, that’s not going to stop the fact you’re a fucking idiot! You need to be kept as far away from her as possible! I’m giving you a chance here. Give her to me right fucking now. And just leave this planet already, like you were fucking supposed to. Get the fuck out of here. You don’t belong.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would have posted this last night, but the servers went down or whatever and everything. Had to wait till I woke up.
> 
>   
> 


	45. Yamcha's Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamcha struggles with having Bulma back home, with her abusers and his killers.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

Well, so much for that little attempt of reason. The pup was proving to be as brainless as he was weak. At one point he reminded Vegeta of one of those bird people from the beach planet, squawking as if his life depended on it, and flapping its feathers in a frenzy. Honestly, was that all humans did? Bitch at each other? Vegeta felt his muscles tense in disgust. At least getting the brat to be mouthy wasn’t a total waste of his time, he had found out some useful information, if only a little bit. Apparently if he left the female on this planet, she’d be subjected to ‘therapy’. What kind of therapy, Vegeta wasn’t sure. Physical therapy? -no that couldn’t of be it. Mental therapy was something he’d heard of, but never put any stock into. It wasn’t a part of his culture. A soldier dealt with shit as it came. If you couldn’t handle your shit, you were dealt with instead.

But she wasn’t a soldier, was she? The idea was bitter in his brain, but it had to be admitted. Was that really what Bulma needed? Protecting her, sure he could manage that, but he wasn’t about to allow her to tote around the cosmos with him while acting like this. Vegeta’s gaze drifted down yet again, catching the soft wince of the girl’s face. She was awake, he’d been speculating she’d been listening for the last few moments. She was faking sleep, for whatever reason. Probably not wanting to get involved in a yapping match - he couldn’t blame her for that, it was damn annoying.

Did Yamcha really think he could insult the prince, and then expect him to hand over something he’d been protecting? The male was lying to himself if he’d thought he could get away with something like that. Vegeta’s pride was at the forefront, as it normally was. The mutt insisted he’d watch over her, but he’d yet to prove his worth to Vegeta. There was no way in hell he’d be giving the male anything if he kept acting like a dick, other than a cold shoulder. And that’s exactly what Vegeta did. There wasn’t a single word that passed the prince’s lips. Only a cold, dead stare bared into Yamcha’s direction. The wordless glare was Vegeta’s way of saying he wasn’t worth wasting a breath of air over. He’d royally pissed the Saiyan off.

Attached, that’s what Yamcha had called him. He wasn’t attached, was he? It would explain the way he’d been acting, admittedly… Ugh, it was disgusting to consider. Vegeta tried to push away the thought, much like how he pushed his way past Yamcha and up the grand staircase. The Saiyan made a beeline for Bulma’s bedroom, and as soon as he reached it he placed her languid body on the soft bed. But he hadn’t gotten rid of the mutt yet, had he. God damn it, what was it going to take? A gruff passed his lips, and then Vegeta made way for the door yet again.

“I thought I told you to fuck off?” the male puffed out his hard chest, making sure to force Yamcha away from the door frame. The door clicked closed behind him, and Vegeta just stared with his arms crossed over his chest. Well, if he was going to be stuck looking at his ugly mug, he could at least ask the mutt a question. “And just what did you mean, therapy,” his voice muttered - obviously not one to usually ask questions. But it had to be asked, he had to know. How else would Vegeta know what to do with Bulma once he was left alone with her?

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta wasn’t listening. That was to be expected, honestly. He just continued up the stairs. Yamcha scowled, but he followed. He’d be fucking damned if he was going to let Vegeta have alone time with an unconscious Bulma. He followed him all the way up to her room, only to have the door slammed on his face. Feh! As if that made a difference to him! He forced the door open to give Vegeta a piece of his mind yet again, but just as soon as he opened it, Vegeta was in his face, puffing his chest at him and forcing him to back up. Vegeta furrowed his brows with anger, figuring that he was about to shut the door on his face yet again– but surprisingly enough, he didn’t. He walked out of the room too, and only closed the door when he was passed the door frame. It left Bulma in her room alone, and the two of them glaring each other down in the hallway.

“You didn’t tell me shit, and it’s not like I would listen to you, anyway.” Yamcha scoffed at his words, crossing his arms and pretending that he actually stood a chance against the stronger man. He felt emasculated every time he had to deal with him, but he had to try and keep Bulma safe. Even if that meant getting his ass kicked a few times. He had to at least try, after failing so miserably time and time again. He was the reason why this happened in the first place. He was so fucking terrible and protecting her. But maybe he could try and make up for it by at least keeping this asshole’s attention on him rather than on Bulma. So for the time being, he glared Vegeta down. Though the man had a knack for catching Yamcha off-guard.

“Thera…” Why the fuck did he care what therapy he meant?! He didn’t really care about Bulma! He could pretend like he did all he damn well pleased, but he knew it wasn’t true! There was no way in hell. If he did, then he would have left Bulma alone by now. “I mean therapy. Don’t you know what that is? She’s clearly got to see a goddamn therapist! It’s not like I don’t know the kind of stuff that went on before we all got wished back! She used to talk to me, and I know damn well that a normal person can’t deal with that kind of shit like it’s nothing! That’s probably why she’s acting the way she is! And you still being around isn’t helping. What point do you even have being here anymore? Why can’t you just fucking leave, go kill people on some other planet? Go enslave some other woman and leave her alone. She doesn’t need you. She needs the opposite of you.”

While Yamcha was lecturing Vegeta, Bulma finally decided to stop feigning sleep. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, still feeling light-headed and dizzy after everything. …She was back in her room. He hadn’t done anything with her, he just brought her back home. …What did he think of her now, anyway? She freaked out like a child. Was he planning on doing something with her now, or was he genuinely worried? She gulped just thinking of what may be in store. She knew it was mainly paranoia; he hadn’t acted terrible in a while. But still, what if…? That’s what scared her. The possibility, even if it was slight. But it couldn’t just be slight. That’s what he was built to do. To hurt people weaker than him. He’d given her plenty of promises, but in the end, how could she honestly believe he’d keep all of them? She curled her legs up to her chest and stared out to the window. She didn’t feel like she fit in here on Earth anymore, and this talk of therapy just made her feel exhausted, but… She didn’t think she’d feel safe with Vegeta and the other idiots, either.

* * *

His POV

The twitchy eye glare Vegeta was giving Yamcha said it all. No, no he didn’t know what ‘therapy’ the mutt was speaking of, and he was having a tough time with it. It was bad enough trying to figure out in between the pup reminding him of who he was every five minutes. The mention of him finding another planet, another female to own hit a nerve - instantly, Vegeta’s glare had narrowed in warning. Normally it wouldn’t have grazed his thick skin, but it was beginning to grade on his nerves. After all, the consequences of his actions were starting to come down on him like a bad trip. Maybe the mutt had a point… Nevertheless, he resisted letting it show any further. Resting his wide shoulders back against the door, Vegeta stared down the mutt, doing his damnedest to listen without retorting, too much, until he was satisfied with Yamcha’s explanation.

“Like I told you before, mutt, I’m not going anywhere. Not until I’m satisfied.” Vegeta’s grimace deepened. It was his way of admitting something - that if this shit really did help the woman, he planned on leaving her to it. The prince was still battling with the idea of leaving Bulma behind completely. She’d stated that she wanted to leave with him, but something sour kept tugging at the Saiyan’s soul. Something he detested. That maybe, just maybe, the mutt was right, and leaving her behind with or without her consent was the best thing in both of their interests. However, that wasn’t going to be an option until Vegeta knew she was kept in a safe place. Not that anyone had to know that was his base motives. All they had to know were his demands.

“I didn’t travel half way across the galaxy just to dump her in the hands of an idiot who, might I add, can’t even look after his bitch in the first place.” It may have sounded harsh, but Vegeta was holding back. He knew he had to bite his tongue here and there if this conversation was to be any sense of productive. “How long will this therapy shit take? And where do I get it?” Yes, ‘he get it’. Vegeta was planning on taking matters into his own hands, like he always did. Vegeta toned down his pride for a more serious demeanor; quiet and watchful. Though Yamcha had proven useful after all, the prince was still wary of him. While his brain may have still been simmering, he could at least somewhat gather what the mutt was getting at. It seemed they both wanted the same thing - to see Bulma back to normal. He didn’t trust him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use him to get what he wanted.

* * *

Her POV

“What, you haven’t screwed her up enough? You have to be really satisfied?” He knew better than to continue egging the guy on, but he couldn’t help it. Every fiber of his being was telling him to try throwing punches again to see where it got him. Especially when Vegeta took a shot at his own pride, reminding him of what he couldn’t do. Not that he was wrong. He couldn’t protect Bulma. He couldn’t protect anyone. Everyone died on his watch. How was he to know these guys were this fucking strong? Maybe he could kill one of them now, with his new-found strength, but it wasn’t going to be this one. He scrunched his face and narrowed his eyes at Vegeta, listening to him mutter on about therapy. As if he honestly cared about Bulma. What horseshit. Goddamn it, he wished he could just move passed the guy and go check up on her, but it looked like that wasn’t going to be possible.

“It’s not something you can just go and get for someone else. There’s people she has to go to. I have to find a therapist. I have to book appointments for her. I have to bring her there at those appointments. It’s a fucking process, alright? I doubt she’s ever going to really get better, given everything she’s gone through.” Even without knowing all that really happened. Bulma had been sure to leave out details when talking to Yamcha, but he knew enough to know that she was a little too broken to just be repaired and fixed up and shipped out again. She didn’t need this fuck around making things worse for her. She just needed therapy and someone to lean on. Even if it meant no longer being her man, he’d accept it. He deserved it, for what had happened to her. But he still wanted to try and make up for it, at least through this.

“Why are you even hanging around her room for? If you’re going to insist on staying here, can you at least fucking leave her alone? Why can’t you just stay out of her fucking way instead of making things worse?” He was asking to be punched, he knew it, but he wasn’t one for keeping his mouth shut. Goddamn, he used to be such a cocky son of a bitch, but he’d had his pride beaten down bad from this guy far too many times to just shrug things off. He hated him for everything he’d done, plain and simple. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He’d take a million poundings if it meant getting under Vegeta’s skin in a way he couldn’t physically.

* * *

His POV

Shit. It sounded like he might be tethered to this planet longer then he thought. And to think he hadn’t expected to be on this rock for more than a few days, at the most. The thought of leaving for good once again flashed through his mind, but Vegeta filtered it out. He wasn’t going, not until he was finished with this. Though, what the mutt said about ‘her never really getting better’ struck a chord within the man. It was the first thing Yamcha had said that made sense. Soldiers never really returned from war, and he’d somewhat made a soldier out of her, or a survivor of war at the least. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t fight it. At least, he had to hope. Would he care for her any longer if she couldn’t find her way? Would he give a damn about her if she kept to the state she was in now? Honestly, he couldn’t say he would. But it did leave a bitter taste in his mouth to consider forgetting her all together.

“And how the hell am I supposed to keep horny little assholes like yourself away from her when I’m down the hall?” he said sarcastically. He could see the hatred contorting Yamcha’s face, and couldn’t help but to relate to it. To Vegeta, Yamcha was the threat - the male that’d jump her as soon as his back was turned, even if it was her mate in some sense, he didn’t trust Yamcha. That and, that little twinge of jealousy that came along whenever the mutt tried to lay a hand on the female, but he was greatly trying to ignore that fact. It was a jab for a jab, Vegeta wasn’t about to let their conversation go without sticking one to Yamcha, either. He may have kept from punching him, but it was well known between them who was the stronger one, who was better equipped to watch over the sleeping female.

“Do you know how many idiotic males I’ve had to pull off of her? I’m not going anywhere.” He paused, as if to turn to re-enter Bulma’s room, but stopped long enough to add, “Why don’t you make yourself useful. You’ve got appointments to make, why don’t you get on that.” He finally turned, leaving Yamcha in the hall, but not without one final glance over his shoulder. It was the only thing he was relying on the mutt for - to see to it that Bulma got the so-called therapy she apparently needed. He’d gotten what he’d wanted out of the mutt, it was time to check up on Bulma once again.

The door locked behind him; Vegeta slowly stalking his way towards the dimly lit bedding. Had she fallen asleep finally? Her position had changed - he noticed that. Silently, the prince crept beside her bed, baring his stare down into her. Everything that’d happened was still whirling around in his head. It was hard to concentrate, but at least it was finally quiet. The longer he stared at her, the more aggravated he became. This was not what he intended to happen. None of it! It was his own stupid fault for getting ‘attached’ to a stupid slave! The prince’s mouth tugged down into a little angry grimace, but then he stormed away. After pacing her floor like some angry jungle cat, he returned back to bedside. Again, he glared, but it wasn’t a look he could keep. A long sigh saw the tension in his face somewhat faded. “Bulma?” he muttered, but wasn’t sure what to expect. Was that mad woman still possessing her body? Or would she be back to her old self.

* * *

Her POV

“Horny?!” Yamcha’d just about had it. He stepped closer to Vegeta to give him a piece of his mind, but was stopped short when told about the men he had to pull off Bulma. That– That just made him feel sick. He grimaced, feeling nauseous, and before he could recuperate and go back to trying to kick Vegeta’s ass, the door was slammed on his face. Gnn…! He punched the door, just hard enough to hear a satisfying ‘BANG,’ before turning away. …Maybe he should get on finding somewhere for Bulma to go to therapy. Given the kind of stuff he said… He knitted his brows. Goddamn it. He scratched his head and wandered back down the hall, pressing his lips tightly together. Fuck.

Meanwhile, Bulma was pretending to be asleep. She heard what was going on outside, and when the conversation started to roll to a close, she laid back down. She didn’t want to be bothered, honestly. She… She didn’t want Yamcha to lecture her, but at the same time, she still had a fear of what Vegeta may do somewhere in her heart, regardless of how stupid she knew it was. He’d brought her back home without hurting her, why would now be any different? But she kept silent, even as minutes passed and she felt him pacing the floor. It was only when he sat on the bed and quietly said her name, did her eyes open. She didn’t look at him immediately, but they opened.

“…” Her brows knit, and finally she turned her head to stare up at him. Did he think less of her, now? She probably looked like a mess. How many times just today had she cried? Her face felt so tired, and she was sure her makeup was messed up to all hell. She looked away from him again and pulled herself up to a sitting position again, not knowing what to say. What was she supposed to say? …It was embarrassing. And to be honest, she was still nervous about him. She’d been ‘teasing’ him a lot lately, hadn’t she? What if he decided to just pin her down and rape her and have his way? She gulped at the thought, fear crawling over her again. It was so irrational, and yet… She was still so nervous in a way she hadn’t felt for a while.

“I… I just wanted to have a nice day,” she murmured. “I wanted to show you the strange things about Earth. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just saw my reflection, and I looked so pale, and my eyes were so sunken, and I… I don’t know. I started freaking out. And when you came, I just– …I thought you’d do something to me. Why wouldn’t you? Especially when you grabbed me. You grabbed me and forced me onto the ground plenty of times before, so I thought… …” She shrugged and shook her head, wiping her face. It wasn’t even noon yet, and she’d freaked out so much. God, she felt so pathetic. So incredibly pathetic…

“I want things to be back how they used to be, but I just… I keep thinking of everything, and that makes me nervous. I want to enjoy being back, but randomly I’ll think of how something felt… Or sounded, and… It’s like I never got back to Earth at all. Why is everyone else shrugging it off so easily? You did terrible things to everyone, not just me! But it feels like I’m the only one like this. I don’t want to be like this. Why am I like this? I don’t want to be on Earth anymore. I know I have to complete things for you, like the armor, but… I don’t want to be on Earth. I want to just lock myself in the lab and finish everything and just leave here forever.”

* * *

His POV

Well, it looked like the female was finally finished with her slumbering act. However, as soon as those big blue eyes looked his way, Vegeta felt his breath catch for a solid moment. He was waiting, anticipating her reaction. It was a relief to hear her speaking normally, more or less. Thanks to her freak-out-spell, she had Vegeta’s full and undivided attention. Something that he rarely gave anyone, even the girl. But he felt he was due his rights to a few answers. And oh, did he get them. Shit. So it had been his fault, all of it. The truth dripped from the girl’s own two lips like poison to his ears. The more she spoke, the harder his mouth pressed into a firm line. He could smell the fear wafting off of her, and it wasn’t attractive. But he was listening, sitting as stiff as a statue and noting every tiny move she made. The more he learned, the more lost for words he became. Just what was a warrior supposed to do with this shit? He wasn’t trained for this.

As surprising as it were, Vegeta actually understood what the girl was getting at. She wanted her life back, but after a planet’s destruction, well that just wasn’t usually possible. He should know. Since his own loss, war had always been at the forefront of his mind. Even now he was ready for attack. It’s what’d kept him on the top of the food chain. It’s was why he moved as he did. Bulma was trying to revert, but one didn’t simply revert after gaining status. Not without a fall from grace. As strange as sounded, it made her behavior that morning make a little more sense to the man, even if he found it ridiculous.

“Don’t worry, I’ve had my fill of Earth ways for a while.” Great, make a jab, Vegeta. That’ll help. Tending to others just wasn’t something that came naturally. Yet, the lingering reality that the entire scenario was his fault still clung to his mind. He hated it, he detested it, but at the same time it refused to let him be. Even now she feared him. He’d never given a damn before, he hadn’t even felt remorse for most of the sick and twisted things he’d put the girl through. ‘She was strong’, he’d justify, and even praise her. But something felt sour about it now. Could it be actual remorse? His gut twisted.

A long moment of silence filled the room. Bulma wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what to say. Vegeta’s gaze darted away, refusing to say anything at all. She wanted the impossible, that’s what he kept thinking. But telling her anything felt risky. “It is normal, it’s how you learn to keep your guard up,” he finally managed, “I told you before that I could of been a slave. It won’t last forever, you just have to keep moving forward, there’s no going back to the life you had,” he nodded firmly after that, finally shooting her a stern look. “But even if you insist on acting like a weakling…” his brow twitched, “Look. I don’t give a damn about your status, Bulma. I don’t give a shit if you believe me or not, either. I’m not going to hurt you. If you ask me to leave, I’ll leave,” he paused, then pointed, “But you’re not going anywhere acting like this. Not with me, anyhow.”

* * *

Her POV

He tried to joke around, but she still had a feeling of uneasiness. It didn’t help that she was still somewhat dizzy. She rubbed her head as she spoke to her, telling her it would be fine. That it’d go away. …A glance came his way. Had he dealt with similar things? There was a tinge of understanding in the way he talked, as if he was talking from experience. It rose questions that Bulma debated asking, before deciding against it. She kept quiet instead, trying to decide what to even do with herself. Her makeup was a mess, her head ached… And she was starving, thanks to having puked up her breakfast earlier. She should probably brush her teeth; she could still taste the bile on the back of her tongue.

Vegeta’s words brought her back to the moment, though, after a moment of silence. He called her a weakling. She turned her head to stare at him, her facial expression revealing nothing about how she felt. She felt a pang in her heart following the comment, though. Was that what he thought of her? She was weak. She knew he did even before he said it, but somehow the confirmation made it even worse. Why did she care? Maybe it was the fact that it was only when she started acting ‘strong’ did she manage to get to a better place. Now that she was again categorized as ‘weak,’ … It was really just a surprise that he did not do what he wanted with her. Her eyes averted again. Being lectured like a child while a layer of fear still wrapped around her.

…But it was worse than him attacking her. He was abandoning her instead. She sat quietly, pursing her lips. What was she supposed to say to that? That he’d just leave her, because he didn’t want to deal with someone so weak. …Why did it bother her so much? All this time, the only thing she wanted was to get as far away from him as possible. But now, the idea of being without him felt terrible. He was the only one that she could connect to, and he wanted to leave her. She’d feel trapped if she had to stay on Earth, especially without him. Who else understood what she went through? She shook her head, without even saying anything. No. She couldn’t be left alone. If he left her, there’d be hell to pay.

“I…” Her words were stuck in her throat. She felt anger begin to boil, but the feeling of discomfort following her fainting and panic attack still loomed over her, controlling her actions and stopping her from doing anything too rash. Instead, she just looked at Vegeta and scowled at him. She couldn’t yell at him, but she could at least give him a look, after processing everything. It probably wasn’t very intimidating, especially given how sloppy her makeup was and how weak she felt, but it was something. Just something to get along how she felt about what he dared to say to her. She wasn’t a complete weakling, at least. She had that episode, but she could still manage a single look. Though it faltered when her stomach growled loudly. She looked away again, slightly embarrassed by the reminder of how hungry she was. How long had it been since breakfast, anyway? It had to be at least almost noon by now. A simple Earthly sandwich sounded good just about now. …Vegeta’d probably loom over her the whole time.

“…You’re sick of Earth, but maybe… You’d be alright with trying some more Earth food.”

* * *

His POV

For a moment, Vegeta expected the girl to lash out at him verbally, as she so often did. But nothing ever came. Silence. But then a glance turned his way that told him exactly what he needed to know. There was still some of that fire in her after all, he hadn’t completely stamped it out. It was stabbing through him from those bright blue disks of hers. She obviously hadn’t approved of something he’d said, how perfect. The prince couldn’t help but roll his eyes to look away. There was no way in hell he’d openly admit how glad he was to see that look back on her face, even if it was a shabby version of it. It lifted some of the guilt he’d been tormented by for the last few moments.

“Like hell I’d say no to that,” his deep voice gruffed out, standing to his feet beside the bed. Food was always a welcome topic to a Saiyan’s ears. Not to mention the girl was looking kind of pale in complexion. He’d noticed since their time back at the park. Since then her health seemed to have dwindled. She’d thrown up too, needed food, so if feeding his bottomless belly would make her eat, he wasn’t about to give up the chance. Not to mention… Earth food was good, damn good. Heck, thinking about it was making his own stomach rumble, and the beast didn’t normally eat but once a day. The prince may of been feeling slightly spoiled when it came to earth cuisine.

The prince waited quietly at the end of the girl’s bed. Taking his time in surveying the area as she moved around as she pleased. Vegeta knew this wasn’t going to be a quick in and out case. The girl always seemed to dilly dally when it came to getting anywhere, he’d come to expect it. In the meantime, he came to realize there was still something shoved into the deep of his jacket’s pocket. His dark eyes glanced down, fishing it out. Ah, that damn ‘prize’ that Bulma had insisted he gathered. What a waste of time. It looked to not have any value to it at all. Kami, what kind of prize was that? Useless. The object was discarded onto her large bed, ridding his person of it. It was a plush gorilla, its stomach embroidered with a bright red heart. Vegeta busied himself in a different direction, shoving his hands back into his pockets. She couldn’t take that much longer, could she? Damn that woman, maybe he should check up on her.

* * *

Her POV

He agreed, in the strangest way possible. As Vegeta was known to do. He had a way of making acceptance sound like rejection, just by the way he worded things. She nodded her head and got off the bed, feeling her dizziness start to fade. She’d get her strength back and be back to her usual self, but firstly… She had to make herself look presentable again. She went straight to the bathroom to clean herself up, and was not at all happy with what she saw in the mirror. She looked terrible. Hell, she didn’t even want to look in the mirror again after seeing what she looked like, all splotchy with messed up hair and makeup. Geeze, people had seen her looking like this! Goddamn it…

She washed her face first, getting rid of all the makeup that was caked on. She supposed she was going for a lighter look today. She still looked blotchy over everything, so she’d need to put something on, but she’d be going fairly natural. But for the time being, after getting all the makeup off and patting down her face, she went to brushing her teeth and washing with mouthwash to get rid of the disgusting sting of bile at the back of her mouth. And somehow, after those little actions, she was feeling much better. Though she found herself unsatisfied with the puffiness of her eyes, and spent a few minutes holding a wet, warm cloth over them to help calm the irritation.

Finally, she left the bathroom. She took note of Vegeta, pacing around and looking anxious, but then her tired eyes wandered to the plush toy on the bed. A little gorilla. …Was that what he’d won at the stand? She couldn’t help but smile a little. It was… It was cute. Really cute. And pretty fitting.

“You could have picked the biggest one there, given what you did. Why’d you pick that one?” An innocent question, but maybe he’d get offended. She should know to tread lightly around him, but somehow, even at her worst, she couldn’t help but say things she probably shouldn’t. Either way, she made her way back to her vanity and began pulling out her makeup again, covering her face in BB cream and foundation to cover up all the splotchiness, and following it up with some concealer and a bit of blush and eye shadow just to make her look all the more cute. She finished it with lip balm, and turned to Vegeta only in the matter of ten minutes (maybe even less), rather than taking half an hour on her makeup this time.

“So, how do sandwiches sound?”

* * *

His POV

Finally, she re-emerged. Vegeta didn’t bother turning around. He so rarely gave anyone his attention, and listening to her ramble on was enough of a connection for him. His gaze had outlined her bedroom from floor to ceiling. He’d taken notes of the weak points of her bedroom windows, and had memorized every door and vent in the vicinity. It wasn’t just because it belonged to her, it was his natural order. Well, maybe it had a little bit to do with the girl’s security, but overall he was merely being his tactful self. She was talking again though, and fairly normally - he caught onto that pretty quick. Then she uttered something that caught the beast off guard. Something about picking ‘something’.

“Pick what?” his voice boomed, turning to face her. His gaze traced her own, following into the direction of the bed. Right to the little plush animal that he’d previously discarded from his pocket. That thing? That’s what she was on about? His arms crossed over his chest, twitching the end of his tail behind him. “What difference does it make? It’s useless either way.” He barked rather defensively. Bulma was right, Vegeta rarely took to being questioned very easily, especially when it came to things he was owed. Luckily for the both of them though, this time he didn’t give much thought to it. The thing was pointless to him, after all.

His attention was struck by the sight of her primping in the mirror. Had it become obvious yet to the girl, that he found her preening routine a spectacle? He watched, creeping up on her silently. He didn’t mean to act the predator, but his attention was definitely fixed on her face in the mirror. She was at it again, and something about the way she patted the gentle skin of her cheeks made him stop and stare. His presence loomed just behind her, just as she muttered something about food. Sandwiches to be precise. As if he’d argue, food was food to him.

“As long as it isn’t sweet this time.” His brow cocked, watching her reflection. “Do all earthlings prefer their meals so sweet?” His nose scrunched, then he disappeared out of view. Vegeta wasn’t waiting around any longer, besides he got a vibe from the girl that told him she was finished pinching her cheeks, or whatever the fuck she was doing with that makeup. His swift movements went for the door, but surprisingly, he looked back. It was only a quick, subtle gesture, but he allowed her to catch up a few steps before he made way down the hall.

* * *

Her POV

“Sandwiches aren’t sweet, don’t worry about that. Not unless you put something on them or something. But I’ll make yours meaty and savory. You’ll like it.” She’d noticed him staring at her in the reflection, obviously, before she’d even turned around to see him so close to her. There was something cute about it, but at the same time, it was a little disturbing. She tried to focus more on the cute side. The fact he was so interested. It was adorable. He was stupidly curious, and then as soon as she turned away, he tried to act as if he wasn’t doing anything. And as soon as he got the thumbs-up, he all but ran out the door– but not before glancing at her first.

She got up and followed him out the door, her stomach still rumbling and bothering her from its emptiness. She was feeling better, at least. It was like she was trying to start the day over again. She followed him down the hallway, glancing him over. She couldn’t help but wonder what he thought about Earth so far. Apparently he was fond of the food–just not the sweet food–though she couldn’t tell how he felt about anything else.

“So… You really don’t like anything sweet, huh? It’s too bad for you. A lot of Earth’s best stuff is sweet. Like chocolate. Not everything here is sweet, but we’ve got desserts that aren’t good unless they’re sweet.” She pulled her fingers through her hair, combing it out to make it more neat as she walked to the kitchen. “I’d go out to bring you somewhere to get proper sandwiches, but… I don’t really think that’s a good idea. So I’ll just make them with what I’ve got. …It’s just a matter of deciding what kind of sandwich you’ll like best.” 

She went ahead and started pulling out all kinds of ingredients– from spices and vegetables to large amounts of different lunch meats. She laid it all out over the counter, with even different types of breads. Obviously there was far more stuff here than could be in a single sandwich, but she figured she could be her own little sandwich shop for the time being. If she couldn’t decide what Vegeta would like best, she’d let him decide for himself.

“Alright, pick out some stuff for your sandwich. Whatever you want. I’ll make it for you. Not everything, though. I’ll let you have no more than three, alright? We only have so much food, you know.”

* * *

His POV

Vegeta didn’t give Bulma much of an answer, other than a few rough gruffs and huffs of air. It meant ‘no, he didn’t like sweets’ and another, more agreeable huff when she mentioned ‘not going out to be a good idea’. He knew why she said it, anything to keep them from a repeat of that morning. Staying at base camp it was, then. He hadn’t noticed their shoulder to shoulder pace until they’d rounded the corner into the kitchen. Vegeta had to stop a moment to contemplate it. It was rare anyone was anything closer than a few steps behind him, but it hadn’t been so bad. He was getting comfortable around the girl, more than usual. In fact, somewhat of a nice chat, if one could call his grunts chatty.

And then she started pulling items out of cupboards and cabinets, and the prince stopped and stared. There he stood in the midst of the over-sized kitchen, just watching like a soldier on sentry duty. It did wonders to mask the thoughts running through his mind. Honestly, how could he not stare. His pretty blue earthling was preparing food to him, to his liking. How was he not supposed to find it a little bit of a turn on. How easily could he pin her against the counter where she stood? Her back was towards him, showing the curve of her spine whenever she reached across the counter. A deep breath released from his wide chest - he chose to ignore the need.

Her voice broke his thought pattern and his mind all but stumbled. Thankfully Bulma’s insisting he pick out ingredients for his meal was a well-placed distraction. He stepped closer, eyeing the lineup she’d made. Breads, vegetables, and most of all - meats. The scent of rye bread caught his nose, and Vegeta grabbed for it. He took a bite, nodding ‘oh yes, he liked this one’, before tossing the left over slice and reaching for the sliced deli meats instead. Of course he was picking at the meats. Stuffing a slice or two into his mouth like a hungry teenager that was ready to spoil his appetite (if a Saiyan’s appetite could be spoiled, that is).

“You and your cooked meats,” he muttered. Though, his complaining wasn’t very convincing with how avidly he was stuffing the bits of meats into his maw. He obviously liked the spiced tastes… “This one,” he picked up a large portion of roast beef, smacking it down onto the counter in front of Bulma. Entitled as usual, he expected her to do the dirty work of building his meal. His back leaned against the counter, giving her a shamelessly arrogant look. But then something caught his peripheral vision. Just past the kitchen windowpane, Raditz was making his way towards the compound. Well, he wasn’t dead, that was something - seeing as he’d supposedly revisited his traitor of a sibling.

* * *

Her POV

Rather than taking a taste of everything, he was already stuffing his face. She watched him with a raised brow as he signaled what pieces of food he liked and didn’t like, and Bulma began to make his sandwich. Rye bread with roast beef (and plenty of it) with a multitude of condiments, including Worcestershire sauce and horseradish, with provolone cheese smacked on top. She made it as big as she knew a Saiyan would like, and she moved on to making another sandwich. This time, she’d figured she would make something for him to try that he otherwise might not like. A simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich (sure, he didn’t like sweets, and she told him sandwiches weren’t sweet, but… she was curious), and lastly, a submarine sandwich. Filled with multiple types of meat, lettuce, Swiss and provolone cheese, some tomatoes, pickles, and anything else she could think of, she figured it’d make up for the PB&J sandwich that he might not even enjoy.

“There.” She finished up with the sandwiches and pushed the plates forward, closer to him. She kept an eye on him as she made her own sandwich. A panini with Swiss, tomato, lettuce, and chicken. Hell, just putting it on the stove to grill was making her stomach growl, especially after being surrounded by all this food. But as it cooked, she began putting everything away, still keeping a close eye on Vegeta just to gauge what he thought of the different sandwiches. It was… Informational, she supposed. And always entertaining to see him deal with new things.

-

While Bulma and Vegeta were having a nice lunch, Yamcha was sitting outside with Pu’ar. He was none too happy, and couldn’t stop thinking to himself about how much he wanted to kill Vegeta for all the shit he’d said. What a fucking piece of shit, with no respect at all. Pu’ar kept trying to calm him down while typing out on a laptop to check out therapists in their area, but Yamcha was far too busy steaming from the ears to listen to anything his furry friend had to say. And as if his day wasn’t bad enough, he saw another of those goddamn Saiyans walking along like he owned the place. The one with the long hair. The one who was Goku’s older brother, if he remembered correctly.

An older brother who had the nerve to murder his little brother and his family, and everything they ever cared about. What a great sibling he was. He blew hot air out his nose, ignoring Pu’ar’s little mumbles telling him to calm down. He couldn’t beat Vegeta, sure, but who’s to say he couldn’t show this guy his place? If he did anything wrong, at least. Which he was surely going to do eventually. …Eventually. Yamcha rolled his eyes and looked away, instead facing the laptop screen as Pu’ar typed. Why was it so damn hard to find a therapist in this stupid city? 

* * *

His POV

The sandwich of rye and meat was gone within a matter of seconds. Vegeta had downed it as quickly as expected, however the bountiful flavors weren’t totally lost on him. His eyes flicked towards the woman, thinking of how spoiled she must of been in her time on this planet. He’d taken all of that from her. He’d always known it, but it was a new form of reality for him now. Something he could literally sink his teeth into and comprehend. Everything here was luxurious, even the protein in his mouth. To be perfectly blunt, he wanted more of whatever she’d put on it (he unknowingly loved horseradish and Worcestershire), the dark savoriness. Luckily another two sandwiches were staring him down, just waiting to be eaten.

Next, peanut-butter and jelly. Vegeta bit in without a second glance. He never thought about his food, only how fast he could get it to his mouth. However, he stopped, glanced down, and then opened up the strange, sticky pieces of bread. His mouth smacked, finding it hard to swallow. Rubbing the peanut-butter between his finger and thumb, he inspected it. It tasted of iron and salt, actually it wasn’t half bad. It made the sweetness of the jam bearable (to which he’d been sniffing). After smashing the pieces back together, he finished it off, quickly turning to the submarine. It was only then his sights turned up, honing in on Bulma and the strange smell that was coming from the stove top. He was curious, she’d been right, so naturally he snatched a piece of stay chicken from her plate when she decided to sit down and join him.

-

Meanwhile, Raditz was making his way across the grassy lawn of Capsule Corp. It had been a fairly productive day, by his standards. Sure, his brother hadn’t been too happy to see him, and his wife. Well, she was the reason he wasn’t allowed on the Son’s property. Raditz had spent the majority of the time in a remote location where he could speak and spar with his brother, one on one. Kakarot had proven to be stupidly forgiving towards the end. He couldn’t understand it, but he certainly wasn’t arguing. It’d left the over-sized muscle-head feeling pretty damn dapper. Now if only he could find some nice tail to bang. Well, what do you know. This day could get better after all.

A nice hunk of earthling flesh was sitting out under the blazing sun. He strode up to the side of the patio table, unbeknownst to the horrible hatred Yamcha held for him, or maybe he really didn’t care about it at all. The tight knit in Yamcha’s brow and the warning look on his face didn’t faze the big lug. No, Raditz merely put on his best smile, the one he usually used on brothel whores, and shot the poor male bedroom eyes. “Well, well, if it isn’t my lucky day,” Raditz lowered to Yamcha’s level, bracing his large hand on the table - closing the laptop on poor Pu’ar. “It’s about time you showed up again. I was beginning to wonder... I don’t remember fighting you from before... I think I would have remembered a face like that.”

* * *

Her POV

Surprisingly, he didn’t hate the PB&J. Though it was funny to see him open it up and inspect it before deciding he tolerated it, though with some difficulty in eating the peanut butter. She resisted a smile when watching him, taking her plate to sit beside him. She didn’t argue when he grabbed a piece of chicken sitting on her plate, and when she sat down, she dug right into her own sandwich– her stomach growling even louder now, as if it just couldn’t wait for the first bite to hit her stomach. God, it tasted good. She’d been home for long enough by now, but the taste of Earth food still felt so good on her tongue. She’d missed all these kinds of foods so much. Hell, the only reason she wasn’t closing her eyes in pleasure and satisfaction, was because she wanted to watch Vegeta try out the last sandwich she had for him.

-

He’d kind of been hoping that Raditz would just leave him alone. Sure, he wanted to kick his ass, but at the same time, that’s all he really wanted: for all the Saiyans to just leave him the fuck alone, preferably by leaving the planet altogether. But things could never be that easy, could they? They always had to be fucking difficult, like Raditz was being right now by deciding to come onto him in the most obnoxious way possible. Hitting on him like some fucking bimbo. Treating him like a woman. Who the fuck did he think he was? From the moment that Raditz tried to close the laptop on Pu’ar (who only narrowly avoided being crushed by Yamcha’s hand catching the laptop screen before that had a chance of happening), he knew that he’d finally get into a fight. Maybe even one he could win.

He let his anger brew for a moment. Let Raditz talk. Come onto him, hit on him, flirt– acting as if he hadn’t helped murder everyone on his planet. His eyes narrowed. What a fucking piece of shit. What was he even talking about, saying they never fought?! Of course he remembered the faces of his goddamn murderers, and this was certainly one of them! He couldn’t contain his anger any longer. How could he, when this fucking asshole was strolling in and trying to offer to fuck him up the ass? As if he hadn’t been emasculated enough! 

His fist went straight into Raditz’s face. Dead-center. The punch landed right above his nose, and Yamcha was pretty damn proud to see the Saiyan go toppling from the attack. He was clearly weaker than Vegeta; he had a chance with this one. Good, he could be his fucking punching bag for what he’d said! For what he’d done! Yamcha stood up and moved around the small table, heading back up to Raditz while cracking his knuckles. He’d have fun with this piece of shit.

“Do you wanna repeat that? What you said just now?”

* * *

His POV

Everything was quiet. And not the kind of quiet that made for awkward silence. It was a peaceful quietness, just enjoying their food. Vegeta had taken to the sub sandwich, to which he was greedily lapping up the cheeses. A soft gruff from under his breath meant he approved. It wasn’t quite as tasty as the first (thanks to the douse of Worcestershire) but it was decent none the less. The Saiyan sized snack was half gone by the time Vegeta heard something go ‘smack’ from outside. He paused, perking his ear to the sound of a punch, but he didn’t bother to inspect. No, all that mattered in the moment was food, and seeing to it that the girl got her fill of nutrient. It wasn’t until his meal was nothing but crumbs, and the sound of raised voices were ringing through the kitchen, that he turned to see what was going on.

-

Raditz hadn’t seen that coming. His face stung, but it wasn’t anything he wasn’t accustom to. It was a slap at best, but it did piss the big Saiyan off. Just when he’d thought things were going his way, the universe sent him for a loop. God damn, was he going to have to fight this guy before he could fuck him? The burly male stood to his feet as soon as Yamcha started his direction. Brushing himself off, Raditz cocked his own inviting grin. It wasn’t every day a whore wanted to best him, maybe he’d actually enjoy beating the guy down. Vegeta certainly seemed to enjoy a fight before a fuck, and Raditz had to admit, it’d looked tantalizing ever since.

“Your face, I’d like to fuck it, what do you say?” Raditz was intentionally egging Yamcha on. The beast side stepped, punching his fist into his own fist, mimicking Yamcha’s stance. The open lawn had become their ring, which suited him just fine. He knew it was against Vegeta’s rules to harm any civilians, but this guy had thrown the first punch. Besides, he’d only rough him up. Just enough to convince Yamcha that he was serious about making him his new bitch while stuck on this planet.

Raditz wasn’t about to be thrown around a second time, so as soon as he built up his nerve, he went flying right towards his opponent, aiming to strike Yamcha with a fist to the stomach. His blows wouldn’t stop there, though. His massive leg swung for Yamcha’s legs, trying to catch him off guard. But something told the fighter this earthling wasn’t as weak as the vast majority. That first strike had had power behind it. And the further the fight went, the more Raditz was starting to wonder if he was in over his head. Certainly this earthling male couldn’t beat him, not a Saiyan, not after they’d conquered their planet once before. Could he?

* * *

Her POV

She had been enjoying the silence as much as Vegeta was. She watched him eat, the same as he did with her. Had he had his fill? She had a feeling this panini wouldn’t be enough for her– she’d probably fill her belly in just a moment with more food. Some chips, pickles maybe… But in the middle of thinking about it, there was… Noise. Yelling? Punching? Vegeta didn’t look surprised; maybe he’d heard it before it reached her ears. But it didn’t sound good. She tried to look out the window, but she wasn’t seeing anything. If it weren’t for her being so hungry and not wanting any more stress, she’d probably go see what it was. Instead, she looked to Vegeta for what to do. It just felt natural to by now.

-

Raditz was even more crude with his words this time, only making Yamcha’s anger boil further. When Raditz launched at him, Yamcha spared him no pity or mercy. His fist was grabbed, and his leg caught Raditz’s leg. It was surprisingly easy to go toe-to-toe with this one. Enough that he wasn’t even breaking a sweat. His training with King Kai had really done something! It wasn’t all for nothing! He could beat this piece of shit no problem! He felt his cockiness coming back to him, and his chest swelled with pride just as his arm reached back before pummeling straight into Raditz’s face again.

“You really want to say that one more time?!” He pushed Raditz’s other arm away so that he could grab his collar of the stupid Earth clothes he’d decided to wear, as if it was his to wear, as if it wasn’t a mockery to let him wear it! And now that he had that grip on him, he was able to keep punching him in the face, over and over and over until he finished off the combo attack with a kick to the stomach to send him flying yet again. This is what that bastard deserved. He’d get his fucking revenge, even if he couldn’t do the same with Vegeta. He could at least get all his anger on this sick asshole.

He appeared behind Raditz soon after the Saiyan landed on the ground, giving him a solid kick straight to the temple. Like hell he’d bother giving the fucking devil any kind of mercy. Not after everything he’d done. He deserved every single bit of violence that Yamcha could possibly toss at him. He kicked him a few more times, but then sat right on his chest, glaring down at the black-haired fighter. He punched him again. And again. And again. Goddamn, did he feel victorious. The training with King Kai had been successful, at least to some extent! He was stronger! Stronger than at least one of these men! There’s no way in hell he’d be degraded by this bastard when he could beat the shit out of him so easily! If he was breaking a sweat now, it was only from the heat and the anger he felt! This was too damn easy!

“Do you want to say what you did, one more time for me?!”

* * *

His POV

The idiot, hadn’t he told the both of his men not to start trouble? Though honestly, even Vegeta knew that was asking for a miracle. If he hadn’t recognized the mutt’s voice from afar, he may of intervened, but... Well he still had a bit of a bone to pick with Yamcha, himself. And besides, it didn’t sound like more than a scuff, and Vegeta was never one to break up a fight without his own motive. At least it hadn’t looked to have startled the girl. The prince recognized the glance she’d given him, and answered her curiosity with the nod of his head. A simple motion that meant ‘everything was fine’ to ‘go ahead and retrieve yourself more food’.

“The idiot...” Vegeta finally mumbled, after making way to stare out of the massive window, his arms crossed and his stance quiet and calm. “He’s getting his fucking ass kicked...” Not that it mattered too much to Vegeta. Hey, if a Saiyan couldn’t hold his ground in a battle then they deserved their pummeling. Besides… It was a _little bit_ interesting to see the mutt fight with such ferocity. To see his moves in action; Vegeta was gauging him. Yamcha may not have been up to his level, but the punk definitely had some skill to him - that was surprising. Maybe the mutt could hold his own against a foe or two after all. His men weren’t exactly the easiest beasts to take down. They had a reputation, after all. Still, it was an interesting fight, if not brutal.

-

Raditz had all but had enough. Blood gurgled from his busted maw and his hands lifted in an attempt to fumble the incoming blows to his face. At first he’d really anticipated winning this fight. He’d been feeling confident and the mutt was cute. Meeting him blow for blow while thinking of the nasty things he’d do to the mutt had fueled him on, that is until the fight took a turn for the worst and Raditz found himself being beat into the dirt. Not that he wasn’t cute now, it was kind of hot - it was just mixed with being humiliated and pissed off. More than anything, Raditz just wanted his dignity back.

God, at least Vegeta and Nappa weren’t here to see this. Raditz really didn’t want to add insult to injury right about now. Especially since the beat down started because he tried to fuck the guy… and failed. “BA-HAHAHA, WOULD YA LOOK AT THAT,” too late… here came Nappa and his big, ugly laughter. The bald man had been watching the whole thing from across the field, and now was the perfect time to make himself known and rub salt into Raditz’ wounded face. “Looks like the mutt’s got some fight in him after all,” Nappa snorted, making way a little closer. Yamcha had demanded Raditz repeat his words, and the long haired male certainly tried. Through his blackened eye he glared up at the man on-top of him, spitting blood from his snarling lips. But with his gut twisted into angry humiliation and his mouth too bruised to work, he simply gave up, and plopped his head back into the dirt. Defeated...

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta gave her a head nod, and she went right back to eating. Whatever it was, it wasn’t really an issue. After today, Vegeta would know better than to let something that would stress her out more happen, right? That’s what she wanted to believe, anyway. So she kept quiet and ate all the way until she finished her sandwich, and when she finished, she only got up to go get chips and pickles like she’d originally planned rather than see what Vegeta was watching out the window. If it was that important, he’d break it up. He’d break it up…

-

Not that it needed to be broken up. Raditz could handle getting beaten, and if he couldn’t, well, Yamcha was all the happier for it. He only stopped his beating when Nappa caught his attention– leading his irritable gaze to the bald, massive man that he’d have assumed was the leader if Vegeta had not made it obvious who really called the shots. He glared at him before finally pulling himself up from Raditz’s chest. He looked beaten up enough. Whatever. He was completely satisfied with how things had turned out for him.

He turned and walked back to the patio and walked inside as if nothing happened, while Pu’ar took a look at the two Saiyans before closing the laptop and following along. Like hell he was going to be stuck in the same general vicinity while alone. Besides, there was work to be done. And he should probably make sure that Yamcha didn’t end up breaking any bones in his hand with how hard he was punching him, trying to get all his anger out on him. What a mess…

But Yamcha was certainly pleased. He may have the scowl on his face, but he’d walked away with a little more pride than he’d had before. Knowing someone else had seen it happen too, just made it all the better. He wasn’t weak. He wasn’t useless. He HAD gotten stronger, strong enough to defeat one of them with ease. He wasn’t sure how he could handle Nappa, and he certainly couldn’t defeat Vegeta, but at least Raditz was someone that he could handle.

* * *

His POV

“Bah-ha! It’s about time we got some good action around here,” barreled Nappa’s huge voice. As soon as Yamcha stepped up and away from the bleeding Raditz, Nappa slapped one of his ginormous hands against the earthling’s back. It was a friendly gesture more or less - congratulating the man on beating up his own comrade. Honestly, the Saiyans had no sense of comradery past whom of them was the strongest. And Yamcha had just proven his salt to Nappa, and surprisingly Vegeta from afar. Besides, Raditz would be fine. ‘A little ass kick’n was good for ya’ Nappa would always say (unless he was getting the ass kicking, of course).

“He got the jump on me,” croaked Raditz, pulling himself off of the ground and onto his feet.

“Don’t be a pussy, Raditz. He beat you good,” replied Nappa with some humor still in his throat.

After one final glare in Yamcha’s direction, Raditz spit the pooling blood from his mouth then retreated to lick his wounds. Nappa on the other hand, was making his way into the home. The smell of food led him straight for the kitchen. He’d yet to learn the twists and turns of Capsule Corp just yet, so when in doubt, he followed his nose. It would of been surprising to find the female with his leader, looking so content and well fed up, if he wasn’t growing use to it by now. Heck, he didn’t even give a shit as long as they’d left some of the chow for him.

“What’re we havin’?” his voice boomed again. Apparently Nappa was in a good mood. Hey, it was like dinner and a show! Earth life was growing on him, and it showed. Especially with his new and improved eye patch. It was a prototype, or so Doctor Briefs had told him, but it worked for just fine in his book. The shiny metal patch fit over his empty eye socket, held to his face with a metal chain that looped around his bald head. The little light on it blinked in Vegeta’s direction, and the prince snarled. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about the new contraption on Nappa’s face. Vegeta was much more interested in the bag of chips and jar of pickles Bulma had. Ugh, packaged foods - he made a face. It seemed they were everywhere in the galaxy, even on this backwater planet.

* * *

Her POV

Ergh, there to ruin her afternoon, that had gotten so much better after her terrible morning… Was Nappa. Shouting and acting as if she was going to feed him. She sat back down on her spot and put a couple pickles on her plate, as well as dropping all her potato chips onto it, as well. She dug in and gave Nappa a glare, but tried to keep her eyes on Vegeta after the fact. Whatever commotion had been going on, it had stopped. She didn’t hear any more yelling. The fight must have been finished. And it must have been what Nappa was referencing when he mentioned a ‘show.’ …She didn’t want to ask, to be honest.

“…The food’s something I’ll miss when I go back with you guys. That’s something else I should take with me. You said you wouldn’t care if I could just carry it all myself, right?” No problem; she’d have storage capsules filled with food that she could bring with. Eating different things across the galaxy were interesting, but there were times where she’d get homesick. As long as she just didn’t have to worry about the bottomless pits she would be living with deciding they wanted to eat her food. That was the real problem she had to deal with…

“…So… When… When should we leave? I think after I finish eating, I should probably get started on fixing up everything I said I would. Make your armor, and make what I’m going to live in… Things like that. Should we leave tonight or tomorrow? Because I think you guys would like to stay for dinner, and one more big Earth meal sounds appetizing too, even if I’m eating right now.” She was blabbering on, but now that she had the ability to talk again and had managed to push away all her previous nervousness, it just happened to come naturally to her. Besides, it was for the best; the more she talked, the more she got her mind off anything that might put her into the same state of mind she had been previously.

* * *

His POV

“You should’a seen Raditz’ face,” Nappa continued, moseying his way through the kitchen and towards the smell of bread. One of the packages had been left on the counter and he quickly began shoveling the slices into his mouth, much like Bulma was with her potato chips. However, the bald man was slowly grating on the prince’s nerves. Vegeta had halted his eating in order to stare down the big man. Nappa was really trying the prince’s patience, his fuse was short thanks to that morning. Nappa opened his crumby mouth to yell something else, but then quickly retreated into silence once he caught the glare coming off of Vegeta.

Then Bulma mentioned her leaving the planet with them, and both of the men shot her a judgmental look. Vegeta particularly looked wary of the subject matter. He still wasn’t convinced it’d be the wisest choice to allow the girl to follow them. He wasn’t sold on Bulma’s state of mind. Even now he noticed it in her mannerisms and the way she spoke. Her mind seemed to flutter around like a frightful sparrow. Looking for a way out. Trying to escape. What she was running from he couldn’t be sure, but he knew one thing for certain, he wasn’t dealing with her freak-out spell on a mission. It was too dangerous… for her.

Vegeta could moan that it would be a hassle to take her all he pleased, but the truth was he didn’t want her killed over something so stupid. He wanted her somewhere safe - he’d fought hard enough for that right. Yet the idea of leaving her felt irritating, but the thought of taking her felt miserable. Still, he was still a selfish bastard, and the prince had full intentions of keeping the information to himself until his new battle armor was done. He’d use her, and by the time he was finished with this planet he’d make his final decision.

“We won’t be going anywhere for the next few days, so I suggest you get comfortable,” the prince grouched, rising from the table. “However, I want to see this battle armor of yours. Improving it isn’t going to be easy,” his gravelly voice reassured. Not that he lacked faith in Bulma’s abilities, but Vegeta knew his armor well. He always only went for the top of the line. The technology was always evolving across the universe until it’d slowed to its peak - or so the producers of battle armor had claimed. Was the earthling really so smart that she could build on alien technology? He wouldn’t put it past her, the clever woman, but he wanted to see it for himself.

* * *

Her POV

“The next few days?” Her brows furrowed, and rather than continue to eat her chips, she pursed her lips into a pout. What the hell, he said he had enough of Earth! And now he was saying that they’d be staying here for the next few days?! She wanted to leave now! Immediately! Well… Relatively soon, at least. Couldn’t he see how miserable she was on this planet?! It wasn’t fair! She huffed at him and turned her head away, scowling toward the window and still completely ignoring Nappa. Goddamn it, they always found ways of grating on her, didn’t they? He did nice things like bring her planet back, and now he was deciding he was going to stay despite how clearly miserable she was. What a load of crap…

“So you don’t trust me, huh? It’s not like you own me or anything. Haven’t I done enough to prove that I’m capable? Why can’t I just go and make it now and then leave? I don’t want to be on this stupid planet anymore! I thought you didn’t either, so what’s the deal? Is it all the food? My mom can pack up lunches for you or something! Or we can stop at some other planet with equally good food at our next stop! I don’t want to have to stay here for days! I know I said that I did before, but I changed my mind! I don’t like it here! I don’t fit in! Everyone’s acting too nice! I want to leave, alright?” More blabbering, but this time, she just rattled on out of anger. How could he do this to her? Couldn’t he see how unhappy she was?

She pouted at him some more before she started munching on potato chips again, shoveling them into her mouth similarly to how a Saiyan might. So what, she had a freak-out earlier today! It was the stupid mirrors that did it! It was their fault, not hers! It’s not like she was just going to act like that all the time! Ugh, that’s what this was about, though, wasn’t it? He thought she needed therapy. That’s what Yamcha’d been talking about. Because she happened to faint. She didn’t need any therapy! She was strong, like Vegeta kept saying. He said it’d get better, right? She felt just fine now, and she figured she’d only get better once she got off the planet! As soon as she wasn’t around where everything was a reminder of her old life, she’d be just fine! 

“I can’t believe you, you big jerk,” she huffed, finishing off the last of her potato chips and going on to aggressively eat her pickles. She gave him a glare here and there, but seemed ultimately finished with her rambling and instead just focused on thinking angrily to herself about how much of an asshole he was, and how sick of being at home she had become. Hrnf…

* * *

His POV

“You want to leave? Then prove it, finish my armor,” he stated as smoothly as a cunning fox. Vegeta moved to stand against the kitchen wall, resting one foot over his ankle, and crossing his arms over his chest, just watching the fuming display. The prince couldn’t help but prod her temper; at least her fire was back in action. Getting the girl angry always seemed to do the trick. However, it’d take more than a bad attitude to convince Vegeta she was worthy of going anywhere off planet. No, if she wanted anywhere near his ship she’d have to keep herself intact for the next few days. Even if these little temper tantrums of hers were kind of attractive.

“Maybe I like it here, maybe I’ll stay more than a week.” A dirty grin spread across the prince’s harsh features. Okay, now he was just purposely pushing her buttons, but how could he resist? It’d been a while since they’d gone at it like this, and making Bulma mad had its perks, like getting her motivated rather than moping around. He didn’t stop there, either. Vegeta waltzed right out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Admittedly Bulma was right about him, he wanted off of this planet. Sure, there was a certain contentment that the planet held and he’d be lying if he claimed the home’s environment wasn’t inviting, but he was a warrior and the prince longed for battle. Maybe he could find a place to train in the coming days, if just to keep his mind busy and his body on point.

Nappa had been watching the entire display. His one good eye and the little flickering light of the other, darting back and forth between the two figures. Honestly, they bickered like mated couples sometimes, but Nappa would be damned to mutter that out-loud. He knew it’d come with a beating. So instead, he finished off his loaf of bread and headed back towards the main living area. Hey, maybe he could find out where Raditz ran off to and tease him for his failure earlier, that’d be good for a laugh or two.

* * *

Her POV

That jerk! He wasn’t taking her seriously at all! She was glaring holes in his head as he left the room, and she finished the pickles as quickly as possible just so she could clean up (these assholes never did that by themselves, did they?!) and head off to the lab as soon as possible. Fine! She’d show him! She’d finish his new armor in minutes flat! Then they could leave immediately! And if he tried to argue with her, she’d leave without him! She didn’t care! She just wanted to be off this stupid, stupid, stupid planet! Especially before Yamcha had a chance to try and force her to take therapy sessions! Like hell she needed that! She was so furious about it all, that when she passed her father on the way to the lab, he stopped to look at her with a rather amused look– he knew better than to actually say anything, but she certainly looked like a woman on a mission.

She got down to the lab, and went right to work. … Or. She tried to, before remembering she needed his armor. She went and retrieved it from the laundry, and then came straight back! Ugh… Alright, the stuff was stretchy, but she could totally make something far stronger. She started her work, making blueprints and rough drafts and hypothesizing on how she could by taking samples of the armor and looking at its chemical makeup and how it managed to be so durable despite being stretchy. It was almost like rubber, but more bendable. Far more bendable… Hm. 

Work was progressing, and after an hour or two, Yamcha came to visit. She looked completely focused on her work, but he couldn’t help but talk. It was rare to see her without any of the Saiyans at her side. He needed to talk with her now, before one of them–especially the small one–came to try and force him away.

“Bulma. I… I know what you told me last night, but I think you have to re-think things. You can’t just run off with them. I don’t care about dating, but you have to look out for your own health. I’ll be there to help you, but you have to take care of yourself. Don’t you remember everything they did? To all of us?”

“…” She didn’t stop her work until the last sentence. Then she turned to look at him, an expression as serious as when she was working still hovering on her face. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you? I can make my own decisions, you know. I’m an adult. I know what I want, and what I’m doing. And what I want… What I’m going to do… Is to get off this planet. I don’t need therapy, like you said–I heard you, by the way. I was faking–I just need to get off this planet. As soon as I’m away from everyone, everything’s going to be okay again. I’ve got work to do, so leave me alone.”

Yamcha opened his mouth to talk, but just shut it as Bulma turned back around to continue working. What the hell was wrong with her? It’s like she didn’t remember anything at all. Why would she be so okay with this….? She wanted to get away from them before. When they would talk in her alone time when she was dead, that’s all she’d say. How much she wanted to get away from them. So… What was the issue? He scratched his head and looked away, deep in thought. She wasn’t listening to him now, obviously. But… Maybe he just had to think for a while. Figure out a way to convince her. He turned and left the lab, leaving her to do as she wanted.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized putting this together how much this chapter focuses on Yamcha.  
> Galactic enjoyed the idea of Raditz coming onto Yamcha, who's definitely got a cute face. I thought that went hand-in-hand with him getting his anger out in some ways. I know people assume he's weak, but Raditz is about the same strength of a Saibaman. While Yamcha was killed by one exploding on his back, if you read the fight in the manga, it was a one-sided fight until this point. I wanted to emphasize how strong Yamcha had gotten but just how much stronger Vegeta still is from Raditz or Yamcha.
> 
>   
> 


	46. Sweet Deserter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma and Vegeta talk about their future.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

It was a risk leaving the girl to her own devices, but it was a risk Vegeta was willing to take. He was an introvert by nature, and as much as he’d come to watch over the female in their time together, he needed his space as much as she did. Besides, she was a big girl, she could handle herself. And if she couldn’t go the rest of the day without getting into trouble on a quiet planet like this, how did she expect him to trust her to take care of herself whilst trekking it out among the stars? And Kami, did it feel good to get a breath of fresh air. It was good for Vegeta to clear his head, especially from what he’d endured since he’d landed on this rock. A lack of roughing it and an overabundance of socialization did not a happy prince make.

It was amazing he and Bulma didn’t butt heads yet again when she went to retrieve his busted armor. After a quick scout around the compound (literally), Vegeta had made his way back into the guest bedroom for a quick change of clothing. How earthling males moved around in so much fabric and leather, he’d never know. The jacket was useful but it made for poor fighting equipment. The jeans were durable, but they’d only make flexibility difficult. A pair of gym shorts and a tank later, and Vegeta was out in the yard, sweating under the bright yellow sun.

Various push-ups and sit-ups, followed by a rainbow of katas, and finally a sparring match with Nappa put the prince in a much better mood. It’d been a few hours and the sun was beginning to move towards the horizon. Maybe… maybe he should check up on the girl after all. Just to see if she could actually manage to put a dent in his armor’s tech, let alone improve it. It was very intriguing to think she could accomplish such a feat. Alright, he gave in, and began hunting her down. But discretely of course.

The winding halls of Capsule Corp lead him deep into the compound. The halls were fresh with her scent, but there were traces of another. It was that mutt. Vegeta’s eyes narrowed the closer he made his way towards the lab. He hadn’t been bothering her, had he? Refusing to give a damn, Vegeta shook it off. Rounding the final corridor, he found himself in front of a relatively familiar sight. The wide lab doors looked somewhat similar to the places he was use to when planet hoping. He let himself right in, finding Bulma working away at what appeared to be his desk… and his armor. A simple grunt from his direction let her know he’d come to check up on her progress.

* * *

Her POV

Not too long after Yamcha had come around, someone else came to bother her. She glanced at Vegeta’s direction and gave him a glare just to let him know she was still angry at his bullshit, before turning back to her work. Writing things down, and then seemingly gathering different kinds of materials and starting up an odd contraption. She’d make her own material! She’d have to work on making a mold for the new armor, but that would come after she figured out how to make the gel first. She’d be doing tests. So, she started mixing strange things from her materials in a beaker, making a gel that a similar make-up to the armor. She glanced at Vegeta again as she stirred the mixture, raising a brow at him.

“What do you want? I don’t need to be checked on, you know. Trying to see if I’m freaking out again yet? It was… It was a one-off thing, alright?! It’ll be fine once I’m off Earth again! I’m holding you to your stupid promise, by the way! I’m going to make this new armor for you, and you’re going to keep your promise and bring me off this planet already!” She stuck her tongue out at him and kept mixing, before she decided she was satisfied when it seemed to obtain a gel-like consistency. There wasn’t much in there, but it was something. She’d see how this worked out. It probably wouldn’t work out too well; she’d have to try and take compounds from the armor itself, but she’d do that after this test.

The gel was put into the strange contraption, which, to someone like Bulma, just looked like your average sealed container with a pressure gauge– she was going to take all of the pressure out of the container to create a compact, strong material. If it would be properly bendable, who knew. Probably not. But test runs existed for a reason, and it’s a good thing she lived in a place with the best lab one could ever dream of–a lab that got things done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“So are you just going to keep staring at me like that?”

* * *

His POV

It was like walking into another dimension, one that was ruled solely by Bulma. The placed reeked of her scent as much as her bedroom had. The very look of the place stood out when compared to the world just outside the white walls. The earth was such a peaceful, colorful place. But here, in the depths of the girl’s home, there was nothing but the smell of chemicals, the sight of metallic, and the flicker of buzzing screens. Suddenly the memory of the android planet crossed his mind. She had liked that one, if he remembered correctly. Now it all made sense. He was witnessing her in her natural habitat.

“Now you’re giving me orders?” he mocked her attitude, arching a brow at her. “I’m checking on the status of my armor,” he barked, correcting her. Vegeta was doing his best to prove he wasn’t here for her, but for himself. Which was partly true. The brute wanted to see her work in action, and when he finally got his chance, he was not disappointed. It was worth getting yelled at if it meant he got to see her frizzle around and tinker with materials and flaming beakers. He could see the wheels turning in her head, but not the many times before - such as when she was plotting to kill him or escape him entirely. This look was different on her, she looked enthralled in her work.

“I thought you said you’d have it ready by now?” he taunted her further. Stalking closer, he eyed her work and the various substances she was creating. He was curious about how far along she was in her progress. Vegeta may of been a brilliant warrior, a superb tactician, a wise survivor, but he was no scientist. Sure, he could manage space travel and knew the basics of physics, but her blue-prints were above even his knowledge. He glanced down, running a finger over the design. From what he could tell she was on the right path.

“How much longer is this going to take?” He questioned, finally searching for her undivided attention. But then the hissing sound of the pressurized contraption caught his attention, whipping his head into its direction. Honestly the animal couldn’t have looked more out of place, especially when he wasn’t wearing his space suit. Vegeta was dirty, smelly, and had dried sweat lines tracing over his exposed muscle. It was a true meeting of brain and brawn.

* * *

Her POV

“Don’t be a jerk! Maybe I should scrap this altogether and just work on my stuff for when we leave. Or I leave, if you refuse to. Who says I need you coming with me?” …She’d like to have him along, and it was just a bluff on her end really, but still! Still! She huffed at him and went back to the armor, picking it up and bringing it elsewhere in the lab. First she’d make a mold of it, then she’d break it down for some resources for the real thing. She sat the armor down in what looked to be a sink, and proceeded to go to a keyboard and start typing things up on a small computer. It beeped a few times, and the ‘sink’ began filling with a foamy, liquid-like substance, capsuling the armor.

“I don’t know when I’ll be done. It should be by the end of the day. The main issue right now is figuring out how to recreate this material to be stronger. We don’t have stretchy material like this on Earth, like I said. There’s stretchy clothes, sure, but what exists isn’t durable like armor. There’s stuff like rubber and plastic, but this is a different ballgame. I want to create something similar and add new compounds to it to ensure it’s even more durable. It shouldn’t take too long, now that I figured out what to do.” She let the substance in the sink sit, and walked back to the pressure chamber. It beeped, she pressed a button, and the gauge slowly began to decrease as the pressure decreased.

“Like I said, I have other stuff to do, too. But that really shouldn’t take long. I need to make some more empty capsules for myself, and make a capsule house. I’m going to make it look like a tent, since you guys love camping so much. Not that I’d allow any of you to come inside. But I figured a big tent would look nice. And with multiple rooms for a laundry, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom. None of that should be really hard at all, though, like I said. I don’t have to invent anything new. That’s stuff I already know.”

* * *

His POV

At first her bluff startled him, but Vegeta was quick to regain his off-putting composure. She- she was bluffing, she had to be! God damn that woman, did she have to be so difficult?! Vegeta grit his teeth, clenching his fist by his side. He hadn’t thought of that... Well he hadn’t thought that she’d actually try something so stupid - such as heading out into the unknown by herself. After all the shit that she’d seen, after everything he’d done to ensure her safety on this dumb rock, she had to be bluffing… right? That still didn’t change things. If he didn’t think she could handle her own, he most definitely wouldn’t allow her to tag long.

“Just don’t make as obvious as the rest of your earthling shit,” he said with more venom this time, now that she’d managed to shake him, to get under his skin. “There’s a reason we camp on the outskirts. It’d be stupid to draw so much attention to yourself, so you better ensure you can break it down as quickly as you can run.” Not… that he was planning on taking her with him or anything, he was just doing as leaders did. Making sure all was in order and accounted for when it came to survival and tact. Ugh, he could just see her out on some uncharted planet with a full dwelling lit up like a welcoming hotel, just asking for it. He grumbled under his breath.

“And why don’t you make some capsules for the rest of us while you’re at it,” he growled, tossing a hand to the side in a careless gesture. He was finally coming down off of his adrenaline rush. That capsule technology of hers could come in mighty useful when on a mission. Not only to carry supplies to camp, but to store in their pods for later too. Just think of the medical jars that could be held in just one, or water supplies. It’d come in handy.

His thought was broken by the sight of his armor sitting submerged in the sink. He walked closer, calmer this time. His attention was caught yet again. He side glanced Bulma, curiously. Assuming that this was what she did in her previous earth life, before he’d come to burn her planet. She was skilled, that was true. If she had been born on a more prevalent planet in the universe, she probably would have been enslaved for her brains as much as her beauty.

* * *

Her POV

“What? It’s a capsule. I’ll be able to press a button and it’ll turn back to its original form. That’s not a problem,” she replied opening up the container once the gauge finally showed the pressure had been eliminated. She pulled out of it a light, airy-looking material, something that was also dense. She looked it over a few times before grabbing either end and stretching. To her surprise, it did– but not much. It stretched to about twice its original size before she snapped it. Ah, well. She didn’t expect this to work, anyway. She set the material aside and returned to the sink, checking on it. Had the material hardened yet? Hn… Just a few more minutes, maybe.

“Making capsules is easy, so whatever. I’ll make a bunch, just in case. We mass-produce them here on Earth, you know. I’m surprised it’s not elsewhere in the universe.” She headed to another part of the lab, where she quickly typed something on a screen. A complicated-looking contraption in the corner of the lab went to work, and capsules began to be created on a conveyor belt. Easy peasy, like she’d said. And as soon as she did it, she returned to the sink as the contraption ran, and finally pulled the inner layer of the sink upward– it was easy to take out, apparently. She took it to the counter and flipped it so the substance, hard now, fell out in a single brick shape. The inner part of the sink was put in its original spot, and Bulma grabbed a large knife to cut the substance around the armor.

When she was finished, she had two pieces of mold and the armor, perfectly clean and no worse for wear. But then she showed it to Vegeta, raising a brow at him.

“Hey, take a piece off of this, would you? I don’t need the entire armor. I just need a little square of it. It’s strong, so it’d be a pain for me to figure out how to do it, so if you could just rip a piece off for me, it’ll go much faster. It’s good for the both of us.”

* * *

His POV

Well, shit. He hadn’t expected it to be that easy to pop out the little pill shaped pods. No sooner had Vegeta taken interest in one subject she was fiddling with, did she mass produce another. Bulma hadn’t been kidding when she said she could get this done in a night… Alright, maybe he was a little impressed. And then she really surprised him, she took a knife and began carving his armor out of the block of material like some sort of butcher at a shop. Ah, it was always tantalizing to watch her handle weaponry, even if he wasn’t one for weapons himself.

That reminded him…

“You’re going to need weapons,” he reminded her sternly, shooting her a serious look. “Unless learning ki technique is just as easily a walk in the park for you, too.” He said sarcastically. As if anyone could learn such a fighting technique in such a short amount of time (other than himself, of course). That was one thing he could one up her on in this room. He was still brilliant one when it came to form and fighting. What? So maybe having her run circles around him like that was a little daunting, he had to keep his confidence, as well as his reputation, up somehow. Leave it to Vegeta to sneak in an opportunity to stroke his own ego.

Then he glanced down at his worn armor. She’d asked him to tear it apart, and for a moment he hesitated. If she couldn’t come up with something for him to wear into battle, then he’d be stuck on this planet without any form of protection if he got his ass into a brawl. But she was right, it was in both of their bests interests. Taking the sturdy material in both hands, Vegeta ripped a chunk from the armor’s chest. It was a feat, even for him. Like watching a strong-man rip apart a telephone book. The stretchy material was made to put up with his reckless ways, after all. It had to be tough.

* * *

Her POV

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, waving him off. Why did she even need weapons, as long as she had him around? Wasn’t he supposed to protect her? She’d try to make a few weapons for herself, but maybe she was better off buying some weapons when they actually got to space, anyway. She didn’t want to waste her time; she wanted to get off this planet as fast as she possibly could. She took the piece he’d pulled off for her and pressed the armor into his arms for the time being, before heading off to another part of the lab with a bunch of drawers. She set the piece of armor down for the time being and found both a Bunsen burner and a large clay pot in the drawer, that she set aside before grabbing a container of what looked like some kind of metal. Then she looked back at Vegeta again, just as she was pulling out some beakers from the drawer.

“I need your help again. Can you take that armor and crush it up as much as you can? You’re strong, it should be easy. But I need you to try and make it powder-y, if you can. No ki-blasting, just with your hands. And I need you to put it right in that beaker.” She pointed to one of the beakers, and went back to setting up what she was going to do–plugging in the Bunsen burner and setting the pot on top of it. She’d have to see how much powder could be made from the armor, but then she’d be able to measure out the amount of metal used for what she was trying to accomplish. She wanted to isolate a certain type of element in the armor that wasn’t recognizable, and judging by her observations, seemed to be the main reason for the armor’s stretchiness. And she’d just need to crosslink all the elements effectively in a way that would ensure it’d stay stretchy while also staying durable.

The conveyor belt in the other corner of the room finally widdled to a halt, and a beeping noise could be heard as it reached the amount of capsules that it had been programmed to create. A big box of them sat at the bottom of the contraption, and while Bulma tasked Vegeta with breaking up the armor, she headed back to gather them up.

“How long are you going to stay here and hover over me, by the way? I don’t think I need your help after this. After I isolate the element I think I should be able to artificially recreate it with the stuff I have here, so you can just wait somewhere else. It shouldn’t take me longer than till the end of the day, like I said. And that’s if I’m really having trouble.”

* * *

His POV

He’d gotten lost in watching again. There was just so much to take in: the way she worked, the way she moved. His brain was having to label and relate to every object she picked up in record timing, she was moving so fast. But strangely, he was enjoying it, the challenge of it. In fact, Bulma had found a new way to tame that monster in him - Vegeta was acting relatively docile, for him at least. His expression and stance relaxed but thoughtful, remaining much more quiet then he’d usually be when ordered around so much. It was all brand new to the man, and he intended on investigating every bit as much as he with his hands-off approach.

Then Bulma asked him to crush down the piece of armor, and Vegeta shot her a shrewd look. That’s all she needed? It shouldn’t be too difficult, far less difficult than trying to get the armor to rip (it was made to stretch, not tear, after all). He took the plastic looking piece of armor, flipping it between his fingers. It was shiny and porcelain on one side, but sweat-stained and dingy on the other. He balled up the hunk of armor into one of his palms, white-knuckling it, easily crushing the material. A little grinding action later, and it was down to a fine dust. Slowly, he released his fist, allowing the white powder to funnel into the beaker.

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on sticking around longer then I have to. I just came down here to see the progress on my armor, remember?” he barked right back at her. The girl seemed to not only want her privacy (again), but perfectly well when left on her own down here. That suited Vegeta just fine, less for him to think about, more time for solitude. Still… he may have wanted to stick around just a bit longer. It was interesting watching the earthling work. The prince probably could have stuck around for a while more if just to observe, but he just wasn’t one to admit that. So instead, he gave her one last, long look, then turned his back on her. He headed out of the lab door with as much swagger and snobbery as usual. Leaving her to work in the peace of her lab.

The outside world was calling his name. It was sure to be dusk, if not nightfall by now. As big as Capsule Corp was, it was starting to make the prince feel closed in. He needed space, and a lot of it. This was nothing like roughing it, if anything the Briefs home was spoiling him, and his men. He needed some alone time, some air, and a place to mull things over. But first, he’d have to make his way outside. Vegeta already knew he’d have to keep his guard up until he made it past the front door. There always seemed to be someone lurking around that house, even with as massive as it was.

* * *

Her POV

A while longer passed. Maybe a few hours. Bulma had finished what she had set out to do, and three new sets of armor were sitting in front of her. Roughly the sizes she figured the three idiot Saiyans were, and in a new design that she found more appealing than the ugly old kind, as well as having extra durability and better insulation. These jerks better be really grateful that she did this much! … Even if it was fun to get to work in this way like she hadn’t been for a long time. She had taken another hour to work on her tent, though it was mostly just a matter of changing the design and some of the materials for making a regular capsule house. It didn’t take her long at all, and finally she was able to pack up all the many capsules into containers that were nicely labelled.

When she was finished, she headed upstairs holding a crate of everything– the armor and all the capsules, all which were extremely light, and went to seek out Vegeta. Where’d e gone, anyway? Times like this, she hated how large their house was. It didn’t make finding anyone easy. Where was the house bot? She needed to ask it where Vegeta was… She eventually found it, but upon asking, she found that he wasn’t even around. Ng… That asshole. He ran off right away, huh? She said she’d be done soon, what was wrong with him?

She blew air out her nose and brought the crate full of stuff all the way back to her bedroom, ignoring the staring Yamcha was giving her when she passed him by on her way down the hall. It’s not like they’d be leaving any time soon, she guessed… She might as well go eat dinner. That was weird in itself, remembering she now got to eat multiple meals a day instead of scraps or one big meal. She’d probably be gaining some weight if she was staying here much longer, considering she was eating much more than usual. Though maybe the puking was evening things out.

She headed downstairs and into the kitchen, where dinner was already being made for her– another lovely thing. She kept forgetting she wasn’t responsible for her own meals as much anymore. She had her mother here, who loved working herself to death in the kitchen. And tonight it seemed to be… A whole host of stuff, actually. Probably to suit the Saiyans’ large bellies. Everything from dumplings and stir fry to sloppy joes.

* * *

His POV

He’d ended up on the rooftop. It was a good place to sit, to contemplate, and to survey the land. He’d taken a quick flight across the blocks of field and forest that littered the country side, but he’d found himself there on the top of the dome in the end. The stars from this planet looked no different apart from the millions he’d come across before, but something about the night sky here was serene, welcoming. The whole damn planet had that vibe. There were very few non-hostile worlds in the universe, and even those that welcomed its visitors were in it for the profit. Who would have known this world could have offered something a little different from the rest - genuineness?

Back in the kitchen, Bulma wasn’t the only one coming around now that the dinner bell had proverbially rung. Nappa was the first one to shove his big ugly mug into the door way. Sniffing out the cooking scents of meats and sauces, he spent no time in getting to Mrs. Briefs side. He hovered, but he didn’t touch. He stared, but he had the strangest, most bizarrely smug grin on his face. And it wasn’t Nappa’s usual ‘rape face’. He may have glanced in Bulma’s direction once or twice, but the bald man really couldn’t care less about her. Bulma wasn’t bangable, and looking into her general direction had gotten him into trouble one too many times. Besides, Mrs. Briefs was blonde, and hot. He even did as she asked now and again. What a cougar.

The second to show his beaten mug, was Raditz… and he didn’t look half as perky as Nappa over there. If anything, the long haired male looked down in the mouth. His right brow was swollen and split. The purple color of his black eye bloomed all the way down the side of his face. His cheek bone and lip were split, too. His stellar morning had turned into a humiliating afternoon. If anyone was entitled to wearing a glare that evening, it was him. Raditz didn’t look interested in the food at all, rather he plopped himself down into a dining chair near Bulma and decided just to watch, or stare was more like it. His bad posture meaning that he’d had enough for one day.

“Still sport’n that shiner, are ya’ Raditz?” Nappa teased the brooding male.

Raditz shot Nappa a look and retorted, “Yeah, well, at least I still have both of my eyes.”

“Hey! Why you little… For your information I happen to like my new look,” Nappa said with pride. Nappa then eyed the mounds of food. He was hungry… but… there were still rules among Saiyans. If Vegeta walked in on them eating before him there could be hell to pay. At least, maybe? It was so hard to tell the rules of this planet... “We expect’n Vegeta in..?” he questioned under his breath, looking to Bulma for answers.

“He’s on the roof,” Raditz answered before Bulma could chime in, “I saw him before I got in.”

* * *

Her POV

There the other Saiyans were. Nappa wasn’t that strange a sight, and she scowled at how quickly he ran to her mother to suck up to her, but Raditz got far more of her attention. What wh– Was that what the noises were, early today? He’d gotten beaten up. By who? Vegeta was with her, and Nappa said he’d had a ‘show’ rather than actually getting a beating. She blinked at the sight of just how badly torn up Raditz was, and pondered only a moment longer before Yamcha walked in and gave Raditz a knowing look. That answered Bulma’s questions. She raised a brow, pretty impressed. So… He had gotten stronger, then? They shared a look, but just as Yamcha opened his mouth to talk, Bulma listened into the mention that Vegeta was on the roof and rushed passed him in order to find him. So that’s where he was, all along! Ugh. She really should have made it so the bot could tell when someone was outside, too. …Not that it matters anymore.

While Yamcha sat down across from Raditz and stared him down sternly, Bulma went off all the way outside, walking out into the lawn just far enough where she could squint and see Vegeta on the top of the roof. Sitting there, looking contemplative. He really did like his alone time, didn’t he? How long had he been up there? Was that what he’d been doing this entire time while Bulma’d been working on everything? He could be so weird. He was incredibly impatient, and yet he’d stay in the same spot for hours on end without even the smallest complaint.

“VEGETA!” She yelled as loud as she could to make sure he heard her, waving her arms for extra affect. Sure, the Saiyans just wanted their leader so that they could all eat, but Bulma’s main priority was making sure he knew everything was finished and that they could go at any moment. Really, she wanted nothing more to get off this planet, no matter how much Vegeta and Yamcha seemed to argue with her about it. Egh, it pissed her off most of all that Vegeta would argue, given she knew how badly he wanted to get off this planet as well.

“VEGETA! HEYYY!”

* * *

His POV

The moment Yamcha walked into the kitchen and dared to lock eyes with Raditz, his gaze narrowed. That- that punk! He was the last creature he wanted to see while on this planet, especially now that one of his comrades (his most bullying comrade to be precise) was in the room. Kami, he was never going to hear the end of this, was he? Sometimes Raditz despised being on the bottom of the totem pole. He was the weakest out of what was left of his race, and while he was use to his 3rd-class rate most of the time, there were times where Raditz craved a move up. But no, he was still on the bottom of the food chain! All thanks to the guy sitting across from him at the table… Oh, he could fuck off.

When Yamcha stared Raditz down, the long-haired male stared back, but then turned his sights away - feeling no choice but to acknowledge Yamcha’s higher position. God damn, and he was attractive for a male, which made getting beaten by him even worse, that or maybe he’d just gone too long without a bang. Did he have to stare him down like that? Not even Vegeta usually gave a damn about him after he’d ‘punished’ him for whatever reason. Raditz may of been trying to shrink in his seat, but Nappa was bumbling around the kitchen haphazardly. He’d set the plates for Mrs. Briefs, but there was only so much that could distract the big Saiyan before his stomach started to take over. Where was Vegeta? Couldn’t that blue brat make herself useful for once?

Meanwhile, Vegeta was giving into the silence. The sweet, gentle- ‘VEGETA’… there could only be one creature that could make a sound like that… Vegeta’s face winced, gritting his teeth together at the sudden break in silence. As he’d suspected, there stood Bulma in the midst of the lawn, waving for him to come down off of the roof. His eyes rolled, why should he? He was quite enjoying his alone time until someone decided to crash it. Then again maybe this was about food, he could smell it coming from the open window in the kitchen, or better yet his armor. That had to be it, why else would the girl leave her precious laboratory?

“God damn, woman, what do you want?” he asked, floating down through the night air like a knife. His toes pointed, his arms across his chest, until he stood before her. He gave her one look over, as he usually did. Partly being judgmental, partly out of trying to figure out what she needed with him. What he didn’t notice was how easily he’d come to her beckon call. Since when had that started? He’d probably follow her lead to wherever she decided to go, too, if she tempted him with the right carrot.

* * *

Her POV

Ah, good. She was expecting more trouble from him; he never liked listening to her. But he came down without a problem and glared at her as he asked what she wanted, leading Bulma to give him an irritated expression back. Couldn’t he ever be nice for once? She’d come to get him, and he was rude back to her. Then again, this was Vegeta she was talking about. Nice was not in his vocabulary. Reminding herself of that brought back bad memories, and she glanced off to the side for a moment before deciding what she was going to say and turning her attention back to him.

“I finished everything. The armor and all the capsules are sitting up in my room right now, because I couldn’t find you. Dinner’s ready, too. Nappa and Raditz are waiting, not like I care. They mentioned you were on the roof, so I went to go check out to make sure I could tell you that I finished everything. That means we can leave as soon as possible! So… We can leave after having dinner, or maybe tomorrow morning, right? I did what you said I should if I wanted to prove I really want to leave, so if you don’t keep your promise, I’m going to be pissed. There’s no way I’m staying here for a week. For more than a few days!”

She seemed finished with her rambling, and trotted off back to the house. Expecting him to follow, to be honest; why wouldn’t he? There was dinner at the table, like she said. And her stomach was beginning to growl, even if just a little bit. Her belly was already adjusting to being fed more often than she’d been basically at all in the last couple months, and it felt so, so good. Maybe she’d even have room for dessert. … …Maybe it would add points with Vegeta if she could go out and get dessert with him at some cake place or something without having another episode? There’s no way another would happen, anyway, she just had to prove that to him!

She walked in and sat down at the dinner table, right beside Yamcha. She didn’t say anything to him, but maybe there was a little inherent wish to be as far away from the Saiyans as possible. If she sat next to him, that just ensured she wouldn’t be between Vegeta and Nappa. Sitting next to her… (what was he even to her anymore?) …was far less terrifying than having to deal with being squashed between two Saiyans all over again. Just thinking about that even in the most innocent of terms made her blood begin to boil a little bit. Yeah, this was for protection’s sake. Both for peace of mind and honest, real, physical protection.

* * *

His POV

The only thing Bulma’s rambling got her was an annoyed ‘huff’ from under Vegeta’s breath. His brows pressed firmly together and his gaze turned away. He was already searching for a way out of this conversation and into the house. This was not something he wanted to talk about... not again, not for the tenth time that day. Honestly the girl seemed obsessed with the idea of leaving planet, even more so then himself. Luckily for him, Bulma seemed just as ready to head back inside and claim a few plates of dinner, or more... How many times had they eaten today already? Five? Ten? He couldn’t keep count. Bulma had told him before that she needed to eat several times a day, but this just felt like excess (not that he was complaining).

The kitchen may have been relatively quiet, but there was a dark vibe in the air. The static of awkwardness and tolerance. Everyone was playing house, so to speak, and Bulma appeared to fall right into the atmosphere. Vegeta watched her from the doorway of the kitchen, eyeing every move she made. And then she chose her position, she planted herself next to that mutt, and Vegeta felt his blood begin to rise. The look on his face couldn’t have been a pleasant one, with narrowed eyes and a thoughtful glare. The girl could complain about being on her home-world all she wanted, she could bitch about how much she longed to return with him, but the prince saw a different story. Her body language said it all, and Vegeta took it as her most honest desires.

She’d naturally gone where she felt comfortable, at ease, safe… She felt safe next to his position… next to that mutt. She fluttered through the room as far away as she could get from his men, and could have sworn she refused his eye contact earlier. It was a bitter pill to swallow, and he had to suppress the urge to growl, but in the end Vegeta knew - he’d come to a decision. He knew where she belonged. He didn’t let it show, however. As begrudgingly as ever, the prince took his seat across from Bulma and next to Raditz. Nappa soon followed, filling an open space. Vegeta spared no time in digging into the mounds of food on the table. He didn’t wait for a dinner bell, he was the dinner bell, and the Saiyans knew it. Nappa and Raditz greedily filled their plates as soon as Vegeta took his first bite. Saiyans at a dinner table, what else could make a bigger mess.

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta didn’t sit in the space beside her. He seemed angry; just because she’d sat next to Yamcha, presumably. Who kept giving her side glances as he ate, wondering what to say. She was nervous for a moment that Nappa would sit down beside her, something she’d been trying to avoid in the first place, but instead he sat on the side of the table that put him between Yamcha and Vegeta. A little breath of relief came from her, and as soon as her mother put a plate down in front of her of dumplings and Peking duck, with loads of rice on the side and a bowl of soup. Enough to fill her to the brim. She dug in, and silence loomed over the table, other than the sound of munching– typically coming from the Saiyans.

Yamcha kept glaring at the Saiyans as they continued to greedily eat and make a mess, bits of chewed food seemingly splattering everywhere. He ate his food angrily as he watched, something Bulma noted as she occasionally glanced in his direction. It was just something she did to wonder if he was about to lecture her yet, but the lecture didn’t come. Maybe he was too concerned with how much he hated Saiyans at the moment. She instead focused her eyes on Vegeta as he ate away. So what gave, why did he sit by her? Her brows begin to furrow in thought as she ate her dumplings, but in the middle of her train of thought, she felt a hand on her thigh.

It gave her a start, but it was Yamcha, leaning in to whisper in her ear. By the look in his face, she assumed it was a matter of not trusting the Saiyans. Not that she blamed him; she still didn’t really trust two out of three. And Vegeta… He sometimes couldn’t really be trusted, either.

“Bulma. Look at them. You can’t go back with them, alright? They’re… Just listen to me, it’s dangerous. I want to talk with you alone after we eat, okay? I’ll meet you in my room. Don’t let him follow you. Please, we just need to talk for a while.” He gave her thigh a squeeze, finished eating the last bits of rice on his plate, and got up to clean his dishes... Bulma’s eyes followed him through the kitchen for a few seconds before slowly moving back down to her plate. He was really set on convincing her, wasn’t he?

* * *

His POV

Silence loomed. And this one was indeed an uncomfortable silence. Not that that could stop a Saiyan from his meal. The three muscle-heads were shoving food into their gullets as if their lives depended on it, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. Sure their metabolisms were sky high, but it was starting to come down to luxury eating. The sad fact was the idea of slowing down and enjoying their food may never have occurred to them before. Always on guard, always hunting, killing, shoving fuel into their mouths in order to move again. It made food a requirement, not something to be savored. Maybe after a little more time on Earth they’d get the hang of it, but there was a chance that wasn’t going to happen…

Vegeta was still staring down the pair of earthlings across from him between bites of his food. He hadn’t made a sound since he’d began eating, and he wasn’t planning on it now. Not until Yamcha decided to startle Bulma by smoothing his hand over her thigh, that is. A very low, warning rumble came from the man’s wide chest. Vegeta had stopped chewing, and whenever a Saiyan took their attention off of their food it couldn’t be a good sign. He may not have been able to see the action, but he could certainly see Yamcha’s arm moving in her direction, and could get the jest of what he was attempting to whisper into her ear.

“If you’ve got something to say, mutt, by all means don’t let me stop you,” Vegeta muttered between bites, paying much more attention to his food now, acting as if he didn’t give a damn about what he had to say. Especially now that Bulma hadn’t brushed the mutt off - more confirmation to him that leaving her was the right idea. He slurped down the last of his noodles and went on to the massive bowl of rice sat in the middle of the table. It was his bowl of rice now. Not that the other two brutes noticed. Raditz had made his way through a platter of dumplings and Nappa had finished off an entire display of orange duck.

Vegeta’s lifted his sights one last time towards Bulma, giving her an all-knowing look. Once the rice bowl was empty of every last grain, it spun to a still on the table, tossed by Vegeta’s hand. He couldn’t care less about the mutt’s pacing around, he knew he was top-dog in the area (as far as he was concerned) but there was still something unsettling in the prince… It was the fact that he knew none of this wouldn’t last. That they’d be leaving in the morning. Vegeta was never one for facades, but one for action, so without another word he stood from the table and began his way upstairs.

* * *

Her POV

Yamcha gave Vegeta a dirty look at his unwarranted comment, but he didn’t say anything. He simply washed his dishes as Vegeta got up and left the room, leaving Bulma’s anxiety increasing. What, he was okay with just leaving her there with them? … Why was he acting like this? He’d been giving dirty looks, and yes, Bulma assumed he was jealous of Yamcha, but there felt like there was something else there. Was he not even excited about the armor? He hadn’t really even talked about it. She furrowed her brows as she finally saw Yamcha leave the room, and decided to eat as fast as possible. At least her mom was still here, for whatever kind of comfort that was worth. She couldn’t do anything, but her presence helped calm her, if even just a little bit.

As soon as she finished and cleaned her dishes, she headed off up to her room to see if Vegeta was there. He may have ran back to the roof, but she was betting on him possibly going to check out what she’d promised him. Besides, she wanted to be sure that he agreed they’d be leaving in the morning, at the very least. And maybe they could go pick up some dessert as a going away present of sorts. …She knew that Yamcha had told her to visit him after eating, but she didn’t really care to be lectured. Why bother? Yes, it’d upset him, but she kept telling him that she just needed to get off this planet. She knew what was best for herself, and maybe over time he’d come to understand. She knew what she needed, and it was to be off of Earth! No ifs, ands, or butts, and she wasn’t about to let Yamcha try to talk her out of it.

“Vegeta?” She called his name immediately upon entering her room, hoping she was right and that he’d be there. At the very least, she could brag to him about how impressive the armor was, and maybe she’d get to see a little look that implied being impressed before he’d tell her about how they’ll be leaving Earth soon. …Though he’d been avoiding the subject ever since this morning. He wasn’t sure if she could, did he? Well, she knew it for a fact, and maybe the armor would prove it. He promised her, right?

* * *

His POV

Something was burning in deep of his chest, and it wasn’t heart-burn. Well, not of a physical sense. Vegeta stomped his way through the corridors. He had a library of fowl moods that he often flipped between, but this one was brand new and highly unwanted. Why did the decision to leave her feel so irritating? He’d wanted a clear cut signal, and he’d gotten it. In any other circumstance Vegeta couldn’t have been more pleased. So why now, why this horrible, angry feeling? What made it even worse, was knowing that taking her would make him feel even more rotten. Kami, now he couldn’t wait to get off of this planet. To get away from the burdensome sensation that’d been growing over him since he’d gotten here.

Bulma was right, Vegeta’s bad mood had lead him straight into her bedroom. He’d considered his options - the guest bedroom, the roof, but they held nothing of value to him. He needed to leave as soon as possible, but that meant collecting his new armor first. Which, as the girl said, was in a crate in her room. He’d been looking over the fine craftsmanship just as he heard the calling of his name. Shit. Busted. His back tensed, and slowly he looked over his shoulder. There she stood in all of her blue glory. But what was that look for? Seriously, it seemed the girl wore a constant look of anxiety since they’d arrived. What the fuck did he do this time? Whatever it was he didn’t give a damn. It wasn’t his problem.

“Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere else,” his dark voice rolled out. His attention went back to the new and improved armor, smoothing his bare palm over the shiny material. Alright, maybe it was impressive as far as looks went. It was certainly updated, but would it hold up in battle? That was the real test. Without warning, the prince pulled back his fist and let it have it. A loud boom! filled the bedroom. Vegeta’s hard fist had gone right for the heart of the armor, a blow that could have easily punched through solid steel. But the armor...? It, to the Saiyans surprise, actually held up. It more then held up, there wasn’t a scratch on it! Both of his brows raised, staring down in silence. If Bulma wanted Vegeta’s look of approval, that would be it.

* * *

Her POV

“What? I don’t care about what he has to say. He’s just going to lecture me about how I need to see a therapist.” She let out a huff and closed the door behind her, instead walking up to Vegeta as he inspected the armor she’d made for him. He didn’t look like he hated it, at least, and as he inspected it, Bulma decided she did good with the design. Yeah, that would look nice on him, she was sure of it. She raised her brow at him and gauged his expression, though she hadn’t really expected him to try it out. Her eyes followed his fist as it went back before shooting straight into the armor. Of course she had faith in her creation, but that didn’t mean she was nervous, or that she didn’t jump a little at the sound it made when his fist crashed into it… And didn’t break.

“See? I told you I could make one better than the one you had,” she told him, putting her hands on her hips. “What, did you not believe me?” Though she did feel pride, just looking at the expression on his face. It felt like it wasn’t easy to impress Vegeta, or at least make him visibly impressed. Yet here he was. So that meant that was it, then, right? They’d be leaving soon. She guessed in the morning. She’d finally be able to get off this planet, and made a mental note to try and avoid Yamcha till then. She doubted trying to say her goodbyes would go really well. He’d just try to stop her, and that wasn’t going to happen. It was being on Earth that was causing all this stress, after all.

“By the way, I figured… I mean, I’m full right now, but I thought it would be nice to go get dessert. That’s something you haven’t had yet. There’s a bakery not too far away from here that I’d go to after getting coffee all the time. Their cakes are really good, and so are their pies and brownies and cookies. We can even get ice cream with them. It sounds nice, right? I know you’re not one for sweets, but I’ll pick flavors for you that you’d probably still like.” She grabbed his arm, giving it a tug. “I promise, they’re all really good. We can’t leave without you tasting what desserts on Earth are like.”

* * *

His POV

The fact that she was blowing off the other male didn’t go completely unnoticed, but that didn’t change things to Vegeta. As soon as he could get rid of the girl, he’d be leaving. However, that looked like it’d be more and more difficult as the moments went on. Before he ever had chance to put down the armor (to which he’d still been glancing over after his little test of durability), Bulma had him by the arm and headed towards the door. Vegeta’s once impressed appearance turned to one of surprise, if not a little disgusted. He still wasn’t use to being tugged around by the arm so freely. It took him a moment to realize what was going on. That girl took such liberties with him.

“Is that what you want?” his voice rolled out like angry thunder. His lip raised over his teeth, tugging his arm away just enough to give himself some personal space. It was an odd question coming from a selfish prick like Vegeta, but he’d asked it none the less. He was still following, allowing her to tug him right out of the door and into the nighttime streets. He wasn’t rejecting her offer, but he was certainly looking at her funny for it. She’d all but ruined his plans of slipping away, it looked like he’d have to humor her one more time before the night was over.

The walk, however, was surprisingly welcomed. The night was cool and the West City streets were mostly bare. A blanket of stars lit the night sky, looming overhead like a dark reminder of what was waiting for them just past the earth’s atmosphere. Streetlamps flickered. Slowly, so slowly, the tension he’d been holding between his shoulders melted away. The deep press of his brows lightened, and the prince stole a glance of the girl at his side. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, tending to another one of her ridiculous requests, but if it kept her off of his scent then he supposed it was worth it.

Then the scent of something succulently sweet filled the area, and Vegeta’s nose twitched. Oh, it was the bakery all right, and its thick bready smell was seeping out of every crack of the shop. Decorated cakes, sweets, and petite tarts dazzled in the main window, just waiting to be eaten. This couldn’t really be the place, could it? Vegeta shot Bulma a deadpanned glance, one that meant ‘you’ve got to be kidding me with this’. He’d made it a point so far that he wasn’t one for sugary things. Fruit alone was a lot for his carnivorous appetite to swallow. She may have impressed him with her armor, but she’d really have to work magic if she expected him to put up with this for very long.

* * *

Her POV

She forced him down the hall, dragging him along by the arm, even passing Yamcha’s room. Her eyes hovered on it for a second. He was probably still expecting her. But she wasn’t about to just be lectured. No. She kept going, and she didn’t stop holding onto Vegeta’s arm until they reached the bakery. He definitely didn’t look happy, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to still force him along. She raised a brow at the look he insisted on giving her, and with that, they went right on in. There were all kinds of desserts and breads everywhere, and despite the fact that Vegeta didn’t seem like he believed that much in her, she planned on getting something even he would enjoy. It’s not like she really wanted to torture him; she just wanted him to know how Earth was.

When they got to the front of the short line, Bulma took some time picking out a few deserts. She just wanted a strawberry shortcake and a milky, sweet mocha. But for Vegeta, she picked a variety of things he could enjoy. A dark chocolate cake slice, a German chocolate cake slice, a coffee-flavored cake slice, a chocolate chai cake slice, a pumpkin pie slice, and gingerbread cookies. And just in case Vegeta wasn’t happy with any of that, she bought him a few slices of banana bread, a little loaf of Irish brown bread, and a small loaf of pumpernickel bread. And a coffee to wash everything down. The person at the register looked a little overwhelmed and surprised by such a big order, but it didn’t take all too long. In less than ten minutes, everything was ready, and he gave them one large bag with everything nicely stacked in it in separate containers, along with the little coffees on the side.

She grabbed the bag and handed it off to Vegeta and took the coffees before leading him to a little table. They were lucky; it was a very slow night, and they were one of the only people that were sitting at the bakery. She put down the coffees, setting Vegeta’s down closer to the seat on the opposite side of the one she was sitting, and looked up at him with a raised brow. Gauging his reaction. Was he still irritated about all of this? Maybe there’d be at least one thing he was interested in.

“So, dig in. The shortcake is mine, but the rest is all for you. One of these things is bound to be something you’ll like. I tried to give you enough variety so that even if you don’t like something, you’ll like other stuff. So dig in.” She rested her elbow on the table, waiting for him to look through everything. She could wait to eat her shortcake until he was done inspecting everything in the bag; it’d be entertaining to just watch him sniff things like he was wont to do.

* * *

His POV

The idea that Bulma may have been over doing it (by human standards) when it came to ordering desserts went right over Vegeta’s head. What was abnormal about it? Why would he notice? He consumed far more then what considered normal on a regular basis, and the woman had gifted him with plenty to eat already. The only thing Vegeta was paying attention to in the tiny shop was the array of strange smells and sights bouncing off of every wall, along with counting how many heads there were, and just where they were sitting. What? It was just natural to him, whatever place he found himself in. Even if it was a cozy shop of pastels and sweets.

His eyes shifted, but his hard expression never softened. To tell the truth he was feeling a little out of place here. At least there weren’t many to witness this, and at least it’d keep Bulma quiet for a while. His eyes shifted again, straight to the girl, just as the cashier handed over the large bag of cakes. She almost looked like her old self, but there was something different about her. She looked at ease, if he was gauging her right. Maybe she just needed to get out of that blasted house, too. Though there was something else. She didn’t look afraid - that was new. Even while planet hoping, Vegeta could feel the girl’s guard being held up. He knew it, she was safe here, she’d be fine.

Knowing that put his mind at rest; blowing out a warm breath of air. Before he knew it, he was being handed the many sweets. His teeth flashed, but what the hell could he do about it? Bulma was gone and sitting at a table before he could even yell at her for treating him like a servant boy. He followed her lead and plopped himself down in the seat facing her. So, this was it, this thing she just had to show him about earth. Shuffling one of the boxes out of the bag, he pried open the lid, making a quick, dulled glance up at the girl across from him before he inspected the ‘food’.

First on the menu - German chocolate. Sniff sniff; snarl. Pass. That was a no-go. The box was pushed aside and Vegeta gave Bulma another sarcastic look. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t trust her, but that he didn’t trust the universe in general. A slice of banana bread was thoroughly inspected before it was gone in two bites flat. Hey, maybe if he could just shot-gun most of this food they’d be done in no time. He was just about to call her out on this ‘sweet crap’ - scrunching his nose while the words visibly bubbled in his throat, when he put something in his mouth that wasn’t half bad. Dark chocolate.

“Is everything on your planet so rich?” He groaned but it was a masked complement. The Dark chocolate was half gone by the time he reached for the coffee. His eyes slightly widened when he gulped the bitter beverage, oh yes, he liked that one too. He finished the black liquid before he was onto his next dessert - chai cake. Sliding the empty cup towards Bulma, he expected more.

* * *

Her POV

The entire time, he was clearly distrustful of her. She thought that he would be a pain in the butt about everything, given the way he pushed the German chocolate away. She thought he’d like it, too. She pursed her lips as she eyed him, expecting him to, at any moment, complain about how terrible the food was. But then he perked up upon eating the dark chocolate. …He was liking it, then? He guzzled down the coffee next, and Bulma watched his reactions as he seemed to realize the food wasn’t half-bad. Good! But… Then he pushed it to her, telling her to get more. …He told her that she wasn’t a slave anymore, right? Her expression soured as she stared at him, pouting again in a way she hadn’t in a while.

To make it obvious that she wasn’t getting up to get him more of anything, she grabbed the bag and pulled her shortcake out of it and got to work with eating her own dessert. Her stomach had made room for more food in the walk to the bakery, so she had plenty of room to spare for the dessert. Though she had to admit, she was a bit jealous of Vegeta, that could go on eating endless amounts of food, seemingly forever. What the hell were Saiyans made out of? Maybe they had more than one stomach, who the hell knew. It was probably impossible for one to get fat, she knew that much. Even Goku was pretty buff as a little kid.

“Not everything. But the rich stuff is what’s nice. There’s no point in eating foods if it’s bland, you know? You’re lucky I’m the richest girl on this planet, or maybe you wouldn’t get to eat all this good food. …You should be really thankful that I’m bothering to do any of this, you know. It’s not like I’m obligated to, or something.” A reminder. She wasn’t his slave; he didn’t control her. She did as she wanted. Or, she’d like to, anyway. As soon as she got off this planet, maybe she’d get to explore and have more adventures without being too tied down. Maybe Vegeta would let her decide where to go once in a while, so she didn’t risk getting into trouble when wandering off.

Her eyes wandered as she ate, slowly chewing to savor the taste of her shortcake. She’d missed having strawberries. She’d forgotten just how much she loved it. And it tasted so damn good with her drink– something she didn’t guzzle down like a pig in the same fashion Vegeta did. Hn… She had to say, though, it still felt so odd, eating out in this place she used to go so often. Everyone acted so normally, but her and Vegeta felt so unusual. Especially Vegeta. The weirdest looks people had seemed to just be the realization that he had a seemingly real tail. They stared, but no one looked horrified. It was the same as in the park. No one looked like they remembered him. And the ones that did… They stared more at him like they were wondering if he’d seen him from somewhere. It wasn’t a fluke back then. That’s just how people were acting.

She stared back at Vegeta, watching him eat. He’d killed so many, but no one seemed to really remember it. They all thought it was some kind of bad dream they had. It gave her a familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach– the same discomfort she’d been feeling around the park. It was no panic attack, but she certainly didn’t like it. The sooner she got off Earth, the better. She wouldn’t have to deal with these feelings and the wonder if there was anyone like her, as long as she was in space. She wouldn’t have to look at her own people and be disappointed when she saw nothing similar. She expected to be different in space. That was okay. But to be different on Earth, the place she thought she’d belong… That was unnerving.

“So… We’re leaving in the morning, right? I’m going with you?”

* * *

His POV

His coffee cup was still sitting there, empty, in the middle of the table. Vegeta glanced up at Bulma between bites, knowing full well that she was resisting him. She went for her own food instead, digging right in, and Vegeta got the message. She wasn’t going to do what he wanted, she was making that a bold statement between them. And honestly, he respected it, but not without a soft grunt from under his breath. He was listening, too, though he never again gave her any sort of eye contact, even when she made a point to remind him just how well-off she was on this planet - as if it meant little to him. But then she mentioned how she still planned on leaving with him in the morning, and his dark eyes finally glazed up.

“I thought you were the richest bitch on this planet,” he said between munches, staring at the familiar sight of her plump lips twisted up into her formidable pout, “Why the hell would you want to leave it. Or do you not remember stealing my ship once, trying to get to this damn rock?” He could make points just as well as she could. She’d put up hell fighting her way across the universe to get here and he wasn’t going to let go of that easily. He still wasn’t convinced, despite how well she was doing with their time out at the bakery.

“Earth isn’t so bad,” he mumbled so far under his breath it was barely audible, “I’ve seen far worse worlds,” he reminded her. The spicy chai cake was gone, but he’d been lucky enough to stumble upon the coffee flavored cake. It wasn’t that bad, but it was making him get grumpy about not getting his hot, bitter beverage. His lip curled, staring angrily at the empty cup yet again. His gaze then traveled between Bulma and the cup. This is why her planet needed servants. Did she really expect him to do it himself? Not likely. He ended up flicking his finger at the cashier - demanding their attention. The cashier stepped over, Vegeta pushed the cup towards them, and he was gifted with another steamy black coffee in no time.

He’d made his way back to the German chocolate cake, seeing as it was the last thing on the table yet to be eaten. Hey, food was food, and he wasn’t about to pass up calories. The coffee helped cut the sugary taste, and Vegeta was able to finish it off. But this time he had ample opportunity to watch Bulma, her movements, her body language, and the odd way she was eating her food. Picking at it was more like it. He eyed the bright red fruit and cream as it past her lips, taking another large swig of his coffee. That odd vibe had returned to her, somewhat. It seemed the girl couldn’t get anywhere without giving off the appearance of a frightened doe. Was she aware of it, was it really this planet like she said? Or was it something else... was it him. He was still gauging her, watching her reactions.

* * *

Her POV

He… He was arguing with her! She glared at him when he pointed out how she’d tried so hard to get there. So fucking what? Her eyes narrowed and she dropped her fork for a moment, instead crossing her arms as she stared at Vegeta from across the table. Spouting crap. She turned her head away dramatically, deciding she’d rather face the window with her eyes closed than bother to look at him. And quietly, she hoped he didn’t dare touch her food and drink. Not that he’d like either of it, but still. Bottomless pig…

“I don’t care how hard I tried to get here. I don’t want to be here anymore! I might be rich, but I don’t want to have to be here anymore. It feels weird, alright? I don’t like it. I thought I’d be happy, but I’m not. So I want to leave. That’s all there is to it!” Wasn’t what happened in the morning proof enough? She had a panic attack because of the stress the planet was putting on her, that’s all! It was all because of that, nothing else! She just had to get off of this planet, be back with Vegeta, going on adventures and making sure he was out of trouble, and then she’d be better again. It’s not like she belonged here anymore. It’s not like she fit in. It was best for her to just go!

When she finally looked back at him, he had a new drink. It must have been the shaking cashier that gave it to him. He always loved intimidating people, didn’t he? …Maybe this is what this was about. If she was on Earth, then he could go and do whatever he pleased. She couldn’t force him to keep his promise of no longer killing innocents. He could pretend that they’d never met. He wanted to drop her, that was it! That’s why he was arguing! She grabbed her fork again and started eating, the pout still on her face.

“We’re leaving in the morning. If you try to argue, I’ll follow you. I’m coming with you no matter what. You don’t get to argue with me. I know this is just so you can pretend I never existed. But too bad. I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m staying with you.” She glared at him again as she ate, seemingly getting more energy and becoming less anxious whenever her anger or irritation for him would take over. That was a good thing, right? Even if in the back of her mind, anxieties still existed. She didn’t like being around here. She wanted to leave. She’d leave, and those things would all fade away. She wouldn’t have to worry anymore. That’s all that was the issue… That’s all…

“I’m not going to let you desert me.”

* * *

His POV

Oh, it was just too easy to piss her off. Vegeta might have been eating that fact up, under the guard of a wry grin. The tension he’d been sensing from her all but disappeared the moment she began her bitching tirade. So, she was calling the shots again, was that it? The girl had gotten too comfortable with going over his head, his royal status. Sure, he’d allowed it, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t put his foot down now and again - no matter how much freedom she’d earned.

“Oh, so you think you know me so well? Not likely,” he bit out eagerly, like a challenge. “Woman, you can do whatever the fuck you want, but don’t forget - no one tells the Prince of Saiyans what to do.” The prince had leaned in from his seat, just as much as Bulma was throwing her pout. He wasn’t about to let her new found freedom go to her head. She spoke as if the tables had turned, as if she had some power over him, as if he were her slave. The brute may of had a soft spot for the sapphire, but he was still his own horrible, selfish self. And Vegeta had no intentions of following anything other than his own will.

He really was going to miss that little pout of hers. Out of every harsh expression she’d given him, that one was burned into his brain for the rest of eternity. Or at least, until his next battle - where he could forget this whole mess. She was right, he did wish he could forget her. It’d make falling back into his old life all the more easier. However, proving her wrong (no matter how badly he was chomping at the bit to do it) would be exposing himself... Vegeta had to bite his tongue when it came to his intentions of why he’d leave her, or else the proverbial cat would be out of the bag. Ugh, it was a tough challenge to pass up, and he questioned his reasoning more than once.

“Why the hell would you even care,” he questioned, simmering angrily back into his seat, “Tell me what you’d gain from following. If you’re looking for protection, you won’t get any safer than staying here.” He thought she feared him - it was made blatantly obvious to him several times that day. She tried to beat him off during her freak out at the park, she skirted around his men, and she looked to her mate for protection. If anything, she needed to convince herself before she tried to convince him, as far as he was concerned. His fingers brushed off the crumbs from a ginger snap, returning to his meal. All empty boxes, and his coffee was nothing but a black stain now, too.

* * *

Her POV

“And you can’t tell me what to do!” She didn’t even let him finish after proclaiming that stupid declaration. ‘No one can tell the Prince of Saiyans what to do,’ as if he hadn’t gone across the universe and brought back her planet specifically because she wanted him to. He was really trying to pretend that he was so above her. She wasn’t a slave anymore; she could decide things for herself! She didn’t need Yamcha or Vegeta to make her decisions for her. She’d made this decision for herself already– she wasn’t going to stay on Earth, no matter how much Yamcha thought it was a good thing, and no matter how much Vegeta tried to shake her off. It just wasn’t happening. She’d do as she pleased. …But then he asked her why she cared. She opened her mouth, but it caught her off-guard. What was she supposed to say? She looked away for a moment as she gathered her words.

“I’m not looking for protection. I don’t want to be on Earth anymore. It’s not like I expected it, so I want to go back to adventuring. I want to be… Around you.” The pout was still on her face as she said it, and she felt her face start to heat up. It was an odd thing to admit. She wanted to be as far away from him as possible just days ago. What had happened? That was obvious to her, when she thought about it. She’d been so scared of everything else on this planet, but Vegeta was what stayed the same. She’d found comfort in being around him. He was her new normal. She wanted to stay by him. Yes, protection was a part–she couldn’t explore the galaxy without protection, or else she’d end up being preyed upon by someone worse than Vegeta. But it was more than that. It was Vegeta himself.

She finished eating her shortcake, and leaned back in her chair to slowly drink her mocha. Her eyes set on him, watching for his reaction. She doubted that he’d be convinced by her, but even so, her words were more of a warning than anything else. She told him that she’d come with him, even if he tried to get rid of her. She was telling the truth about that. She’d find a way to get to him, even if he left her here on Earth. There was a time where all she longed for was to be back home, but he’d made it so they didn’t fit in anymore. He had fundamentally changed her as a person to the point where being at home felt like trying to fit a square into a circular hole. She didn’t belong anymore. He had to take responsibility for that.

“We’re going back in the morning, then,” she said, matter-of-factly. “I can make sure we have a good breakfast, but then we can go after that. I don’t know where you’re going to take us for our first stop, but I just want to get off of this stupid planet.”

* * *

His POV

What- what the fuck was she even talking about? She-she wanted to be with him, since when?! Oh, fuck that bitch, and fuck her delusions. Vegeta knew better, he’d been watching her all damn day. If she thought she could win him over with the batting of her eyelashes she obviously didn’t know him as well as she thought she did. At least that’s how Vegeta was taking it. She couldn’t be serious, absolutely not. Still... her confession had completely caught the prince off guard. It’d made him swallow his coffee too quickly - feeling it burn down his throat like a hard knot.

Why did his stomach feel like it was a black pit - more bitter and black then the coffee he’d been drinking? No, no matter what the girl yammered on about, Vegeta’s decision was final. He wasn’t going to allow her to screw his judgement, even if the idea of her actually wanting to go with him reminded him of just how much he’d originally wanted her to follow in on his crusades. It didn’t matter, Vegeta was just as stubborn as she was, and his will and reason couldn’t be swayed, especially after so much deliberation. This was it came down to now, a battle of wills and reasons.

He grumbled, jerking his head away and turning his sights to the nearby window. He was done with humoring her. It’d gotten him nothing (other than a belly full of cake) and she only seemed to be more dead set to defy him. That brought up a question though… could she escape this planet if he left her behind? No, that was one thing Vegeta was banking on, this planets lack of interstellar travel. There were no signs of the proper tech for space travel, and as clever as the girl may of been, she’d never engineered a ship of her own. She’d tried plenty of times to escape him, and she’d always stolen means of transportation. No, if he left, there’d be no getting off of this planet. He knew that. No matter how much she bitched.

“The Planetary Trade, to buy your stupid, worthless planet, remember?” the brute lifted from his seat - the night air was calling his name. He stopped just short of the table though, stopping to stare down at the girl that caused him so much damn trouble. Vegeta still couldn’t wrap his brain around what she was trying to accomplish. She’d sworn she’d hated him, to kill him, to escape him, and now she was dead set on following him. Even he knew it was odd for captives to go running back to their captors. As much as he hated to admit, she wasn’t thinking clearly. It was obvious. Perhaps given a little time she’d come to her senses, but he wouldn’t be around to see it.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Today was my first day back at work. At Target, until the other job I'm thinking will go through. Whelp! I got help with Galactic putting this together, so it was much easier.
> 
>   
> 


	47. Washing Away Sins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma and Vegeta have a heart-to-heart while bathing together.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

The ‘Planetary Trade,’ right. She still had no clue what that was, but… Yeah, that was right. He was buying her planet for her, to make sure nothing happened to it again. All the more reason to leave it. She knew that it would be safe; she didn’t have to wait around and worry that something else would happen. She would be able to leave this planet knowing it would stay completely safe. She’d done her job and returned the planet to how it used to be. She’d have no problem leaving this planet. …But still, Vegeta had yet to say ‘yes.’ He had yet to agree that she was coming with. Was it just a quiet understanding? He seemed standoffish, but at the same time, he was always somewhat like that.

She got up when he did and took all their garbage to the trash can, trying to decide on what else to talk about. She figured by now that she was not going to get a set answer on whether she’d be coming with; she’d just have to hope that he would be tolerant of her. Why wouldn’t he be? He’d dealt with her this long, and he seemed so set on having her beside him, anyway. Why else would he have kidnapped her in the first place? She stared at him for a moment as she threw everything but her coffee out, and before taking leave, she grabbed his hand. An extra little gesture, and she played it off with a drink of her coffee as they walked out.

“When we get back, we can take a bath together again. It’s not like we’re going to get to do that all too often up in space. Well– I have my tent now, but it’s not like I’ll just let you in all the time.” She was still operating on the assumption she’d be coming with; why wouldn’t she? “Don’t bother to sleep in the guest bedroom again. We have my bedroom. My bed is bigger anyway. The bigger the better, you know? And then we can wake up and have breakfast right away. My mom had made a bunch of things today, but for tomorrow… Hm. What did you like best about the breakfast foods today? I can make it so it’s just that. You can get your belly full of your favorite.”

Why was she being so nice, anyway? It was odd, now that she thought of it. How long ago was it that she was screaming that she’d kill him? Now she was willingly walking hand-in-hand with him. But… She couldn’t help it. It wasn’t as if she didn’t hate what he’d done to her, but when she looked at him now… She’d forgiven him, mostly. It still haunted her, and yet, she couldn’t think of a place she’d be comfortable with than with him. Not for love or something stupid. But she was attached, and she didn’t want to be left behind. 

* * *

His POV

It seemed he’d gotten away with it. That he’d thrown her off of his scent. All seemed to be fitting back into normalcy, for what normal was on this rock. Then she grabbed his hand, and Vegeta shot the woman a disgruntled look. Not that she’d be catching the glare he was trying so hard to give her, no she seemed content with sipping her drink; which he could smell the mocha wafting from - sweets, typical. He didn’t pull away this time, though, not if it meant keeping from another tantrum about leaving. He allowed her to babble and lead them back out into the city streets.

Her gentleness about him didn’t go unnoticed by him, as well. She’d been acting different since earning her freedom, more approachable, attentive, and Vegeta couldn’t figure it out. Maybe he was having a hard time adapting to the changes in their fucked up relationship, too. Were her actions true to her nature, or was she masking her fear? The brute was just deducting his power of reasoning when she caught him off guard yet again - she invited him into her bath, and into her bed.

All previous thought fell out of his head. Her words only added more confusion to his already jumbled mind. At first he was going to deny it, scrunching his face and feeling the desire to pull away, but his mouth refused to mutter such a response. As if he’d pass up a clear offer like that, no matter how fucked up in the brain she may of been. She was openly offering herself to him, in a matter of speaking. Sex wasn’t spoken for, but it was her attention and warmth that he knew he’d be getting. As much as the bastard wanted to turn his nose up at the girl, he couldn’t deny that he wanted it. Just once more, for the road. What could that hurt? Not him, he knew that much.

“What-?” grunt, “It doesn’t matter,” he side-eyed her as she rambled on. He’d nearly missed the conversation about breakfast, he was so far gone in planning things out. She’d caught his more selfish side with the offer she’d made, and Vegeta had been mulling over just how and when he’d slip away. He hadn’t been anticipating sleeping in her bedroom, but like she said, it was all the better. His thought and her rambling had lulled him into a nice mood all the way back to Capsule Corp. By the time they’d arrived, Vegeta had yet to realize his tail had loosely fitted itself around the girl’s waist from behind. A simple, protective gesture, much like the one she’d inflicted on him when she’d grabbed his hand.

* * *

Her POV

His mind seemed to be up in the clouds following her saying she wanted to take a bath and sleep with him. Not a surprise; he always seemed to have three things on his mind: food, fighting, and sex. But still… It was nice to not be rejected. He held her hand all the way back to the Capsule Corporation, and somewhere along the way, his tail wrapped around her waist. It made her feel secure. It was stupid to feel comforted by something like that, but in the back of her head, she couldn’t help but think it felt nice to be so close to him. When she looked at his face, it was easy to remember the things he’d done to her, but Earth felt so odd now, and he was the one thing she felt she could rely on. 

She dragged him through the Capsule Corp silently, making a note that she didn’t want to end up running into Yamcha. Thankfully they got to her room without issue, and she closed and locked the door behind them, just in case, finally letting go of his hand. She turned around to look at him as she reached down, physically unwrapping his tail from around her waist. She didn’t have another episode in their trek out for dessert; wasn’t that enough for him? But still, something about the way he’d been acting made her nervous. Usually when she’d talk, he’d give some kind of grunt in approval. Was this him saying that it wasn’t going to happen? That she wouldn’t come with? …She’d like to think otherwise.

“…Thanks for bringing my planet back.” It came out of nowhere, but she just felt the need to say it, as if it weren’t obvious. “I know it seems weird to say thanks since I want to leave this place so badly, but I still appreciate it. I don’t need to worry that everyone else needs to be brought back anymore. And you’re buying my planet to make sure nothing else happens– Thanks, Vegeta.” Maybe part of it was reminding herself the good he’d done. He wouldn’t hurt her anymore. She’d been testing the waters enough the past few days; leading him on and rejecting him to see what he’d do. How long has it been now that he’d been looking out for her? She could see there was some amount of good in him. Maybe she could help him to make sure another person was never harmed by him. Yamcha had killed people before, as a bandit. Tien was going down the path of an assassin. Her lips pursed. He may have done terrible things, but… Well, forgive was the wrong word. But she saw potential in him still.

She took a step closer and gave him a kiss, short and chaste, before turning on her heel and walking right to the bathroom.

* * *

His POV

That tail - he hadn’t noticed that… Vegeta yanked it from Bulma as quickly as she could unwrap it from herself. Suddenly he was equally glad that they hadn’t bumped into someone on their way through the corridors, if just to keep that little mishap private. He was correcting the whereabouts of his promiscuous tail by the time he turned around to see what Bulma was rambling about. She was thanking him… If she wanted to catch him off guard again there were better ways. Gratitude normally went right over Vegeta’s head, he simply saw no point in it, or need. Especially since he was the one that’d brought destruction to her planet in the first place…

Just what the hell was he supposed to say to that? The male’s eyes roamed over the girl, just before she planted a kiss to his lips, flustering his irritation further. It was a bitter sweet sentiment. A part of the brute wanted to explore this new feeling of being acknowledged, another part of him was repulsed by it. He didn’t need thanks; it wasn’t why he’d brought her planet back. Not to mention, being reminded that he regretted something he’d done didn’t sit well within him. So naturally, he brushed it off as easily as he did anything else - on the outside at least - and followed the girl into the bathroom with the roughest of grimaces etched into his face.

“As if I’d ever hear the end of it if didn’t bring it back,” he countered her appreciation, as if he’d had no other choice in the matter (which they both knew wasn’t true). “I’ve heard so much about this damn planet, I had to inspect it for myself,” he spouted sarcastically, again - false excuses. Though, he had been slowly getting the hang of earth’s style of life since landing. He’d followed the girl into the bathroom like a well-trained lab monkey, without him even realizing. The prince knew where this was going by now. He didn’t have to be told, he just stripped, and stepped into the nearby shower. He was scruffy, dried sweat and patches of dirt soiled his skin and clothing. He must have looked like he’d just come back from a marathon run when he’d sat down at the bakery. 

* * *

Her POV

He spouted off excuses to make himself feel more manly, but Bulma knew the truth. He did it for her. Because he didn’t want her to feel bad anymore. Memories of him saving her from committing suicide rushed back to her as she stripped her clothes off, leaving them on a pile on the ground as he took to the shower. He’d saved her, so that he could show her that everything was okay. That he could bring her planet back. That he could bring everyone she loved back. He could try and argue it was for other reasons, but she could tell why he did it. Why not thank him? She glanced in his direction as he started up the shower, and rather than turn on the bath, she decided that she could take a short trip and clean up a little before the bath, as well.

She walked into the shower with him, with more than enough room to spare for the both of them. She combed her hair back as she hit the running water, finding it more than entertaining to watch how much dirt and grime was slowly being washed off his body and pooling at the drain. He’d just bathed last night; how did he end up like this? She snorted and took one of the extra loofas from a shelf on the wall, as well as one of the bottles of body wash, and handed it right over to him for him to use. She didn’t really want to go so far as to wash him herself, but it was still funny to have to give a little bit of an extra hand because he was such a dirt magnet.

“How do you even get this dirty this quick? What have you been doing today? Did you start rolling around in a pile of dirt when I wasn’t paying attention?” She snorted at the idea, though she really shouldn’t put it past him. Saiyans were odd; for all she knew, they needed special ways to cool down, so they take dirt baths like other animals do. That didn’t make it any less entertaining. “I swear, you can lay around all day and still end up covered in muck. What happens to you? To all three of you?”

* * *

His POV

He hadn’t expected her to join him; that had earned the girl an odd look, but he didn’t bother to push her back out of the shower door. Why would he? Vegeta was used to having others bathe him, even if this particular female had never given into washing him, not even once. His brows knit at the thought, but a part of him was glad for it. No matter what the stubborn woman went through, she just wouldn’t lower her standards. And then she offered him a loofa and soap, and for a minute moment Vegeta thought she was actually giving in. Nope. She expected him to wash himself properly. Honestly he should have seen that one coming…

She’d asked him the million-dollar question: had he been rolling around in a pile of dirt? Well, technically it had been ‘exercising’ and ‘sparing’, but yes, yes he had been rolling around on the lawn. In the dirt. His nose scrunched, staring down his nose at the bare woman in front of him. It was difficult to be angry with her when she was standing there bare, staring at him. He snatched the loofa and began scrubbing his forearm with purpose, staring right back. He hadn’t been planning on doing more than a quick rinse down, but it looked like he wasn’t going to get away without a thorough cleaning.

“As if I’d lay around,” he retorted, “I was making use of my time, such as training and sparing. It’s imperative that I keep my men and I at our peek,” he said with pride. As if it had been the pinnacle of his afternoon. He opted out to admit that he had been literally rolling around in a duel to the death with Nappa at one point… he really didn’t want her to prove her point further. His gaze dipped down, just long enough to linger. Of course he felt no shame in staring at a naked woman, but Vegeta didn’t want to give her a reason to think she had control over him. If it had been a time before, he’d of quickly of made use of her, but he was proving a point too. He wasn’t such a slave to himself that had little to no self-control _if he wanted._

His hand went out for her, as it to grab, but it passed her up. He was just reaching for the soap bottle. The memory of taking, no, forcing her under him in a shower once before crossed his mind. He shut out the memory, closing his eyes. The prince’s focus fell to his own body, cleaning himself down under the warm spray of water. The lavished shower head felt good on his skin and he quickly went to grooming his hair under it too. But of course, keeping sensationally aware of the woman that was only a hip’s brush away from him.

* * *

Her POV

He took the loofa from her, and Bulma couldn’t help but laugh at the silliness of it all. She rolled her eyes at him and brushed her skin down lightly with her hands as he explained himself, giving herself a lazy wash. It wasn’t as if she was as dirty as Vegeta was; why bother doing more than a rinse before getting in the bath? She just wanted to be close to him, half to tease him and half just because she craved it. She liked it, though it may be weird that she did. She liked the way his gaze lingered on her, yet he did not reach out to touch. The only time she did think he’d touch her, he instead was only grabbing the bottle from her hand. It freed her up to rinse herself off better, combing her fingers through her hair and making sure her skin had got sufficiently wet.

“So that’s what it was? You were rolling around in the grass while ‘training’? I’m sure you freaked out the neighbors, given your tails and all.” Without warning, she reached out and grabbed his, giving it a light tug. “They must have thought it was some weird party going on or something.” Her thumb smoothed over the fur of his tail for a moment, and she decided she’d rinsed off enough. She stepped out of the shower and right went to the bath, bending over to turn on the water. She stepped right in as the warm water filled the tub, and her eyes kept on Vegeta. How many times had she done this with Yamcha before? She felt bad, replacing him like this. But something about Vegeta’s presence made her feel safe.

“Maybe I should start to pack. I keep thinking of stuff I need. I don’t want to be without my makeup anymore, and having all my soaps and stuff will be really nice. And my shoes, and my clothes, and a few of my teddy bears, and some proper tools for once! It’ll be nice to be actually prepared. And I don’t plan on running away anymore, so I won’t have to worry about losing it when trying to run off somewhere. It’ll be nice.” She was mostly blabbering to herself to fill the relative quietness of the bathroom, aside from the running water. Besides, if she didn’t talk, who would? Vegeta typically spoke with grunts and huffs, only speaking up with actual language when he had something of particular importance to say.

“What do you think? You’ll get to see me at my best every day. I won’t be dirty or messy anymore! You’ll be a really lucky guy, getting to hang around a girl who’s basically a supermodel…”

* * *

His POV

There was a strange mood in the air, one he couldn’t quite place his finger on. It was soft yet intimidating, which only made him restless on the inside. The best way to deal with it, he found, was to ignore it completely. Which Vegeta happened to be very good at ignoring things. It was coming from the girl, that much he could process, and it only intensified when she grabbed for his tail… His dark eyes went wide, finally turning to look at the woman. It sent a shiver up his spine that slowly melted into relaxation. It felt good to have his tail fondled; he did his best to ignore that, too.

“I never said I-” he was caught short, left to brood and pout over her sudden absence. He moved to follow her, stepping out of the shower with shrewdness and a watchful gaze. There was something different about her, ever since they’d arrived. Bulma had teased him in the past, but this felt different. If the prince didn’t know better, he may have thought she was flirting with him. Only it wasn’t the kind he was used to, she didn’t look like a whore asking for a quick fuck for credits.

There was definitely something different about her, though. Her gentleness and general languid nature. Was this normal? Perhaps this was an effect of being on her home planet… She watched him, and Vegeta never took his gaze off of her in return. Not until he stepped into the tub for himself. He did as casually as ever, setting himself in the middle of the bath. And then she brought up leaving again, and he felt his expression harden. That is, until she started that peculiar way of acting again. Then his frustration turned into a flustered mess. Kami, she could be so full of herself sometimes. Not that he cared. In the slightest. At all. Right.

“Why the hell would I be lucky for that? You draw too much damn attention,” he spouted, side eyeing her. She still acted as if he’d ever agreed to take her with him. He remained silent about the subject; staring. He wanted to be closer, why did he want to be closer? It confused him, so naturally he refused the urge. It made him uncomfortable... Vegeta knew how to act around a whore, how to treat a slave, but he didn’t know what to do with himself anymore around _her_. Especially when she was acting so damn weird. His uncertainty could of easily of come across as shyness.

* * *

Her POV

There he came, following her from the shower into the bath. Thankfully he was clean enough, but he decided to be strange and sit right in the middle of the bath. It warranted an eye raise from Bulma, though, at the same time, she shouldn’t be surprised at all. Of course he’d do something like that. He liked being in the center of everything, didn’t he? Maybe he felt more important, sitting in the middle of the oversized tub like that.

“Why wouldn’t you be lucky? Not everyone gets to see a cute girl all the time,” she replied, grabbing a bottle of bubble bath from the side of the bath and dumping a good deal of it into the water. “Besides, if I draw attention, that means I look good. Even you would be able to appreciate that, right?” As the bubbles began to form, she moved in closer to Vegeta, until she was sitting just in front of him. She was quiet this time, only staring at him. …She would be lying if she said she could completely forgive him. She was joking around with him now, but she could still look at those eyes and remember everything. All the times he’d pinned her down. And yet here she was, willingly taking a bath with him. She could remember all those times, but how many times had he saved her? Protected her from harm? Made up for his actions? They shouldn’t be excuses, no, but… He’d made her feel safe. She reached up and held his face in her soft hands, scooting a little closer yet.

“…You wouldn’t hurt me.” It came out of nowhere, and while it was spoken as a confident statement, there was a hint of a question deep in there. Would he? He’d more than proven himself. But still, his eyes. His face. The same face of the person who’d done things to her. Her eyes moved downward, and her hands slowly drifted over his skin until she met his hands. She took his hands and replaced them onto her hips, gently running her fingers over his coarse, tan skin afterward. That was right, he was such a nice color after all the muck and grime he was usually covered with. His skin looked almost golden. 

Her eyes moved back upwards, staring up at him again. It wasn’t as if she was propositioning him to sex, at least not yet. She just wished to be close. To watch him. To think to herself about how she really felt about him. It felt so natural to be so close, maybe after months of staying with him for safety and protection. But trying to process all the complex, contradicting feelings she had toward him made her stomach turn in tight, confusing knots. 

* * *

His POV

“And let me guess, you expect me to watch out for your ass while you’re drawing all that unnecessary attention,” he gruffed, just as Bulma decided to move closer to him in the bath. Their game of lewd comments had knitted his brows, but there was a level of teasing there, too. But then she reached for his face, and Vegeta felt the tension in his features falter. At first he wasn’t sure what she was up to. His eyes darted to one hand, the other, then finally landed on her face. The deep gaze she was giving him, it felt as if she were trying to dig into him, but not in her usual way of fiery glares or sharp blue daggers. He was trying to figure her out, just as much as she was searching for something within him.

His brows pressed together again, just as she muttered those words. He knew then what she was looking for, she wanted confirmation. That’s what she’d searching for this whole time. The girl may have claimed she felt safe around him, but the prince had always known there was still an uncharted amount of fear in her. And rightly so - he’d done terrible things to her. She’d called it correctly the first time - he’d been a monster. He was still a monster. Vegeta was never one for false hopes; what was simply was. Beings didn’t just change their skin, did they?

He turned his gaze away as soon as she released him, though it was difficult to refute the hands that were slowly making their way down his torso. His abdomen clenched under her soft finger tips, and his hands naturally fitted in place around her round hips at her request. It felt good to hold her, and despite himself, his fingers sunk into her and his sights finally found hers again. She was still staring at him… What did she want from him? What could he possibly give her, or possibly say to convince her otherwise? That he wouldn’t hurt her? It all felt worthless in comparison.

“…” his face hardened into thought. She’d once asked him for an apology, but would she believe him? The idea twisted his gut and felt like it was digging tunnels through his ribs. She deserved one, but that wasn’t the only reason he’d spit it out. It was becoming harder and harder for the prince to keep the words behind his lips now that he thought about it. Especially while she was staring at him with those big blue eyes. He was sorry, and not a selfish sorry of getting caught or finding himself in a rough spot. He was sorry of hurting her, raping her, pinning her down. He’d taken her people, her planet - a place he was getting a little too comfortable with. He’d made her fear him. He knew it wasn’t worth a damn, but he meant it when he said,

_“Bulma, I’m sorry…”_

* * *

Her POV

He seemed uncomfortable, but he never pushed her away. He just shifted in his spot and glanced elsewhere, only occasionally looking at her. But finally his eyes set on hers again, and he said something that caught her off-guard. He said sorry. She blinked, processing what had been said. At first she thought she had imagined it, or heard his words wrong. But… No. In the most sincere way she could imagine, he apologized. He didn’t elaborate, but she knew exactly why he was apologizing. As if he hadn’t already with all his actions leading up to now. The sides of her mouth turned upward just slightly, in a small, pleased smile. He’d actually said it. He actually verbally apologized.

She set her hands on his face again, but only to pull him closer to her. To make their lips meet. She let this one last, unlike the last one; taking her time to give him a ‘thank you’ for saying something that she’d wished to hear for some time. He apologized… He apologized… And… She accepted it. She was so scared of him at times, but really, why would she be? He felt guilt for what he did, and would never try to hurt her again. He’d protected her so many times. All the memories of him saving her flooded back, from when she was stuck on the ocean planet to when she’d been used as a slave by Zarbon. That’s right– he’d been worried about her then. She remembered the way he’d held onto her when she finally burst into tears.

She wouldn’t say she completely forgave him for everything he’d done; how could one? But he’d repented, and… He made her feel safe. She didn’t feel herself without him nearby. Maybe it was just the connection the two happened to share. She didn’t feel the same for him that she felt for Yamcha before all this happened– it wasn’t love. It was something else, but nonetheless, she felt close to him. Safe with him. He’d protect her, and just the knowledge of that was comforting whenever he was nearby. And maybe the more they interacted, he could change himself a little. Would he keep his promise of turning to being a mercenary and not kill innocents? … She finally parted their lips.

“Vegeta… Thanks for finally saying that.” What else could she say about it? Her hands slipped down to his shoulders, and she looked down to watch the water continue to fill up, still an inch or so below her belly button. “You don’t know what it means to me. …Don’t think that I… That I still think you’re the worst person ever, for what happened earlier. I don’t know, I just got into this mindset… I felt like I was back before you’d changed. And I freaked out. But I remember every little good thing you’ve done for me too. I swear.”

* * *

His POV

For a long moment, he felt his breath cease in his chest. How could he breath? The woman could easily reject him, to which he’d have to bite that bullet too. He was ready, he always was, but it seemed that no matter how the prince prepared himself, the woman was always one step ahead of him - able to catch him off guard yet again. Her soft lips pressed to his own, and the beast felt a warm sigh of relief wash over him. He was catching onto reading her by now, he knew what that gentle gesture meant; she’d accepted his word.

He could have melted into the hand at his cheek, but being the stoic creature that he was, he let it slip away. There was still a level of bitterness in the pit of his stomach, but it wasn’t anything the prince wasn’t use to. He was a vile creature with a hatred for the universe. Still, that poison was a venomous one; maybe the prince had yet to fully forgive himself. The uncomfortable feelings just kept coming, too. But this time it was awkwardness. As soon as the silence broke, Vegeta was wishing that they could forget he’d ever uttered anything. Did she have to remind him he’d done nice things for her? It was so damn uncomfortable.

“Don’t forget the bad ones, too,” his deep voice rolled out; looking elsewhere, his cheeks slightly rosy. Vegeta wasn’t about to lie to himself, to think nothing had ever happened. He knew what he’d done, he simply refused to ever again, thanks to her. He wanted her to remember that, too. Though her bringing up her previous freak out still hung in the air. Was he still planning on leaving her? He blinked, looking in her direction, watching the bubbly water ripple at her waist line. Of course he was, what kind of thinking was that? Wishful thinking, that’s what.

The girl was all but sitting in his lap, and Vegeta wanted to be anywhere but his thoughts. After a long groaning sigh, he slipped back into the filling tub, allowing his shoulder blades to rest back against the rim. He’d happened to take Bulma with him… She trusted him now, right? And it wasn’t exactly like he was going to pass the opportunity up. “On my home-world, there would have been at least a dozen servants for a bath this size.” What was he doing? Changing the topic, most likely. Bringing up how great his dead race was while boosting his ego was always a nice change of pace.

* * *

Her POV

He reminded her that he was no perfect man, but she didn’t reply back. Of course she remembered the bad times. There was no way she could possibly forget, no matter how much she craved to. It would stay with her forever. She’d always have those memories of all the things he did. She just chose to cling to the good moments, as well. The proof he was a changing man. The proof that he wasn’t through-and-through evil. That there was a chance at redemption for him. That’s all. So when he grabbed her and leaned back with her in his arms, she didn’t argue. She just closed her eyes and let out a content sigh at their closeness and how comforting it felt. How often was it that he tried to be this close willingly? He wasn’t usually one for displays of affection. It was lucky for her that they were in private, probably making him feel more comfortable.

“At least you don’t smell quite as awful as you usually do,” she joked, opening an eye to look up at him. He was talking about his planet, and the amount of servants he’d have for a bath this size. He really was having a hard time tolerating the fact that there were no servants here, wasn’t he? She rolled her eyes at the comment and turned over so she could rest her back on his torso, where she could just watch the water fill up from the faucet on the other end of the tub. The bubbles from the bubble bath were leaving a nice scent in the air, and if she didn’t hate the idea of getting up so terribly, she’d go find a bath bomb to throw in the water as well.

“There’s servant’s other places here on Earth. But my family’s always been the ‘do it yourself’ kind of family. We don’t do anything we don’t want to, and we don’t make others do things we can do. If we want something done, we do it ourselves. In all honesty, this planet may be more advanced if my dad just felt the need to do other things with his mind. I’m sure we could be traveling in space by now if he were interested in that. Maybe if I ever had the motivation, I could make a time machine. You call this planet back-water, but the only reason we’re not further along is just because my dad and I don’t have that much motivation to advance the planet further than it is. …We’re already the richest people on Earth, so what would the point be?”

* * *

His POV

It was a good thing Bulma didn’t bother moving from the spot Vegeta had put her in, it would have made for one very grumpy prince. He’d just gotten comfortable, nestling his back against the brim of the tub as it filled with the scented waters. Everything on this planet seemed sweet and pleasant, much like the scents wafting off of the girl just under his nose. She’d made herself comfortable on him, which Vegeta had found slightly surprising, but he wasn’t one to argue if it got him what he wanted. And what the brute wanted in that moment, was to enjoy her. Her warm body melding against his torso, her lap in his; his hand roamed over a thigh.

And then she went and did what she did best - she threw a monkey wrench into his entire operation. Here he was, trying to soak up the last moments of her as selfishly as he possibly could, and she began spouting off that her family could, if they so desired, master space travel... He didn’t like that idea, not in the slightest. His rough fingers instinctively smoothed up her flat belly, as if keeping her in place; shielding her from some unknown attack. It was a good thing she couldn’t see the expression that was hovering just inches behind her.

“It sounds useless to me,” he griped, “what the hell would you do with a time machine, anyhow?” Of all the things to put her brain towards, that one just sounded to be a fuck up waiting to happen. Still, as much as he didn’t approve of her dabbling with the idea of space travel, he had to admit, she couldn’t have put her reasoning more selfishly if she tried. Her family only lived to better themselves, at least that’s what he got out of her words. And honestly, he couldn’t have been more proud. They would of had good relations with his people with that kind of thinking.

His brain began to relax again, and Vegeta couldn’t help but catch the scent of the girl’s near head of hair. Her natural aroma lifted past the smell of soaps, and he couldn’t help but stare. Then, without warning, his hands smoothed up past her neck and into her blue locks, splaying her hair over to one side. Vegeta began sifting through the wet strands as if he were looking for something. The Saiyan was grooming her.

* * *

Her POV

He ran his hand up her belly, and it was instinctual for her to reach down and press her hands to the back of his. Just to feel them. She closed her eyes again, listening in to the sound of the water rushing and focusing on the feeling of the water slowly raising up her body and engulfing her, inch by inch. He made some comment, but she shrugged it off. It was really just a manner of speaking, anyway. She just meant to say that she could make anything if she really had the motivation to, even something as theoretically impossible as a time machine. He could stroke his ego, but Bulma was just as good at it, after all.

They drifted into a comfortable silence. Bulma just laid there and relaxed, and she assumed Vegeta was doing the same, even as he began to move his hands. She didn’t bother him as his hands came up to play with her hair, until… She realized he was doing something. It went on for a minute or so, and then an eye opened. A few more seconds, and the other eye opened as well. What was he doing? He was acting like he was looking for something on her scalp, pushing her hair to the side to inspect it so gently. It felt nice, she had to admit, like a little massage, but still… What was he up to?

“What are you doing?” She turned her head and pushed her hair to the side, furrowing her brows as she stared up at him. He seemed innocent enough with his expression, but still. “You didn’t see any lice in my hair or something, did you? …I swear, if I ended up catching some weird alien tick from being out in space…” She let out a huff and started scraping through her hair, combing locks between her fingers as she did so. Just thinking about the idea made her feel itchy! “I washed my hair so good yesterday, that should have killed anything! Maybe it was from when I fell on the ground earlier…? Oh, god…”

* * *

His POV

He was actually enjoying himself. The soothing sound of rushing water, coupled with the nice atmosphere of Bulma’s oversized bathroom, made it easy for the monkey to fall into a relaxed position. Oh yes, and having the warmth of a beautiful female on top of him didn’t hurt. But not just any female, and Vegeta was slowly realizing that fact. He’d never dare act this way around anyone, ever - slave, whore, or otherwise. This was different. This was comfortable, familiar, private. It was that privacy that allowed him to let his guard down more so than ever before. Maybe that’s why he gave into the instinct to pick through her hair…

“God damn it, woman, calm down! There’s nothing in your hair!” Vegeta was just as stunned at Bulma’s reaction, as she had been towards his grooming her. He took a long moment to watch her run her fingers through her hair, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his bare chest. Honestly, for a creature that was so obsessed with grooming herself, it was strange to think she couldn’t even recognize the act.

“You’re clean,” he huffed again, flicking a wet leaf from his fingertips. It was probably best she didn’t see that… He could have told her what he’d been doing, that he’d been tending to her as carefully as a chimp to its offspring, but Vegeta was far too proud for that. Oh no, he’d rather let her think there were bugs in her hair. It wasn’t like he hadn’t groomed her before, both in a tub and, well, _personally_. Yet, for some reason this one felt a little too personal, so he decided to let it slide. He reached for that spongy object she often handed him (her loofa). The water was hitting just below his chest now.

* * *

Her POV

She narrowed her eyes at him as he shrugged her off, saying she was clean. Should she really believe him? She looked him up and down before turning away, letting out a small huff. Fine. Whatever, she guessed. She rested her back on his chest again, but she still couldn’t help but rub her fingers through her hair and wondering if the itching she felt all of a sudden was her imagination or not. She was pretty sure it was, but what if it wasn’t…? The idea of alien bugs crawling all over her skin sent a shiver down her spine, enough that she almost didn’t notice Vegeta grabbing her loofa. Hnf, what did he think he was doing? She grabbed it from him and sat straight, moving across the bath to go turn off the water.

“That’s my loofa. I don’t want to share your germs! Use one of the brushes or another of the loofas. This one is mine,” she told him as she turned the faucet off, finding it at a comfortable level. She went right back to him, grabbing one of her bottles of body wash and squirting it onto the loofa. Her eyes wandered as she began to scrub herself off while sitting between Vegeta’s legs, and… Hey, wait, was that leaf there before? … … Vegeta was always tracking things around, wasn’t he? He was just so damn filthy. She huffed, and her eyes turned back to him.

“…My tent I made has a bathroom with a big bath. There wasn’t any way I was going to live without a proper bath. Maybe if you’re nice, every now and then I’ll let you use it. Just so long as you make it clear that the other two aren’t allowed to even set foot in my tent. Not even a toe.” Blabbering again; assuming she was going with him. She _was_ going with him, wasn’t she? He apologized to her. He seemed so calm around her. He liked having her around, and was cuddling her, and seemed to be enjoying her closeness. Why wouldn’t she be coming with?

* * *

His POV

Oh, so she was so worried about germs when it came to grooming, but she didn’t mind shoving her tongue down his throat. Typical earthling nonsense. Vegeta summoned the worse glare he could muster when Bulma ripped the loofa from his hand. It didn’t matter who it was, the prince did not like having things taken away from him, and he wasn’t afraid to show it. A growl rolled out from between his clenched teeth, but he simmered back into his spot, letting her get away with it. Hmph, besides, he found he much preferred the brush she had mentioned. It was rougher and felt better on his tough skin.

“Like I’d care, if you want me to stay out of it so badly, why not just make me my own.” He was missing the point… sort of. Vegeta was also enjoying prodding at the woman. It felt good to taunt her a little, to try and get that delicious pout back onto her face and to combat her verbally. Honestly, it must of been some form of Saiyan foreplay he was unaware of. He still wasn’t telling her, though, that he planned on leaving her behind. And there was more than one reason to that. 

As much as he hated it, the more he indulged in her presence, the more his desires were questioning his reasoning. Would it be so bad to take her? _Do what he wanted,_ his inner voice demanded. _Maybe she’d be fine,_ he lied to himself as he watched her preen herself in his warm lap. Who cared about reasoning when there was something out there for the taking. It felt so easy to give into his desires, like he always did. Why not? She was so willing so what did it matter, if it was bad for her, well then it was her own damn fault. His selfishness was taking over.

He shook his head free of his thoughts, returning to cleaning himself after a swift glance in her direction. It always was so distracting to watch her preen and primp. It reminded him of just how soft her skin was, or how good it felt to press her curves up against his own warm waist. She was looking healthy, too, much better than the last few days. He soaped his bath-brush a second time to keep from trying anything handsy.

* * *

Her POV

She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him at his words. As if she’d ever do that! If he wanted his own tent so bad, HE could make his own! She wasn’t going to do anything for him! She wasn’t… she wasn’t his _slave_. She turned her head rather than face him as she continued to scrub herself down, and as soon as she was satisfied, she went on to do her typical facial with one of the expensive-looking bottles she’d used last time. She couldn’t do everything given she’d just done her routine yesterday, and she didn’t want to strip her skin raw, but it did feel nice to have a little bit of a facial every day. So as she scrubbed a golden layer of lotion onto her cheeks, she watched him.

“…Anyway, back on the subject of servants. Why do you guys like them so badly? I hated that back in space. Why do you want someone’s hands all over you when you’re naked? I understand if it’s with someone you like, but when they’re strangers, why is it necessary? It just feels like an invasion of privacy. Is privacy something only Earthlings have? Because it feels like people up in space have no concept of a personal bubble. It’s annoying, to be honest.” Though there were interesting things about space, too. “…And I know I told you to be a mercenary, but… It’d be nice to explore every once in a while. We saw so many beautiful planets that were mostly abandoned.”

The mushroom planet. The one where she felt like a tiny little fairy. …Yes, there were those giants that decided to make her put on a show, and this was ultimately how she met Zarbon and how he tricked her, but… The scenery of the planet itself had been breathtaking. She’d like to visit more places like that– just with Vegeta’s security. She wouldn’t be running away from him anymore, so she’d be safe. She hoped so, anyway. It’s not like anyone could really beat him. She’d never seen him lose a fight before. The closest he came was with Zarbon, and… She knew how that ended. He’d brought her his head.

* * *

His POV

“What’s so strange about it?” He murmured. He propped one of his elbows on the rim of the bath, opting to watch her bathe herself rather than wash himself - she was much more interesting. The two truly were from two different places in the universe. What Bulma called unusual, Vegeta saw as a means necessary for living. What did she not grasp? She was confusing him; questioning everything he knew about how life worked and his history of existence.

“It’s not that we like them, it’s just the way of things,” he paused, knitting his brows. Just how was he supposed to explain this to her? “Just how is everyone in the universe supposed to know where your personal bubble is?” he groaned, flicking his fingers across the water’s surface, “Not every planet’s customs are the same, and when you smash too many worlds together only one thing matters anymore. Who’s the biggest, and who’s the strongest. That’s one thing everyone can understand. Most are born into their position. It’s difficult to move out of a rank,” he said that on a lower tone, it had been what she’d gone through, after all. “Most just accept it, which makes for business. It’s a cycle.” one he’d been born into, even on his home-planet.

There was a moment of silence after his tirade. He wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of the girl, probably an argument, knowing her. Not that he didn’t welcome it. A part of the prince wanted to hear her proclamation of how wrong it was, or even better, her opinion on the matter. It couldn’t be that strange now, could it? She’d said something else that’d caught his attention, too, though Vegeta was biting back the urge to ask about it. Asking about exploring worlds felt like egging her on, and he really didn’t want to touch the subject of bringing her along. Still. that biting curiosity kept at him until he muttered, “What would be the point of exploring an abandoned planet?”

* * *

Her POV

The explanation he gave was not a good one. ‘It’s just the way things are’– what kind of a way of living was that?! To have someone feeling you up at all times was just disturbing; she couldn’t see why anyone, _anyone_ could find that relaxing. And then people thought it was weird when she argued and told them to leave her alone! Ugh, it was such a pain! She blew a gust of air from her nose at the stupid response, and set aside the loofa to instead start rinsing off her skin.

“That’s stupid! If someone can prove themselves, there’s no reason why they should be stuck with their lot in life! Earth used to be like that a long time ago. We called it feudalism. It’s not a good system! It leads to lots of starving people, soldiers abusing their power, and terrible lords and kings that don’t look after their people like they’re supposed to. Who cares if someone’s bigger and stronger than another person, anyway? That can easily change, and it doesn’t matter in the first place! You’re bigger and stronger than me, but that’s not to say that I’m worthless. I still have my mind.” She crossed her arms as she watched him, raising a brow. Then he’d asked her about something different– About exploring worlds.

“For knowledge. See? This is what I mean. You’re so worried about who’s strong and who’s not that you can’t understand the beauty in things. There may be interesting things on these planets. Who’s to say there’s not things on those planets that can cure horrible diseases? And conservation is important regardless. They’re beautiful planets that don’t deserve to destroyed. They should be admired for what they are. …They’re better than that stupid cockroach-infested planet, anyway.” She wrinkled her nose at the memory of the place that Zarbon whisked her away from. …She was really an idiot, now that she thought back on it. Why did she ever believe him…? Maybe it was just because she’d been so deprived of sleep and food.

“You need to learn to appreciate the beauty in things, you know,” she huffed, looking down at the water. She grabbed a bunch of bubbles that lay on the surface of the water, and shoved them right onto Vegeta, forming a beard for him. “Don’t just destroy mindlessly. …Hey, think of it this way. If you had just completely destroyed Earth without paying attention, you would have never met me, now, would you?” 

* * *

His POV

The girl had his undivided attention, as stuck up and brutal as it was. He opened his mouth to retaliate, but ended up shaking a pointed finger at her. She thought she was soooo clever. It all sounded so simple coming out of her pretty mouth, but there was more to it than the pursuit of knowledge, or a planet’s potential value, and Vegeta knew it. It’d be difficult to weed out the universe’s bad nature; it was so prevalent. Still, she’d made her point. She’d gotten him. She’d gotten him good.

“Bulma Briefs, the earthling that’s out to save the universe from itself,” he dragged the words out over his gravelly tone. His eyes rolled just as she pushed handfuls of bubbles up around his chiseled jaw line, making for a humorous look. “And what do you propose the universe do about it?” His brow lifted, thinking he’d finally backed her into a verbal corner. “Three things will always sell, woman. Sex, highs, and war. My people thrived off of war, it’s how we survive.” How they made their living, he meant. It kept them safe from threats and profited. How did she expect him to stop and smell the roses when the prime initiative had always been his main priority? Survive, survive, survive.

_Maybe he didn’t just have to survive_ … He shook his head free of the strange new thought, wiping the remaining bubbles from his chin. “The universe is full of rotten creatures, it won’t be any different if you go back,” he said lowly, reminding himself just as much as her. She’d told him he couldn’t see the beauty in things, and she was more than right. He’d tried once before to take her to a place she may find suitable, and it ended up being a poison pit. But if there was one thing the beast could appreciate, it was her tenacity and her odd views on life, as irritating as they were.

Speaking of beauty, he was staring again; watching the woman rinse herself off in the warm floral bath. He hadn’t bothered to clean himself too much this time around. Hey, he’d showered off, that was enough, right? With his thick arms resting across the rim of the tub, his tail flicked in the water beside him, causing the surface to ripple. He was thinking about what she’d said, while getting a nice peep show, of course.

* * *

Her POV

“It’s not like it’s not the same on Earth, but why does it have to be particularly awful in the rest of the universe?” Maybe it was just her company; maybe it was just because the black market followed the Saiyans around like the plague. But still… Slavery, war, prostitution, rape, the murder of innocent people– it wasn’t necessary. It didn’t matter what sold. He could try and say she was trying to save the universe from itself, but it was more… That she just didn’t understand it. Why did this have to be how it was? She huffed at him and brushed out her hair, ignoring his staring. She at least expected that given the situation she’d put herself into. Of course he’d be staring.

“There is no reason why goodness can’t thrive, too. I know war is inevitable, but why does it have to include murdering children and raping women? Everyone loves sex, but why does it have to be non-consensual and full of slavery? If people want to get high and have sex and fight, they should do it together and leave everyone else out of it.” Though her mind started to wander. Highs– that was one part she’d mostly stayed out of, other than the situation at the brothel early on, where she was drugged against her will. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of other drugs were out there in the universe. …There had to be some harmless ones out there that Vegeta wouldn’t mind sharing, right…? Maybe she could experiment some time. A little bit.

“…Isn’t there anything innocent about the world that you like? That you’d want to preserve?” Her mind came back to what they were talking about, and she reached her hands out to rest on his chest. “You have to sometimes look at something and think that you wished there wasn’t so much war and murder and death in the world, right? Maybe when you see baby birds or something. …I know Nappa seems to particularly like harming kids, but… You get the idea.” Her brows furrowed and her expression darkened a tad at those memories. Of Nappa eating the charred remains of the little goat children she’d met before. Along with all the other rotten memories of that planet.

* * *

His POV

“War doesn’t care who it kills,” he muttered under his breath - a response to her lecturing him about war. War was bloody, chaotic, and unbiased. There was no reeling in a pack of wolves once they’d been let to rampage an unsuspecting world. A soldier was at his most primal state during war. His senses, desires, blood lusts, were all at their most aggressive. Who was she to say a soldier wasn’t allowed to fulfill those urges? Wasn’t that the spoils of war, reaping those satisfactions? It’d be like tearing a hungry dog from its prized kill. War touched everyone who was damned to endure it, at least that’s how he’d grown up to know battle.

Then she asked something that really spun his head. She asked him if there was anything he’d want to preserve, to keep safe. The man’s eyes went cold but quiet. He knew the answer to that question well enough, but it wasn’t something he wanted to openly admit. It brought him back to reality, to the fact that yes, there was something he wanted to preserve at all cost. Something so insanely innocent, yet brave and brash at the same time. He happened to be looking at it.

“Maybe,” his gaze turned away, refusing to let her read into that phrasing too much. God damn that woman, making him question things like this. She was right, though. Whenever he looked in those big blue eyes he knew he’d kill anything that so much as looked at her the wrong way. His jaw clenched just thinking about it. His fingers mindlessly brushed the dip of her spine as he thought. She was proving her point over him and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it, other than keep his mouth shut and refuse to admit it. The woman was also digging her own grave, though. There was something he wanted to protect, which was exactly why he had leave. 

* * *

Her POV

He at least shut up; that was proof enough for her that he understood her point. She stared at him for a moment, then her eyes cast downward. The feeling of his fingers brushing over her spine relaxed her, and she let out a content sigh. It would be nice to be here forever. Not have to deal with terrible people, or a terrible world, or all the terrible memories she still had. How did he become so comforting to her? It wasn’t as if he even held himself differently. He’d always been more gentle with her than the others, hadn’t he? He still had that irritated look in his face… He was still tanned and covered with intimidating scars… He wasn’t gentle by any means of the imagination. Yamcha had facial scars, but he was still a pretty boy despite them. Vegeta… Vegeta just looked scary.

She cupped his face again, thumbs rolling over the skin below his eyes. She didn’t say anything; she was just observing him. Admiring him. He was intimidating, but there was something about those eyes of his. Even when he looked furious, she could always still tell when there was worry and concern behind his dark irises. It brought her that strange sense of comfort she’d been thinking about so often lately. She didn’t mind how terrible the universe could be, if she was beside him. He’d protect her.

“…I bet your toes are starting to get pruny,” she said suddenly, taking her hands from his face. She turned around to face her back to him as she began to peel off the golden facial cream she’d rubbed on earlier, having semi-hardened into a proper mask. The skin underneath felt fresh and new, with the pores completely cleaned of any dirt or sweat, especially after this morning’s events. She balled up the face mask and stood up, figuring she may as well get out, since neither of them had bothered to clean themselves up all that much. At least, not like yesterday. She was still pretty clean, no reason to go through a giant routine that could just end up irritating her skin.

* * *

His POV

He was ready for her this time, when she decided to touch his face. The smooth fingers running under his eye lids tempted him to relax. He couldn’t help but stare back, watching from under his hard brow. And as much as Vegeta resisted, he eventually gave in; resting a gentle amount of weight into her palm. Just enough to get away with it. He was letting her get away with touching him more and more. There had to be something wrong with him.

He’d never get use to watching her peel that crap off of her face. The moment Bulma decided to start tending to herself again, Vegeta snapped back to reality. Eugh, why the hell she ever put that junk on her skin to begin with, he’d never know. It looked weird. Though… if it had any effects like the last time she treated her body, maybe it wasn’t so bad. She’d forced him to feel her calf after it’d been properly waxed. Was that what she was going for? He had to inspect it…

He stood abruptly from the bath as soon as she did. Reaching out with one hand, Vegeta cupped her face much the way she’d just held his. With eyes narrowed, he smoothed a thumb over her fresh cheek, shrewdly investigating her results. And then just like that, he whirled away, cutting across the bathroom as quickly as a gust of wind. Oh yes, she was soft, and tempting. He needed a towel, and quick. Reaching for the nearest fluffy fabric, he wrapped it around his waist just in time to catch his reflection in the oversized mirror. The male’s hair was a complete twisted mess of wet-styled bedhead. Slinging the water from his hair much like a dog, he rang out his ear with a finger, then went for his tail next - its fur was dripping wet.

* * *

Her POV

He took her by surprise when he grabbed her face. She blinked at him, though after just a moment, it became clear what he was doing. He was feeling her skin, feeling how soft it was now that she’d removed her face mask. But before she could even make a comment about it, he’d suddenly just about leaped out of the bath and ran to where she kept the towels, like he had to get away from her as soon as possible. She raised a brow and gently felt her cheek, though she shrugged it all off and pulled out the drain that kept the water in the bath. She hopped out as well and followed him to the towel rack to grab her own fluffy towel to wrap herself with, but was only really met with a spray of water as Vegeta dried himself like a wet dog.

“Hey! You’re making a mess!” She waved her hand at him as she grabbed her towel and dropped the face mask in the garbage. She wrapped the towel around her and pouted at him, making sure he knew she meant business. “Use the towel to dry off, or your ki or something! Don’t just leave a bunch of water on the ground, it makes a mess!” Not that she should be too concerned; she’d be leaving in the morning, she wouldn’t be the one cleaning it up. Either way, she moved around him to get to the counter, picking out her comb and hair dryer. She plugged in the hair dryer and began to comb out her tangled hair, still looking at least a tiny bit irritated. 

“Do you want me to dry you off with this thing? You’ll puff up, but it’ll feel nice, just like last time. …You have to wait for me to finish, though.” She glanced over at him again and raised her brow, steadily combing her hair as she watched him. “At least let me do it so you won’t get my pillows soaking wet. I don’t want to sleep so uncomfortably because of your wet hair.”

* * *

His POV

She pouted at him and he made a frumpy face right back at her. As if he cared if he made a mess. Wasn’t his problem, he wouldn’t fix it. She was the one that insisted she didn’t want servants around. Though, the ki wasn’t such a bad idea. A quick burst of blue light later, and he was all but dry. Except for his hair, of course. The thick mass of mane couldn’t be dried so easily. His jet black hair was still dripping when he decided to lean against the counter top and watch her air-dry her blue tresses. Much like last time… only this time there wasn’t such an unease vibe in the air. He still kept the uncomfortable memory in the back of his mind, though.

“Hmph,” meant yes he wanted to be blow-dried, it felt nice, but there was no way he’d openly admit it. So his ‘hmph’ was meant whatever, if he _had_ to. His head jerked away and his thick arms fell across his chest, resting into his natural position. His thoughts went back to their time in the tub and the array of questions she’d pushed onto him. He couldn’t help but think about it, she’d brought up so many obscurities. And she still thought she was going with him… He glanced her way. Hadn’t she at least fallen a little bit back into her old life? Where she’d be safe? Maybe she was and she just hadn’t realized it yet. She was enjoying her lavished earthling routine, after all.

She’d also mentioned sleep. Midnight was creeping upon them both. Would she scream and curse his name when she awoke? Or would she feel a sense of relief? He’d love to see the bitchy fit he was sure she’d throw upon finding him gone, but he knew there’d be no sticking around for that. Their time together was waning, he could feel it creeping upon them both.

He shook the thoughts from his head, deciding to focus on what was in front of him instead. That fluffy towel of hers left little to the imagination. It hugged her curves and opened just enough to allow his gaze to slide up her thigh. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to touch. He’d wanted to since she’d stepped into the shower with him. He’d been resisting. But now, feeling content and full of himself as he was, he didn’t mind feeling her up mentally whenever he looked her over; waiting for her to finish bathing herself in the hot air. It was her hair that kept grabbing his attention out of everything, honestly. It looked like strands of pure blue silk whenever a wave of heat hit it; shimmery and perfect. He would bet credits it was even softer then her skin.

* * *

Her POV

A burst of air left him dry, and Bulma tolerated it as he came over to watch her (or gawk at her, more like) as she dried her hair. She stared back at him through the mirror, raising a brow. Did he think he was coy? It was more subtle before, when he was only staring at her breasts. Now he seemed far more interested in staring at the gap between her thighs, just under her towel. She let out a huff as she continued to brush her hair, turning on the hair dryer and blowing it through her locks. She kept her eyes on Vegeta’s reflection, watching him go from staring at her thighs to staring at her hair. This was more strange. He seemed to have a habit of looking at her like some kind of alien.

…Well. She guessed she was one to him.

As soon as she was satisfied with her hair, she turned around and set her comb down on the counter. With her free hand she pulled Vegeta closer by the shoulder, and began to use the hairdryer to blow his hair free of any excess water. Would he be less shy and just accept how nice it felt this time around? Either way, she kept her eyes on him, gauging his expression the entire time she dried his hair. Somehow it never ceased to be entertaining to just observe him. He looked like he’d just stay stoic, but he could be expressive when he wanted to.

“…You keep staring at me, you know…” She mumbled as she dried his hair. “Do you want to touch me? As long as you’re gentle, I don’t have a problem with it. Like what you were doing when you were touching my spine in the bath. I’ll admit, it feels good to be touched by you sometimes.” She was teasing him, but at the same time, it was a proposal. She’d cuddled with him in the bath long enough; why not go a step further? They’d be sharing a bed for tonight, and… She’d blue-balled him enough recently. It was out of her own insecurities and testing her boundaries, but she was finished with that. She was satisfied knowing that he wouldn’t hurt her, so why would she mind having fun with him?

* * *

His POV

Even with the hot gusts of air blowing into his face, Vegeta just kept staring at her. Silently, stoically, and a little smug. He didn’t blink, he didn’t have to. The warm air felt like a nice flight to him, it was just as relaxing as flying, too. Only it was warm, and blew through his hair at just the right angle to make his scalp tingle. Oh yes, he liked it, but he still refused to show it. Though, after a moment or two, he decided to close his eyes, if just to relish the feeling of being pampered like the prince he knew he was. That might have twinged his lip into a grin, but it was hardly noteworthy.

And then she called him out for his staring, and one of his dark eyes slit open. She was toying with him, she had to be. She claimed that she’d enjoyed his fingers running over her spine, his touch, and it surprised him. He hadn’t really realized he’d been doing that. It had just felt good. Had it felt good to her too...? His other eye opened, and Vegeta went back to his staring. He was wary of her propositioning of any kind of sexual acts this time around. The last few times hadn’t exactly gone well for him… The memory of that morning flooded back - him having to finish himself off while he listened to her sobbing. …the male was definitely leery of her this time.

There was only one way to know for sure if she meant it, he had to come onto her. Silently, one of his agile hands slipped out and around the dryer she was grasping, slowly winding his hand around her own. Their fingers moved together and the dryer clicked off. He watched, searching for any hint of skittishness or fear from the woman. Was she afraid yet? Second guessing herself? He moved closer yet; shifting his weight like the predator he was. His free hand slid up into the sway of her back. Then, he guided their twined hands that held the dryer towards the counter, flicking his gaze up to meet her own.

He flexed, gauging her reaction. He moved like he wanted to touch her, which he very much did, but he was being remarkably gentle (for him). There was definitely a heated lust in his eyes, but he was waiting, too. Giving her a way out, searching for any sign of a freak out, or even a simple quiver of her lip. Where was her confidence now, was it still with her?

* * *

Her POV

While the moment lasted, it was entertaining to watch him. First he stared back endlessly, creeping her out slightly with how he didn’t seem to blink. Wasn’t the heat of the blow-dryer making it at least a little uncomfortable for his eyes to stay open? When they finally did close, however, they stayed closed. And then… He slowly started to smile. Amazingly enough. She blinked a few times, surprised by it. He wasn’t even just smiling; he was grinning. Was it that good? She’d never seen him grin like this before. At least not when he wasn’t covered in gore or pinning her down before he’d become a changed man. It reminded her vaguely of videos she’d seen of vicious lions becoming cuddly when around the people they’d grown up around.

And when she spoke up, the proposition caught his attention. She watched as his eyes opened and the realization of what she was saying kicked in. She stared back at him, unsure if she trusted the gaze he suddenly had. But– But she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She remembered that fact. And he’d only gained interest now that she offered herself; he had tried not to touch her or otherwise do anything more than stare until she gave him a green light. He was being… Understanding. She had no reason to be afraid. So she let him touch her hand and gently turn the hairdryer off. Her hand lowered so the appliance could be left sitting on the counter, and she watched Vegeta as he gave her bedroom eyes and gauged her reactions to everything he did, from his flexing to just being close.

“…Wait,” she said, though she didn’t look all that concerned. Her eyes turned to the side, playing coy for the clearly horny man. It wasn’t fun unless she gave chase, after all. And even though she knew he wouldn’t force himself on her, it was still a form of reassurance to pull away and come back to see how much freedom she had that she had not had just a month ago. She was no longer his slave. She was never his slave, but now he had accepted it.

“…I want you to brush your teeth first.” She turned back around in his arms and made just enough room between her hips and the counter, grinding a bit into Vegeta’s crotch, to search through one of the drawers for her toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as the toothbrush she’d opened up for Vegeta yesterday. “We’re not doing anything before you have a clean mouth.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of bathing on Earth. Because now that Bulma has access to proper, safe water again, you know she's going to take complete advantage!  
> Also, I was curious, and decided to check when this arc is supposed to officially end. It looks like there should only be a handful more scenes. We're two months away, but the replies were pretty short these two months.
> 
>   
> 


	48. "She felt safe, being handled by him."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma tested the waters with Vegeta multiple times before. She takes it a step further again.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

He waited, and searched, but it wasn’t so much fear as it was indecisiveness that he was finding in her eyes. Then there was, for the smallest of moments, what he thought might have been the flicker of recoil, but it didn’t last. He was allowed to touch her more, and more, until finally her lips parted and that one little word turned him to solid stone. ‘Wait’, she said, and he halted. Though he was cursing himself on the inside forever thinking he’d get away with this. His hand began to fall away from her back, but then she shot him a look that made him think twice. This wasn’t over yet. She wasn’t finished with him, for once.

“What? You’ve got to be joking,” his voice ground out terribly. At least now he knew why she’d told him to wait, though he had a feeling she’d been testing him, too. Pulling his chain a little bit. Tease. Her plan was working, though. Vegeta was feeling friskier than before, and the soft, slow grinding of her hips against his groin wasn’t helping. It coached another dark groan from his chest, but this one was clearly a sound of approval. His head turned to watch her rummage through the counter draw, looking for the toothbrush. His brows fixed into a sharp angle - a little from the sensations stirring between his legs, a little from his frustrations at her forcing him to brush his teeth.

“Fine, just, give me that,” he snapped. Yanking one of the toothbrushes and toothpaste from her, he pasted the brush up then shoved it in his mouth like a rebellious teenager. He could brush his own teeth… The more he brushed, the more that horrible look on his face slipped away. Though he was still painfully aware of how near her thighs were to his hips. Slyly, he eyed her. Oh no, there was no way he was letting her have all the fun and leave him tormented. Two could play that game.

He watched her a moment, waiting for his opportunity. The moment she looked fixated on what she was doing, Vegeta suggestively slid one of his warm palms up the back of her thigh, slowly lifting her towel. He didn’t squeeze, though. It was a light touch, just enough to trace and tease her skin until his hand slid back down. It was difficult to control himself even now after everything, but he could manage, especially for a little pay back.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma snorted as he grabbed his toothbrush from her, clearly irritated about the hold-up. But there was no way she’d be kissing him with a dirty mouth if she couldn’t help it. Besides, she figured she would probably just go right to sleep after the act; it was best to brush her teeth now to get it out of the way. So while Vegeta was busy looking grumpy as he brushed his teeth aggressively, Bulma put toothpaste on her own brush and brushed away. First she’d been busy watching as he slowly became less and less irritated, but over time her eyes wandered to just staring at her own reflection. Watching for when she’d have to spit out the excess toothpaste.

“Mnf–!” He made her jump when his warm hand pressed against her thigh. It drew her attention, and her cheeks slowly reddened as his hand traveled upward. She didn’t say anything, but she made eye contact with him through their reflection as he felt her up. She just kept brushing, and when she was finished and his hand had moved back down, she spit out her toothpaste into the sink and washed it away. She wiped her face and dug her behind into his crotch yet again to open the drawer and return the toothpaste container and toothbrush to where they were before, and quickly slid around him to get back to the towel rack.

“You better brush your teeth perfectly! If I taste anything but mint, I’m going to make you brush again,” she told him as she hung her towel back up on the rack and retreated out of the room. “Don’t finish brushing until you’re completely sure your teeth are all clean!” She left the bathroom doors open and turned the corner to climb into her over-sized bed, and in a final move of teasing, she went under the covers. Not to hide, not to conceal her body, but just to pretend like she was ready to sleep. _What, he thought they were going to have sex? It’s late, don’t be silly_.

* * *

His POV

He caught the look she’d thrown him through the mirror. It was nice to see he could get a little reaction out of her, too. The reddening of her cheeks was appealing. He watched for a moment before he went back to focusing on his brushing. And then she began teasing her hips against him again, and Vegeta couldn’t hide the fact that he was getting a little too excited for comfort. So, she was trying to one up him again, was she? He shot her reflection a look, bumping his hips against her backside once just enough to taunt her.

His hand was just going in for a second grab of her ass, when she decided to skirt around him and skip away… Vegeta felt a rush of heat roll up his spine. That little…! His now empty hand clenched, aggressively spitting out the foamy paste from his mouth and into the sink. And she had the nerve to tell him to keep brushing! If he didn’t know she was being absolutely serious, he would have chased after her right then and there! But the egotistical bastard wasn’t about to be rejected because she didn’t approve of him. He rinsed the bubbles out, watching her drift off into the bedroom. Oh, she was going to pay for this.

He finally made his approach from the bathroom, but he didn’t give her much notice other than a glance from over his shoulder. So, she was going to play coy, was she? She looked quite snug under her thick blankets, from what he could tell, but he was well aware of her nudity. He passed her bed, heading towards the moonlit window. With only the towel wrapped around his V shaped waist, he gave her his back. Propping one arm overhead and against the wall, he watched the night-time world outside. There was no way the proud prince would be giving in first. She wasn’t dragging him around on a collar. _What? She thought he was planning on sleeping? He could easily stand guard, don’t be silly_.

* * *

Her POV

She closed her eyes when she heard the sound of Vegeta’s footsteps. She cuddled up under the covers and refused to say a word, but the footsteps didn’t get much louder. He didn’t climb into bed with her, he didn’t say a word. Instead, his heavy footsteps began to move away, and it took Bulma a few minutes before curiosity got the better of her and she finally opened her eyes to see what he was doing. …He was just standing there at the window, with his towel still on, staring outside. She raised a brow at the sight, but stayed quiet for a moment longer. …Had she tricked him that well? No, there’s no way. Maybe he was mad? Maybe she’d teased him too much. She really didn’t want to risk him being pissed off at her, that was for sure.

“Why are you still wearing the towel? Go hang it up again. …And don’t go back to the window when you’re done, you’re going to horrify all the neighbors.” She snorted at the idea, but didn’t bother yet to climb out from the sheets. She still laid under the covers, the only thing hiding her nudity, and let out a yawn. She didn’t plan on going to sleep just yet, regardless of the signals she was giving Vegeta as a way to tease him, but this bed sure was comfortable. She still wasn’t used to just how nice it felt to be in a proper bed again. Not the hard ground, not an uncomfortable cot, not a terrible and tiny mattress… Just a very comfortable, nice, relaxing bed. Her bed. …She’d fallen asleep while having sex with him before for this same reason, didn’t she? …It’d be best to be on top this time. But until then, she could continue to tease him.

“Hurry up Vegeta, you’re making me so impatient. Maybe I will just give up and go to sleep, since you seem so uninterested. Didn’t you see my yawn? I’m getting sleepy waiting for you.”

* * *

His POV

Vegeta felt his spine go ridged when she mentioned his towel and the neighbors. That wasn’t exactly what he’d wanted to hear. Still, he refused to move. If only she could see the glare she’d put on his face. He was now between a rock and a hard place… quite literally. There was no way he’d be doing as she asked, not after their little teasing match. Not to mention, to him it felt too much like lowering his standards. Though, the realization that he probably wouldn’t get this chance kept prodding at his stern will. Urging him to give in, just this one time. Sometimes he damned his own will, himself.

He wouldn’t budge. That is, until she muttered one little word that sent his blood rushing. Waiting, she was waiting for him. That’s all he needed to know, that’s all he’d wanted. Their game was over. He couldn’t spare another breath he was on the move so fast. He didn’t leave footsteps this time - he was a predator on the move. She was waiting for him, why did that knowledge feel so pleasant? So often he was the one stalking, pursuing, hunting. He knew it shouldn’t have been exciting as it was, but he couldn’t deny it’d made his heart pound for a few decent beats, either.

The towel was hung in its place and he was by her bedside within a matter of moments. He mustered his most stoic glare over her, hiding his true intentions. His arms were crossed firmly over his bare chest, his stare watching her from above. Then, after he caught her gaze, his arms slowly lowered, pressing his wide palms into the softness of her bed on either side of her pillowed head. At first, it may of seemed as if he were about to kiss her, he was lowering his mouth to hers so much. But then he paused, allowing his knees to sink into the bed next, positioning himself right over the girl.

“Are you still waiting?” He teased, parting his lips into a dirty grin. The expression wasn’t to last, though. His rough features softened, sniffing her face slightly, searching one last time for any sign of fear. And then he took what he wanted. He kissed her. At first it was the soft, inspecting brush of his lips, but he was quick to dip in and take her bottom lip into his own. Hey, he’d earned that, it may have not been his initial desire, but she’d made him brush his teeth after all. He wasn’t letting her get away with sleeping until he got what was his.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t know what set it off, but suddenly he bounded back into the bathroom like some kind of rabid dog. In mere moments he was hovering over her bed towel-less, and finally he climbed onto the bed. She smiled at him when he climbed up over her, the covers separating their skin. He was so close, she figured he might initiate a kiss by himself. She waited for it, but instead, he grinned at her. It looked a bit devilish, but it was a grin nonetheless– something that she had a feeling she would really only see when having sex or getting ready to have sex, outside of rare occasions.

“I guess you could say I am,” she replied, silenced with the kiss. She closed her eyes and reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck as they kissed. Minty– just what she’d asked of him. He properly brushed his teeth for once. Maybe she could keep him in the habit so that she’d never have to kiss a dirty mouth ever again. A good thing, too– she didn’t want to miss out on this. He’d seemed to have become a better kisser over the time since she’d first taught him. Taking her bottom lip into his mouth like that… Had he learned that from her? Either way, it was nice. She let the kiss go on for some time, exploring the inside of his mouth, before finally pressing her hands to his collarbone and push him back to stop it.

“…I decided I don’t want to fall asleep this time. So I’m going to be on top. Don’t get out of hand like you usually do, got it? Control yourself a little bit.” She patted his cheek gently with one hand and pushed him back with the other so she could sit up. “Sit however you want. Lay down, do whatever. Get comfortable, alright? And let me worry about the rest.” He had such a bad habit of wanting to take control over everything, but for the time being, she wanted to be in control. The same way she had however many times before, since she realized she could have control. Maybe she had her own little problem, couched in being so used to being used and abused how others saw fit.

But this time she could do as she pleased, and she wanted Vegeta to just let her take the reins for a little while. Even when he felt like he was about to cum. It was a lot to expect of someone like Vegeta, but it’d make things all the more fun and relaxing for her. She didn’t think she was quite ready yet to have a man be in total control again.

* * *

His POV

The arms around his neck welcomed him in, and while Vegeta knew well by now not to be rough with her, the desire still lingered in the back of his head. He was controlling himself better than usual, but he was still calling the shots. That is until Bulma broke their kiss, forcing him to look at her. He’d just begun to sink against the blankets and take over her mouth, nestling his moving hips against her own, when she decided to push him away. Disapproval washed over his face - he’d been enjoying that… What, was he not going slow enough again? His brows knitted.

She wanted to change positions; his tail flicked. Vegeta was use to the girl trying to order him around now and again, but he wasn’t use to having a woman tell him how to fuck. At first he outwardly refused the idea; sitting up onto his knees and giving her an odd look. But then, after a moment’s thought, the brute actually did as she asked. Slowly, agilely, he rolled off of her and rested back onto his elbows, half propping himself up on the soft bed beside her. He never took his eyes off of her, watching to see just what she had in mind.

“And what do you plan on doing?” He demanded, though he was honestly curious. A brow lifted as he watched her. The man was spotting a full erection by now. He hadn’t properly taken her in a few days, and trying to control himself wasn’t helping things. Still, he was playing good. Any idea of her sobbing or fearing him quickly stamped out any instinct that might have rolled his shoulders or heated his blood. Vegeta had a suspicion as to why the girl wanted this level of control. He’d noticed her need for power, if just a little bit. Domination always made one feel safer, he couldn’t blame her. Besides, the last time he’d allowed her to call the shots during sex he was not disappointed. He’d let her do with him as she pleased, if only to keep her content.

* * *

Her POV

“What do you think? I want to ride you,” she replied easily, satisfied when he did as he was asked. She reached out and started giving him a handjob for some foreplay, despite how clear it was that he didn’t need it. He was already plenty hard, but it always felt weird to Bulma to just skip straight to the sex. Only a horny man would do that; women were far more complicated. But eventually she graduated to climbing onto his lap and gently rocking her hips on top of his, rubbing his cock against her clit. It was then that something occurred to her, something that probably easily went over Vegeta’s head. Or he was just trying not to bring it up… Either one.

“Do you want to know why I haven’t asked you to put on a condom yet?” She smiled at him and lifted an arm, showing him a bruised, irritated red spot on her skin, just above her armpit. “I got a new implant after the other one had been taken out. Just one of the many things I did in the lab today. Pretty productive day, right? Now we don’t have to worry, and I don’t have to force you to wear condoms. You’re welcome.” She gave him a wink as she rocked her hips and lowered her arm again. “Nn… Though maybe I should make you wear one anyway, just for safety’s sake.” A joke, honestly. Just another way to tease him.

She turned around on his lap so that her back face him, and that’s when she finally led his cock inside her. Her cheeks were plenty flushed from the amount of friction and closeness already, and this only succeeded in making them redder. But even when she dropped her hips down, she didn’t bother going straight into the sex. She only made the slightest hip movements, still getting herself settled as she ran her hands over his thighs. After a few seconds, she turned her head back to look at him.

“You’re allowed to touch me, you know.”

* * *

His POV

Vegeta was equally as satisfied with her answer. Maybe he’d just wanted to hear it from her own two lips, for her to confess it. He had to admit himself, it sounded nice to hear. His lips parted into an easy grin, pleased with how she was toying with him. Though the moment her dainty fingers started fondling him, the man had to grip the bed-sheets to keep his hands in place; from grabbing her. His eyes wanted to roll back but he refused to look away. He wanted to see this, all of it.

It got even better when she decided to climb onto his lap. Her silky skin and soft curves moved like honey being poured over hot iron, granting his aching skin some relief. Then she mentioned condoms, and Vegeta’s eyes went wide. Oh no, oh hell no, she wasn’t going to make him wear one of those damn things again, was she? He looked to her for answers, and thankfully got a better explanation. The little bruising on her arm definitely got his attention. He honed in on it, but he didn’t seem to reject it. It was a good idea, after all, especially if he didn’t have to wear one of those damn contraptions. Wait- what did she say? He didn’t, did he?!

“I’d hoped you’d forgotten those damn things, honestly,” he teased her right back, watching her switch positions over him yet again. Ah, he’d been liking the view so far, but this was good too. In fact, the sway of her back was making his heart rate sky rocket. His hands gripped the sheets tighter, wondering if he could really last much longer without pulling her down onto him. Then she turned to look at him with the most tempting of looks, and gave him the go ahead. God, he’d never been so happy to be told what to do.

A soft groan passed his lips as soon as he slipped his rough palms over her round backside. His hands roamed further still, over her hips and back again; heatedly watching her try and squeeze the girth of his cock into her taut insides. The prince wasn’t sure if she was still taunting his senses or if she really did prefer to go this slow. Whatever the hell she was doing, it felt good. The fingers running over his thighs were making his muscles flex, causing his hips to lift off of the bed now and then. His knees bent, naturally coming to cradle her in the bend of his lap. The control he was trying to keep made his hips roll and surge under her rather than buck, but he was keeping it to a minimum. 

* * *

Her POV

“I wouldn’t forget condoms, they’re important. I don’t want to get pregnant,” she replied, though less harshly than they would usually. She was already beginning to get relaxed from their actions. From feeling his hands around her, feeling so good… She accepted his fingers along her skin with shivers and flushes of red, still continuing to move her hips slow if only to get in the rhythm of things and enjoy the moment before she got too taken with passion. That was the one thing Saiyans didn’t seem to understand– they always wanted to do everything so fast, as if they wanted to get the sex over with and just cum. But it was the act itself that was best drawn-out.

She seemed to have quieted down, beyond little murmurs and sighs as she rocked her hips. It wasn’t long until she was starting to go faster, and eventually leaned forward with her hands gripping his thighs to help her move her hips directly up and down, rather than just rocking them to the side. She could feel how he responded and the occasional gentle thrust upward of his hips, and when his legs drew up to cradle her on his lap, her hands slid up to hold onto his knees for a better grip. How often was it that sex with him was this pleasant and slow? Maybe the more she taught him to go like this, the better it would get.

“Hn… Vegeta, have I told you about edging before? I don’t remember.” She was too busy with what she was doing to bother to try to recall the memories of the last few times they’d had sex. Too busy focusing on the pleasant tickle that engulfed her body as she moved. “I want to do a lot of that tonight. I want this to last. I bet you’ve never really been with the same girl for more than, what, ten minutes? It’s fun to make it last, you know.” Her voice was just as gentle as before, more of a whisper than anything else. She was completely relaxed, there was no reason to talk in the shrill, irritable voice she usually did.

“That means that you don’t get to lose control so you can finish,” she warned him, a little reminder that despite how gentle and docile she’d seemingly become, she could still be bossy. She looked back over her shoulder at Vegeta again, getting a good look at him as he lounged, holding onto her as she bounced up and down on him. “Okay? It’ll pay off in the end, I promise.”

* * *

His POV

They’d started slow, but it wasn’t as bad as he remembered. In fact, reaching back into his memory bank, Vegeta couldn’t recall a bad memory of it at all. The realization was strange to him, and he searched further into his mind’s eye, but the same sensation kept coming up: satisfaction. Sure, it was a little awkward for him and kept him on high alert of his own body; always aware of every muscle twitch he made in order to keep that animal inside of him under control, but it always left his ego, rather than just his body, feeling a little better than before. Was that a part of going slow? He wondered.

He allowed her to set the pace; forever keeping a sly eye on the woman. Now that his hands were free to do as they pleased, he couldn’t help but run them over the softness of her legs. She always was exceptionally soft after her excessive bathing routine. It paid off, not that he’d ever admit it. The creaminess of her flesh under his palms and the gentle rhythm of her bouncing on his lap was slowly entrancing him. Lounging back into the luxurious bed gave the prince the perfect opportunity to watch her body engulf him time and again; up and down.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her; his gaze began to roam upward. Up the plane of her back, to the spread of her shoulder-blades, until his eyes fixed onto the delicate swish of her dazzling blue hair, back and forth across her pearly skin. She was getting faster, and he could feel his body longing to reciprocate. And then she looked back at him, and the bastard felt his blood race. It was all he could do to keep from fucking up into her. His muscles tightened and tensed, keeping the steady, slow rhythm he’d been bucking into her with. Vegeta wasn’t about to look the fool, to look like he was anything less than in total control of the situation. But, ah, that had felt good.

“I last much longer than that, woman, I can last longer than anyone,” he bit back at her comment. His pride demanded he roar louder about how well he was in bed, but the soft tone of her voice had been distracting. It was smoother than usual, but just as demanding. It was kind of a turn on… One of his large, warm palms smoothed up the length of her spine and around to her chest. Vegeta sat up slightly as he moved, until his nose brushed against the nape of her neck. He’d take her challenge; he’d prove to her she’d never been with a male with as much stamina. Bulma had manipulated him without even trying - and he was willingly accepting. How bad could edging be? It couldn’t demand any more self-control than he was already using, right?

* * *

Her POV

“Whatever you say,” she replied, turning her head back after his comment. He was always so full of himself, wasn’t he? Never a moment where he could just agree to something. He always had to show others how great he was. She wrote it off; she knew it was just… Him being him. She just kept bouncing on him, smiling somewhat to herself when she felt him sit up and brush his lips against her neck. His hands engulfed her breasts, keeping them warm and supporting them as she went up and down. Every time she was with him again, he seemed to have learned to become all the more gentle and sweet. He was apparently a fast learner, just judging by that alone. He’d slowly move in on her, kiss her, act in a way she’d never see him act otherwise… It felt special in a way; she was the only one to see him act so gentle. And yet it came so naturally to her to tease him even for this. Not with words, but in other ways.

She began to shift her body to stay at arm’s length, steadying herself on her shins as she moved forward. Her forearms rested on the mattress as she moved her hips, finding it far easier from this position to bounce up and down. She took the opportunity and went faster, given Vegeta was so confident that he wouldn’t cum so easily. The change in position and speed hit something within her, though, and she couldn’t resist letting out a sweet noise that found itself somewhere between a moan and a grunt. This was getting good, though some part of her felt competitive. Why stop before Vegeta was willing her too, moments from him cumming? …Though she didn’t want to risk ruining the edging.

“You aren’t touching me enough,” she murmured to him in the same sweet, demanding voice she’d been using– though with an added flavor of a hint of begging. She turned her head again, glancing over her shoulder just barely to look at him as she moved. “Don’t you like me, Vegeta? Prove it to me. I feel so unloved, with you only barely touching me like this.” It was fun to try and get reactions out of him; to watch the expression on his face change, to see him actually do as she asked. It felt like such a contrast to the man she’d known before. In some ways, she supposed, she’d tamed the beast. Though she would never say that out loud– she had a feeling that would be a curse that would undo all her hard work.

“Mn… Vegeta, why don’t you touch me even more…? Massage me. Don’t you want me to be the one that feels like they’re going to cum first? Prove to me how long you can last. I’m going to make fun of you if you get to that point before I do, after talking so big like you did…”

* * *

His POV

He inhaled; she smelt good. Being this close to her was lighting his senses on fire. Through all of their times together, the prince had never been this acutely aware of her body. He had no choice but to be. The moments were long and drawn out, allowing him to revel in every aspect of her closeness. The silkiness of her skin under the brush his mouth, the tickle of her hair against his brow, and the ever shifting of her flesh in his lap. It was as if time had stopped, giving him a strange new perspective, but it surprisingly wasn’t so bad. Why had he never noticed before?

His hands squeezed her breasts firmly, rumbling a growl against her neck that meant he was pleased. It was difficult not to latch his maw onto her shoulder; to ride into her and take control, but he resisted. He opted for rolling his hips a little heavier under her instead. He was enjoying this… But just as Vegeta was giving into the moment, she began to pull away. The desire to pull her back and push her into submission instantly snapped through him like lightening. His face darkened, but he didn’t move. He demanded control of himself, thus ended up watching the girl slip into a new position. One that surprisingly put him back on top.

His hands found her hips easily. The position he had been in made it easy for him to sit up onto his knees, bucking himself into her from behind. Her small slips of breath and grunts lulled him into a steady pace. Not too fast, not too hard - he gauged himself, watching her reactions. It was so delicious to hear that from her without resistance, his ego was eating her pleasure up. Ah, if they kept this up for a while, he’d come without a problem, but he wasn’t about to allow that now. As ego stroking as the new position was (and oh, he was loving it more then he should have) the prince found himself slightly longing for to be on top again. He’d liked seeing where she’d take them next. Not that he enjoyed a woman being in control… he refused to believe that about himself, but it had been… curious.

And then she muttered something about touch, and Vegeta shot her a look. What, now she wanted a massage? What kind of fucked up combination was that? In his experience that usually came before or after, and he always was on the receiving end. As if he’d be defeated now, though. They’d barely begun. His hips jolted into her once, playing back at her for the teasing sound in her voice. It was like their game all over again, and he intended to win this time. At first, however, Vegeta wasn’t sure what to do with himself. It was difficult to concentrate when his body was beginning to tingle and the repetitive push of her thick thighs back against him made him long to ram into her. Control. Steady. He moved in.

“What kind of prince would I be, if I couldn’t outlast my woman,” the words were velvety and dark, purred out just behind her ear. He’d leaned in over her, just to taunt her, but he didn’t hover behind her ear for long. The hands gripping her hips moved up and around. She wanted a rub down, did she? He’d make her moan for that. His wide hands pressed down, smoothing their heaviness over the muscle of her back, up to her shoulders, and down again. He ground himself into her just as his hard grip found her backside, only to rub her down again. Only this time once he reached her shoulders, he lingered. His warm fingers smoothed and gripped on either side of her neck, his palms ran down her sides, only to push up again. It felt good to touch her like this; he could hear his blood rushing in his ears.

* * *

Her POV

Ah, he’d switched positions as well. She pouted and mentally kicked herself for not having made sure he knew he was to continue sitting, but she got far too comfortable with the new position to argue now. She turned her hips upward to give him better access while on his knees and let him thrust away and gave him back a bit of his control, though she resisted giving up completely. Instead, using her forearms that were pressed firmly into the mattress as a levy, she began pushing back against him. It was made all the easier when Vegeta grabbed onto her hips, and she fell into the feeling of her movements being reciprocated. When he jolted her, she couldn’t help but moan. It seemed he was stepping up to her little challenge.

…He’d called her ‘his woman.’ It wasn’t really unusual, and it was written all over his actions and how jealous he was of Yamcha, but… Still. Having it purred in her ear as he leaned down, his torso gently weighing down on hers as he rocked his hips… How was it that he knew how to comfort her so well? She used to hate being called a slave, and yet just a different way of him stating ownership over her brought comfort, security, pleasure. His breath was hot, hotter than the torso hovering over her or the hands holding onto her hips. He wouldn’t leave her after saying something like that. He’d keep her safe right by his side. She was his woman, after all. Her eyes closed, and she murmured something of a whine once Vegeta lifted himself upright again; she’d enjoyed his warmth pressing against her body. But his slowly-moving hands ensured she wouldn’t be left cold for too long.

Where did he learn to give massages like this? His fingers pressed down on her skin with the perfect amount of force to make her shoulders roll appreciatively. Her head dropped down so that her sweating forehead pressed into the backs of her hands, and a long, pleased sigh left her lips as his hands slowly made their way to her shoulders only to press back down her back again. It was hard to focus on the movement of her body, and her swaying back and forth slowed to compliment the pace of his hands along her. When he gripped onto her ass and ground up against her, a whining gasp came from her mouth, but she settled back into her sighs and the steady, quiet pants she’d been forming from the workout when he continued his massage.

When his hands moved all the way up her body again, they did not go back down all at once. His fingers encircled her neck, and a breath left her lips. It was a pleasant feeling, to have the warmth of his hands there, but at the same time it was a reminder of how easily he could kill her if he so desired. Her eyelids fluttered, and the gentle yet firm hold only turned her on all the more. Her teeth slid over her bottom lip, and when his hands left her to slide down the sides of her body, brushing over her breasts, they were met with an internal sorrowful goodbye. She was the one to push away from Vegeta, not the other way around, and yet she continued to crave his touch and control all the more. Maybe that was the kind of magic he had on her, just like she had magic on him.

“Ah… Getting close yet?” Her head lifted again, but only just so, as his hands again traced the sides of her body. It was silly to be asking him that, in some ways– it was her that was slowly getting all the closer to orgasm. Just a bit more, just a few more thrusts, and maybe she’d ask him to stop. But damn, it just felt so good. He’d never been this carefully handsy with her before. He knew to touch her gently, but not quite like this. Not in the way to make her shiver so much. If it hadn’t been for the slowed pace, she’d probably have started to orgasm by now. But that had only delayed the inevitable.

* * *

His POV

He was moving slow, and he strangely wasn’t realizing it half as much as he usually had in the past. His broad hands rubbed under the breech of her hair, down the center of her spine, and back again. His hips were keeping a rhythmic pace, for once. There was too much to focus on, to think about, to worry about how quick he could get himself off. Especially with the threat of a challenge hanging in the air. He was testing the water, planning his tactic. Every time he wondered if he was moving too quickly, he forced himself to be more gentle. Every time he made her moan, he hit her sweet spot again. This time he was to go slow to get exactly what he wanted, to win, and for some reason that made his gentle actions all the more easy for the beast. That, and the enticing reactions of the woman under him.

Every flutter, every soft sigh she made was caught by him. He was causing that in her. It was as satisfying as it was pleasurable, and he wanted more. That’s what had his attention now, coaxing one more shiver, one more groan from the woman’s lips. His woman. Had he said that? It’d slipped past his lips so easily, he’d all but forgotten by now. But he very clearly felt it. It showed in the way he handled her, even now. His palms slid under her one last time; cupping her breasts before he pulled away, leaving her to coo under him. It felt good to be handsy with her, but the need between his legs demanded attention. Not that he’d let himself come any time soon.

“Not even close,” he groaned over the smacking sound of their joined bodies - his tone of voice clearly revealing a different story. He did want to come, but that’d be giving in to their little game. All he’d have to do is grip her hips, rut into her a little faster, and Vegeta knew he’d hit his orgasm sooner than later. The thought was actually off putting. He wanted to drag this out, to make her eat her words about him. She’d enjoyed his rub down, that was clear. Judging by the quivers of her thighs against his sides, and the soft pants beating off of her breath, she was enjoying riding him just as much. Was she close to coming, is that why she brought it up?

“Don’t tell me you’re close,” he taunted, panting his words. His palm moved over the beads of sweat that were slowly collecting in the sway of her spine, all the way up to her shoulder. His other hand carefully, gently, snaked around her waist. He was against her again, holding her to the heat of his torso. But then he began to shift again, and this time he was bringing her with him. In a deliberate decline, the prince began to lay back onto the soft mattress, cradling Bulma on top of his out stretched body. His hands never left her; one crept down between her legs, while the other secured her in place by fondling her breast. His hips never gave up their pumping into her, but he wasn’t being completely dominant for once. He was watching, flicking his black gaze from over her shoulder. Having her weight on top of him again felt good.

* * *

Her POV

His hands fondling her breasts made her chest ache for more, and she whined yet again when his hands left her. He claimed he wasn’t even close to orgasm yet, but the quiver in his voice suggested otherwise to her. If she hadn’t become to become so focused on the feeling of him thrusting inside of her, she may have responded back. She did respond when he questioned how close _she_ was to orgasm– but with no words. Instead, she let out a little huff, more of a single for him to shut up than anything else. She could taunt him, but why would she want him doing the same to her? She preferred his sweeter words; when he called her ‘his woman.’ That was what really made her spine tingle in pleasure, equal to when he held her so gently.

On cue, his hands were on her again. One splayed over her spine, slowly moving up to her shoulder again. His other wrapped around her waist, and she quietly questioned it, especially when she felt his weight press against her back again. He wasn’t about to hold onto her still so that he could slam into her like he’d done so many times, had he? She wanted orgasm, yes, but… That’s not what she had in mind. Couldn’t he ever let her take control? Even if he insisted she was no longer a slave, he… …Surprisingly, rather than take hold and start humping her ruthlessly like an animal, he lifted her off her forearms. Her eyes opened and she looked down at his strong, thick arm around her waist, and her hands naturally smoothed down her body to hold onto him.

He’d positioned her on top of him again, with her back resting on his torso. She was forced to let his arm move from her hands as he shifted the positioning of his hands once again, with one arm holding her breast and the other snaking between her legs. With him thrusting up inside her and having already held her so sweetly, she wasn’t all that sure what she could take. She was already going closer to orgasm, and yet he was taking her closer yet. She felt his stare on her features. She turned her head, resting just off his shoulder, and looked back at him. Her hips rocked and swayed in circles, making just enough movement to please him the same way he’d been doing for her. Had she ever felt this close with him before? 

She couldn’t stop staring at him. Something about the movements, something about all the pleasure, brought her closer to him. Whereas she used to be scared to stare at his face during the act, even just to the smallest degree, because of what it reminded her, she found herself unable to look away now. It only became hard to keep her eyes open without fluttering when she felt her orgasm start coming. Her mouth opened more, and she craved for more of his attention, more of the movement of his hips and fingers to bring her over. But–

“Stop.” Her hand grabbed the one between her legs, and while her voice was shaky, she said it firmly. She told him this was going to be about edging; she wasn’t going to just give up. “Haah… Give me a little while, okay? Just a minute…. Kiss me instead.”

* * *

His POV

He’d moved with caution; cautious of startling the woman like some easily frightened doe. The memories of the early morning still hung over his head like a dreadful warning. If he startled her, Vegeta knew it’d be all over. So when he took her with him as he laid back, he made sure to keep aware of every flutter of her body, or any trace of fear. As dangerous as his arms could be, he attempted to be gradual, to show no signs of threat. Bulma may have tamed the beast, but sometimes Vegeta felt as if he were trying to gain the trust of a wild animal.

She hadn’t warded him off, that was a good sign. Her acceptance made it easy for the prince to find that nice rhythm again. He was so close, so close to orgasm, he could feel it building in his legs. The static and heat jerked his muscle and raised his body heat hotter than ever before. Her breast felt perfect in his hand; his other fingers insistently played and rubbed with her clit. Touching her only made it more difficult not to come, but he’d be damned if he came first. Vegeta was still determined make her fall into ecstasy first. His mind may have been blurred and his senses intoxicated with lust, but he was a stubborn male. Even if the way she was circling her hips around his dick was exciting him.

And then she looked up at him, and the prince couldn’t help but stare back. He wanted to look away, but it was difficult to tear his eyes away from those blue hues. That beautiful, damned look. Her face was flushed and glittered with sweat, her bright blue hair clung to her forehead and cheek. He cursed himself inwardly for not pushing her face away, and even more for lacking the ability to muster a grimace. How was he supposed to glare when she was looking at him with such dreamy, trusting doe eyes? He was transfixed, all the way up to her muttering one little word. A word that made his warmed expression chill into worry. _‘Stop_ ’.

His hips pistoned to a slow stop. Was this it, was this the end? Was he never going to fuck her all the way again? How was he to know; what to expect? The prince didn’t know what edging was, but he got with the program pretty quickly. She wasn’t looking at him with fear. She looked, needy. A kiss, is that all she wanted? His hot breath wafted across her face, a sigh of relief. His face was flushed from the act, his breath panting. Their faces had been so close yet it’d never crossed his mind to kiss her. It just wasn’t a part of his natural behavior. But still, he humored her. More than humored her, he kissed her for his own pleasure. Though... the longer he dove his tongue into her mouth, the more he noticed he wanted to buck. His massive erection was swollen, throbbing, and sensitive; wedged into her heat so tightly he couldn’t help but groan a time or two.

* * *

Her POV

He looked worried at first, when she told him to stop. It was cute, in all actuality. He was worried that she had been harmed. No, that wasn’t it; she just wanted to stop so that they could continue again. It seemed he didn’t really understand the concept of edging just yet. But it’d pay off. For now, she just had to take a second to breathe, and she welcomed Vegeta’s lips. The kiss lasted pleasantly long, with Vegeta showing off just how much he’d learned since last time. His tongue explored her mouth the same way that she’d taught him with her own tongue, and Bulma’s heart beat excitedly to the feel of his warm features brushing over hers, whether it be his nose, forehead, or cheek. Her hands laid over both of his, if only just for another bit of closeness.

A few seconds past. Some more, and maybe as much as a minute, before she finally decided to break the kiss. She was panting even more now than she had been before thanks to the kissing, and as she caught her breath, she stared at Vegeta again. She’d calmed down enough to get started again, but how would he do? He seemed restless, and although he tried to say that he could last longer than any man, he seemed to have been steadily getting closer to orgasm. Did he need to take a longer break before they got started again? She didn’t bother to ask out loud, knowing how he was. He’d just shrug her question off. 

She took another moment to appreciate their position, closing her eyes and relaxing in his arms. It did feel good to be this close, though it stretched her back somewhat uncomfortably. But to have his hands touching her body like this, holding her close and staring at her like she was a beautiful porcelain doll… She liked that. She eyed him again, debating if she really wanted to move from this position. But finally she sat up and got off of him, instead opting to sit between his knees on the sheets. Why bother to sit around, when she could go a step further and be the one in complete control again? That’s what ultimately got her moving– the realization that she could so easily make him move into a position where he’d have to stay still again.

“I have an idea. You’re a big, strong man. How about you do sit-ups for me off of the bed? If you’re laying half-off the bed, you can’t suddenly switch and be on top again, can you? So that’s what I want.” She fluffed her hair as she stared at him expectantly, a sweet smile on her face. She was messy at the moment, with flyaways and sweat covering her body, but she still pretended she was completely flawless with the way she stared at him, going so far as to give him a little wink. “Get moving, or maybe we’ll stop right here. I don’t mind it so much; I did have some fun already…”

* * *

His POV

It was a good kiss. For something that he’d originally looked down upon, it only seemed to get better with time. It was a good distraction from the ache between his legs, too. Whenever he felt the overwhelming need to rut, his kiss grew more fiery. That’s what initially spurred him into enjoying their lip lock. The hand at her chest lifted to steady her face. What had been a distraction quickly turned into hunger; redirected lust. His lips fumbled now and again, and he still couldn’t keep his eyes completely closed all the time, but he was a quick learner. He was definitely getting the hang of this enticing earthling ritual.

He watched her steady panting as soon as she broke away. She was a curiosity to him like this. Needy, trusting, content, all things that he’d rarely come in contact with, especially with her. The wild earthling whom could fight him off better than the rest. She rested against his damp skin, and Vegeta slowly lost track of his staring. Between Bulma and the kiss, his unbridled need to fuck into her slowly became more manageable. It’d worked, eventually - he’d calmed down. And then she pulled away yet again. The woman was still in control tonight - he noticed that, but he didn’t taunt nor challenge it as he normally would have. Even if she was asking for it with the way she was talking to him

Instead of retaliating, Vegeta shot her a sarcastically smug look. One that rolled his eyes and cocked the worst kind of grin onto his face. So, she wanted him to do sit-ups while she fucked him? It was an odd request, but when was Vegeta ever one for resisting showing off, especially if it was a display of skill and strength. He sat up, meeting her nose to nose with a god-awful smirk and hard-brow glare, accepting her challenge. Without a word, he positioned himself near the side of the bed. His torso stretched out to hang mid-air over the bed’s edge with ease, crossing his arms over his chest. Show off. Then, he began to descend. The stacked ladder of his abdomen stretched down towards the carpet. His neck craned, just enough to look up at her. Was she satisfied yet? He arched a brow as if to say ‘happy now?’.

The new position left him very exposed, too. One of his knees were bent, his foot planted in the bed-sheets, allowing his reddened, sensitive erection to prop against his inner thigh. But he knew if he were to finish tonight, he’d have to let her stay in control. Maybe that’s why he kept his demanding mouth shut. Anything he said may give away that he might have been enjoying this, maybe, just a little. It was certainly interesting to watch what the female would do with her newly given power. The prince still felt in control, but there was something about the way she fluffed her hair and acted like a queen that left him hungry for more.

* * *

Her POV

It was a good thing that she tempted him with the idea of showing off how strong he was, because that certainly got him moving. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to convince him otherwise. But he moved, being sure to get as close as possible to her and showing off a smirk all the while. She gave him a kiss on the lips as he passed, and watched comfortably as he got into position– sitting on the edge of the bed, showing off just how strong he was that he could slowly move his body downward without flinching. She scoffed at how silly it was– as if she didn’t already know how strong he was. There wasn’t any reason for him to have to show off like he was, but he could never pass up an opportunity to prove to others how strong he was. That’s just who he was.

She crawled over to the edge of the bed and onto his lap, staring down at him as he arched his brow. Her hands smoothed along his stomach and she got into position again, hovering her hips over his own. She removed one of her hands just to feel under herself and hold onto his erection, leading it inside her again while going as deliciously slowly as possible. Of course, only to torment him. She was in control again, and she enjoyed it. Besides, how much giving back could he really do in a position like this? He could only move his hips so much, even if he tried. And if he tried too hard, he’d probably end up with her toppling over on top of him. So it all worked out in her favor. 

“This is nice. It’s fun to be able to be the one to stare up at you like this,” she told him teasingly as she began rocking her hips, her body thanking her for the attention again. She was already growing exhausted from their last round; maybe when she edged again this time, she’d lead him into a more comfortable position where they could both be lazy as they drove themselves into ecstasy. But for the time being, she continued rocking her hips at a decent pace, holding onto his legs for support as she stared down at him. It definitely left him stretched out and attractive, that was for certain. She could admire all of his muscles, from his pelvis to his neck.

“It’s just too bad you can’t kiss me like this. Not that I’d let you, but I’m just saying, it’s too bad for you,” she teased, looking away innocently as she rocked, the bed squeaking particularly loud because of their position at the end of the bed. It made her cheeks flush only a little more than they already did, and she couldn’t help but instinctively look toward the door. She wasn’t about to stop, but the idea in the back of her head of Yamcha checking on her persisted from the moment it popped into her brain. What if he tried to come see, and heard this instead? …It’s not like she was cheating; she’d called it off. It… It would be fine. He needed to learn that she was her own person. She licked her lips absentmindedly and looked back at Vegeta again, her eyebrows raising.

“So? Are you going to show me just how strong and manly you are, that you can easily kiss me? I wouldn’t think I’d have to spell out what I want for such a smart Saiyan Prince, right? You’re not as stupid as those lackeys of yours, I thought you could figure it out.”

* * *

His POV

The hands running alone his stretched out abdomen felt good. Her fingers were as smooth as petals when compared to the roughness of his scarred skin. Once her silky heat consumed him again, a rolling shiver fled down his body, all the way to his fingertips, causing his hands to tighten into fists over his head. He’d been craving that contact. The prince lost track of anything that wasn’t the flood of tingling sensations buzzing between his legs. Kami, it felt better than before, how the hell was that possible? If she ever stopped bouncing on him it’d be too soon. In fact… The need to buck up into her was growing steadily; desperately so. But Bulma had been right, as horny as the alpha male could get, he was finding it difficult to lift his hips up to greet her without throwing them both off of the side of the bed. Damn her tactic.

He shot her a look for the comment about who was dominant at the moment. There was little he could do than grit his teeth however, resorting to indulging in the feeling of being ridden. His arched body relaxed, until his mass of hair pressed against the floor. Ah, he bit back a moan, clenching his jaw. It wasn’t so bad having the woman do all the work. He could drift in the moment. All the while his egotistical side begged his hips to move (which he was certainly trying, but resulted in little more than a light bucking under her). The fact that he couldn’t take an ounce of control was only making him hornier, hotter, which ironically was working in both of their favor. It was like a malicious aphrodisiac.

Then her voice caught his attention, and Vegeta glanced up at her. She was looking at the door. His gaze rolled back, getting an upside down view of the room. Damn if he’d allow anyone to interrupt them now. She needed to be distracted… What was that she wanted again? Oh yes, another kiss. As if he couldn’t kiss her if he tried. That challenge got him moving quick enough.

“Do you want me to kiss you or not?” his rough voice was a little more velvety than usual. Subdued by the pleasant vibes rushing through his head. That smirk was back on his face, the one that loved a challenge. Bulma had unknowingly given him a window of control and he’d gladly take it. He began to sit up, his powerful body lifting from the end of the bed in a controlled ascend, until he was looking at her almost nose to nose - but not quite. Then, he began to slowly roll back down. Again, his sturdy muscles contracted, lifting him but a breath away, only to retreat a moment before their lips touched; leaving her with little more than his smirking expression.

He was playing with her, a power play, but in a much more teasing way than usual. He’d kiss her when he felt like it. His upper body began to rise one last time. But this time, he steadied just in front of her. Relying on his sturdy muscular form, he dipped in, taking her mouth with his own. There was only so much teasing the woman would take, he knew that, and besides, maybe he wanted to kiss her too… 

* * *

Her POV

His voice had changed, just like hers had. He wasn’t as gruff and irritated-sounding; he’d instead adopted a softer way of speaking that didn’t sound as serious. He sounded… Pleasant. She stared down at him expectantly after those words, waiting for her promised kiss. However, Vegeta seemed to have other plans– when he would move his body upward, barely shifting under her to force his upper half into the air thanks to how strong his core was, he would get as close as he possibly could… and go back down. When he leaned back again when she’d been expecting her kiss, her lips twisted into a pout and she glared down at him. Her hip rocking slowed just a bit, and she glared as he got closer again. She thought he was about to make it up to her, giving her a real kiss this time rather than teasing her, but he just did it again. He got so close… And then he just went right back.

“Why are you being so mean?” She huffed at him, refusing to rock her hips any longer. She crossed her arms and glared down at him, and when he came back up this time, she steadied her hand and readied herself to slap him. But this time, it wasn’t necessary. He really did kiss her, and she closed her eyes to the feeling of his lips on top of hers. Was that so much to ask for? Why did he have to tease her so much? Her arms coiled around his neck and she did one gruff bounce on his cock as some sort of punishment before rocking properly again, getting back into the rhythm.

“You’re so mean sometimes,” she murmured through breaks in the kiss. “You called me your woman earlier, but this is how you treat me? I’m allowed to tease you, but not the other way around.” His voice had a layer of begging to it, whining like a little girl who was upset at the idea of not getting her way. She held onto him to make sure he knew that he couldn’t let go until she decided he was allowed to, and continued to kiss him all she wanted. She wanted to be close to him, especially after he had the nerve to tease her like he did. She wanted to be the one in control, but apparently he had a problem with giving that up. Oh well; she’d show him who was in control.

She turned her head in the middle of the kissing and let go of him, instead pressing her hands firmly to his chest and demanding he go back down. The kiss had ended; she decided so. She was the one in control, and she got to decide when they stopped kissing. If he was going to be mean and not give her the kisses she asked for when she asked for them, then she could be mean and end the kissing prematurely. It worked both ways, and he should feel sorry for teasing her like he had. 

“I’m done kissing. I don’t care about you showing off anymore, either, so just lay back down there, okay?” There she was, demanding things from him again. It was odd how quickly things had changed between them. Not too long before, Bulma was not able to call the shots or do any amount of talking back. But now she was so confident with giving demands that she would off-handedly, without even really think about it, demand things of him in and outside of the bedroom. Vegeta may have been doing a power-play before, but Bulma herself had become far more powerful and retained far more power over Vegeta than she’d had before, and with how close and playful this time was… Their relationship really had changed, hadn’t it? She felt safe, being handled by him. She wasn’t so scared when she stared at him anymore. Things were… different.

* * *

His POV

It was worth taunting the woman if just to see that twisted pout reappear on her face. As good as taunting her had been, the kiss was even better than he’d expected. Her plump mouth rolled over his tongue in time with the rolling of her hips. It was perfect, the new stimulant was building him to that breaking point. The forceful bounce of punishment she gave him resonated within him; forcing the smallest of grins to curl into his mouth in-between their kisses and her pouty words. She was speaking his body language, and the brute couldn’t help but find a little pride in her display of dominance. It fit her well.

The prince was lapping it up for all it was worth. But just as he was getting his taste of the kiss he’d decided to give her, Bulma one up’ed him. She took back control - she denied him yet again. The push against his solid chest was hardly enough to move him, but Vegeta leaned away if only to shoot a look at her. He wasn’t finished with that kiss… She’d ended it just as it was starting to feel amazing. He wanted more…. But it seemed the sapphire had other ideas. There she sat, like a pretty little lamb atop of her newly acquired thrown of power. He was just about to rise up again to tease her for slowing their pace, when she mentioned something he had yet to realize; something that froze him in place. He’d called her his woman, hadn’t he. _Shit._

“So I’m not allowed to tease my woman, am I?” his velvety voice demanded. He couldn’t help but banter back despite himself, Vegeta was too caught up in the moment of their verbal battle. Still, he did as she’d demanded and lowered back down, though he never took his gaze off of her. He hung there for a drawn moment, allowing the girl to find the security she wanted, needed. He focused on the incredible pleasure he was getting between his legs instead. Vegeta knew - as much as he wanted to battle her back, he could win the battle but loose the war. She needed this.

He hadn’t finished with her mouth. Vegeta never liked being denied anything. The idea of taking another one from her tempted him. Slowly, his body lifted again, meeting her face to face. “And what if I wanted to kiss my woman,” his dark voice smoothed out, his mouth just before hers. She could push him away, but he’d only return with that burning look. That is, until his body language began to change. He wasn’t as demanding. His gaze faltered, subdued and steadying on her delicate mouth. His body lifted just before hers, gently this time. Then, his lips parted, but never brushed her own. He waited; he was asking.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this final arc may seem slow, it does really have a point; it's got its own arc to it. While Bulma tries to indulge in all the things she's missed (especially hygiene, makeup, etc), she's also trying to find safety and excitement in sex again. And, of course, it shows just how far Bulma's mind has degraded.
> 
>   
> 


	49. His Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma and Vegeta connect, in more ways than one.
> 
>   
> 

  


Her POV

He gave her a look after she pushed him, but slowly he moved downward. She stared at him the entire time, but down he slunk. Eventually she turned her head forward again and stared down at him to maintain eye contact, still rolling her hips. She’d added a bit more speed as she got a bit closer to cumming and decided she didn’t need to punish him any longer, given that he’d been a good boy and listened to her– but that only lasted for so long. He spoke up again, continuing to call her ‘his woman.’ It hadn’t been a fluke, then. He acknowledged it. She was his woman. She shook her head at him in response; no, he wasn’t allowed to tease her!

“No,” she huffed as she watched him rise up. She knew what was coming, but she didn’t move, and rather insisted on trying to assert her dominance. He came up closer and closer, telling her just how much he wanted to kiss ‘his woman.’ It was… Tempting. Especially when his demeanor changed. He looked upon her more softly, giving her a begging look like a puppy wanting some table food. It would be very easy to take him up on his request; he was so gentle about it, that she wanted it. She wanted to lean in and kiss him. But at the same time, if he could deny her so easily, why couldn’t she? She could kiss him anytime. Right now, she just wanted to make sure he knew who was in charge.

She turned her body around without warning. She turned so that her back faced him and so she didn’t need to look into those eyes of his as she denied him his simple request to kiss ‘his woman.’ His woman didn’t want to right now. His woman decided that shed’ do what she wanted. And if she was really his woman, then he’d have to deal with it. That’s what she decided. She grabbed onto his thighs for support and kept rocking her hips, entirely aware of how irritated he may be at her. But this was part of tonight; overstepping her boundaries and being comfortable in the knowledge that Vegeta would not overstep his. She’d spent the past few days learning how far she could take things with him, and at least at the time being, she had no fear.

“I don’t care what you say,” she told him, “Your woman isn’t going to give you a kiss right now. Maybe later, if you’re lucky.” Her hands slipped down to just above his kneecaps, and she leaned over a bit to better angle herself for bouncing on him again. That was one thing he was good for– He felt so, so good. “Nn… You can kiss elsewhere, if you want. But I won’t be kissing you back.”

* * *

His POV

For a long moment Vegeta was sure he was about to get what he’d wanted. Just a little more, a little closer, and her mouth would be his again - as he requested. She’d surely do as he told if he played his cards right. Their mouths were so close that he could feel her humid breath pant against his lips. She wanted it, he could feel it in the way she looked at him, and the way the muscle of her thighs quivered against his hips. The satisfaction of knowing she was giving into him made it all the better; curling the slightest smirk onto his damned lips. It was all too easy, that is, until she muttered that one little world. ‘No’.

Vegeta’s body went ridged under her; his expression dropped and his hard brow twitched over a stunned glare. How- how dare she deny him when he was actually playing nice! All the while looking at him so confidently. He was flabbergasted as well as annoyed. That… that wench! Putting him in an embarrassing spot like that! Oh, Bulma had been right, the prince was irritated. It showed on his face, even when she decided to turn around - causing his body to tense and his breath to unwillingly catch in his throat by the suddenly new position. His arms crossed over his chest; his torso hung in mid-air. Could she feel the glare he was giving her burning into her back?

“Bulma,” he couldn’t help but grind out, but he didn’t anticipate a reply. It was more of a ‘I can’t believe you just did that’ scolding. But he hadn’t stopped her, not when she asserted her dominance nor when she turned around. Her display of power and will was something he may of took a little pride in, and may have found a turn on, if he wasn’t being so stubborn. She could deny him any time she liked; she was strong. The prince wasn’t about to harp on her like some helpless male, or beg like a love struck buck in rut, he was better than that. No, he’d answer her in his own way, in the only way he knew how. In a more primitive style.

It was difficult to remain mad at the woman when she was bouncing so nicely on him like that, but he certainly tried. However, eventually his body over took his mind, and he gave into the rhythmic feeling of her hips rolling his hard dick in and out of her. His body hung limply, enjoying the feeling, but his hanging so languidly meant more than just that. The bastard was giving into her assertion. Bulma honestly couldn’t have had him in a more vulnerable position. He couldn’t buck, she was holding his knees down (to him it was a display of dominance), and she was taking control of their fucking. He was like a cat showing its belly. And surprisingly… the longer he hung there, it felt good… really good, to the point where his eyes wanted to roll back.

But he’d only show his submission for so long. He was an alpha male, he had to move sooner than later. Besides, she’d told him he could kiss her elsewhere. He wasn’t about to pass that up, he had plans of his own. His strong torso crunched again, curving his warm body up just behind hers. Ah, that felt better. He could feel the heat coming off of her body. His rough hands moved up the lines of her legs, all the way up to her hips, taking a moment to grip and touch before moving on. Her stomach was next, then his hands scooped up towards her breasts, gently coaxing her back towards him. She may of been out of his mouths reach, and he wasn’t about to beg, but his hands could still do plenty. 

* * *

Her POV

He spoke her name lowly, and she thought there may be some kind of retaliation. She acted so confidently, but when she heard his voice, fear grew in her heart– but only for a moment. She felt his body move as he laid back down, and after a minute, she looked over her shoulder at him to stare down at him, laying against the side of the bed and the floor, entirely submissive. She’d succeeded in making him back off again. It put a smile on her face; a confident one, proud of herself for what she was able to do, even if it was honestly not something that warranted pride. He had shown her time and time again that she wasn’t his slave anymore, but it still made her excited to know how true it was. She wasn’t bound to his word anymore.

She turned back around and continued to move her hips, shifting from bouncing to simply rocking when she found her legs getting tired. Soon his chest pressed against her back, and he began feeling her up. She welcomed his hands, running from her legs all the way up her body, to her breasts. Her back pressed into his chest, relaxing against him as her hips slowly rocked. God– It felt good. So good. Her eyes closed and she let out a sigh, and her hands traveled up to cover Vegeta’s hands as a silent way to beg him to continue. She could feel the heat between them growing; she could last, but not for a significant amount of time longer. Would he almost cum first this time?

She turned to look at him the best she could, though her desire to be close made it difficult given she didn’t move her back at all. She licked her lips and bit her bottom lip, taking a moment before finally deciding to speak to him. It was nice to watch him like this while they got closer to ecstasy- It made her feel even closer to him, on an emotional level. He must have felt the same way to some extent, with how he’d begun to call her ‘his woman.’ If she had been thinking in a different way, perhaps the thought might occur to her that it isn’t much different than ‘my little slave,’ and yet she still craved to hear him call her his woman again.

“I think I wouldn’t mind kissing right now,” she told him, raising her brows. “You won’t reject me just because I was mean to you, would you? My lips are yours for the taking.” Despite the fact she’d never talked so sweetly to him like this before, it came so naturally. It was the kind of language she used when talking to Yamcha in bed so many times, and it felt so right to talk to Vegeta the same way. After all, she was his woman. That’s what he told her. That’s what she believed. His woman. Someone he’d never abandon. Someone he’d keep by his side and protect as if her life was his own.

* * *

His POV

Though he’d never admit it, not even fully to himself, there was some part of the prince that found it easy to give into the woman when she was acting so dominantly. There was a surge of pleasure that came with fucking someone who could match his will. Her flaunting her confidence was stiffening him like stone. His little slave, how far she’d come. Though she was never really his slave, was she? Perhaps that was what he’d liked about her from the beginning. She never belonged to him, not once, despite how much he’d tried. But now she pressed her back into him when under his touch. Their bodies met and flowed together. She gave herself over to him willingly, and his pride grew. But it was different from before.

There had been something satisfying about calling her ‘his woman’. He could mutter it without the anticipation of a slap or being spat in the face. It was a new kind of power his ego was eating up. Maybe a part of him did want to own her, but in a way he couldn’t describe. Perhaps that’s why the prince couldn’t get enough of using the words while he still had the chance. No matter what happened beyond the bedroom walls she was still his, her body language told him so. Every time her spine curved or her soft mewls begged for his attention, it spun his mind wildly. His heart rate and breath beat in his chest, he wanted this. And then she even admitted it, that she was his to kiss, and the beast had to hold himself back from ravaging her.

“I guess, if you’re going to beg me so much,” he chided, though he couldn’t have wanted her mouth more if he tried. It was difficult, but Vegeta had managed to control himself, more or less. A wicked grin had smoothed through his features, and his heated body had begun to steadily buck under in perfect time. He refused to come first, but he was certainly riding the edge. Kissing her would only make it that much more painful to hold back, but he wasn’t about to deny his selfish self from an added amount of pleasure.

Their heads bumped and their cheeks met as they moved together as one. His hands had gotten greedier; brushing his wide palms from her torso to her chest and back again, his neck craning over her shoulder for the added feel of ownership. Then, one of his finger dragged up the line of her chest, all the way up to her neck, coaxing her head back over his shoulder where he could look at her. The prince could easily deny her request - to get her back for denying him when he’d asked for the same. He had his chance to take back control, to banter, but… He didn’t want to. Kissing her would be the perfect thing to make his body completely sing. He couldn’t deny it, and after the meeting of her gaze, he gave her what she wanted. Overtaking her mouth with his own, he kissed her. All the while securing her to his churning body with his hands on her breast, her waist. He’d come soon if he wasn’t careful, but he wouldn’t until he felt he begin to flutter.

* * *

Her POV

She clearly wasn’t begging him all that much, but she stayed silent rather than make him change his mind. She knew full well how stubborn he could be; she kept her mouth shut and just let him touch her more, accepting his hands completely as she rocked her hips. He finally began to buck up into her the best he could, causing her to instinctively hold onto his forearms for support. When did he ever become this gentle? That was the one thing she kept wondering to herself– she didn’t think he ever acted this gentle before. Maybe he’d finally succumbed to her; he’d gotten used to how slow she did things and finally decided he enjoyed it.

When his fingers guided her, her head rested on his shoulder. She stared up at him expectantly, panting gently from the movement of their bodies as well as the heat and friction that was causing her heart to beat ever faster. She wanted to ask him to play with her clit, too, but at the same time, why would she want things to end faster? Sure, they’d have another round, but even just being like this felt so good. Being close. Being touched. The steady build to orgasm without him touching her clit to rush it, no matter how much she wanted it, was pleasant enough. And when his lips finally touched her own, it made everything all the better.

Her hips rocked in circles on his lap as they kissed, a ticklish sensation growing in her veins. She wasn’t quite there yet, but she was getting closer. Her eyes closed and she focused on the feeling of his lips on her own. On the feeling of her tongue over his. She kept kissing him, relaxing completely in his arms. It felt nice, how equal they were– he wasn’t overtaking her. He was letting her have her dominance while giving back. It felt like all the best times she’d had sex with Yamcha, even though it would be wrong of her to compare the two like that. But it didn’t feel like the other times with Vegeta- it wasn’t a point where he slowly took control even if she started off trying to be the dominant one. He was not kicking her off to mount her, he was not forcing himself on her, or starting to buck so fast that she couldn’t do more than brace herself. It was equal. She felt equal.

Steadily, she got closer to orgasm. Close enough where she was getting to the point where she couldn’t think about much else. She didn’t want to stop yet, but it was feeling better and better. It was hard to resist the urge to just orgasm with how she was feeling, but the idea of going on for even longer with him… Maybe she’d let this next time be where they orgasmed. They’d get to be together like this for just a little longer, and then she could bottle over. Then they could rest together, and Bulma could be happy knowing that this is how it could be from now on, but in space, where she didn’t have to worry about anxieties from what had happened. She’d feel safe around him, and not reminded of what her old life was like.

But that was down the road. For the moment, she just wanted to enjoy herself while her orgasm was coming up around the corner.

* * *

His POV

Perhaps going slowly wasn’t so bad, if it led to a build up like this. For the first time, Vegeta could touch every inch of her, taking his mind away from any need to be ruthless or hot tempered in bed. The fact that he may have been enjoying himself never crossed his mind- he was too caught up in the act to worry about anything other than the gratification that was slowly humming its way through the entirety of his body. The only thing he cared to realize was pleasuring himself, and finishing the woman that was rocking steadily in his lap, before he finally gave in and fell over the edge and into ecstasy. The game they’d played had lost its potency in comparison to the new satisfaction he was finding. Seeing this finished out- that’d be the climax of his night.

Her lips tasted better every time he kissed her. It was the taste of victory, lust, and the sweetness of his favorite female. What more could he want? Focusing on enjoying her mouth forced him to remain at his tamest, too. He couldn’t crush her or over power her, or else the kiss would lose its fire. His hands simultaneously remained as gentle as his mouth, but just as hungry too. Groping, rushing, running his fingers from her neck to her hips, his palms took handfuls of her flesh time and again. Her body relaxed under his touch, and Vegeta slowly followed in her footsteps. There was a welcoming contentment about her that allowed his guard to slowly ease away; as much as it ever would. If there was ever a time to kill him, this would be it, but for once he didn’t expect an attack from her. They were on an equal level now.

The gentle quakes in her muscle told him she was close. The prince welcomed it, he wanted her to hit her limit first. Yet, if she was about to dip over, he wanted to lap up what was left of time together. Their mouths parted and his nose dug into the dip of her shoulder. He wasn’t finished with her, even if the swelling sensation in his groin felt as if he was about to pop. Groaning, he forced himself to stay in control, and began to rest back towards the bed - again taking Bulma with him.

One of his hands smoothed over the base of her neck, the other wrapped around her slender waist. Carefully, he shifted their position, resting them onto them onto their sides on the bed, rather than suspending her over his torso. This way he could get a better look at her while he fucked her from behind- he wanted to see the look on her face when she finally gave in. When he made her come. It felt good to bang into her like this, too. It gave him some control while allowing her freedom to move as she pleased. One of his arms were still trapped under her, coiled around her body. His other hand steadied her hips against his eternal bucking. Then, the hand at her hip slowly began to drift between her legs, giving her clit some attention. He needed her to orgasm soon, his voice was beginning to slip between the cracks of his heavy panting.

* * *

Her POV

He was the one to stop the kissing this time, but when she was about to complain, she simply quieted down. It did feel nice, to have his face pressed against her like this, to feel his breath on her neck. She kept her eyes closed and simply relished in the moment, up until he began to shift the both of them to the side. She was wondering what in the hell he was doing, given he was hanging off the bed, but he shifted them so they were lying on their sides, maybe because it made it all the easier for him to thrust his hips at her. She had to admit, it did feel good to be wrapped up in him like this. His warm, large hands were holding her against him, protecting her against his build. He was about her size, but he made her feel safe. He’d protected her so many times before, after all.

His hand slowly moved down and began rubbing her clit, and the noises Bulma’d begun to make, louder and more desperate than before, made it clear how she was feeling. Her hip movements, back and forth now, were beginning to feel more mechanic. God, it felt good, and all she could think about was how much she wanted to cum. He’d probably forgotten all about the ‘edging’ thing, but– Damn, he was really testing her. She wanted so badly to just cum at his command, but it would be all the better if they just stopped one more time. …Would it even affect him? She seemed to be the one so close to cumming. Close enough she didn’t want to even bother looking at his reaction.

“Stop.” Her words were forced, but she managed to make herself quit. She grabbed his wrist and squeezed it to get the point, and her eyes stayed squeezed closed, slightly hating herself for not just allowing herself to get washed in pleasure. Just… One more time. That’s all. One more time, and then she’d let the both of them cum. …She was so exhausted, she’d probably fall right asleep afterward. And she was covered in sweat; so much for having the bath before. It was completely useless now, with how filthy she’d become.

“Like I said… Edging. Did you forget? Stop teasing me so much,” she mumbled, her breath shaky from panting between her words. Damn, she really did hate herself, even just a little bit. She gulped and finally opened her eyes, pushing him away only to roll over onto her other side and face him. She just needed a moment to breathe, then they could get back into it. She didn’t even feel like talking much this time. She just… She wanted to be close to him. She couldn’t help but stare deep into those eyes of his as they laid there. She didn’t touch him; she didn’t even ask for a kiss. She just… Observed him. That’s what felt right to do. She just wanted to stare at his eyes and admire his face. He was just as sweaty and messy as she was, but it felt so different from the times before. Entirely exposed for her, and holding her in ways she didn’t think he’d ever have bothered to before.

“I’m… Your woman, right?”

* * *

His POV

Stimulating her clit had obviously been the right choice. Vegeta was rewarded with the sound of Bulma’s voice hitting the ceiling. He was sure she would come, any moment now. Kami, it felt as if he were about to burst, but Vegeta would be damned if he ever allowed it to show, other than the muffled moan or a heavy buck. His hot breath beat against her neck, and his thrusts moved in time with her circular hips. Her skin was warm and slick with sweat under his roaming fingertips; it felt good to own her this way. That high climax was building, he was reaching the tipping point, just when Bulma muttered that little word again; one of the only commands that the brute ever seemed to give a damn about. The word ‘stop’.

He wasn’t as surprised by her demands this time; he knew what this was about. The woman wanted to ‘edge’ again… As much as he may have wanted to orgasm, especially with how ready he was, the prince wasn’t about to say no. He had boasted about his stamina, after all. Vegeta wanted the chance to prove it, too. His body steadied, stilling just behind her with only the occasional jerk or quiver of skin over muscle. And then the girl decided to shift in his arms, and Vegeta had to refuse the need to push his forehead into the sheets when she pulled off of him, leaving his massive erection exposed in the cool air. Little more than a controlled groan left his lips. As if he’d let it show how needy it left him feeling. Not that he had to voice it - the thick flesh between his legs was red, throbbing, and wet from over use. She’d left him at just the right time.

She was staring at him… And in a way that he’d never seen from her before. What was going through her mind, he couldn’t tell. High from the rush of adrenaline, perhaps. With his own rush of endorphins pumping through his veins, Vegeta couldn’t help but stare back. Sure, he wanted to move, his body craved to get up and prowl over her like a hungry animal, but there was something nice about laying there and drifting in the humming sensation of ‘almost coming’. Of riding that wave out while he looked back at her mess of blue and flushed beauty.

Her sudden question shook him, stirring him from his drifting. What kind of question was that? He’d called her that before in teasing, but did she have to say it out-loud like that? Vegeta suddenly found it very difficult to look her in the eyes, opting to turn his black gaze away - anywhere away. His head may have turned, but his arm was still resting languidly over her side. Had she liked him calling her his woman? He had to admit, he felt vicious at the thought of anything taking her away from him. He’d called her his slave, earthling, wench, whore, woman so many times. However, there was something uncomfortable about this title. It held weight, meaning. While in his thoughts his dark gaze flicked back to her. Was she his woman?

“You are my woman,” he admitted.

* * *

Her POV

He was refusing to stare at her after she asked what she did. He’d been watching her before with no problem, but as soon as she asked that, suddenly he became embarrassed. How often did he become embarrassed? It was a rare, cute sight. She blinked at him and laid quietly, but finally he answered. Yes. She was his woman. It was satisfying to hear it again, for some reason. His normally gruff-sounding voice spoke so softly, and it was pleasant to hear. She’d like to ask him to say it again, but she didn’t want to press her luck. He may run off shortly after they finally orgasm, even though she wanted to spend the rest of the night with him.

“…I’m glad,” she just replied, pulling herself closer yet to him, their chests touched, and she brushed her face against his. …She still needed a little bit of time to cool down, but it was nice to stay so close. She didn’t want to move from this spot. There was no way she’d refuse to face him this time, and if he asked for any kisses again, she’d gladly give them. She couldn’t explain why, but she just felt so much closer to him already. Maybe it was just the simple act of sex that was responsible for it. Hormones, chemicals, whatever. She may be a genius, but her area of expertise was technology, not the human brain. She could only really speculate.

“…Where are we going to go next, once we’re in Space? I know you’re going to go buy my planet… But where? What’s the planet like? Is it like the others? It might be nice, slowly transitioning by going to a city-like planet first. Like… Like the one back when you…” She furrowed her brows for a moment and leaned her head back to look at him. She pointed to her neck; trying to get the point across of a shock collar. The planet held terrible memories, but she could at least remember how beautiful it was, and how much it reminded her of her own home. Maybe if they ever went back, she could visit the old bug-man that helped her out. Gave her clothing, a job, money… She could repay him for what he did for her. Maybe she could get him to branch his business out onto Earth; she was sure it’d be a kind of tourist destination.

Her legs shifted upward to rest over his hip– getting herself ready. While she’d been talking, she’d managed to calm down. She could certainly get started again. Her arms coiled around his neck and she moved her head closer again, as if she had not just been discussing a time where he’d put a shock collar around her neck. He’d done terrible things, yes, but all she had to do was remember the good times. How he’d changed. More specifically, how he’d changed for her. He hadn’t changed because he just happened to develop as a person– it was for her. If it had been any other woman by his side, would he have changed his behavior so much? That was doubtful. She just remembered how much he’d protected her and how much kinder he’d become, and it was easier to accept the things he’d done to her before, as long as she didn’t think about it all too much.

“I think I’ll be happy just as long as I’m off this planet, though.”

* * *

His POV

Perhaps he’d answered her incorrectly, because admitting to her that he indeed saw her as his woman seemed to of made her chatty. He inwardly kicked himself, but Vegeta knew there wasn’t much he could do about it once the woman felt like running her mouth. Besides, it was sort of nice to have a distraction away from the throbbing in his groin. Even if the subject she was speaking about somewhat irritated him, if not just confused his most secretive inner feelings all together. She was talking about leaving with him, again. He’d made it clear how he’d felt about the matter, but it just seemed to keep coming up. Did she wanted to leave so badly? It brought up the question within him: was he still willing to leave her behind? She was his woman, after all.

The effects of intimate sex was working its way through Vegeta’s brain, too. To leave her, to take her, to stay… To not give a damn at all. If she wanted it so badly who was he to stop her? He wasn’t usually one to give a damn. But he did care, didn’t he? That’s why it was so god awful to think about. He glanced down, just in time to see her gently pat her slender neck. They both knew what she meant, Bulma was referring to the collar he’d placed there. Another failed attempt at trying to own the woman. His woman. Refusing to think on the matter any longer, he rolled his eyes, focusing on the warmth of the girl’s body tucked deep within his embrace.

“The closest place that has a space port,” his brow cocked sharply, “I will never understand your fascination with the difference in planets. They’re all the same in the end,” his saucy expression sneered. The prince still couldn’t see the beauty she so often spoke of, or at least, he was only beginning to see it. It was still a foggy, unreasonable ideal to him, but the more Bulma pushed it the more he had to consider what she saw in the worlds. Still, it mattered little to him, so he brushed it off with ease. His fingers began playing over the thigh that draped across his hip. It was stimulating him again. Their little rest and chat may have calmed him down, but the brutes blood was still pumping. He wanted to finish what they’d started.

His hand traced up her leg, up to the dip of her waist, and past the caress of her hair. Is this what she enjoyed? This soft, slowness during a fuck - his mind couldn’t help but wonder during the long, drawn out moments. Subtly, his hips began to move, brushing the bridge of his thick member against her lower belly. He caught her gaze again- he wanted inside of her again, but he was waiting. Not only was he not about to look desperate, but he was waiting for her signal this time. The arm trapped under her side dragged down her back, smoothing into the sway of her spine. His other palm pulled her thigh closer, catching her by the bend of her knee. How much he wanted to rut into her, but he was being tame, cautious. Her features were so close he felt as if he could drown in her blue hues. That’s right, a kiss, he’d nearly forgotten again. He leaned in, wanting one. Would she deny him this time?

* * *

Her POV

A space port. It sounded boring, to be honest. She was expecting something more grand, in all honesty. She ignored his complaints about what she was in planets, instead letting out a little huff. Maybe she could convince him later. At least to go and sight-see for a while… She saw so much while trying to run away, it wouldn’t be fun if she got to miss out on so many beautiful worlds because she was no longer trying to desperately to escape him and the other Saiyans. She kept quiet, instead breathing in deeply and brushing her face against his. That was something for another time. For now, she just wanted to be close to him. To enjoy their closeness. Evidently, he thought the same– he was feeling her up again, and his cock was pressed against the side of her lower tummy that was barely exposed under her curled legs.

“I’m ready now,” she told him quietly as he pulled her closer. She pulled her legs up higher to make it easier for him when he finally decided to get on with it. They kept getting closer, until all she saw were his eyes. His dark eyes, something she used to be so terrified of. Bu the wasn’t scary anymore. Not at all. She felt like she could stare into those eyes of his all day. It occurred to her that she almost didn’t want to kiss him again; that meant she couldn’t stare at him. He might be a strange man that kept his eyes open during sex, but she wasn’t that kind of woman.

But she couldn’t resist, and soon enough her lips were on top of his, while all out in the open, waiting for him to make his move. She reached her hand down and pressed it gently to his cock, trying to make sure it was guided in the right position to press inside of her again. Her fingers slowly ran along his base, while her mouth opened to try and meet her tongue with his again. She was glad that she’d made sure he’d brushed his teeth; all the kissing with the taste of mint rather than the usual tastes of his nasty mouth was… Pleasant. Much more pleasant than kissing him had ever been before. But maybe part of that is just because of how close she suddenly felt to him.

* * *

His POV

The girl may not have said anything, but Vegeta knew that little huff by now. She hadn’t been pleased with his explanation of where he’d be going next. Not that it mattered, he’d rather get the subject out of the air. As much as he enjoyed bickering with the woman, the growing silence had been unusually nice. He could focus on feeling her, touching her, and getting them both into a more comfortable position. Taking her nearness as the signal to do as he pleased, Vegeta pressed his rocking hips all the closer. Her hand at the base of his cock felt good, too good thanks to the pent up, growing orgasm he’d been holding back for what felt like an eternity now. A small slip of a moan passed between their joined mouths, rumbling against the girl’s tongue, just as he finally pushed in.

A wave of pleasure rattled down his build. How the hell she made such slow paced sex feel good, he’d never know, but damn was it getting steamy. His warm mouth rolled over her plump lips, and he drove himself deeper between her thighs. But slowly this time - he was getting the hang of it. When he reached a steady pace, pistoning himself in and out between her silky legs, his free hand glided down the length of her form. From shoulder, to the dip of her waist, to her smooth calf, he grabbed her closer; keeping her in place for the growing speed between them. The hand trapped under her lithe body swept up into her blue hair, clutching a handful. Was he going too fast? Too slow? This was the first he’d taken control since they’d began, and as excellent as it felt, the prince strangely found himself searching for her ques. In some ways she still had her control. Perhaps that was the luxury of working together.

As wonderful as she tasted, Vegeta found himself breaking the kiss yet again. He wanted to look at her while he fucked her. To see that flushed, trusting and helpless look on her sweaty face. Something that may have surprised even himself if he were in his right mind. But all the brute could think about was how fucking amazing he felt, about how her scent and image twined itself into every part of his senses, and how good it’d feel to finally come inside of her and mark her as his own, truly for once. Not yet, though, he still had a wave of stamina working its way through his system. His blood felt like magma running under the surface and his breath beat heavy. His voice carved between his rough breathing now and again. Was she close yet? The heat between them and the sound of the squeaking bed had evened out underneath them. The blurring euphoria was back in his head again, but he was determined to be the one to make it last this time around.

* * *

Her POV

He finally entered inside her again. Her eyes fluttered, but she kept her hand down below to rub her fingers gently against his genitals. She massaged his balls when they were close enough, and let the wet base of his cock be tickled by the passing of her fingertips. Eventually he ceased their kiss, and she stared at him with her big eyes as he continued to move his hips. This would be a good climax to their night; holding each other while exhausted and drenched in sweat. She still had to build up to orgasm again, but to be able to be this close and be held by him was something she was more than excited about. It felt so nice, to be this close in his arms- and of her own free will, all while being slowly encompassed by the familiar tingle of an impending orgasm. It wasn’t quite hitting her yet, but it sure wasn’t far off on the horizon.

He was so warm, too. Finally, she removed her hand from behind her only to wrap her arms around his neck again, and press her body as close as she could be. Her face nuzzled against his, while her pants left her lips and touched his skin. He was so warm, and though she was already overheating herself, it didn’t feel bad at all. She only felt protected and– maybe something akin to ‘love,’ though if she was actually having a real, steady stream of consciousness, she’d refuse to use that kind of word for her relationship with Vegeta. It didn’t feel like it properly fit. Why would she proclaim her love for someone that’d wronged her so much in the past? She felt a connection with him, but it wasn’t the kind of ‘love’ that she knew from her past relationships. Not familial love, not romantic love. It was something different. He was her protector, and she had a bond with him.

“Ah…” She breathed out slowly, her eyes still fluttering as he continued to move his hips. He was touching her softly and slowly again, in the way that made her toes curl. She licked her lips only for a moment before going back to panting and sighing, the feeling slowly enveloping her. This would be it. She wouldn’t move from this spot; they could have their orgasm just like this, close together, wrapped up in each other’s bodies in a position that would probably remind anyone of a couple of spiders in love, with the legs everywhere. But she wanted more. She wanted more of him touching her so softly like he’d been. She wanted him to touch her and call her his woman and drive her to orgasm with his fingers as well as with his hips. 

“Haa… Can you… Touch me like before? …My clit– Is it too awkward… for you?” It was hard to speak given all her panting, but that’s what she wanted. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was too awkward of a position for him to maneuver into, given how close their bodies were and how they were situated. But even just getting rubbed off by a knuckle or two of his was something she craved more than the lack of stimulation to her clit she was getting. Anything would please her.

* * *

His POV

That sweet sensation of their bodies churning together was building nicely. Vegeta didn’t think the girl could get any closer to him, but he was finding more and more that… he liked it. He liked the way she poured herself against him as if she were desperate for his warmth. How many times had she pushed him away, slapped him, or slipped from his clutches? And now, when he was finally ready to leave her, she clung to him as if he were the anchor to her world. It was such a rare side of the earthling that the prince probably would have questioned it if he had been in any other circumstance. She was staring at him again, too, but for once he didn’t desire to push her away. Even with as dark as his heart could be, the war-hound couldn’t deny the sparking feelings it created within him. Protective, possessive, close.

The harsh lines of his face had softened, only ever tensing when he plunged into her a little deeper, harder, faster than before. The gentle fingers playing over the base of cock was making it difficult to bite back his moans. He was edging closer to climax, the roaring sensation was creeping up on him, but it wasn’t time just yet. The need to buck into her wildly tugged at his brain, but he resisted, keeping the rhythmic, heavy pace that he’d set between them. It jostled their sticky bodies and squeaked the bed, but it was just lazy enough to keep them from plummeting over the edge, forcing them to drift in the building ecstasy. He’d been staring into those blue eyes of hers for how long now? He’d been concentrating so deeply, he’d nearly drowned in them, but her begging to be touched clawed for his attention. His little earthling, she was asking him to touch her.

“Does my woman want me to touch her?” He couldn’t help but tease between panting breaths. But it was the softest, smoothest tease he’d ever given her. Their lips were so close he merely had to whisper it. It always stroked his ego to have her want his attention, especially after how many times she’d stated she hated it. She asked for him, needed him, and presented it as a challenge; how could he resist. Of course it wasn’t too awkward; if he wanted to touch his woman he damn well would. The hand that’d been holding her leg over his hip traced down between her thighs. It was a tight fit, but he managed to rub the tips of his thick fingers against the nub of her clit, stroking her much the way she’d been fondling him. Kami, did it feel good to finger her. It stimulated his rutting, jutting his thick member harder inside of her. His knee bent, catching his thigh between her thighs and only tangling them further together, giving him a better angle to drive into her, again and again.

* * *

Her POV

He called her is woman again. She really wasn’t sure why it was so pleasing to hear, but nonetheless… She enjoyed it. Despite him trying to tease her, she quietly agreed with him, nodding her head that she wanted to be touched. Why was something like that so bad to admit? She wanted to be touched by him so she could orgasm at his hands. She was already feeling so good, she couldn’t help but want more. So when Vegeta obliged and pressed his arm between their tightly-pressed bodies, and began rubbing against her clit with two strong fingers, Bulma became louder than she was before gasping and sighing in pleasure and excitement as they slowly got closer and closer to finally orgasming. She nuzzled her face against his, eyes closed as she dwelled in the pleasure of the rocking of their bodies. She held onto him tighter, and all the while murmured and whined into his warm skin.

“Haa– No more edging, this is all we need. I can’t tolerate waiting around again,” she mumbled to him, giving him the heads-up that they wouldn’t need to stop and wait to cool down again. She didn’t have enough self-control for that. She just wanted to orgasm. And although she wasn’t there yet, she could feel it creeping up, teasing her with the tickle that was so familiar to her in every inch of her body. It only grew more intense every time his fingers would circle around her clit and every time the fingers in her hair tightened. He was strong, and yet, she wasn’t afraid. He was showing off just how much muscle and strength he had in comparison to her with every little thing he did, and yet it only turned her on all the more. It isn’t as if he’d hurt her; she was his woman. He protects her.

“Vegeta–” She went on to keep calling his name as she got closer to orgasming. She just wanted to be closer and closer, and yet they could only be so close. She didn’t even want to bother working on doing much more than rock her hips in the mechanical, rhythmic way she’d gotten accustom to, increasing her speed if only to get closer and closer to the end. It may have still been slow compared to what Vegeta was used to, but it was fast enough for her to make her toes curl. Was he almost there? She was getting so close so fast with how he was treating her, but what about him? He had been bragging that he could last longer than ‘his woman,’ and yet– he was out of breath too, holding her tightly, gasping in pleasure– maybe his orgasm was just around the curve as well. Though she knew full well if she were to ask, he’d probably write it off out of embarrassment. He was never one to sell himself short, even if it was rightfully so. He always had to brag. Not that it mattered in the moment– she didn’t care at all about his bragging, she just wanted to finally cum, and with how her tingling sensation slowly moved up her toes– She was getting there.

* * *

His POV

He was losing himself in that moment. From the twining of their bodies to their hot, dragging breaths, it should of been easy to forget his control and pound into the woman relentlessly. He had so many times before. However, despite his carnal drifting, the prince was holding his own rather well, for once. Perhaps he’d finally grown accustom to her earthling way of mating, or perhaps he actually cared for her on a more primal level. One where keeping her safe was the main objective rather than satisfying his lusts. Not even the prince himself would ever really know, too unaware of how the girl manipulated him, even know, while they crashed closer and closer to their building release.

Her swirling hips sped up and Vegeta instinctively followed. His thrusting became more vigorous, pumping into her with new zeal. The growing tension and heat in his belly wished to explore, forcing every muscle in his body to tense merely to hold it back. If he came before her he’d never forgive himself. Focusing on pleasuring the girl’s sensitive clit served to distract him, keeping him steady. His fingers flicked and swirled, but it was a difficult reach, even for him. Retracting his hand for only a moment, his palm smoothed back up the length of her leg, all the way to her slender calf, then slowly re-positioned it to sit her ankle up over his shoulder. Kami, at first he wasn’t sure if she’d let him get away with it. Bulma proved to be flexible. It was another damn turn on.

Now he could finger her with more ease. He went as far as to slick his hard fingers up and down her silky folds, feeling his thick member rock into her time and again just below his fingertips. The hard base of his palm pressed firmly to the crown of her clit, rubbing it with the board pad. It was so difficult not to moan out - the new position had tightened her around him immensely. There wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t engulfed by her presence. His senses submerged in her. From the rubbing of their cheeks to the binding of their bodies, the prince was consumed by pleasure. Unable to hold back, he risked a little more speed. Her desperate voice filled his ears, stirring him to pound harder, until the tingle of orgasm was slowly crawling up his spine. Vegeta was sure he’d climax as soon as he felt her body quiver around him and dip into ecstasy. But not yet, though it was becoming impossible to keep his mouth shut - he’d become rather vocal too.

* * *

Her POV

He was moving faster, and the finger on her clit was driving her crazy. She wasn’t thinking much anymore beyond just focusing entirely on the feeling of their bodies pressing up against each other again and again, and when Vegeta shifted, a whine came from her lips– he wasn’t stopping, was he? She needed more, she wanted more! But he seemed to just be shifting her around. She let him move her any way he liked, and though the fit was a bit uncomfortable, it ultimately made it easier for him to rub his fingers against her clit and force himself into her. Her toes curled and the leg still resting against his side curled around his waist best it could, if only to get just a little bit closer to him. Her hips were working without her even thinking about it. She wanted more! She was so steadily getting to orgasm that it was all she could think about.

The tingle that had started in her toes slowly moved down the rest of her body. She could feel its intensity in her veins, in her heart. She couldn’t even so much as keep her eyes entirely open (or closed) or her mouth shut anymore. She licked her lips as she kept moving, the friction between their bodies that was supported by his hand moving so rapidly against her clit causing her to act only on instinct. She wasn’t holding back her voice at all, all but yelling in Vegeta’s ear every time she let out a breath. _Ah, ah, ah, ah–!!_ Over and over, until the tingling, ticklish sensation reached her heart and the back of her neck and enveloped her whole body. Her muscles tightened, and she held onto Vegeta as if her life depended on it, her face pressed firmly against his own.

When the orgasm hit her full-force, she couldn’t breathe for a moment. All she could do was inhale. And even as it fizzled out delightfully, her breathing was still erratic. It still felt so good to feel him. He must have hit orgasm too; she could feel him throbbing. The movements of their hips still felt good, although hers had slowed after becoming so mechanical and forced for the few moments before orgasm. She could still feel the gentle tingle of the afterglow all over her body, and she’d grown considerably weaker– her legs and arms were shaking. She still didn’t let go, and she had no plans on doing so any time soon. She just… Wanted to be close. Lie like this for a while. Could he really complain?

* * *

His POV

He’d never held her so close, nor so desperately. As much as Bulma longed to come, Vegeta craved it just as much. The high vocals in his ear only stroked his arrogance, but even his arrogance couldn’t keep his mind steady. Pleasure, the likes that he’d never felt, radiated throughout his body. He couldn’t think straight, only act, feel. The building fire was so intense that he couldn’t hold back any longer, his body was giving up on him, and just in time too. It looked like his needy little earthling had finally come, and god, did it feel good when she finally did. The incredible sensation of her body latching onto him, milking him for all his worth, only intensified his already overwhelming orgasm. He couldn’t hear anything, his vision blurred, but he felt every inch of his body stiffen and snap to life. His face pressed to hers, thrusting himself into her as he finally came.

The fingers he’d woven into her hair slowly released. The world was finally coming back into focus, but the nice afterglow still hung in the air. Slowly, so slowly, the prince’s body had relaxed. He could still hear the faint murmur of his own heartbeat pounding between his ears, but it was Bulma’s breath against his skin that caught his attention. Not that he’d be moving any time soon, either. The tingling satisfaction humming its way through his body kept him in place. He’d be a fool to give up such a comfort. The sticky mess they’d made between themselves of sweat and come was splattered across their lower bellies and dirtied the sheets, but like hell he’d be moving from that spot unless he really needed to.

He still hadn’t unwound from her, apart from allowing her leg to move back down into a more comfortable position. Bulma had been right, ‘edging’ had more than paid off. Had he ever had such levels of sexual gratification before? Better, had he ever felt so close to someone before. There was an easy answer to that - no. As if he’d ever allow any low life whore to catch him in such a vulnerable state, but with the sapphire, it was worth it. Still, there was something more he couldn’t figure out. His dark, subdued eyes glanced towards her. Though he could only see the top of her blue head, he made no hesitation in smoothing his hand up her back protectively. Was it possible he felt, connected to her? It didn’t matter, his tired brain didn’t want to debate, only drift. While he’d been planning on making a run for it afterward, a nap didn’t sound half bad.

* * *

Her POV

Even after things slowed down, they still held each other close. He let her leg slip down to a comfortable position again, but his arms were still around her. His hand smoothed down her back. She thought he’d want to move away and get some space, but yet… He stayed. They’d get to sleep like this, right? That would be nice. She’d have to take another bath or shower in the morning, but then they could leave this stupid planet once and for all. Maybe she’d visit once or twice for family, but… She’d rather just start her life anew. That’s what this was. This was her new life, protecting her from old memories that have turned painful with time. She didn’t belong on Earth anymore. She belonged with Vegeta, regardless of the things he may have done to her in the past. She belonged alongside him. It would be wrong to just stay here, anyway. She’d claimed her place. She was ‘his woman,’ and she’d clawed her way up above both of his lackeys to be Vegeta’s equal. She didn’t fit in here on Earth anymore, what reason did she have for leaving what she’d found that filled a void?

She closed her eyes and nuzzled up to him, letting out a yawn against his skin. Her breathing was still calming down, the same as her heart, and she still had no wish to move. He was so warm, and yet it didn’t make her feel overheated. He just– Made her feel protected, when they were this close. She enjoyed it. She had felt herself falling asleep at first, but then something hit her– the need… Damn, she needed to go to the bathroom. She guessed it was to be expected, especially after such an intense orgasm, but it was still irritating that it got between her sitting with Vegeta so comfortably. Especially when her limbs felt like gelatin. She didn’t get up for a while. Instead, she just wanted to revel in the feeling of their closeness as their orgasms simmered. But eventually she just got more uncomfortable, and when her breath was finally caught and her heart was back to its normal pace, she shifted.

“Nn… I have to go to the bathroom really quickly. Please don’t leave, okay? Oof…” She clambered out of bed, but it must have looked entertaining, given how weak her muscles were. She was wobbling and shaking when she finally got onto both feet, and it took her at least twice as long as usual to actually make it to the bathroom doors. She gave Vegeta an embarrassed and frustrated look at the entire thing, but insisted: “Just stay here. It’ll be nice to sleep together again. I don’t want to sleep alone.” She closed the door after her and waddled on to do her business and wash her face along the way.

* * *

His POV

He’d begun to drift. The sweet smell of her warm skin and near hair filled his senses; mixed with the satisfying scent of their sex. Despite how he was holding the girl, there was definitely no need to mark her now. Bulma thoroughly smelt of him. His instincts told him he’d finally succeeded in marking her as his own, for once - it left him feeling content enough to fall asleep. Though, his slipping in and out of consciousness would only last so long. There was movement below his chin. The soft nuzzling he could handle, but then the girl began to stir and Vegeta’s eyes slit open.

Where the hell was she off to? His brow hardened, watching the girl attempt to crawl over his immobile body, giving her no help at all. It was certainly entertaining to watch her try to find her footing, despite the look on his face. She looked like a new born doe; he inwardly snickered. Jerking his head towards her from where he lay, Vegeta caught that last look she’d given him, watching her disappear. He’d found her asking him not to leave laughable. Still, she’d said it so sweetly, pleading rather than demanding, it was unusual to his ears. Was that what she wanted, for him to stay? His mind began to race. Come to think of it (now that he was back to his proper senses) this would be the perfect opportunity to leave.

His gaze drifted towards the crate of goods Bulma had prepared for them. It was filled with new armor and a slew of supplies. He could take it and disappear before she ever returned. His gaze drifted back towards the bathroom door. She’d surely try to chase him no matter when he decided to leave, be it now or when she fell asleep. As long as he got a head start there was no way she could follow. But… did he want to leave her? Something inside of him hesitated; gnawing and gnashing its teeth at the thought.

What the hell had he even been thinking, fucking her like that? The prince rolled onto his back, slinging his forearm over his face. He’d allowed her full control, to take it from a simple fuck to… something else. It’d felt so good though, he’d never experienced anything like it, could he really be blamed? Of course he could, the prince was good at kicking himself for lowering his defenses, but his selfish side wouldn’t have changed it if he could go back. It was alright, Bulma was different, she was higher. Dare he think, she was equal. Not that he’d ever admit it out loud. The idea that he should leave filtered through his head again, and he turned over in rebellion. As soon as he turned over, however, the little gorilla faced plush from earlier stared back at him from across the bed.

Damn that thing, he snarled. It reminded him of the girl’s earlier weakness. That’s right… Perhaps he shouldn’t take her, she could still be a liability. But then what of her if he left her on earth? Was there any guarantee she’d be safe? What would be the purpose of leaving her if he couldn’t guarantee that? The need to growl rose in his chest, this was turning out to be frustrating. Maybe he’d stay a little while longer, but only to satisfy himself that she’d be taken care of. Then he’d be free. Vegeta knew he’d have to leave soon though, or he not want to leave at all. And that just wasn’t possible.

* * *

Her POV

She didn’t take too long, besides trying to force her limbs to work so she could actually move. While she was ‘busy,’ she couldn’t believe how much her arms were shaking. She stared at her hands the whole time, trying to keep them steady. Well, that’s how she knew it was good, she supposed. Shaking uncontrollably… When was the last time she’d had an orgasm like that? …Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad, sticking around with Vegeta. If the sex was like that… She could enjoy it again, without it being tied to bad memories. …She chewed her lip in thought and finished up with what she was doing. A quick washing of her hands and face later, and she was climbing back into bed with Vegeta, limbs still wobbling– though not quite as excessively.

She climbed onto Vegeta chest this time to get comfortable, given that he had rolled over onto his back. He looked like he was in the middle of thought, but she didn’t dwell on it. She half-expected him to be gone; she was just happy he was still there. She got comfortable on top of him, rolling her shoulders and shifting about as she found the most perfect way to lay down. …Was this proof he’d take her with him? He kept dancing around the subject, and because of what happened earlier, she’d become incredibly nervous about it. But maybe she was nervous over nothing. Maybe he was just being as stoic and stand-offish as he always was. He wasn’t giving a straight answer because it wasn’t like him to give a straight answer.

She shouldn’t dwell on it. She didn’t bother to talk about it, that was for certain. Instead, she closed her eyes and finally got comfortable. His chest was still warm; why was he always so warm? Even when he was relaxing, the ki inside him surged and created a warm aura around him. Ha, she wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why his hair stuck straight up all the time– the ki was gravity defying! Maybe too much of it was why Nappa was bald. She snorted at the idea, her feet slowly sliding over Vegeta’s. Saiyans… They were anomalies. She let out a sigh, trying to finally fall asleep to the beating of Vegeta’s heart in her ear and the gentle rise and fall of his chest, similar to the rocking of a crib. Inexplicably, at the hands of the man that kidnapped and raped her, she felt safe. Maybe she was crazy. But she fell asleep.

* * *

His POV

His thoughts interrupted the moment the bathroom door creaked open. She was certainly back in a hurry, that or perhaps he’d gotten a little lost in thought. Instead of crawling into bed beside him like he’d expected, Bulma seemed to have found her place right on top of him, much to Vegeta’s surprise. Raising his thick brow, he watched her nestle herself comfortably into place. He didn’t move her; he didn’t even bother with a grunt. It was little compared to how wrapped up they’d been before. Besides, he merely wanted to rest. A sigh left his chest, calming back down to sleep yet again. Instinctively, one of his large hands found its way to her back, keeping her safe in the quiet of the room. He may have been broad and warm, but she was soft and inviting, lulling his thoughts to sleep.

Hours rolled by. Night slowly gave way to the breaking dawn. The prince’s consciously naturally rose with the sun, normally alerting him to another day of war. Daylight hours were vital things. Without the cover of darkness, it was easy for enemies to spot one from a distance. Light meant he was supposed to be on the move. It was just his natural way of doing things, his internal demands. However, as the morning minutes ticked by, Vegeta found himself watching the girl asleep on his chest rather than answering the call of the hunt. She looked so peaceful lying there. Her soft eyelids were daintily closed, her breathing shallow, her fragile body limp. How the hell she felt content in his presence he’d never know. He had to wonder if she truly was in her right mind.

A lock of her sapphire hair twirled between two of his fingers, glistening in the morning rays that came streaming through the bedroom curtains. He thought about moving a few times, but seemed as if the girl would wake (at least he suspected that’s what was happening) whenever he shifted too much. The longer he laid there, the more his instincts begged him to move. He glanced from the door, to the crate, to the girl again. Damn, even if he wanted to make his great escape this time it looked like he couldn’t do it without risking waking the girl. Bulma had the proud prince pinned, quite literally. 

* * *

Her POV

Despite how exhausted she was; she woke up quite a few times. It was specifically because she was so nervous; what if she woke up and he was gone? Well, that’s what she thought it was about, with how often she woke up whenever he’d make the slightest movement. Maybe it was about more than that, though. Could she really even have a good night’s sleep anymore? She was a light sleeper now, probably just from needing to be. She’d had a strange odd night out where she slept the entire night here and there, but it was rare nowadays for her to sleep the entire night through. Especially when someone was there to stir her, like the movements Vegeta made under her. But every time she’d wake up, she’d quickly drift back into sleep when she found things were perfectly normal.

“Hn…” She finally opened her eyes when she woke and felt fully rested. Again, Vegeta was still there. His hand was pressed to her lower back, and he wasn’t moving besides he natural movements of his body that he couldn’t help. …. He hadn’t run off. Why did she think he would? Of course not. He’d promised otherwise. It was embarrassing to think about the kinds of things they’d said to each other last night, and how lovey-dovey she got, but… It at least made her confident that he wouldn’t leave her behind. That was good; she couldn’t tolerate staying here much longer. It reminded her too much of what her life had become. If she could focus instead of going on adventures and seeing new things, then she would be able to forget about the past couple months. She’d be fine…

“Hey,” she murmured, rubbing her eyes and pulling herself up to sit on his lap. She stared down at him, taking in how disheveled he looked from the past night and acknowledging internally that she probably looked twice as bad. “We’re going now, right? I mean, I’d like to take a quick shower and fix my hair and everything, but we were supposed to go now, right? We can leave Earth. You can go tell the other two we’re heading out; I have everything all packed already. Please don’t tell me that you changed your mind and want to stay longer or something! I’m really eager to leave, alright? Don’t keep me waiting!”

* * *

His POV

He watched her slowly come back to the waking world. It seemed the girl had a one tracked mind these days. From the moment she gained consciousness, her mouth was at it again - speaking of leaving, and most of all, coming with him. He felt himself internally roll his eyes, not this conversation again. But if Bulma had ever proven herself to be anything, it was damn persistent. It’s what gotten her where she was, after all, he could he dismiss it. Still, it wasn’t something the brute was ready to handle. So, instead of answering her, Vegeta turned over; allowing her to lose her balance from where she’d planted herself on his lap.

“Food first,” he gruffed out, still not bothering with eye contact. Although, come to think of it, cleaning up didn’t sound half bad. While the group of grungy Saiyans were used to remaining dirty for days on end, the prince had to admit a shower was probably due after last night. He felt sticky from the waist down. Ugh, yes, shower and then food, that was to be the prince’s to do list. What Bulma did with herself the rest of the day, he really couldn’t care less. As long as it was keeping out of trouble or asking him any further questions about when they’d be jettisoning off of this rock.

He didn’t warn her before he sat up, either. Vegeta was always a man on a mission, and anything that happened to be in his way was merely shoved aside. Though, gently these days when it came to Bulma. He’d put off starting his day for far too long already; exchanging being productive for… observing. Pulling himself from the mess of sheets and bedding, he headed straight for the bathroom, pushing a hand through his mess of black hair. His naked appearance making his swaying tail more obvious than ever. The girl could follow if she wanted, he wouldn’t stop her. Hell, he peeked a glance at her from over his shoulder as he walked away. 

* * *

Her POV

“Oof!” She was quickly knocked over on her side by Vegeta flipping around, a crude and cruel reminder that, despite what happened last night, they weren’t as close as she had felt. Of course not. She was stupid for getting so attached the night before. Either way, she didn’t leave his side. She huffed and ignored him as he mumbled about ‘food first,’ instead opting to go grab some clothes to wear after the shower. Her limbs were no longer shaking, but she did still feel physically drained from the night before; her muscles ached from so much excitement. She ignored the feeling and opted to push on, looking around her closet until she found a cute enough outfit to satisfy her. While she was picking one out, she met eyes with Vegeta as he headed into the bathroom. So would they take a shower together? Somewhere along the way, bathing together had become the norm. When she couldn’t, chances are she was in some kind of danger. Weird how that worked out.

She gathered her clothes and found some stuff for Vegeta as well, before following him into the bathroom. She laid it all out on the counter, though she found her gaze focused on Vegeta’s reflection. Last night felt good, and she had gotten so excited, so emotionally connected to him when he called her ‘his woman.’ Maybe there was something wrong with her; why did she find it so nice? While she felt some odd closeness to him now that she couldn’t really describe (at least not accurately), she couldn’t help but shake the embarrassment that came with remembering her feelings the night before. Sex was one thing, but since when had she become so needy of him? It was this planet, wasn’t it? She needed to get off Earth. Wanting so badly to escape it was messing with her mind. Well, messing it up more than it had already become.

“I’m sure my mom’s made a massive breakfast again today. Maybe she made something different, even, considering she’s got guests. We’ll see,” she spoke, finding it easier to avoid her thoughts if she was blabbering on instead. Rather than get into the bath, she walked into the large shower and turned on both of the ceiling showerheads, pleased with the warmth of the water cascading down on her. God, she was filthy, with so much sweat and who knows what else caked onto her from the night before. …It was nice, knowing they’d be leaving soon. This could be her last shower here. It made it all the easier to enjoy. She’d get out of the shower, go eat for the last time, and then they’d leave. That’s what Vegeta said, after all. ‘Food first.’ That meant they’d leave after. Just thinking of it made a smile start to form on her face. Soon, they’d be off this miserable planet. Soon, she’d get to forget about her old life.

* * *

His POV

He was a little surprised to find the girl wasn’t trailing behind him. It was the first time in a while that she wasn’t on his tail. It didn’t faze the brute, however, and Vegeta found himself stepping into the massive room of a shower before too long. Clicking on the simple side shower-head, he allowed the rain of water to wash away any signs of the night before. The night before, he still couldn’t get it out of his head. Vegeta never thought back over a night of pleasure, not unless it was because he was craving it again. So why did it leave him feeling so strangely? 

The time it took for Bulma to ready herself to bathe gave Vegeta ample time to mull his feelings over. His very confused and agitated feelings. The night before had left an awkwardness in the air. Could it be because he’d lowered his guard completely around her? He’d always known better, yet that still didn’t seem to answer his ambiguous question of what had really happened the night before. Things should have been returning to normal by now. He should have been ready to leave, as always, and he shouldn’t have given much of a shit as to the girl’s whereabouts other than his usual keeping tabs on individuals. Yet, he was acutely aware of her primping in the mirror behind him, and even more alert when she decided to step into the shower and join him.

His back was to her, his hand planted firmly on the tile wall, allowing the water to cascade down his muscular frame. How many times had they bathed together? Let alone the times he’d bathed her himself. This was normal, of course this was normal. The prince wrote off his comfortableness as the lingering embarrassment that came from allowing her to see him in such a weak state the night before. That was all, he told himself as he glanced over his shoulder at her, he merely didn’t enjoy anyone having witnessed him acting so vulnerable. There was nothing else to it. Once he’d convinced himself of that, bathing became much more manageable.

The extra downpour that came from Bulma’s turning on the top shower-heads was welcome. Vegeta turned around to face her, catching a glimpse of her soap covered self. Instincts flared up, urging him to groom her himself, or at least pick through her hair. Hey, he had found something last time after all, it was a justified feeling. He didn’t ask, he merely acted… Slicking his fingertips through her wet hair, the prince began washing through her locks of blue as he so often had before. He even bothered to add soap after a prolonged moment. Who cared about his own mess of hair, grooming her was much more interesting.

* * *

Her POV

She stared at Vegeta for a while, before grabbing the body wash bottle and going to wash herself. She shouldn’t be staring at him so much. It was easy to let her mind wander, and her emotions go all over the place. Especially given last night. When she looked at him, she just felt odd and conflicted. Did he feel the same way about her? Maybe not to the same extent– it was so easy to stare into his eyes and think about all the other times she’d stared into them. All the times she stared at him in hatred– but the times she’d looked at him in relief and for protectiveness, too. How did she become so conflicted? She’d tried to kill him so many times, and here she was, taking a shower with him, asking to go back into space with him. …No wonder Yamcha thought she was crazy and needed therapy. But… She couldn’t fit in on Earth anymore. It didn’t feel right anymore.

She was dragged out from her thoughts by Vegeta. He began running his fingers through her hair as she washed herself. He added some soap, and… He was washing her hair for her. She pressed her lips into a line, letting him do it. Her eyes went back to stare at him again. Why did he bother? …Now that she thought of it, maybe he’d had conflicting feelings for her far before she ever did for him. She always found the things he did strange– he refused to sell her, even when offered a great deal of money. He kept chasing her whenever she ran off, even if it took him weeks. He didn’t even ever let her kill herself– memories of him wrapping his arms around her after the attempt in a hotel bathtub came to mind.

He was the reason why she’d ever kill herself, but he was also the reason why she had never killed herself. Why did she feel such a connection to him? She knew of concepts like Stockholm Syndrome, but was this really it? …In some way, she still hated him. Her brows furrowed and she stopped cleaning herself, instead just letting Vegeta do as he pleased. Why did she even like him calling her ‘his woman,’ anyway? Why did it become a turn-on for him to claim ownership over her? Her eyes slid to stare at the tile wall. When did she stop wanting to kill him, anyway? Was it just that she decided not to, following what he’d done for her and her planet, making up for everything? …She wished none of this had ever happened to her. It wouldn’t be so complicated. She wanted nothing more than to be off Earth and avoid having another panic attack, but… Would it really be good, staying with Vegeta?

…She recalled her plans from before– she wanted to branch out the Capsule Corporation into space. When had her plans changed? Why did she want to stay with him? Because she… Felt protected by him, she supposed. Something about this closeness made her feel comfortable. It seemed like she felt more comfortable whenever he was around her nowadays. That was the only time she ever did feel at ease. He was the only one she could trust to protect her, and whenever he wasn’t around, things went badly. Even though things also went badly when he was around. It was a complicated, complex circle of thought that left her ever-thinking. Why did she like him? Why did she hate him? Why did it have to be so complicated? Why did she feel such a need to reinforce the feelings she wanted to keep, to the point where she opened her mouth to speak?

“Vegeta, I… I still hate you.”

* * *

His POV

It felt good to touch her like this. His heavy fingers raked through her damp hair, streaking the soap down to her scalp. The brute couldn’t have looked more contemplative. It was feeding some deep seeded need inside of him that he couldn’t quite understand. So many times he’d groomed her out of a display of ownership, such as licking her clean in the midst of a jungle. Or bathed her by forcibly dragging her into a tub; what he had considered ‘taking care of his property’. And how many times had he been pushed away, fought for the right to freedom? This was different. His dainty little earthling was allowing him to touch, and that’s all Vegeta wanted.

The sound of water was dulled to his ear, and only an awkward silence hung overhead. Vegeta welcomed the quiet. It kept any odd feeling he may of been wrestling with out of public knowledge. Two of his large fingers traced up the length of her neck, lulling her head over his shoulder to better wash her hair, then smoothing his palm over the side of her skull. She looked content enough, he noticed, if not a little thoughtful. Thoughts of leaving her behind re-entered his mind. There felt to be a tug of war waging inside of his brain. Logic verses selfishness. His brows knit and his lips pressed into a line, refusing to focus on anything more than the beating of water over his well-built back or the view of the female in front of him.

And then she said something that shattered anything the prince may of been considering. She claimed she hated him, still, and Vegeta felt his senses snap back to reality. Of course she hated him. She should. How could he ever expect otherwise? He was starting to get foolish… The girl may have been acting nice since he’d done as she’d wanted, but that’d never lessen the amount of crude horrors he’d inflicted on her in the past, and the prince knew it. In fact, it was the first healthy thing he’d heard from her in a while. It did always please him to hear that wicked tongue of hers; it’d hooked his lip into a grin. He welcomed that little dose of reality, he’d almost gotten caught up in the strange vibe of this planet.

“Good, and here I was beginning to think you’d forgotten,” he taunted her brashly. His fingers slipped away and his warmth disappeared, but that arrogant look on his face never left. That was more like it, hearing her defend herself like that. That, he was used to. No sooner had he left her, Vegeta went for the shower door. His sights falling right toward the pile of clothes as soon as he stepped out of the foggy glass.

* * *

Her POV

He was silent for a little bit, but he smiled. The same smile that she used to see so often when he’d terrorize her. Her lips pressed together as she remembered how she used to feel, how he used to terrorize her. His fingers slipped from her scalp, even though she’d been somewhat enjoying having him clean her–and in a way that didn’t mean he was looking for bugs. Even worse, he turned from her and stepped from the shower. A cold gust of air hit her when he opened the shower door to step out and toward the pile of clothes. Regret for her words filler her, though they were true. She hated him, but why did she hate it even more when he wasn’t around? She wanted him close again. …But it was like mentioning her past feelings and how they still affected her just succeeded in recreating the past. She got to see his horrible, wicked grin again, her his little taunt to go along with it, and then be left in the cold. to feel used.

She began to wash out her hair, but the conflict still stuck with her as she went about her actions. Mentioning her feelings made her feel worse. She should just bottle it up, shouldn’t she? She wouldn’t be rewarded with the lonely feeling pressing into her heart if she hadn’t said she hated him. No, he would have continued to wash her. …But why should she even like to be washed? She was a grown woman and could do it herself. She wasn’t his property. She shouldn’t want him claiming ownership over her. And yet she felt so relaxed when he did. She almost wanted to cry. She’d been doing that so much lately. 

She finished rinsing off her hair, and rather than clean the rest of herself or put conditioner in her hair, she stepped out into the cool air to meet with Vegeta. She locked eyes with him, only to stare. She wasn’t really trying to say anything to him, rather to try and figure him out for herself. Her stern look was just an attempt to figure out for herself what she saw when she looked into those eyes. It was so easy to recall the face of the man who’d raped her multiple times, and otherwise just terrorized her. What had caused her to become so forgiving? Why should she be so forgiving? He may have given her her planet back, a planet she no longer wanted to be on, but… He was still the same man. Could someone really change that easily? She opened her mouth to talk, but when the words came out, they seemed contradictory to her feelings.

“…I still want to leave with you, though. I want to get off this planet. I hate you, but I can’t be here anymore. I don’t think about all the bad things as much when I’m side-tracked… That’s what I’ve realized. Everything here reminds me of who I used to be. You should take responsibility. It’s… It’s your fault I’m like this, right? So take responsibility to what you’ve done to me.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys had a good Father's Day. It's shaping up that we'll end at 50. Even if I have to make next chapter particularly long, I think it's good to end it there.
> 
>   
> 


	50. A Week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta agrees with Bulma's demands to leave.
> 
> Will one measly week of therapy even do anything for Bulma in the future?
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

It was good that she was finally realizing just how much she hated him, that’s what Vegeta kept reminding himself. It’d mean it’d be much more unlikely that she’d try to track him down and follow him off planet if he did decide to vanish. She’d forget him soon enough. That brand new, budding softness that’d been trying to take root in his heart was slowly hardening. There was no time nor place for such foolish thinking. That’s all it was, the prince was being selfish to the point of foolishness, that’s what he was realizing. It was high time he regained the right frame of mind as leader of their little pack once again. He’d been giving her too much slack. This was why giving anyone slack, including the female, could be dangerous.

The tip of his damp tail flicked back and forth as he thought, like a cat that was up to no good. The sound of the water cutting off behind him alerted him, but Vegeta didn’t turn around to meet her. Not at first. His fingers ran over the pile of fabric on the sink’s counter top. Earthling clothing he was expected to wear no doubt. He was anxious to get into his new set of armor, but clothing would work for the time being, he supposed. Grabbing a handful of the pants Bulma had laid out for him, the prince stepped into them. He was just pulling his shirt over head when he finally decided to turn around. And there she was, staring at him with those blues of both fire and ice.

It felt as if she was digging into him, the way she was staring at him like that. Vegeta’s thick arms crossed over his chest, meeting her gaze, but not in a threatening manner. He was attempting to figure her out as much as she was him. What did she want from him, what was she searching for? And then the girl opened her mouth, and it all began to fall into place. She was merely using him, and not just for protection, but as a distraction as well. It explained to him why she’d been toying with him in bed, or fucking him at all. She was being selfish, looking out for herself. It wasn’t too surprising, in fact it was something the black hearted brute could comprehend, if not admire. Though, the smallest ping of pain did prick him on the inside; something akin to having his pride stung. He brushed it off easily enough.

“Your life is your own damn responsibility,” he bit back bluntly. She wanted him to care for her just because he’d fucked her over in the past? Did she expect that of every wrong he’d ever committed, or planned on committing? Unlikely. Vegeta’s nose scrunched at the very thought, leaning back against the bathroom counter. She was a special case, that was it. He’d given her her home back which was more than enough in his mind. No, he was responsible for no one other than himself. Even his own men knew that. It was every man for themselves, and that was just the way of it. Anything more than that was a delusion. Bulma was just asking too much this time. Wasn’t she? Still, he found it hard to pull his gaze away from her, that is until it became too much. It was Vegeta that turned his gaze away first. He couldn’t look at her.

* * *

Her POV

Her eyes narrowed at his response. He wouldn’t take responsibility for what he’d done to her. Her lips pursed into a thin line at his words, and she continued to stare until he looked away from her, and then more. She stepped closer to him, setting her hands on the counter on either side of him. He’d really just leave her here and wipe his hands of her? Tell her to get over it? Though… Was that really so unexpected? Of course he’d say that. He never wanted to take responsibility for what he did. He just did what he wanted, leaving a trail of misery behind him. Even when he began protecting her, was it for anything other than his own sick obsession with her? And now he was bored of her, and wanted to leave her on Earth to suffer. Sure, it may have seemed like she was letting what she wanted, but when she told him how she felt, he didn’t seem to care. He didn’t care how she felt on Earth, he just wanted to be away from her. He didn’t want her coming with him.

“How am I supposed to do that? It wasn’t my responsibility when you grabbed me and kidnapped me and raped me all those times. That was your fault. That was your responsibility. Every time I tried to make my life better by running from you, trying to kill you, trying to kill myself– You would always stop me, or come find me and drag me back. Now you’re just going to wash your hands of me and leave me here, aren’t you? I’m not going to let that happen. You’re going to bring me with you. You’re going to bring me with you so I can get away from this planet and finally feel like myself again. …As much myself as I can anymore, given what you did to me. Even the parts that weren’t directly you… They were you, too. I wouldn’t have been abused by Zarbon if you hadn’t dragged me with you. Nothing that happened to me these few months would have happened if it weren’t for you. This… It was all you.”

She felt the hatred she hadn’t felt in a while bubbling beneath the surface as she spoke to him. She was reminded of how much she hated him. Hated what he had done to her. Every bite, scratch, and bruise that he gave to her felt like they were inflicted all over again. That was right– he’d done terrible things. She had been too quick to forgive him, to have sex with him and hold onto him like a little girl. Her brows furrowed tightly as she felt all the raw emotions that she’d suppressed rising to the surface. He’d fundamentally changed who she was. It was all his fault she didn’t fit in in her home planet anymore. She wasn’t who she used to be anymore because of what he had done to her. She couldn’t sleep alone anymore because of him. She had the panic attack yesterday because of him. Everything– it was his fault, and he didn’t even want to make up for it. She had thought that was what he was trying to do by bringing back her planet, but now that a new issue rose to the surface, he didn’t care. He didn’t want to make sure she was comfortable and happy. He didn’t care about her.

She couldn’t help herself– without even thinking about it, she drew her hand back and slapped him across the face. It was a move she hadn’t done in a while, and while it felt satisfying in some regard, it also left her feeling empty. It didn’t change things. It didn’t change what he’d done to her. Maybe that’s why her eyes began to fill with tears again. It was pathetic, how often she’d resorted to crying lately. But what else was there for her to do? She’d like to take responsibility for her life, but it was impossible. 

* * *

His POV

He didn’t have to look at her to know she was leaning into his personal bubble. The fine hair on the back of the prince’s neck prickled at the closing nearness of the woman, but he never budged an inch. If there was anyone that was equally as stubborn as Bulma, it was the prince she was bickering at. Still refusing to look at her, to even acknowledge her existence, Vegeta remained as stoic as ever during her whole tirade. The hard glare he wore was fixed on the far bathroom wall. However, he could feel his blood slowly boiling just under the surface. The longing to blow his top and snap right back at her. It took the vast majority of his will power not to huff or growl as a response.

She was lecturing him about what he’d put her through, of all things. He wanted her to shut that mouth of hers, but he was just too stubborn for his own good. Bulma’s list of wrong-doings clawed into him like talons, but it wasn’t anything he didn’t already know. It felt to him as if she was missing a major point, too. She was right. He had been the reason, the reason for everything. So why the hell would he bring her back after all he’d risked in getting her back to where she started? It sounded to him as if the girl was attempting to use him as some nurse for her psyche, or perhaps transportation. He was being used. It stung his pride, and more. He was no dog. Besides, there was one thing Vegeta knew very clearly about himself, above all things. He was no healer, he wouldn’t be able to help the girl, he was a destroyer.

_Hadn’t he destroyed her enough_. It was becoming bothersome - how that question never seemed to end. Vegeta’s eyes closed at the thought, feeling that irritating soft spot trying to peel its way through again. He’d gotten himself so caught up in his own thoughts that he never saw the slap coming. Instantly the male’s teeth were bared and his eyes shot open, catching her delicate hand in his quick palm. His grip was soft enough, she’d trained him well, but it was obvious she’d caught him off guard with the way he acted like an animal that’d had its tail pulled. Slowly, his canines hid back behind his lips, while trailing his gaze towards the hand caught in his grasp. She’d slapped him, it’d been a while since he’d felt that gentle sting.

“Why the hell would I want to take you back out there… Or have you forgotten that’s where men like me come from? I don’t have time to be your distraction,” his dark voice slicked out like poison. Back into the pit of hell, back to where it’d all happened, and at his hands. Why the hell would he want that. He looked at her one last time, just enough to catch the glistening of her irises. She was crying, again. With a glare like venomous ice, Vegeta released her fingers and tore for the doorway to gather the crate of goods so that he could leave. He wouldn’t stop, no matter how she cursed him. He wouldn’t stop, no matter what she screamed. He was not the answer to her problems, he was the root of them. Maybe the sooner he left, the sooner she’d get that through her thick head.

* * *

Her POV

He’d been taken by surprise by the slap, she could tell that much. When he grabbed her hand, Bulma even thought that he may retaliate– would he slap her back? As if he hadn’t given her enough bruises, right?! But instead of hit her back, he retaliated with words. Like he wouldn’t protect her. He was trying to explain his refusal away, as if it was all about her own safety. As if! Did he think this stuff didn’t happen on Earth? Did he honestly think there were no rapists, no murderers, no thieves? The least he could do for her was be her distraction! She didn’t want to be on Earth anymore, why should she be forced to?! Why couldn’t he just let her go with him?! She opened her mouth to argue with him, but he suddenly let go of her and pushed past her to make a b-line to the crate of capsules and armor. 

Despite being nude and wet with uncombed hair, she ran without another thought. She all but threw herself at Vegeta, wrapping her arms as tight as she could around his neck. It must have been the first time she ran toward Vegeta, rather than away from him. But she couldn’t help herself– if letting him go meant staying behind on Earth, she’d surely die. She’d kill herself, or get someone else to do it. Maybe she would get lucky and find that she was sent to purgatory; she had killed people, after all. Would she be let into Otherworld? They let Yamcha in, despite the things he did in the desert, but he’d redeemed himself. What about her? She hadn’t redeemed herself by any way she could see; she was just struggling to survive and find herself again. It felt like she was drowning more than anything else. 

“NO! YOU’RE NOT LEAVING!” There was no way in hell she’d be letting go of him. She didn’t care how much stronger than her he was; she’d find a way to latch on. She’d found so many ways to get away from him, even if he’d inevitably find her again, so how hard could the opposite be? She held on tight, pressing her damp face into the crook of his neck as she felt stinging tears start to roll down her cheeks. Why couldn’t he just do this for her? She knew she asked for a lot, but it was because he had done a lot! Shouldn’t he be trying his best to make her as comfortable as possible? Of course not. He was no prince. He had the title, a useless title, but he wasn’t a real prince. Not with the way he acted.

“Don’t. Don’t.” Her voice had gone from yelling to sobbing quietly. Begging. What else was she supposed to do? Vegeta was a stubborn man, and yelling only did so much. She knew that well. How many times had she yelled at him while he ignored her pleads and shoved her face into the dirt as he did what he wanted? But maybe he’d take pity on her this time. “Don’t leave me behind, Vegeta. You said I’m your woman, right? Why…? Why would you leave me behind…? I don’t want to be here anymore, don’t make me stay. Don’t make me stay, please. Don’t make me stay…”

* * *

His POV

The crate was swooped up into his hands, his footsteps were swift, he was headed straight for the door… and then Bulma latched herself onto his back like some mad wildcat… Vegeta only halted long enough to bark an angry, “What the hell are you doing-?!” before being interrupted by the girl’s sobbing pleads. His tail swatted aggressively between her legs. What the hell had she been thinking, jumping on him like that?! Didn’t she know an act like that alone was dangerous, even for her! She was lucky he’d known it was her, less she may be unconscious on the bedroom floor by now.

The prince held no reservations in growling this time. Oh, he was irritable beyond measure. His teeth flashed and his nose scrunched, turning his cheek just enough to get a glimpse of the blue that was burying its way into his neck. As if that’d stop the man, Vegeta picked right back up where he left off, one long stride at a time. He could feel her weight dragging behind him, and the hot dampness of her soggy tears against his skin. How the fuck did he get himself into this situation; his eyes rolled. He should have left last night like he’d planned. This was all thanks to his thinking with his dick.

His heavy footsteps stopped just at the door frame, letting loose a deep huff of air. His fingers curled around the edge of the crate, doing his best to ignore the soft murmurs against his neck. It was difficult to tune out the hopelessness in her voice. Something she’d said caught his attention. That she was his woman, mingled with the quiet pleads against abandonment. The damn wench using that against him in a time like this. But… she was his woman, he couldn’t deny that if he wanted. Kami, sometimes he really swore he couldn’t figure out the woman. Perhaps she was some unsolvable paradox that he was just unfortunate enough to get tangled up in.

“God, damnit Bulma. You wanted me to take you to this damn rock, now you cry to get off of it. What do you want from me?! You hate me, right? So why don’t you remember that at a time like this, and use it to get off my back!” he thundered. Could she see his frustration? At least he wasn’t making any advances out the door anymore, though he was still holding steadfast to that crate in his hands. 

* * *

Her POV

She was dragged along as he walked, her feet refusing to even bother to try and gain traction. No, she just clung to him and hoped for the best as he headed to the door and let her sob. It was only until he was at the door, when Bulma was at least moderately scared that he would waltz into the hallway despite her nudity and how much of a mess she looked, that he finally opened his mouth to speak. She’d heard the same general sentence before; it felt like deja vu. She had wanted nothing more than to be on Earth since he took her away. Now that she was back, that was all she wanted anymore. She just wanted to be somewhere where she felt comfortable. And that certainly wasn’t on Earth. At least not for long. She could escape her thoughts when doing her makeup and working in the lab, but all the other times? Every sense of normalcy reminded her that she wasn’t normal anymore. How was she supposed to pretend?

“Please, just take me with you. I don’t– I can’t be here. It just reminds me of everything. I don’t feel comfortable unless I’m around you. I need to be around you, Vegeta. As long as I’m around you…” She felt so weak, saying it. She hated him, but he was a necessity to her own survival now. How pathetic would she become if she had to live without him now? She hated what he had done to her, but… But there was no other option. She had to stay beside him. That was the only way for her to not feel terrible. She wanted to be back to how she used to be, but that wasn’t possible. She didn’t care how much Yamcha talked about therapy; she didn’t need it. She just needed to be off of this stupid planet as quickly as possible.

“Please, Vegeta, don’t leave me behind… I’ll die if you’re not around, I swear! I’ll die! I’ll– I’ll kill myself if I have to! I can’t be on Earth anymore. Just let me leave, please… I’ll do whatever you want if you just let me come with you…” She held onto him as tight as she could still, despite her arms beginning to get a little tired. She knew Vegeta was a stubborn man, but what else was there to do but to beg him to let her come with? If he just understood how awful it’d be for her to stay here, with memories of her old life making her feel terrible that she can’t just fit in like she used to… She was broken. She fit into space now. That’s where she belonged now.

* * *

His POV

It sounded as if she needed him, but how could that have any truth to it? There was only one thing anyone ever needed from him, and that was the need to stay away. He couldn’t understand it; it just didn’t make any sense. Why in Kami’s name would any creature want to be near him, especially given with what he’d put her through, unless they truly had to be? Even then Vegeta would suspect it was just for personal gain. To use him, probably as a weapon or force or war. Hell, he could even understand that type of selfish behavior, he’d partaken in such deals like that before. But this, someone needing him for something other than chaos? It baffled the prince beyond measure. No wonder he couldn’t get the concept of her endless pleads over the last few days through his thick head.

Yet, slowly but surely, her soft words were worming their way through his mind. And then she really had to hammer it home -she threatened to kill herself, again. It sent a disgusted chill up Vegeta’s spine. He really hated that she’d try to use that against him. Suicide was weak, it was beneath her. It was a low shot from Bulma, but one that made him listen. The prince had stopped just short of the door, it’s white paint staring back at him. He was thinking… It looked like he’d have to find an alternative means to this problem, other than running away. Already he was cursing himself, both for blowing up and revealing his intentions to leave her behind, and for what he planned on doing next. God, was she really worth all this mess? He questioned his sanity sometimes.

“I’m not taking you anywhere,” he interrupted gruffly, but then his voice simmered, “you’ll get us all killed acting like that, like some weakling.” He meant about her recent break downs, she’d been sobbing a lot lately. “You’re so damn stubborn, woman! But… It looks like I can’t go anywhere for a while, either. So will you stop your pathetic sniveling?” He sounded sour about that. Still, he could feel the warmth from her tears soaking through his shirt, and was more and more aware of her soft body pressing against the hard wall of his back. Sighing in defeat the Saiyan turned, crouching and slamming the crate in his hands to the floor. God damn, was the bitch stubborn. Maybe he could take his mind off of the whole mess by digging around in the supplies she’d provided. He was still curious about that new armor, after all.

* * *

Her POV

He was calling her weak and pathetic again. It singed her pride, though she couldn’t argue against it. She held onto him from behind, crying her eyes out, looking pathetic. There was no other word for what she was doing right now. She was being weak; pathetic. When he lowered himself to set the crate on the ground again, she didn’t let go at first, despite his demand. She watched over his shoulder with tears in her eyes still as he fumbled through the crate, looking at the armor. …He wasn’t bringing her with still, but he’d at least stay longer? He was just looking for a better opportunity, wasn’t he? That’s all this was. He was just waiting until it would be easier to sneak off. And yet still, her hold on him slackened and she slipped off his back, landing onto the cold floor. She wanted to get up and go get changed, but she even more wanted to just sit there and let her tears continue to fall.

She sniffled, rubbing her eyes. Why was she even crying so much? She wished the idea of staying where she belonged–home–didn’t torture her so much. But if she were left behind… She’d lose the one person she felt comfortable around anymore. Completely comfortable, or… At least, as comfortable as she could possibly feel anymore. There was Yamcha, but even still… He didn’t understand her. Not anymore. He gave her strange looks and argued with her when she tried to explain her attachment to Vegeta. He didn’t understand. That’s why he was so worried about her. She sniffled again, leaning her head forward so her forehead pressed into his warm back. She was mostly dry by now, besides her mess of hair and her stinging eyes. She couldn’t say that much for the floor, though, thanks to her running around on it.

“I… Can’t help but be like this. I wish I could, but… I can’t help it… When I think of staying here on Earth, when I think of everything from before… I can’t help it. Don’t you ever feel like this, Vegeta? Don’t you ever feel weak? There has to be some times…”

* * *

His POV

The more his adrenaline rush calmed, the clearer his thoughts became. He’d really fucked up this time, hadn’t he. The entire point of keeping said information from Bulma was to prevent this exact scenario. Vegeta’s temper tantrums usually were the cause of his biggest mistakes. He grumbled to himself, very aware of the woman’s stubbornness - she still wasn’t sliding from his back, despite his demands. That was fine, he could just ignore her all the same, unless he felt the need to throw her off. He may have adopted being gentle with the girl these days, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still his pushy, broody self

Luckily it didn’t come to that, Bulma had slid herself to the floor behind him. As strange as it was, as much as he’d been wanting her to leave him be, Vegeta found himself subtly glancing towards her. She did look pathetic, the word he’d been using for her fit perfectly. Yet, he felt no need to abandon her, not just yet anyhow. That instinct to leave her whenever she showed weakness was slowly beginning to vanish, replaced with a new primal call to stay by her side, and the brute wasn’t even aware of it. But when was Vegeta ever aware of the power of his instincts? He just did as he pleased, he didn’t question why.

“Only when I’m around you,” he bitterly grumbled under his breath. It wasn’t meant for her ears, but she may have been close enough to get the jest. Doing his best to drown out the questions being asked of him, Vegeta went back to his exploring of the crate, happy to see that a new blue suit had been created alongside the armor. Inwardly he wondered if it’d hold up better than his usual clingy attire, instead of getting tattered and torn whenever he did battle. He wouldn’t doubt it, given the girl’s brilliance, and he even wanted to ask, but his moody nature held his tongue.

“Why the hell are you letting memories make you weak?” He questioned after a moment of silence, his gravelly voice genuinely curious. Finally turning to look at her, Vegeta sat down in the midst of the bedroom floor beside her. The quiet of the room felt heavy after such an intense round of shouting and listening to the girl’s cries, but Vegeta wasn’t running away from the awkwardness for once. He wanted to know what the hell was going through her head to make her think like that. “There was a time I was weak,” he started, but felt a lump in his throat. He’d never admitted this before and it was hard to spit out. Swallowing, he continued, “Instead of fearing those memories, I used them. I let it remind me of what I’d never allow to happen again, of who I was and what I wanted. Now I look back without fear, only anger and pride. A reminder of how strong I’ve become. The memories fade over time.”

* * *

Her POV

She heard his mumble and glanced up, but after a moment of silence she set her head back down onto his back, only for her to have to raise it again as he turned around to face her. She rubbed her nose and looked away, not really sure what to say. If he felt so weak, was that why she was going to be left? She couldn’t imagine anything Vegeta hated more than feeling weak. So he was being selfish, leaving her because of his own stupid feelings, even though how she felt was completely because of him. She gulped and sniffled, trying to stop her crying as he spoke to her. But his words made her want to cry all over again. He was so selfish and mean; how could he say something like that to her? His pathetic little story about how he used to feel weak did nothing for her. He didn’t’ understand. Of course he wouldn’t understand. He was a selfish man.

“It’s not… It’s not memories,” she told him, feeling tears start to form again. She wiped her eyes. “It’s everything that’s right here, where I am. Your breathing, hearing crowds of people, feeling cold air against my body like this, having you grab me… Even really just looking at you for too long… It’s not just remembering. It’s like I’m back there again. I’m not just remembering all those times the past couple months, it’s like I’m really there. It feels like I’m having my arm ripped out of its socket by Nappa again– It feels like I’m getting whipped by Zarbon again– It feels like you’re holding me down in the dirt in front of your stupid men again… It’s not memories. It’s not… It’s not even just feeling. I can see it, I can smell it, taste it, hear it…. It’s really like I’m there again. They’re not memories. I feel… Like it’s happening all over again.”

She felt sick. She had previously, while showering, been hungry for breakfast. Now she just felt nauseous. She wanted to puke. She felt tears running down her face again, and her brows furrowed. “And… I don’t… I don’t fit in. I try to fit in like I used to, but I don’t. It feels weird to see everyone so happy and relaxed. I can’t feel relaxed anymore. I’m only happy when I’m focused on something else. I don’t feel… Right. I can’t help but think that the only way I’m going to feel normal and fit in again is if I’m out there again. Out there, back in space, no one would fault me for acting how I do now. Nobody’s stupidly happy and carefree. No one demands I go to therapy– I… I’m normal. I just want to go back with you again. I don’t care if something bad happens to me, Vegeta. I just want to feel somewhat normal again. I don’t feel normal here. It’s not memories… It’s… It’s how life is right now. That’s what’s making me feel weak.”

She was crying all over again. Stupid. She couldn’t do anything other than cry? She sniffed, her eyes locking anywhere but on Vegeta. Anywhere but looking at him. The floor, the wall, the foot of the bed… 

* * *

His POV

So, it wasn’t memories? At first Bulma’s words didn’t make sense to the prince. Vegeta had been sure the root of all of her problems had been due to her trying to suppress or run from plaguing memories. Her tearing at meals, her break down in the house of mirrors, that’s what that’d all been, right? Apparently not. However, the more the girl described her view on life, the better he began to get a glimpse into her head. He was listening.

The prince’s eyes narrowed, watching her with superb scrutiny. It almost sounded like the symptoms of an old myth he’d hear between soldiers of different species. Stories of soldiers going crazy, seeing battles that weren’t there, or reliving epic moments in combat right before their very eyes. It was only scare tactics to frighten lesser, weaker races, wasn’t it? Saiyans weren’t exactly susceptible to psychological battle fatigue, and any that were had probably been weeded out by means of ‘survival of the fittest’ without much notice. But as the memories of war tales filtered through his head, the more he began to put stock into the ‘battle sickness’.

Leaning over quietly, Vegeta waved a hand in front of the girl’s tear streaked face. She may have been trying to avoid him, succumb to her crying, but he was trying to see if she’d notice the movement of his hand at all. Was she back in her head now? Trapped in a vision? It sounded bizarre, it’d never happen to his kind. But Bulma wasn’t Saiyan, she was different. She was human. He’d wanted her to prove herself, to survive, and she had. It was then he realized, he had ruined her, he’d turned her into a soldier.

“You are a stubborn woman,” he ground out on a lowly sigh, a sigh of defeat. “Is that what you really want?” His tone bit out and his tail flicked, but he was trying to be understanding. He couldn’t fault her after all. What she’d said about not wanting to return home but wanting to return to the fight, had struck him. It was exactly how he felt all the time. Vegeta had had the chance to wish his world back. He didn’t have to give her the three wishes of the Dragon Balls they’d collected on Namek. He could go back any time and resurrect his world the same as he had hers. But… he didn’t want it. It was too different. He couldn’t go back. He wasn’t the prince that’d left that world. He was someone who longed to roam now. Staying still to do his duties would drive him mad. Could that possibly be what she was feeling? The idea made him sick at his stomach.

“You sound battle mad,” he sarcastically whispered, but then gave her a softer, steadier look. “I’m not having a crazed soldier in my command. But if you still feel this way after ‘therapy’, I guess I won’t really have a choice.” He’d give her what she wanted. How often could Vegeta not give into her? But he wanted it on his terms. To give her one last chance to say ‘no’.

* * *

Her POV

Bulma’s eyes were cut short from staring at the wall when Vegeta’s hand waved in front of them. She turned her head to stare up at Vegeta with raised, knitted brows, waiting for the look of irritation and dismissal to pass over his face. Instead, he looked more concerned and curious. He was actually thinking about her words rather than just ignoring what she said this time. Her lips pressed into a line and she stayed quiet, watching Vegeta as he spoke. Telling her she was stubborn; a good sign. Usually when people pointed out her stubbornness, that meant that they were giving in and giving her what she wanted. She quietly awaited his agreement, nodding her head when he asked if it’s what she wanted. She could go wash her face and brush her hair and get dressed and they could finally get out of here!

But of course it wasn’t that easy. Of course… Vegeta had a specific little rule. She had to go through therapy first, and then she could decide. Her expression went from pitiful yet hopeful to irritable. She glared and pouted at him through her tears, feeling childlike. She was an adult, why couldn’t she make her own decisions? He couldn’t just force her into something like this. She didn’t WANT therapy. She didn’t NEED it. She knew exactly what she needed to feel better again– get off this stupid, shitty planet! 

“I don’t want to go to therapy,” she replied coldly, glaring him down. “I want to get out of here as fast as possible. Don’t you understand? I don’t need therapy. Why would it help? It’s not like I just saw one tiny thing and I can talk it through. I– They’ll probably hop me up on all kinds of drugs, anyway. Why do I need that? Stop listening to Yamcha. He doesn’t understand. He wasn’t with me, other than talking to me through my brain. Just… Let me go, okay? Let me go with you. Now. Today. Let me fix my hair and get dressed and we can go, and we never have to spend another day on this planet. I’ll never ask you to go back. I– I’ll never run away from you again, I’ll never cry that I’m homesick… I’ll stay with you, without having to worry about having to try and fit in. I can manage in space. I can’t manage here anymore.”

She grabbed onto Vegeta’s wrist, holding it tightly and glaring down at the hand, her pout still evident. She needed to get away from this planet. From all of this. She was shaking now, and she wasn’t sure if it was from all the crying or just being cold from sitting naked and wet in a cool room– a sensation she knew all too well. “Please, Vegeta… Don’t make me deal with this place any longer. Didn’t my explanation resonate with you at all? Do you want me to just stay here and die inside and get so hopped up on drugs that any remainder of myself that I still feel, finally disappears? I know that’s what’s going to happen. They wouldn’t understand anyway. Maybe I’d get labeled with something like schizophrenia for talking so much about aliens. I… Please, Vegeta? Please…”

* * *

His POV

Was that what therapy was all about, getting hopped up on medication and talking about one’s feelings? The mutt hadn’t said anything about that, but then again it did sound like something that’d be found on this quaint planet. Ugh, no wonder she didn’t want to go though, it sounded terrible. Still, Vegeta could be just as stubborn as the girl. He’d just made his demands, and as the prideful prince he was, he wasn’t about to recoil them so quickly, no matter the reasons.

Though he glared right back at her, the prince could see the begging in the girl’s big blue eyes; sensed it in the way she tugged at his hand. Her begging was almost just as bad as her demanding, but this time it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle (even if her pleads were the reason for his staring). If what she said came to pass, then he really would have a reason to take her with him, despite the trouble she’d cause in her current moody state. Until then, Vegeta was sure this was the safest world for her this side of the universe. The sickening feeling in his gut wouldn’t allow him to rest until he was certain. Until he was proven otherwise, he wasn’t willing to give up his side of the bargain.

“If it comes to that, you can shove the drugs down their throat instead. You’re good at that.” The coy smirk was back on his face. Staring at her with hard conviction, he lifted away from her. His words were a throwback to her once forcing a mouthful of aphrodisiac down his throat. He could just imagine some quack of a doctor attempting to force feed her anything she didn’t want to swallow, something he even had trouble with. If the girl did get herself into a tough situation, Vegeta was sure she could get herself out of it. She’d proven to be good at that. Besides, it wasn’t exactly like he’d be far. Honestly, what could happen on this peaceful little mud-ball? She wasn’t getting out of this one.

Grabbing the crate, Vegeta headed for the bedroom door. Not stopping to look back this time, he disappeared right into the hallway, leaving Bulma to sit naked in the floor. If she wanted to follow, or to get anywhere in life for that matter, she’d have to do as he said this time. As for right now, he was taking HIS new things back to his pod. He’d need to find his men soon too. They could leave at any given moment, with or without her, and he wanted them to be on their toes.

* * *

Her POV

He refused to listen to her. He just made a sly comment and smirked at her. Her eyes fell to the ground in defeat as he got up, taking the supplies with him down the hall. The door closed after him and she was left sitting on the ground alone. …Why did she have to go through this? Why did he like torturing her so much? She didn’t want to be here anymore. She didn’t want to be in this hellish planet. Why did nobody listen to her? She’d just leave by herself, but then she just ran the risk of getting worse things happening to her. …It would be better than staying on Earth, wouldn’t it? Who’s to say bad things wouldn’t happen to her here, anyway? There were good people in space, like the old insect man she met. Her lips pressed into a line. If Vegeta didn’t promise to leave soon, she’d just have to take matters into her own hands.

She got up off the floor and went back into the bathroom. She washed her face, brushed out her hair (with much difficulty, thanks to how tangled it had become), and put her clothes back on. After a face of makeup was applied, she looked presentable enough to leave the room and go down for breakfast– there was no way that the Saiyans were anywhere else, not when food was an option. She’d eat, talk to Vegeta a little more, and if he decided to be stubborn still, then… Well, when he least expected it, she’d be flying off by herself. 

Her mom was making breakfast, as usual. She’d seemed to have gotten crazier and crazier about it lately. She liked to make sure the Saiyans were all fed, clearly, and this time there seemed to be even more food on the table. All kinds of food, but mainly meats– she’d figured out by now that that’s what the Saiyans really liked. Lots and lots of sausages and eggs and anything else that might quench their thirst for protein. She couldn’t help but wonder if they’d start to get fat with all this food. Was it even possible for them to get fat?

Her father and Yamcha were missing, however. Pu’ar was probably with Yamcha. Maybe they’d eaten already, who knew. She just had to hope to god he wasn’t going to drag her off to a therapy session any time soon. What good would it do, announcing she’d gotten abducted by aliens and raped more times than she could count? Did they expect anything less than her being stuck in a loony bin? This world was full of idiots that so quickly forgot the bad things that happened to them. They clearly didn’t remember the Saiyans, given Vegeta wasn’t given more than a few odd glances the other day. They wouldn’t believe her words.

* * *

His POV

The pod was his first destination. Fuck his men, Vegeta needed alone time, now. It’d already been a hell of a morning. How did the girl keep doing this to him? She offered him lust driven nights and sorrowful mornings. Promises of armor and food, then defied his commands. Sure, she wasn’t his slave, but did no part of her respect his wishes? The prince’s brows knit into a firm line just considering it. Bulma had stated she was merely using him after all, that she still hated him. He didn’t fault her for that, but her lack of respect made it difficult on his pride. Didn’t some part of her trust him? …why would she trust him. Then again, she had insisted that she was his woman …or had it been him who’d insisted upon that.

He shook his head, finding himself perched atop a high roof top, somewhere he could watch the civilians below go about their business while he was left to think. He had been sure every world had its dark under belly, until now at least. The longer he lingered there, watching the deluded fools patter around from shop to shop like happy little rabbits, the more he was sure she’d be just fine on this sunny world. It was just a matter of seeing to it that she was comfortable, for once. To not suspect a thing. After finding his men, he’d stay with Bulma a little more, and if she decided to be stubborn still, then… Well, when she least expected it, he’d be flying off with his men.

It always felt strange stepping into the Capsule Corporate main dwelling. It always smelt of food and happy earthlings. They perfumed the air with their sweet scents and inviting auras. Really it was disgusting, he hated it, really, at least that’s what his rebellious side would like everyone to think. The mountain of food had collected Nappa and Raditz for him. There they sat, getting soft instead of training like they ought to be. And then there she was; Bulma had beaten him to breakfast. Had she expected him to show himself? He watched her for a moment from the doorway.

“I hope you both get your fill,” his rough voice dragged out sarcastically, “You’ll need it for the training you’ll both be enduring later.” He said all too smugly, and as dark as ever. Both Raditz and Nappa shot each other a look, then instantly started grabbing for more food from the massive serving bowls. It was a free for all, but Vegeta didn’t seem to be joining them. No, he was still watching Bulma. Leaning against the doorway, his arms laced across his chest, he gave her a crooked look that meant ‘are you going to cooperate now?’. Before he ate his meal, he wanted a firm answer. And he wasn’t anticipating a ‘no’ this time.

* * *

Her POV

Vegeta was gone when she arrived. But she figured she would eat anyway; she was hungry. She ate her fill of eggs and toast and orange juice while the Saiyans chowed down on buckets of food. She did so in silence, not even bothered by her mother, who was too busy flirting with Nappa. And by the time she was halfway through her meal, Vegeta appeared in the doorway. Her eyes flicked to him. They stared at one another for what felt like an eternity, even if it was only for a fleeting moment. She sucked her breath in as she chewed her food. When his eyes turned away, he ordered his men to return to eating to prepare for training. Training… They wouldn’t be leaving yet; he couldn’t train in a pod. But the knowledge that she was still stuck here weighed on her. She didn’t want to be on this Earth. She kept telling him, and he ignored her. She ate her food just as fast as the Saiyans did, if only out of anger.

She glanced at him again as she ate. He was staring at her again, and she knew the look he was giving her. ‘Will you cooperate?’ Hell no! He thought she’d just sit around and obey his stupid orders? She glared at him as she shoveled down her food, and as soon as she finished, she sat up rather violently and headed straight to the doorway to face Vegeta. The other Saiyans may be watching, but her mother was far too busy cooking to see the oncoming drama as Bulma got closer to her, puffing her chest out and trying to make herself look tough as she got close to him. She didn’t yell, she didn’t hiss– she whispered her demands.

“If you don’t promise we that we will leave by tomorrow, if you make me go to a stupid therapist– I’m leaving without you. I don’t care what you say. I’d rather be out in the universe with no protection than be here, Vegeta. Are you going to let me come with you, now? Or are you just going to try and leave me here now? Even if you take the pods, I still have a ship I left here. I’ll leave, with or without you. I don’t care. Don’t you dare try to make me go to some stupid therapy. Don’t give me any of the shit you were before. One of your men is missing an eye because of me; do you want to make me mad?” Big talk for a little girl that had just been crying naked on the ground of her bedroom moments ago. She was in no position to threaten him, and she knew it. But how could she help herself?

She waited in silence for his answer. Would he finally cave? She doubted it. But if that was the case, then she’d really just have to leave. …He may suspect her too much, though. She didn’t want to be pulled back to Earth right away. No, she’d go off when they weren’t watching her. She’d find her moment to shine. Then he’d just have to let her go. What would he do, drag her back to Earth from across the galaxy? No way in hell. She’d rather die than be back on Earth. At least then she’d still get to explore Otherworld. 

* * *

His POV

He knew the storm that was destined for him before the woman ever lifted from her dining room chair. Vegeta knew that look by now, it was the wrath of a woman scorned. And not just any woman, the queen of them all, when she wanted to be at least. The more hot air Bulma blew into his face, the harder Vegeta’s expression ran. He may have looked like an angry Greek statue on the outside, but he couldn’t help but get a kick out of her little spat. It was refreshing after witnessing her cry so many times the past few days. However, he was still angry enough to dismiss any kind of pleasure he may have gotten out of her passionate whispering. This was serious, after all.

“No.” He bit harshly after a drawn out moment of staring her down. No, he wouldn’t be taking her with him no matter the threats she made. No, he wouldn’t be ordered around. No, he would be doing things his way, even if that meant she’d try running off by herself. If she wanted to be stupid, that wasn’t his responsibility, no matter how badly it grated on his wits. He couldn’t watch after her forever if she kept making stupid decisions like that; it was exactly why he refused to take her. And for what? For not wanting to cooperate with his wishes, for once. Vegeta may have protected the woman this far, even given her home back, but he wasn’t about to be pushed around. His pride was just too much.

This time, it was he whom was waiting for her reaction. Would she cry again, slap him perhaps? The prince’s hard gaze burrowed down into her, searching for an answer. Did she not see that he was attempting to watch over her? To take care of her? To give her a way out? The fact that she couldn’t read into him for once was burning into his pride, making the jumble of emotions that tended to swirl to life whenever the girl was near more irritating than ever before.

The heated silent debate had gotten the attention of the other two Saiyans in the room. While Mrs. Briefs may have been occupied, both Raditz and Nappa were watching with gaping eyes. Raditz had been the first to noticed, having to nudge Nappa in the side to get his attention off of the blonde cougar in the room. For them it was as good as having a life soap opera to go with their morning meal. Hey, maybe if they got lucky the wench would distract Vegeta enough to make him forget all about training. Then again, it may piss him off enough to give them the work out of a life time… Naturally the two placed bets on their own fates that day.

* * *

Her POV

Despite all her words, he didn’t even consider what she was saying. He didn’t even grace her with more than a single word. Apparently, in his eyes, all she deserved was a firm ‘no.’ She glared at him with her cheeks turning red from anger and resentment. Why couldn’t he just listen to her?! What did he get from sticking around on this planet? She wasn’t happy being here, he wasn’t happy being here– why couldn’t they just fucking leave?! It’d be easier on everyone! She felt herself tense up and finally let her anger come out in the form of an attempt at a violent shove. Not that it worked out all that well; Vegeta was like a brick wall. She knew that by now. So after that, she turned and stomped out of the kitchen. 

Where would she go next? She’d planned on just waiting until he last expected it, but with how he was acting, did he really care? She let out a breath and went straight for her room, only to grab the capsule kit that she’d always kept in one of her drawers. If he was going to refuse to care or listen to her, then she’d just leave. She didn’t even need supplies. Fuck that. She’d survived with nothing before. She’d go find a job somewhere and make money and show him that she didn’t need him. She’d go with her original plan, before she began to think that it’d be nice to stay with Vegeta. She’d build the Capsule Corporation into a universal name and buy her own bodyguards rather than use the Saiyans for protection.

She went from her room to the front door, headed outside and tried to recall what direction they’d come from. Where would the pods be? She pulled out a capsule from the kit, pressed the top, and threw it onto the road. It poofed into a motorcycle and she jumped on, going straight to where she remembered the pods landing. It may take her a while to get there, but it was a hell of a lot better than waiting around for Yamcha to find her and drag her to therapy. Like she needed therapy. She didn’t need shit from them. She just needed to go someplace where she wasn’t constantly reminded of everything she’d lost. Here, she just remembered how much she didn’t fit in anymore. Why would she want that? She’d just find somewhere else to fit in and be happy. She didn’t need Earth. She didn’t need Vegeta. She just needed herself, and to be strong–a concept that she knew far better than Vegeta seemed to think she did. She’d had to be strong when Vegeta first kidnapped her, she’d had to be strong with all the stuff she’d endured from him and his goddamn lackeys, she’d had to be strong even when they were gone and she ended up in a different form of danger, she had to be strong when with Zarbon… He thought her crying was proof of weakness, but could he blame her?

* * *

His POV

So that was it then, the girl couldn’t agree to his terms. He expected her bold nature, but it seemed she couldn’t show him an ounce of respect, not even once. The prince had given her everything she’d asked for, he’d been gentle with her when she’d demanded and patient when she threw herself into harm’s way. To put it bluntly, he couldn’t take it anymore. There was something in the way she refused him this time that struck his soul in a way he’d never felt before. While Vegeta didn’t expect her to follow his command any more, some part of him had thought that maybe he’d won some part of her trust. Why he wanted her trust was beyond him. Perhaps because he felt he deserved it after all the shit she’d put him through by now, or perhaps something else. He felt disrespected not just in pride, but on a personal level he wasn’t comfortable with.

He let her pass without a word. Moments later, he was still standing there, too angry and full of vile thoughts to move himself properly. As if he’d follow. As if he’d believe her after she’d clung to his side so desperately the last few days. Bulma insisted she’d run, yet she couldn’t leave his side the last few days, not even to sleep. He didn’t believe in her threats. And even if she did get herself into trouble, he wouldn’t give a damn. Let her, let her see how far off planet she could go without him. In fact, come to think of it, he welcomed it. This made getting rid of her all the easier. Who needed the dumb bitch? Not him! He wasn’t giving in, not this time. He just couldn’t.

Just before he felt as if he were about to pop, Vegeta blew out of the kitchen door like an angry gust of wind, kicking up Mrs. Briefs apron and sending Raditz’ long hair into a tangled mess over his head. He was gone in an instant. Raditz handed over a credits chip to Nappa. It looked like Bulma had made their prince angry enough to forget about training after all, go figure.

He was gone for what must of been hours; his temper cooling with the setting of the sun. With his back to the setting sun, Vegeta found himself atop the highest plateau the distant desert had to offer. Colors of pink and orange painted his features; he was coming to a decision. There’d be no meeting the woman again on this planet. He’d go back to collect his men, and then he’d be gone forever. Avoiding her would be easy, he’d already stowed away his things in his pod earlier that day. If he ever saw those blue hues again, it’d be too soon.

* * *

Her POV

It took her basically all day to get to where the pods were. A lot of driving, but also a lot of flying to get to where the exact place was, away from general cities and certainly far off from where she was. They’d done a lot of flying, before ending up in the Capsule Corporation. But eventually she found it– and just as the sun was setting. She’d even had something of a relaxing flight, away from all her problems and simply enjoying the setting. Earth was beautiful. She’d forgotten that the last few days. It was beautiful with its large mountains and its waves of grass and its vast, simmering deserts– rather than be tied down with hatred for how terribly she stuck out in her planet now, she was hit with a sense of love. The same kind of feelings she’d had all while away from it. All those times she’d tried so hard to get back. She remembered why she missed Earth so much. 

By the time she’d gotten to the pods, the sun was setting. But she’d gotten there. She landed her aircraft and got out, staring at the three– Vegeta’s looked recently rummaged-in; she could tell by the footprints in the crater and a press to the dirt that seemed to show where the door had opened. …She’d wanted to leave so badly. Leave, go someplace she belonged. But now that she’d reached the pods and was alone, in a position to take one and fly off to somewhere she’d be more comfortable, albeit in danger… She couldn’t stop just staring. Her brows furrowed. She… She didn’t want to go anymore, did she? Well– It’s not that she didn’t want to go. She would like to go back to explore. But she still felt something for Earth, and not the hatred from before. Maybe she’d just needed some alone time in a different setting, even if it wasn’t as different of a setting as she’d wanted.

She looked over the horizon. Did Vegeta even care that she was missing? Maybe he thought she’d already left. She wasn’t sure how to feel about him; she still thought of what he did when she looked into his eyes, but at the same time, those things he did weren’t always bad. She wanted to get away from Earth for many reasons, including curiosity and adventure–but she didn’t really want to do it alone. Somehow, having Vegeta around was more comforting. When was it that she stopped hating him so much? Around the time she started having sex with him consensually? Maybe. She wasn’t sure. How did he feel about her? He must not hate her; he was here on Earth and wanted to stay for her to get therapy.

…Maybe she could try a day. One day of therapy. She walked closer to the crater and sat down in the grass, letting her feet press into the dirt that led down to Vegeta’s pod. She could do some therapy, see what it was like. Maybe it could just prepare her and teach her some tricks to calm down. …Would one more week on Earth be bad? No worse than another week out in space, when she was surrounded by terrible people, she supposed. She enjoyed making bad decisions, but maybe she could try and make a good one here and listen to the men who seemed to, for whatever reason, give enough of a shit about her to try and force her to do some things that she absolutely hated.

…But maybe she’d sit around here for a while.

* * *

His POV

It didn’t take him long to return to Capsule Corporation, and even less time to collect his men. Pass the living room where the softly singing voice of Mrs. Briefs was entertaining herself, and out into the garden where his men were entertaining themselves under a large palm. However, Vegeta couldn’t help but notice the lack of Bulma’s fresh scent as he made way. There were traces, here and there, but nothing new. He’d been keeping tabs in order to ensure he didn’t run into her, but he had to question - had she really disappeared then? Good, it lessened the chance of running into her before he’d left. Still the thought persisted - so, she hadn’t been bluffing, had she. Well, the universe was massive, hopefully he wouldn’t be seeing her any time soon.

While Raditz was more than pleased to hear they were finally getting their asses off of this rock and back into action, Nappa was less than impressed. To put it lightly, the big bald lug moped at the idea. Nappa had always been a man of war, but was getting on in years and having a pretty lady pamper him for once hadn’t been his worst experience to date. Couldn’t he bring along Mrs. Briefs? Just as a souvenir? While Nappa knew better than to even mention it to his leader, especially given Vegeta’s latest mood, it didn’t mean he wasn’t thinking it. He was going to miss that perky little blonde.

The trio waltzed out in their given Earthly attire, never to return to the place that’d offered them such strange hospitalizes. But as they traveled airborne, something caught the prince’s attention. There was something familiar drifting on the wind. The closer they drew to the crash site, the stronger the undeniable scent became. It was her. It was always her. But that didn’t mean he had to give a shit when he got there. His shoes touched down in the midst of green grass just behind her. Waves of jade separated them, giving the prince the element of surprise. He stood there for a moment, watching her sit there, ignorant to his hateful watching. So this is where she’d run off to. His pod. His escape route. Did she really have to be here, now, of all places.

“I thought you had your own ship,” he remarked, but didn’t bother to glance a second look as he passed her. Dipping down into the crater, the Saiyan stopped just short of his pod. He refused to lose his constitution, he’d made his decision. There was only one reason why he’d be here, she must have known it. He hadn’t come looking for her, he was leaving. There was no other explanation. Yet, he had stopped just before his round pod. There was still bad blood between them, he could feel it as a tension in his neck, but Vegeta was too hard of a man to allow such weakness to take over. Both Raditz and Nappa shared a look, where things still going to go according to plan? Their prince wasn’t second guessing taking the girl with them, was he? They both hoped he wouldn’t.

* * *

Her POV

She stiffened at the sound of Vegeta’s voice. For a split second, she thought that she was imagining it. But she turned around, and there he was, with his two lackeys. It was clear what he’d been planning. He was going to leave, since she promised she was going to leave. And he looked furious. Had her words really gotten to him? It made sense, she figured. He was only here for her, she supposed. He would leave if she was leaving. But somehow, the idea that he was just going to up and leave and not even care where she was going upset her. He didn’t even seem to care. He was just unhappy that she was at his pod. Her lips pressed together and she looked away from him at his words.

“…I wasn’t thinking,” she finally replied. “I just acted. I knew where the pods were, so I just went there first. …You were going to leave without even checking to see if I was still around?” Her eyes flicked back to him. Why was she even asking that? He didn’t care about her, did he? Why would he give a shit about her enough to check? But still…. Her stomach flopped. “…I don’t know what I want to do anymore,” she admitted to him, getting up to her feet. “Are you still going to leave if I decide staying just to see how this therapy thing works out? If you are, maybe I’ll just have to force myself onto that ship with you. I can’t just stay here with no hope of ever leaving back to Earth. But… I guess I’ll be a little homesick. I don’t hate this planet as much as I did just a little while ago. I could try a day or two of therapy, I guess. I mean… Just learn some things to help me calm down. I don’t think it’ll … Fix… Anything, but… I think I’ll be okay with it.”

She stared down at Vegeta, standing at the pod. He hadn’t opened the door yet, but he looked like he was just about to leave. Was this it, then? He’d try to leave here there, uncertain and alone? She’d be so afraid by herself, in all honesty, even if that was a silly thing to say. She was stupid for latching onto Vegeta so much, but somehow, she couldn’t really view her life without him anymore. She couldn’t just go back to how things were. She needed him. She, for some stupid reason, needed him next to her, by her side. She didn’t feel like anyone else would truly understand her. Which was stupid; he hadn’t gone through what she had, even though he’d tried to sympathize with her on occasion, mostly to tell her to get over it. But he’d physically seen what she’d gone through, and could understand why she acted certain ways. He saw the hell she’d come back from, which is why he talked so often about her strength, and how she was not weak. He understood. Not like the others. He understood.

“I don’t want to keep you here on Earth for long, but maybe… A week or two to test out how therapy is for me. And then we could leave, and I could have a radio to calm down my family about me leaving. You probably don’t care that much about that part, but I’d just been thinking about it, you know? I feel like it’d be easy to get homesick, even if this is what I want. …But… If you don’t care about that… If you’re just going to leave anyway… Then I’m going to leave with you. Even if I do get homesick. I don’t want to stay here on Earth forever. I want to be with you.”

* * *

His POV

Although he never moved a muscle, Vegeta was listening, intently. And it was worth the wait of letting himself into his ship’s cabin. There now, was that really so hard for her to admit? That she’d do as he’d asked and go to therapy? His muscles twitched under his skin, still feeling rebuff towards the idea of staying. Damn, it’d taken her long enough, the stubborn woman. It felt as if he’d gone too far, as if despite her coming to agree to his terms, it was all in vain. It was too late; his pride wouldn’t have it. Not in front of his men, not when he had already made a firm decision. Vegeta just wasn’t one for changing his mind.

His fists tightened at his sides listening to her go on. There just wasn’t anything, nothing that she could say or do to change things. But then she surprised him and spun his world on its head. ‘ _I want to be with you_ ’, had he heard that correctly? The prince felt his strong constitution fumble. A wave of warmth spread over his body, making his heart rate pick up. How dare the thought excite him, especially at a time like this. He was angry, furious, fed up …and completely defeated.

A warm breath escaped him, his head shaking lightly between his tense shoulders. The key-pad to the door caught his eye, and he debated opening it. Curse that woman to hell and back for putting him in a place like this! He thought she hated him, so why the hell would it matter where he went without her? Especially when she had her own ship. But she hadn’t gone to her own ship, had she. She’d found his own, she’d sought him out, and the truth be told he didn’t want to go without her, either. Not now that she’d finally bended to his will. Not now that she seemed to finally know exactly what she wanted. That’s all he wanted to know to begin with.

His cold gaze sliced over his shoulder, landing right on her silvery-blue head. The wash of her wild hair over her face did so fit this planet. The sweeping image of her standing there waiting for his answer, among the wide-open fields of greens and floating pastel blues, wouldn’t be one he’d forget soon. Stepping out of the crater, his ridged body marched right past her, until his back was just behind her own. He paused, finally muttering his newest decision of, “One week.”

* * *

* * *

Her POV

A week, he said.

And a week passed. Yamcha had signed her up for therapy sessions, not knowing about the limit of one week. He had been confused by her insistence that one day a week wasn’t going to cut it, and so she went every day– a luxury the Capsule Corporation could afford. The first day was the most difficult. Explaining to the therapist her situation. He looked perturbed; had he recalled the Saiyan invasion? If he did, he didn’t focus on it. He instead talked to her about her experiences. Whether or not he actually believed her was beyond her. But he didn’t prescribe any drugs, or ask her to talk to a physician. He just let her talk. It was difficult at first, but the following days were easier, if not by much. But she could tell the beginning of a difference. Talking helped, somehow. She didn’t feel as paranoid. 

She didn’t need to sleep with Vegeta at night to feel comfortable, but it made her more comfortable. She didn’t get scared by every little noise. Just… Noises closer to what reminded her of it. Her problems still existed; she’d be a fool for thinking that they’d disappear in a week. Or at all. But the therapist helped her work through her problems. Told her how to calm down if she felt a panic attack coming on. How to make herself feel less alone. That she’s not the only one that’s gone through traumatic events; that she’s not alone. It made her think of Vegeta. He’d tried to connect with her before. What kind of things had he gone through, she wondered? He kept so quiet about it.

The week went by. She still wanted to leave. She mentioned it to her therapist, and he advised against it– she figured he thought that it meant she was going to kill herself. Either way, she was still leaving. She wanted adventure, and looking at her parents’ faces–and Yamcha’s, occasionally–wasn’t going to make her feel any better. Once she was off of this planet, she could start anew. She wanted to be beside Vegeta anyway, and he wasn’t going to stay on Earth forever. He’d eventually leave, even if she decided to stay. So she’d just leave with him, as weird as it was. The therapist had touched on this somewhat. It was dangerous for her to be in a relationship with someone like him– he could put her in more danger. And yet she still wanted to be beside him. Maybe she didn’t hate him so much, after all.

“Vegeta.” She had slept by herself that night, and gotten herself ready for the day all the same before coming to harass him. She shook him awake, not caring about how much sleep he would desire to have. He’d been freeloading as much as he wanted recently. He could sleep in on the pod! “Vegeta. Wake up. Wake up, Vegeta. I want to leave when it’s still early enough that Yamcha’s still on his morning run and my parents are still asleep. Come on. Get up. We’re going. It’s been a week, so we’re going. I made my decision. I want to go adventure with you. We’re going.”

* * *

His POV

The week dragged by steadily. And through it all, surprisingly, Vegeta found himself not as brain dead by the end of the week as he would have suspected. The days had proven interesting, if not entertaining. It should have been no different from the time off he often took between missions. Sex, food, rest, rejuvenation, but there was something different about snooping around earth that set this planet apart from the rest. Bulma’s home wasn’t just inviting, it was comfortable. There was something suspicious about the way the Briefs pampered him, but as time went by, Vegeta grew to accept it. It wasn’t the paid, fake pleasantries that he was used to, that were always out for his credits. He could lower his guard here, more or less, he could rest.

While the girl may have spoken endlessly of leaving, the prince was starting to realize why she’d wanted to return to this life to begin with. She’d subjected him to an endless parade of television. From films to the news, to which he found very educational. But with knowledge, came realization. The world wasn’t as soft as he’d first anticipated it to be. Rape, crime, death, it was all running rampant over the surface of the earth. His curiosity even led him to witness it firsthand. Granted, not in the quantities that he was used to, but it was here. …maybe he should reconsider leaving her behind after all. He’d just be sticking her into another den of dogs, by the looks of it. Nowhere in this damn universe was safe.

“For Kami’s sake, I’m awake,” he groaned. That was the level of comfort Vegeta felt on this planet - he was still pillow deep and only half awake, by the time Bulma crawled into bed next to him. She’d been sleeping on her own the last few nights, it’d been a welcoming sign. This so called ‘therapy’ seemed to be going well. Once or twice the thought to leave her past through him, but it never settled. And now here she was, reminding him of just what day it was. The seventh day, the day he’d promised to take her with him if she so wished it.

He sat up with a bad case of bed head and a groggy look. It only took seconds for that infamous glare to take over; shooting her a hard-brow glance. It was rare she was up before he ever lifted his head. He already knew what that radiant expression of hers wanted, too. To leave, and as soon as possible. For a moment he demanded her gaze. While he was done with trying to give her last chances to change her mind, he wanted to make sure the look in her eye was genuine. That he wasn’t going to regret this. And then he reached for his shirt, and that was the signal, they’d be leaving soon.

* * *

Her POV

He stared at her for a while after saying he was awake. She was nervous for a moment; with that way he was watching her gaze. He wasn’t about to change his mind, was he? She felt her heart beat faster, and her breath stop in her throat. But then he made the smallest gesture that meant everything. He grabbed his shirt. A grin passed over her face and she backed away to give him space to get ready. Finally, finally off of this planet! She really needed a change of scenery. Even if she felt more comfortable and not so paranoid, she just couldn’t stand to be around her parents of Yamcha much longer. She wanted to be adventuring and seeing new things. Vegeta was there to protect her; she’d be fine. It’d work out in the end. So what if she was ultimately putting herself in more danger? Maybe she LIKED danger. She’d always enjoyed it. From the time she was traveling alone on the countryside to look for dragon balls.

“I packed a ton of food last night, too. I could make some sandwiches and let Nappa and Raditz have some leftovers for the trip on the pod. We’re going first to go buy Earth, right? That’s what you’d said before. It’ll be nice to know that everyone’s safe and protected even though I’ll be gone. From outside forces like you, anyway. Some on. I’m tired of waiting, Vegeta. Hurry up, I really want to make sure that we’re out before anyone can ask anything! Especially not Yamcha.” She headed right out the door without even waiting for him to catch up, and went to the kitchen–where else? She fixed up sandwiches while she waited, just as she said she would. A panini for her. Multiple different types of sandwiches she’d come to know he’d enjoyed for him, to fill him up the same amount that a single sandwich would fill her up.

But god, why did he have to take so unbelievably long?! All she wanted was to leave this planet! No more therapy. No more Yamcha. No more parents. It was sad, bittersweet– But she still couldn’t wait. She wanted it so badly. What kind of adventures would she be going on now? And she could try to make the Saiyans do some good for once; rather than kill innocents, they could become mercenaries. Vegeta seemed to have been putting real credence in the idea. She could make a change in the universe rather than sitting around moping all day. The temptation was still there sometimes, of course– but it would be better if she had so much more to focus on than her previous feelings. It was the same as before; all she wanted was to leave Earth and go back to the dangerous, horrifying universe she used to be so eager to get away from.

* * *

His POV

While Bulma may have been in a rush, the prince was taking his time. Why wouldn’t he? There was no threat, no reason, and no way he’d be told what to do. Even now, he was being stubborn; doing things in his own time. The moment the guest bedroom door slammed shut behind the girl, Vegeta busied himself with a shower. Towards mid-week, he’d begun to assume she’d be happier here. She was sleeping on her own and fluttered around the house without a care to his whereabouts half the time. But one thing had always remained the same - her endless rambling about going off planet.

After a fresh set of clothes, he stopped off at his men’s quarters first. It was easy to convince Raditz they’d finally be setting course for somewhere new. The soldier had been moping for the last week. It hadn’t been easy to entertain himself beyond attempting to schmooze earthling females (and the occasional male), visiting his brother, and exploring this world. The soldier was feeling pent up, but least his face wasn’t looking like a busted mess any more. Nappa on the other hand, looked as if he’d been hit in the gut, and looked gloomy all the way down to breakfast.

Food was packed, the house was still sleeping, and Vegeta met Bulma for the last time in the kitchen. She took the least convincing of all. Within the hour they were standing back at the crash site, overlooking the crater and the three pods. It’d felt like ages since he’d sat back into his pod’s seat. The sensation was welcoming, familiar. He’d spent too much time on this planet. The closer they’d grown to the pod site, the more anxious Vegeta felt to leave. It was like homecoming for him, ironically. Naturally it took no time at all for him to punch in the controls to the nearest populated world. And with Bulma in his lap after all.

* * *

Her POV

It took him what seemed like forever, but eventually he came down with Nappa and Raditz, telling her it was time to go. And in no time at all, they were back at the landing site, where all three pods were waiting for them. While Vegeta opened up the pod and got settled, Bulma couldn’t help but look around at Earth one last time. It made her a little sick, knowing she was leaving. Not because she didn’t want to leave– she just… Wished it didn’t have to be this way. She wished her life hadn’t changed so much. She wished he could be the person she was before. But she couldn’t just go back to her old life. Even with that therapy, things didn’t change. She knew how to manage her paranoia better and felt more comfortable with coming to terms with what she survived, but… …. She still needed to find somewhere she fit in better.

She climbed onto Vegeta’s lap, already at once feeling like she was back to how things were before they got back to Earth. Somehow, this felt more comfortable. Somehow, this felt more right. It’s where she belonged now. She looked up at Vegeta, silent as she gauged his expression. He looked like he’d been waiting for this for some time. She leaned back and looked down at her hands. The nervousness remained, despite it all. She had left behind a little device where she could try and communicate with her family through long distances– just to make occasional phone calls when she was lonely. Would she use it? Would they be able to figure it out? She felt a knot in her stomach. Silly how, despite how desperate she was to leave, she couldn’t shake the feeling of abandonment.

The pod lifted off, and in no time, they were back in space. A familiar sight that she’d somehow grown to miss. She stared out at the stars, and watched her planet slowly fade off into the distance. She was trying not to cry, if only so Vegeta didn’t feel the need to go back and drop her off, but her lip was beginning to quiver and her heart felt heavier. It was the same as leaving the first time– she had to come to the realization that no matter what, she couldn’t be who she used to. What she had experienced and how she grew fundamentally changed her as a person. She felt like she was just pretending when she was there for that week and a half. But it wasn’t who she was, not anymore. 

She rested her head on Vegeta’s shoulder.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! I wanted to end it here just so, no matter what, there'll be an end point for this roleplay. It's going to continue in a few weeks under a different name, so look out for it! But next week, I'm going to be posting more updates for Badlands until that one is up to date.
> 
>   
> 


	51. Epilogue: Evolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of 'Evolve.' Book Two.
> 
>   
> 

  


His POV

As much as Bulma was watching the outside world shrink away, Vegeta was tuning in to her every move. Over the last week he’d been growing accustom to watching for her mood swings, no matter how massive or slight they may be. It was becoming natural to him now, to notice, to understand. He’d been so prepared to leave at the drop of a hat if he noticed something that didn’t set well within him, but never realized the deep seeded instinct it was breeding within him. And it worked in his favor a little more each time.

The quickening of her heart beat wasn’t lost to him. He sensed it, as well as the soft hitch between her breaths. It was the edge of crying, he recognized what it sounded like when she attempted to hide it from him by now. But that was the key, she was trying. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of him, and that was something the prince could respect. She could handle it; she was proving that much already. However, the beast wasn’t one to comfort. It confused him more than anything really, and he barely realized she needed it when she did. But then she placed her head on his shoulder and he understood, or at least he attempted to.

His large hand fell gently to her shoulder, cradling her to his warm chest. It wasn’t much of a gesture, but it was more than anything he’d ever give to anyone else. A little while later the soft beeping of the control system broke the silence. Vegeta cleared his throat, leaning forward just enough to engage the landing. They’d finally made it to their next planet. A busy world of sand and commotion. That familiar jerky rumble of a soon-to-be crash landing began to rattle the ship. They were coming in fast, but luckily the soft sand of the tawny world would give them a softer landing then some. It was the blazing heat of the world’s sun they’d have to watch out for.

* * *

Her POV

He held her when she rested her head against his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, but the gesture was a comfort. Her eyes closed, and she relaxed for the rest of the journey. It hurt to be away from home again, but she didn’t belong there anyway. This is what she wanted. This is where she belonged. Besides, she could come home if she ever wanted to. Nothing was stopping her. If she one day told Vegeta she was going home again, would he stop her? She doubted it. She wasn’t his slave anymore. He would let her do as she pleased. That comforted her even more. It was fine. It’d be okay. By the time the beeping started, signifying that they were at another planet, she had calmed down. She got into position so she wouldn’t get hurt, and was met with the familiar feeling of a hard landing– though slightly softer. When the dust settled, she could see why– all that remained around them was sand.

“Is this another beach planet?” She sat upright in Vegeta’s lap and glanced over at him. “Or is it just a lot of desert? It’s not fun to have to get sunburnt on my first trip out of Earth again, Vegeta. Couldn’t you have picked somewhere with a better climate?” Maybe she was being rude, but she couldn’t help it. It was her just being her normal self, she supposed. Her nose wrinkled a little as the doors opened, and she was met with a gust of sand. Right in her hair. …Couldn’t they have gone somewhere more wondrous? Come on. And it was so hot…

“It’ll at least be cooler in the city, right? Please tell me that much. Or else I’m not getting out of this pod. You have to carry it everywhere. It’s too hot for me to be out!” She huffed at him, raising a brow. “Please, Vegeta? Be nice to me this once, alright? You already forced me to stay on Earth way longer than I wanted to, don’t force me to get a sunburn and heat stroke from being out in this blazing heat for so long, too!”

* * *

His POV

It felt good to be traveling once again. It eased his worn mind and brought a sense of renewal to his spirit; like a gust of fresh air. The woman had a point, planet hopping felt much more natural after a life of complication than settling down ever could. Vegeta was yet again in his element, he was in a sense, home. Earth may have proven useful and somewhat tempting, but this is where he belonged. And this time, for the first time, he had his earthling tucked away into his lap not as a captive, but as a comrade.

Once the dust settled from the pod’s cruel landing, the door revealed yet another world for them to explore. And wouldn’t he know it, the woman was already throwing a bitch fit over his choice of landing spots. Vegeta’s lip curled, granting the female an irritated growl. He wasn’t listening - she should have expected that just as much as he should have expected her disapproval. The pod door flipped down, and Vegeta stepped right out, ignoring her.

Then his cotton shirt went flying at her through the opening of the pod door. So, she was worried about the sun, was she? Well now she couldn’t complain that she didn’t have something to shade her delicate head. See, he wasn’t being completely thoughtless. Then the beast really took matters into his own hands, quite literally. He scooped her up by her thighs and right out of the pod, despite any quarrels she may have had with him. His bare torso gleamed as golden as the sands around them with the woman nestled safely over his shoulder.

“You wanted this, remember?” he barked. Raditz and Nappa had already caught up, ready to follow their prince’s lead. And then they were airborne. Flying revealed the baking desert for all it was worth. Miles after miles of nothing but desert. Then, in the growing distance, there was a bubble. Lots of bubbles. Like floating dish-soap over the horizon. It had been a short trip, but the sun was extraordinarily hot, even Vegeta felt it, which couldn’t have boded well for his sensitive earthling. The air was thin and the heat must have been in the death zone. His gaze glanced towards her just before they found the life-giving city. They phased through the city’s barrier like a partial through a soap bubble, and on the other side was a gush of cool air, a bustling street, and bright vegetation.

* * *

Her POV

She glared him down as he got out of the pod, leaving a fucking white t-shirt for her. She grabbed the stupid sweaty thing and was just about to toss it at him in anger, but instead, he grabbed her legs and forcibly removed her from the pod. She let out a yell of surprise and anger when he did so, and as she started thrashing, he just set her down on his shoulder. Goddamn him! She didn’t fight back anymore, instead trying to use the t-shirt as a kind of parasol to protect her from the sun’s rays. What a douchebag! He couldn’t just carry the pod?! Wouldn’t it make it easier for him, anyway!? He’d done it before; it couldn’t be that damn hard! Gnn…

He launched into the air, and they seemed to be flying for hours. The sun was sweltering, and the heat only seemed to get worse. It was hot enough that the little clothes she was wearing felt too much. She wished she could just strip down naked. She may have wanted to go out into space again, but she didn’t want to be cooked like a turkey! God, she was sweating all her makeup off! Or, she would be, if she hadn’t been so efficient in what kind of makeup she used. She was certainly praying for the sun’s rays to stop killing her, though.

She was basically unconscious by the time Vegeta actually got anywhere close to even seeing the soapy bubbles in the distance. One eye was barely cracked open, and her lips begged for water. Goddamn, how did these Saiyans do it? She was so tired… So hot… Why couldn’t he have kept her in the goddamn pod?! Why did he have to take her somewhere this dangerous as her first planet she went to now that she was off Earth? She could feel herself slipping. Her eye slowly closed, and she began to lean more and more to the side.

Her body rested against Vegeta’s head and she dropped Vegeta’s t-shirt to gently flutter down into the dunes below. She may not exactly be dead yet, but she surely had sunburn and a bad case of heatstroke. When would Vegeta realize that humans were not as tolerant of extreme temperatures as Saiyans? It wasn’t like that hadn’t already been proven well enough by the frozen planet that she nearly died of hypothermia at. This… Was not… What she needed!

* * *

His POV

The sizzling heat of the planet’s surface was enough to make a grown Saiyan sweat. By the time they’d arrived into the cool arboretum of the city limits, lines of perspiration were dripping from the thee soldiers’ chins. It was like a warm summer’s day to them, but for poor Bulma it appeared to be a little too much. Vegeta could tell the moment her body went from just heavy, to completely limp. His grip tightened; however, he knew there was little to nothing he could do about it if she did decide to pass over to otherworld. They were too far out. Her only hope would be reaching the orb-like city as quickly as possible.

Maybe he should have carried the pod… Then he wouldn’t be sitting on the edge of a fountain while onlookers watched him tend to the unconscious woman like a pair of primates behind glass. In fact, their little group were the only mammals in sight. The fertile bubble of vegetation and crystal waters was home to a slew of bug like creatures, and oh, where they beautiful. As colorful as the giant flowers that bloomed above and as whimsical as the vines that curled around every lamp post. Their massive eyes were like bee hives and their furry heads were topped with feathery antenna. Sure, there were other off-worldly alien bustling through the streets, it was a major inter-planetary city after all, but the majority of the populous were anthropoids.

Cold water trickled over the girl’s sleeping face. Vegeta had dipped his hand into the pool, then allowed the droplets to fall over her features, attempting to wake her up. The massive, rushing fountain gushed overhead, falling like a rain of diamonds. Damn, wouldn’t she wake up? This was getting uncomfortable… His teeth grit, huffing in frustration. Gently, he shook her. He’d even gone as far as to clear his throat and mumble her name under his breath. It was hard enough taking care of the woman when it was behind closed doors. Did she really have to go unconscious now, of all times? The hard lines of his face grew tighter, impatient. Nappa was doing his best to give them some privacy; standing guard like a brick wall before them. Raditz, on the other hand, had been sent to pick up water. The girl was clearly dehydrated.

* * *

Her POV

Even when the heat subsided, she didn’t wake up right away. It took a while for her body to fully adjust. Eventually, she opened her eyes to the feeling of cool water trickling over her face. Vegeta was staring down at her with stern eyes. She blinked and looked around, taking in the sights. Her head throbbed, and she felt so damn weak. She rubbed her head and tried to sit up, holding one hand on Vegeta’s shoulder for support. This wasn’t a desert; it was much cooler here. Much nicer. And when her eyes focused, she could see why. It was a bubble, like the water planet she’d run off to before. She could see the desert just beyond the soapy bubble walls, a protection from the blazing heat.

“Ahh… It’s pretty,” she mumbled, realizing how much she missed witnessing sights like this. Even if what she went through outside her little planet was awful, this was still a beautiful place. Lots of colors and plants, with waterfalls and beautiful streams of blue. The people themselves were beautiful, even. They looked similar to insects back on Earth, but they were beautiful colors that were seen rarely. Many of them looked like orchid mantises, though others had much deeper blues and greens that looked more like shiny scales than insect exoskeletons.

“…Can I have water?” Even in the sights were pretty, she had more important things to worry about. She was dying of thirst. She licked her lips in some terrible effort to wet them, and took a glance over at Nappa. Where was Raditz? Maybe he was going and doing just that. She reached up with her free hand and rubbed her head. He’d better not take too damn long; she was unbelievably thirsty. though it was Vegeta’s fault for not heeding her warning. She told him it was too hot for her! He didn’t listen. Of course, he didn’t listen.

* * *

His POV

An eyebrow twitched anxiously; he was losing his patience. Why the hell wasn’t she waking up yet, and where in blue blazes was Raditz with that water?! The prince was getting agitated. The only thing that kept his mind on track was imagining the various ways he’d punish his soldier if he didn’t return soon. And then there was the slightest bit of movement in his arms, and all other thought vanished - luckily for Raditz. She was awake, staring up at him with dazed blue eyes. He’d been holding her for the duration of her little heat stroke.

“Give me that!” Vegeta angrily snatched one of the two water bottles Raditz was carrying as soon as he was in reach. The lid was screwed off, and the ice-cold bottle was shoved into Bulma’s hands. Though he was still watching her through a scowling expression, Vegeta was more pleased to see her moving than anything. Especially since her moving meant he didn’t have to hold her any more… in public. As soon as Bulma found her bearings she was shoved off of his lap and plunked onto the rim of the shimmering fountain. Finally, he could breath.

“There’s a boarding house a few doors down,” mentioned Raditz, throwing his thumb over his shoulder. He didn’t look too pleased to see the female awake, but he was keeping his mouth shut for the meantime. The long-haired soldier hadn’t found his prince’s decision to bring her a wise choice. That, and he hadn’t gotten any ‘properly’ since their stay on earth, he was blaming that on her, too. Nappa on the other hand, was keeping any disapproving thoughts to himself, though he had turned around to watch his prince a little closer.

“We’re not going to a boarding house, not yet,” Vegeta snapped, standing firmly from the fountain side. In no time at all he was moving through the colorful streets. It didn’t matter the odd glances he was given from the insectoids as he moved through the crowd, he was on a mission. He was shirtless, she was wind-blown, and all of them were covered in sweat. They all looked like something the desert winds blew in. Both Nappa and Raditz shared a surprised glance before going on their own pursuit. And of course, he didn’t plan on stopping until he found the one and only ‘Planet Trading Post’.

* * *

Her POV

Fairly quickly, a bottle of water was shoved into her hands and she was pushed off his lap. She was still feeling weak, with a headache and a general weakness in her muscles. Her eyes closed for a moment, but Vegeta seemed to already discuss getting up and going elsewhere. She began drinking her water to help get her energy back up, though she debated asking about being carried. Though considering how standoffish Vegeta has been, and how irritated he looked at that moment… It was probably best to just listen to him and keep her mouth shut.

She got up when he did, albeit slower than he did. She followed him down the street, also noting the looks she was getting from people. Looks she happened to be giving right back to them, given how odd they all looked to her. She stayed silent, however, instead opting on focusing on staying alert as she followed Vegeta. She still had a massive headache, and cradled her bottle of water just as you’d expect someone who’d just suffered heat stroke from such a long time in the desert to.

“Nn… Where are we going, anyway?” she asked quietly, trying to keep Vegeta’s pace even though she was both feeling weak and trying to take in all the sights. That was something these Saiyans never seemed to do– just enjoy the beauty of the planets they visited. She recalled Vegeta thinking that it was such a foreign and strange concept to do so, and that all planets are the same. But a magnificent rainbow planet with beautiful blue waterfalls everywhere in a little bubble oasis isn’t something she’d ever witnessed before. And she had a hard time believing that Vegeta had.

“The… Right, the planet trade system.” It took her a moment to remember what his first course of action was supposed to be following visiting Earth. He was buying her planet. She’d forgotten. “Can we get something to eat after? I’m hungry. I know I brought tons of food, but I think I’d like to see what the planet offers. The water hasn’t killed me yet. And I don’t want to go all the way back to that stupid pod.”

* * *

His POV

It didn’t take long for his men to get the jest of what Vegeta was up to. It’d been a while since they’d picked up a mission, and as soon as the planet trading post was in view, both Nappa and Raditz spirits visibly lifted. They’d gone too long without sinking their fists into something other than one another’s faces. They were ready for a fight, to conqueror. However, neither of them would ever know the secondary business their prince had past the trading post’s high arches. As per usual, the two loyal men stood outside of the massive hall’s gates. They watched Bulma pass by, following their prince, like a little lost puppy dog. Why he allowed her in still, they couldn’t tell. Probably to keep her out of trouble, they both assumed. She was good at getting herself into shitty situations, after all.

Vegeta may never have glanced back, but he knew where the woman’s pattering feet were taking her, that she was following him, asking for food. He grunted to her in agreement. His empty gut was ravenous after the long flight. His stride didn’t falter for her to catch up, not even when he reached the impressive building of mossy greens and high twisting branches. He was barking down orders at the poor mantis behind the counter in no time. Something about the planet not being on the market was being preached by the soft-spoken insectoid after Vegeta claimed his interest in ‘Earth’. It's clear, spotted wings fluttered nervously whenever Vegeta leaned in a little too close.

“Every planet has its price,” demanded Vegeta, glaring rather than staring down the clerk. The clerk anxiously revealed the hefty ransom for the blue marble. It wasn’t usual for anyone, even big spenders to buy off-market worlds. It was normally only done between the aristocratic and those with well status. If Vegeta hadn’t had his reputation of a prince to hang over the teller’s head, he may not have gotten anything at all. A chip was passed between the two, giving Vegeta time enough to glance in Bulma’s direction. Then, a clear, hologram like clip-board was passed their way. It needed a prick of the owner's blood. Everything was done through DNA these days. But he didn’t press his thumb to the pad, instead, he passed it apathetically to the girl.

“It’s not my damn planet,” his gravelly voice raked through his teeth, as if he wanted nothing more to do with the damn rock. To be done with it. Though he may have seemed bitter about it, it was more or less a cover up for the awkwardness pumping through his veins. He was giving her planet back.

* * *

Her POV

It was a miracle that Bulma was able to keep up with Vegeta. She felt a little better with every swig of water, but it was no good for someone who just overheated and fainted to be walking around so quickly through a strange city. Did he want her to faint again? She was at least relieved that he agreed to the food comment. They would go get food after this. But first, the planet. He was going to buy Earth for her. That was the only thing really stopping her from begging him to stop and let her rest. She wanted her planet bought as soon as possible. Even if she felt like she may just faint again. She glanced behind herself, gazing at Nappa and Raditz. Would they bother to catch her if she suddenly fell back? Probably not. Then she’d crack her head open, and… Geeze. She really didn’t want to die her first planet back from Earth.

Somehow, though, she made it. They got to the planetary trading post in one piece, and Bulma just happened to lean against the counter a great deal once they got to talk to the clerk. Haah… She sucked down more of her water and closed her eyes as Vegeta busied himself with talking to the clerk. She was used to him threatening others by now. This was nothing she hadn’t witnessed before. She only opened her eyes when she heard Vegeta’s words. It wasn’t her planet. Her gaze focused on a hologram that had been placed in front of them. A contract to buy her planet. …He wasn’t buying her planet; he was letting her buy her planet. Her beautiful, stupid planet, filled with people that she couldn’t connect with anymore but loved and cared for all the same. …She wondered what Yamcha was doing now. Was he heartbroken? Despite her no longer feeling attached like she used to… Her heart burned a little knowing she could have hurt him.

But she grabbed the clipboard regardless. She could protect everyone with this little act, at least. Spare everyone another heartache. Nothing like this would ever happen again, not under her watch. Her thumb pressed down on the pad, and a little needle shot out of it to draw her blood. She winced at the unpleasant feeling, but it was rewarded. A positive chime was sounded, and the hologram turned a pleasant green before disappearing. Words in a familiar but yet barely readable language Bulma recognized as a popular universal language appeared in the hologram screens behind the clerk. It confirmed the purchase. Earth was bought, and the planet’s new owner was none other but a resident of it– Bulma Briefs. Despite the bittersweet feeling, Bulma had a smile on her face. She reached over, despite her bleeding thumb, and gripped Vegeta’s arm tightly. A thank you gesture. She glanced over at him. Did he know how happy this made her? How much this meant to her? How glad she was that she’d never have to worry again?

Of course he did. That’s why he did it. Not that she’d bother him by talking about it. He’d be embarrassed. She’d save him the irritation by changing the subject gently.

“…Vegeta, let’s go eat now.”

* * *

His POV

The soft scent of the earthling’s blood peppered the air. It was done then. Over. He’d never have to think of that worthless planet ever again. Though, he found himself not as bitter towards the world as he’d expected. His time on her planet had somewhat softened him to her little blue orb. While Vegeta certainly didn’t put as much value into the planet as Bulma did, it was safe to assume that some part of the war-lord was glad to know the planet would no longer be harmed, too.

He could see the smile on her face from the corner of his eye. The anxiety of her babbling on about her world again, after what he’d just done, rolled over him. But she didn’t mention it, she merely tugged his arm, and surprisingly he didn’t pull away. A simple glance her way and a sway in his stance was his relaxed way of accepting her gratitude, silently. Vegeta was just as equally grateful for her gentle change of subject. She did know how to ease him, that was clear. However, as much as he wanted to take up her offer, he still had one thing yet to do.

“I’m also here to pick up a mission,” he spoke to the clerk as much as Bulma. It was his way of explaining to her, to fill her in; he was progressing. A list of available worlds cascaded onto the clear screen. Their hologram forms rotated just before them. Vegeta knew he couldn’t leave the Trading Post without one. Otherwise his men would catch on that something other than ‘regular business’ went on that day. Without so much as consulting Bulma, he picked one out. It had a hefty price listed for its head, not to mention a reputation. Bulma may have gone on about bounty hunting before, but this was something he knew would give him a few credits in his pocket. The prince needed security after the fortune he’d just handed over, and planet purging was the quickest means. How could she scold him for that? Still, he glanced her way as he headed for the door, trying to catch her reaction without her noticing.

Raditz and Nappa were waiting for them just outside, blissfully unaware of the affairs going on just behind their stony backs. All they could think about were females and food. How long had it been since they’d probably pit-stopped at a planet? Every female that walked by, insectoid or otherwise, was ogled. The smell of food twisting through the colorful streets was making their mouths water. And oh, did it smell fantastic. The amazing smell lead up through the city and to the base of an enormous tree. Its full branches lifted to the clear dome above. The doors themselves where velvety leaves that had to be pushed back to enter. Inside, was a tea house.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been about a year and a half! How the fuck did that happen? Hi, guys! We're back in business. This chapter is shorter because it felt right to stop it here before shit goes down.   
> This was posted here to alert you guys that had Captive bookmarked. You can now go over to 'Evolve' and bookmark that; that's where future chapters will be posted. I'll try to do it every Saturday. Thanks, guys! Hope you guys are doing OK in the quarantine.
> 
>   
> EDIT: So I've finally uploaded the entirity of Captive. I reached out to AO3 if I could bring back the original upload and all its stats, but we'll see. Thanks for the people who have already reached out! I had a feeling this would happen with the falling-out we had. I'm better off. I'm kind of embarrassed with the way this book ended and it's because they got bored with it, but I hope you'll look forward to Evolve, especially from where I take over.


End file.
